Zhao Tong named the theater Caiyi, and in response to the situation, he had two flying wings of a colorful phoenix, and he had a clear understanding of the situation.
The theater building is located facing the street. It is actually a large theater garden with the building inside the garden.
The front pavement is blocked, and there is a wide wooden door covered with red silk in the middle. Once you enter, you will find a spacious place.
This place was originally bought by foreign merchants to live in, but it was transferred due to business failure or other reasons.
Although the place is huge, because it is located in Southwest City, where most civilians live, the asking price is not high.
After buying it, Qi Hongyu made some renovations and decorations. The innermost part is a long and narrow townhouse, with two pavilions facing each other facing the front door.
This pavilion was originally a scenery building for enjoying the scenery, but it was converted into a theater building. It has two floors and can meet the standard of four theater stages mentioned by Zhao Yu.
However, after looking at it, Zhao Tong felt that it was still a bit petty, so he built another open-air stage in front of the second floor, facing the street gate.
This large open-air stage is different from the usual three-sided curtain backstage pattern, but is truly open-air on four sides, with dressing rooms built on the side and actors walking on the side.
Qi Hongyu found three theater troupes with innocent backgrounds, all of them wandering around the borders of Gyeonggi Province.
As soon as these wild stage troupes heard that the two kings were opening the theater, they didn't even talk about the price. They just wanted to watch and reward. The troupe leaders who can sing wild operas everywhere are smart people, so they naturally know what it means to sing for Zhao Tong. Whatever you are doing, it is very likely that you will become an instant hit, and you will gain both fame and fortune.
Yetai opera troupes are generally family troupes, that is, a large family sings operas everywhere. For this reason, Qi Hongyu did not combine the three troupes. If the repertoire of the opera is too big and one troupe cannot sing it, he will let another troupe sing. Join hands.
These three teams are the Lu family class, the Zhang family class, and the Yu family class.
Among them, the Lu family class has the largest number of people, with about twenty or thirty people, and the other two teams each have more than a dozen people.
The theater opened quietly. Zhao Tong did not hold any ceremony and did not disturb too many people.
At first, they just performed some traditional operas with opera scripts as a test. During this period, they have been performing on the open-air stage for free for people to watch.
Although there was no publicity for the opening of the theater, and Qi Hongyu also concealed the fact that Zhao Ta was the owner behind it, the theater was overcrowded every day because it was free.
As for those who couldn't squeeze into the garden, they watched from the outside, and climbed to the trees on both sides of Quyuan Street with their flexible hands and feet.
In this era, entertainment life was poor, especially for ordinary people. The dignitaries could also drink, listen to music, and have various banquets for fun, but ordinary people did not have much to do except wandering in the streets.
It was already dusk after the performance on the outdoor stage that day, and the three teams were all cooking and chatting in front of the long and narrow building.
This house has been divided into three families. Although they are said to be enemies in the same house, they all abide by the rules now under the same roof. They just talk less to each other and are quite distinct.
The leader of Lu's class is called Lu Laowang. He is in his fifties. His face is covered with walnut lines. He looks old and aged, which is slightly different from his actual age.
At the moment, he was sitting on a large bluestone, watching the women tinkering with the stoves and cooking, while lecturing his sons and nephews.
He looked heartbroken: "Alas, I keep singing in vain every day. Not only do I lose money, but I also have to hire people to clean the garden. I really feel for the prince."
The married nephews and nephews looked at each other and knew that he was going to start talking about the same old truth again. They had become accustomed to it over the years, so they all fell silent.
Only the youngest son was only sixteen years old, and he was rebellious and lively at that time. He couldn't help but puff out his cheeks and retorted: "The prince is not short of money in the class. What kind of leisure does dad have?"
Lu Youwang glared when he heard this: "Don't I feel sorry for the prince? The prince is a good man. Seeing him losing money in vain makes me feel sad."
Lu Xiaolang said puzzledly: "The prince's family has a big business, so why would he care about these small amounts of money? He opened a theater just for fun, so how could he think about earning three melons and two dates?"
Lu Youwang picked up the opera stick next to him and hit it: "When the prince is as bored as you, if you really want to have fun, you can just raise a team in the house, why bother opening a garden!"
Lu Xiaolang still wanted to bite his tongue, but the stick had been beaten down, and he immediately ran away with his head in his hands.
