choke element

Chapter 930 Gambling (Part )

"Li Langzhong, you came here day and night, and what kind of scene did you arrange in advance?"

"It was not arranged by me, but it was already there in Kaifeng Mansion. If it weren't for Lao Yin and all the troubles you caused in Tianjin Mansion, I would have rushed to Kaifeng ten days ago to attend this big event! Lao Yin, I'm afraid you're thinking too much and don't know...that's all, come with me!"

Yin Chang really didn't want to move.

He suddenly fought with others and exhausted his physical strength and energy. At this moment, he felt extremely weak all over his body, not to mention the fact that the Tatar had beaten him hard on the face and hit the stone slab on the back. Now he had blood bruises inside and outside his eye sockets, he could hardly open his eyes, and his lower back was in severe pain, as if his tendons were being torn apart.

If he were an ordinary person, he would probably be lying on the ground now, unable to get up. But Yin Chang had been in a coma for decades in the military, suffered numerous injuries, and crawled out of the dead many times. Although I have gotten older, my tenacity and fierceness are still there.

He understood that Li Yun was by no means a good man or woman. At this time, he still had no control over his own life and death, let alone his future future. At that moment, he groaned twice, gritted his teeth and stood still: "Mr. Li, please!"

The two of them walked one behind the other, swaying out of the official office.

Walking to the main entrance of the Yamen, Yin Chang stopped for a moment and looked around. The soldiers on duty were still the same team, but the lieutenant leading the team was changed from a familiar face in Yin Chang to a stranger. No wonder the people from the Left and Right Division rushed in, and these guards neither reported nor stopped them!

Yin Chang glanced over, and the soldiers also saw the embarrassed appearance of their superiors with a bruised nose and swollen face, and then they looked shocked. But the lieutenant with a cold face didn't say a word, and the soldiers didn't dare to ask questions. They just held their chests and belly high and continued to stand upright.

On the other hand, the attendant who led the horse for Yin Chang exclaimed. Yin Chang immediately yelled: "Shut up! Follow me!"

The group of people mounted their horses. When he lifted his legs and stepped on the stirrups, he felt bursts of pain in his lower back. Yin Chang was really tough and didn't say a word at all.

The official office of the Tongjun Division is located south of Duanmen and north of Hengjie. Not far away is Longjin Bridge. A hundred years ago, this area was the location of the Imperial Street outside the Imperial Palace of the Song Dynasty. The Daxiangguo Temple next to the street was also known as "a collection of shops with hundreds of skills and craftsmanship, and rare things from all over the world are gathered here." It is the best gold-selling cave in the world.

After Dajin invaded the Central Plains, the entire city of Kaifeng inevitably declined. Three years ago, there was a fire that burned countless buildings from Qianbu Corridor in the north to Nanxunmen in the south to ashes.

With the implementation of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the new dynasty flourished and the Central Plains returned to stability. In the Great Zhou Dynasty, retired warriors held various official positions, and they had very tight control over local and grassroots levels; however, warriors were generally more careless in nature, less demanding, and rarely restricted commercial trade and folk entertainment. As a result, the vitality and creativity of countless scholars, farmers, industrialists and businessmen both inside and outside Kaifeng and even further afield were unleashed.

In a short period of time, the fire scene returned to its bustling commercial appearance, and the area near Longjin Bridge became a center for many folk arts and academy troupes.

When the Emperor Guo Ning of the Great Zhou Dynasty was still serving as the Jiedu Envoy in Shandong, he attached great importance to the role of folk arts and academy in gathering people's hearts. He once specially invited famous opera troupes from Zhigu Village and other places, and also personally participated in the compilation of many theater scripts and dramas.

Most of these books promoted the hardships faced by soldiers and civilians under the rule of the Jin Kingdom. They also vaguely enshrined the Dinghaijun Jiedushi at that time as a star and descended to earth, and attached some legendary plots that seemed like a snake-slaying uprising.

In the early days of Goulan Washili in the Kingdom of Jin, the performance was mainly about spoken language, supplemented by singing, and the content was mostly funny, for the entertainment of dignitaries. This new type of book has an exciting plot, and the characters are well-equipped with both literary, theatrical, and martial arts. It is lively and interesting, so it is very popular with the audience. In the past two years, various books adapted on this basis have become popular all over the country. Zaju troupes are all over the world.

Here in Kaifeng Mansion, the fun-loving custom of the Song Dynasty still exists, and various books can easily expand their influence here. In addition, this place is the military and political center of the Zhou Dynasty in Henan, and it is also the key point of support for the Zhou Dynasty in Guanzhong, so there are many soldiers who come and stay on a daily basis. The military has been the main audience for miscellaneous dramas since the stage when it was named Ding Haijun.

