Tokyo Reborn: Dark Superstar

Chapter 231: The Assassination of Qin Shi Huang

August 1998, 8, the crew of The Emperor and the Assassin in Hengdian.

Takakura Bunta was inside the Qin Palace, confronting Jing Ke, played by Zhang Fengyi, who was holding a dagger.

"The Spring and Autumn Period saw four hundred years of slaughter, and the seven kingdoms fought for more than a hundred years. The people suffered. Only by unifying the world can the wars be stopped. The pain of one person is no longer pain when compared with the pain of the world. The hatred between Yan and Qin is no longer hatred when compared with the world."

The King of Qin's words made Jing Ke stop chasing around the pillar and remain silent.

After a while, the King of Qin picked up the map of Yan State's Du Kang on the ground and suddenly laughed and asked, "Are you from Yan State?"

Jing Ke said, "Of course."

The King of Qin asked, "Have you noticed the change in the number of invasions by the northern barbarians over the years?"

Jing Ke thought for a moment and said, "The Xiongnu invasions are indeed less frequent than before..."

The King of Qin looked at the map of Dukang in Yan State in his hand and said, "That's because the tribes such as Linhu and Quanrong, which had been fighting with Yan State, have been destroyed..."

Jing Ke: "Did the tribes of Linhu, Quanrong, etc. perish?"

The King of Qin said: "According to the information Wang Li brought from Jiuyuan, an unprecedented war of unification is going on in the northern grasslands. Countless tribes have perished, and an unprecedentedly powerful nomadic empire is rising..."

Jing Ke hesitated for a moment, then relaxed his sword: "Even if I don't kill you, someone else will. You abolished the hereditary noble system, replaced it with county rule, and registered the people as equals. You have committed a crime in the eyes of the world!"

The King of Qin put away the map of Yan State's Du Kang and said disdainfully: "Will I be punished by the whole world?"

Jing Ke said coldly: "Slaves and barbarians are given titles and become scholars and officials, and the common people leave the public fields of the kings and princes and cultivate the private fields under their own households, causing the hierarchy to be disrupted and rituals and music to collapse. Isn't this a crime against the world?"

"The world you forcefully unified will inevitably fall in the face of the revenge of the six nations. How can you compete with the empire of the northern grasslands?"

The King of Qin laughed and said, "After seeing the charm of the unification of the world, people will no longer be willing to return to the Spring and Autumn rituals and music, and the will to unify the world will not disappear..."

The King of Qin turned his back to Jing Ke, looked at the map of the world in the hall, and said:
"There will be descendants!"

…………

The camera pulls away and shows the two of them in the Qin Palace. Jing Ke throws down the sword in his hand and turns to leave.

This shot is the last shot of the feature film "The Emperor and the Assassin", followed by a subtitle.
Just as Jing Ke said, the Qin Dynasty perished in the second generation.

However, just as Zulong said, people could no longer return to the hereditary aristocracy of the Spring and Autumn Period. The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, unified the world, and started a glorious dynasty that lasted for four hundred years.

..............................

After taking enough shots, director Ning Hao raised the loudspeaker and shouted out the words that countless people were expecting.

"I hereby announce that the crew of "The Emperor and the Assassin" has officially wrapped up filming."

"Finally finished!"

"Very good!

"I won't come home until I get drunk tonight!"

The staff and actors present cheered in unison. The crew of "The Emperor and the Assassin" had been filming for four months since the start of filming, although the shooting time was not long.

But don't forget that "The Emperor and the Assassin" was shot jointly by two crews, and sometimes the two crews had to be further divided, so the daily workload was much greater than that of an ordinary film crew.

That is, One piece Entertainment, the investor of the "The Emperor and the Assassin" crew, is very wealthy, has full logistical support, and the creative team is also unprecedentedly powerful.

Otherwise the morale of the crew would have collapsed long ago.

…………

Producer Liu Xiaoli carefully prepared a rich variety of drinks and snacks early on, bringing a feast for the taste buds for the filming site with hundreds of crew members.

The drink was fifty boxes of red rice wine specially brewed in Hengdian.

This red rice wine is brewed with local red glutinous rice and clear mountain spring water. It has a long history and is said to be the royal wine of the ancient palace. It has bright color, mellow taste, and a faint aroma of glutinous rice and the freshness of mountain spring water.

Dozens of large round tables and a hundred-meter-long cooking table are piled with Western dishes such as matcha cake, cream puffs, tiramisu, cranberry biscuits, chocolate mousse, red bean cake, egg tarts, cheese cookies, etc.

There are also Chinese snacks of the day such as Hengdian crispy cakes, Hengdian pickled duck, ham stewed pumpkin, Shanglu wontons, and shredded radish cakes.

At the cocktail party, the crew members drank and chatted until the evening.

One piece entertainment company booked the Hengdian International Convention Center Hotel on Wansheng Street in Hengdian Town. This was the largest and most expensive hotel in Hengdian in 1998, and the group did not leave until they were drunk.

Takakura Bunta was also very happy. He drank from noon to night and drank a lot of crew members.

This is his second starring film and his first Chinese-language film.

…………Except for the Black May War in Indonesia, Takakura Bunta was busy filming all the time, which exhausted him both mentally and physically. Now that the filming is finished, he can finally have a good rest.

Of course, I had the final competition with Gong Li in the evening.