Lu Youwang cursed: "You are ignorant and incompetent. If I had known, I wouldn't have taken you out after harvesting the wheat. Just do your work at home!"
Lu Xiaolang shouted while running: "You think I am willing to come out. It's great to be at home. Not only will I be tired when I come out, but I will also have to suffer some idleness."
He had fast legs and feet, and Lu Youwang didn't really chase after him. After being pulled by several nephews, he continued to murmur: "One generation is not as good as the last, it is true that each generation is not as good as the last!"
Lu Xiaolang was good at running, and he reached the gate not far away. He took a look at the penthouses on both sides of the courtyard gate. There were people living in both penthouses. They were the stewards who looked after the garden. It was said that they were all from the palace.
He didn't dare to disturb, and thought about going out for a walk to see if there was anything fun to see. Just then a carriage stopped outside the gate.
The newly painted wooden surface of the carriage is engraved with cloud patterns of animals and birds, and there are thick curtains on the windows, with two people driving the shaft.
Lu Xiaolang immediately stopped. This carriage was not suitable for ordinary people to sit in. Moreover, the carriage in front of him looked noble. He was afraid that some big shot was coming.
Although he didn't pay attention to many of Lu Youwang's words, he still remembered some special instructions. Now that he was working for the second king, he had to be careful at all times, especially those coming from outside. They might all be nobles, so don't conflict.
Lu Xiaolang immediately tiptoed and stood aside to wait. He saw two people getting out of the carriage, a man and a woman. They both looked like top-notch figures. They looked like immortals. He couldn't help but stare at Shen'er for a moment, unable to recover.
He watched the two people go into the wing, and within a moment the steward of the wing bowed out and led them into the garden.
Lu Xiaolang immediately panicked. This must be a big shot, but why did he come in? He hated himself for not hiding away just now. He couldn't stand down or walk away now.
He no longer had the energy to deal with his father, so he lowered his head and pretended to be respectful, but in fact he was looking at an unknown insect on the ground, thinking about the girl in Yu's class.
The steward led him forward respectfully. When he passed by, he suddenly stopped and heard a voice.
"Are you from the theater troupe?"
When Lu Xiaolang heard this, he immediately felt panicked. Even his legs and feet were half weak. Is this talking to him?
They could have sung and performed on the stage, and they were used to the scene and not afraid of people, but they were from the wild stage, and most of them sang for ordinary people, at most some wealthy households or village owners in the suburbs.
But how can those statuses be compared with those of princes, princes and ministers? Who did the two kings associate with? The princes in the court, the officials of the East and West mansions, and the ministers of the six departments.
I'm a good boy. Although Lu Xiaolang was panicking in his heart, he was very sharp-tongued as a result of singing and practicing. He hurriedly greeted him and said, "This villain is from the Lu family class."
"The Lu family class?" The young man who spoke was none other than Zhao Yu. He heard Qi Hongyu say that there were three groups: Lu, Zhang, and Yu. There were many wild groups in the Gyeonggi area, no less than a hundred, and these three groups were selected from The ones chosen carefully do not ask for how good they can sing, but only want to be upright and innocent.
Being upright means having no moral flaws, such as stealing things from the master's family, blackmailing the master's family, or even the girls in the class performing arts on stage and selling themselves off the stage, which is called a troupe, but is actually a kind of prostitution.
Innocence means that the origin must be well-documented, the household registration must be clear and correct, the person must be a good householder, the identity must not be suspicious, and the person must not be a spy sent by the Liao Kingdom and Xixia.
Speaking of spies, after Zhao Tong came back from the Kingdom of Jin, he specifically investigated the origins of Wanyan Baohua's husband. He approached Tong Guan about this matter and also approached the pacifying envoys along Hebei Road. It took him more than half a year to find out. His identity was determined.
This person's so-called "Liu Lang" scholar status is actually fake. He has never even attended a formal school.
This man was born in a hereditary military family on Hebei East Road. Because of his elegant appearance and bookish look, he was selected by the Jiyi Department of the border army and planned to be trained as a spy and sent to the Liao Kingdom.
Then this man entered Tokyo and stayed for a year in the Inspector's Office under the Privy Council's Computer Room. During this period, he underwent various trainings, especially articles and poems, which were almost crammed into him, just to package him into a scholar.