Therefore, Kaifeng Prefecture and Tianjin Prefecture are the two important bases where the Zaju troupes are active. As for Kaifeng, because it was close to the border between Zhou and Song, many Song merchants were allowed to stay here. These merchants brought Song opera troupes and integrated them with the new customs of the Central Plains. Many teams travel around the military and state areas to perform on weekdays. When the New Year comes, they rush back to Kaifeng to attend the biggest event of the year, not only to showcase the talents of their own team, but also to learn from their peers.

On the former site of Daxiangguo Temple, no less than a dozen high platforms were erected during this period, and no less than dozens of groups cheered up and performed in turns. While performing, they are also competing with each other, because after the ninth day of the first lunar month, the outstanding performances will be selected to perform in the "thorn basin" outside Xuande Gate for ten consecutive days.

The so-called "thorn basin" is a large theater in the large square outside Xuande Gate. It is funded by Kaifeng Prefecture and surrounded by silk silk, reed mats and bamboo frames. It can accommodate tens of thousands of spectators. It can be regarded as the best in the world of drama. Gantry. Whichever program is selected, the price will be ten times higher immediately, becoming the de facto official program. In the future, when performing on the road, you will have the right to embroider a gold-lettered couplet on a two-foot-square banner:

"Today, performing arts in the arena is crowded with people. Back then, Jiben performed his skills and dazzled the country."

With this blessing in mind, the performance at the Daxiangguo Temple before the Lantern Festival became a preview with a competitive nature. Many members of the theater team want to fight for this, and no one will give in. The more fiercely they compete and the harder they perform, the more they entertain the audience.

Therefore, after Kaifeng Prefecture advanced the date of the Lantern Festival by half a month this year, experienced officials, especially the Song merchants who stayed in Kaifeng Prefecture during this time, preferred to follow the preview in temples.

Because many festival arrangements originate from old customs in Kaifeng, that is, from the tradition of the Song Dynasty when Kaifeng was the Bianliang Prefecture in Tokyo. Many merchants from the Song Dynasty saw the grand event described by their ancestors reappearing before their eyes. Some talked about it with relish, some were deeply moved, and some even burst into tears on the spot.

When Li Yun, Yin Chang and others entered this noisy venue, they saw a team performing a big show in full force.

Yin Chang had no idea why Li Yun brought him here. Li Yun breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Old Yin, what a coincidence, we are just in time."

Yin Chang managed to cheer up: "What are you catching up with? Didn't you say that you want me to accompany you to deal with a scene so that I can know whether the people of Song Dynasty are weak? What does this have to do with the troupe?"

Li Yun didn't bother to reply and stood on tiptoe to look around.

This great drama has passed the opening verses and reached the main scene. Dozens of artists were used on the stage to sing, chant, and beat, and the audience below was packed with people, with cheers and complaints coming and going.

It turns out that this scene was newly reorganized. It tells the story of a fierce battle in Kaifeng a few years ago. King Sui's men set up an ambush and attacked. The Song people refused to advance, but the emperor led his troops to defeat the main force of the Jurchens first and then rushed into the city to save people. .

In order to arouse the emotions of the audience, the plots of these books are certainly far from the real situation of the day, and the characters are also exaggerated. For example, most of the Song generals in the play are timid and have neither the ability nor the courage to fight.

When a clown appeared on the stage holding a wooden sign that looked like a torch, pretending to be about to set fire to the scene, four or five people on the stage dressed as generals of the Song Dynasty all posed with their bows and arrows drawn, but nothing happened. They immediately wandered around the place, making various gestures of running away in fear, while the clown waved the "torch" with great pride.

This scene follows the old school's tradition of striving to be funny. In the eyes of ordinary audiences, it is nothing more than a small piece of fun. You have to mock someone anyway, and there is nothing wrong with mocking Song people. But this situation seemed a bit unpleasant to the Song merchants present.

And Li Yun knew even more that the Song people present at this moment were not just ordinary merchants.

Sure enough, at this moment, in the VIP reed shed opposite the stage, someone suddenly exhaled, and then a silver light flashed and jumped dozens of steps.

The next moment, an arrow pierced the wooden board that looked like a torch. The arrow is heavy and long. The huge force carried by the arrow pushed the wooden board completely out of the clown's hand, and then nailed it to the thick column behind the stage.

(End of this chapter)