Gong Li was also very tired. Takakura Bunta had the most scenes, and her role was second. And she was a girl, although she was relatively large and had a unique Earth Mother template.

However, Gong Li at this period had not yet been developed by foreigners, and was tortured badly by Takakura Bunta.

Especially after Takakura Bunta took leave last time, he always smelled of blood when he came back. Every time Gong Li ate radish, she almost fainted from the stench...

In the later stages of filming, the crew would have to give her half a day off from time to time to relax.

Even so, Gong Li had reached her limit and had been thinking about finding a place to travel and relax since a week ago.

..............................

According to producer Liu Xiaoli's vigorous and unconventional style, the wrap-up ceremony of "The Emperor and the Assassin" will certainly not be deserted.

Even though Takakura Bunta and his team were so immersed in their roles that before they could take off their costumes, a group of reporters with a keen sense of smell came in like a tide, with camera flashes going off one after another like beacons on a battlefield.

Gong Li, a top actress in the entertainment industry, generously confided to reporters the hardships she experienced during the filming process.

Especially the scene where Lady Zhao swam across the Yishui River and entered the territory of the State of Yan. She soaked in the freezing cold river water for more than ten hours. Her words were full of pain, but also revealed the tenacity of a generation of queens.

…………

Takakura Bunta, the soul of Asia's top band and the shining star of the Venice Film Festival, just smiled calmly and responded easily in his amazingly fluent Chinese, starting with a traffic code:
“Yes, I love the snacks and culture of the Red Earth Continent.”

"To be honest, this shoot was indeed a big challenge for me, but I think it was this experience that made me grow a lot and gave me a deeper understanding of the profoundness of Chinese culture."

Talking about future plans, Takakura Bunta said humorously: "I haven't taken on another drama yet, because I will be busy releasing an album and holding a concert. Friends in the media may want to help me advertise and see if there is any crew willing to hire me, haha."

As for the scandal with Gong Li, he clarified helplessly and resolutely: "I have answered this question many times. Sister Gong Li and I are just pure friends. We have almost no interactions in private. Yes, we haven't even held hands..."

As for the release date of the movie, he said he didn't know, but revealed that Japan's One Piece Entertainment has begun intensive publicity preparations and has contacted the theater manager of Kadokawa Shoten, revealing his anticipation for the upcoming release of the work.

Talking about his relationship with the main creators of the crew, he was frank with a bit of self-mockery: "I have to admit that I did give Wang Peigong, screenwriter Lu Wei and director Ning Hao a lot of 'torture' during the creative process. It may be because of some of our Ainu people's unique ideas, and from time to time we would have some collisions of inspiration with them..."

When the topic turned to the atrocities suffered by Chinese Indonesians, Takakura's tone suddenly became serious and firm:
"I strongly demand that this atrocity against the Chinese be stopped and I support the just actions of Mimihaji PMC."

"The atrocities committed by the Dayak people are absolutely intolerable. I will personally donate 1 million yen to sponsor the Chinese Rifle Association in Sumandara."

…………

The next day, at a banquet for senior executives of the crew, he punished himself by drinking three cups of wine and expressed his apologies to Ning Hao, Wang Peigong, Lu Wei and others.

Everyone in the crew felt flattered, because the relationship between Bunta Takakura and the Hokkaido Takakura Group has always been a mystery.

The same surname, and the fact that they are both the mainstays of One Piece Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Takakura Group, makes it obvious that they are related...

…………

Ning Hao, under the influence of alcohol, half-jokingly and half-seriously made a request to him: "Brother Gaocang, I may have to trouble you with something..."

Takakura Bunta raised the wine jug generously, imitating Linghu Chong's heavy drinking style. Ning Hao felt his scalp tingling when he saw this, but amid the jeers of the crowd, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and drink a glass with him.

"I want to be the executive director of Director Hu Mei's crew, but she is a little short of funds. I wonder if you can talk to the investment department of One Piece Entertainment?"

"You know my situation. I have little experience. I want to learn more from famous directors."

There was a hint of tentativeness and expectation in Ning Hao's words.

Gao Cangwentai's eyes flashed when he heard this. He noticed that Ning Hao's cheeks were red and his breath smelled of alcohol, but his eyes were unusually clear. He secretly laughed at this kid's cleverness, but did not take it as an offense. He just asked lightly: "Is it the "Yongzheng Dynasty"? "

"How do you know?" Ning Hao asked in surprise.

"I heard from Liu Xiaoli." Takakura Bunta said lightly, but he already had a plan in mind.

When talking about the mainland's top TV drama director, a name comes to everyone's mind - Hu Mei.

Her "The Emperor of Han Wu", "The Yongzheng Dynasty" and "Qiao Family Courtyard" are all masterpieces in the industry. It is rare for a female director to be able to shoot such magnificent works.

During the filming of "Yongzheng Dynasty", the lack of funds made the whole process extremely difficult and bumpy.

But no one expected that after its premiere on CCTV in 1999, it would instantly win the ratings championship and become an enduring classic.

If we can take this opportunity to secure a few roles in this drama for One Piece Entertainment's artists, it will undoubtedly be a long-term traffic investment.

Thinking of this, Takakura Bunta patted his chest and said proudly: "Don't worry, I'll take care of One Piece Entertainment!"

(End of this chapter)