So this person had a year of experience in Tokyo and knew many things in Tokyo, such as Zhao Wenxiu’s pens, Pan Gu’s ink ingots, etc., and he also developed a Tokyo accent. A year later, this person left Tokyo and returned to the frontier army. Soon he was sent to Liao Kingdom.
This person was still able to pass information back in the Liao Kingdom at first. Later, after the war between Liao and Jin, there was no news about this person. Generally speaking, as long as a spy has no information for half a year, the Jiyi Department will determine that he has been exposed. If you take the initiative to contact the person again and there is no news for a year, then he will be deemed dead and the aftermath will be dealt with.
This man's surname was not Liu, but Yang. His single name was Lang. He was the second among three brothers in the family. He and the eldest son of the family were both frontier soldiers.
After Zhao Tong obtained Yang Lang's detailed information, he didn't say much and directly sent someone to deliver three thousand taels of silver and a letter to the Yang family.
The Yang family actually thought that Yang Lang was dead for a long time. After all, Jiyisi had done some good things and sent out pensions.
Zhao Tong described in his letter the process of "making friends" with Yang Lang.
This process is naturally a fabrication. It is said that he and Yang Lang met in Tokyo, hit it off and became friends, but they did not know their true identities.
Later, Yang Lang left Tokyo. He couldn't find him for a long time and was confused. He sent someone to investigate and discovered Yang Lang's true origin. Then he traced it all the way and determined Yang Lang's identity. Unfortunately, Yang Lang had already died for his country. .
In the letter, he also wrote that in fact, Yang Lang had a confidante when he was in Tokyo, and the two had a private life. After Yang Lang left, the woman had been waiting for his return.
But in the end, what we waited for was the unfortunate news. This woman had a true love for Yang Lang. The day after receiving the news, she hanged herself from a beam and followed Yang Lang.
Therefore, Zhao Tong hoped that the Yang family could add this woman to their family register in the name of Yang Lang's wife. After all, the two had already settled down for life and had lived in Tokyo for a period of time. Maybe Yang Lang was afraid that his future was uncertain, so That's why he didn't take this girl back to Hebei.
Zhao Tong also said that by doing this he hoped that Yang Lang would not be alone in Jiuquan and fulfill their wishes. He wrote down the woman's name, surname Yan, with the double character Baohua.
Zhao Tong also said that if any descendant of the Yang family is smart and wants to find a way out, they can be sent to Tokyo to find him and be cultivated by him.
It was such a letter full of loopholes, but it made the Yang family believe it deeply and even shed tears of gratitude.
Because of Zhao Yu's status, how could he lie to them?
Especially the last item in the letter, to cultivate a descendant of the Yang family, this is not an ordinary grace.
The Yang family is a military household with a low status. This military household is different from the imperial family. A military household is a household designated by the government to send troops during a war. Military households must have people during wars. Moreover, military households are hereditary. This status is extremely important. Hard to get rid of.
But with Zhao Tong's promise, one of his Yang family members will completely get rid of their status as a hereditary military household, and following Zhao Tong, they will most likely stand out and honor their ancestors. This is a great reward.
Therefore, the Yang family followed Zhao Tao's instructions and naturalized Yan Baohua, and even built a tomb for the two of them.
The espionage wars between the Song Dynasty, the Northern Liao Dynasty, and the Western Xia Dynasty lasted for more than a hundred years, and they infiltrated and lurked with each other. During this period, there were many sad and joyful stories, which cannot be told in a short time.
The most important thing for the innocence of this theater troupe is to rule out the identity of spies. The three troupes of Lu, Zhang, and Yu, as well as the people from Suiyulou, went to their hometowns to check and confirmed that they were all century-old households, and then the decision was finally made. .
As Zhao Tong walked, he asked Lu Xiaolang, "What's your name?"
Lu Xiaolang was stunned for a moment. At this time, he no longer wanted to go out for a stroll. He followed up from the side and said, "Replying to your noble lord, the younger one does not have a big name. He is always called Xiaolang in the family."
The steward leading the way shouted in a low voice: "Don't be rude in front of His Majesty the King of Qin!"
When Lu Xiaolang heard this, he immediately trembled, his legs became weak and he wanted to kneel down.
He didn't expect that the young man in front of him was the second king. Zhao Tan's reputation was too famous, especially in the market. At Lu Xiaolang's age, what he paid attention to were heroes. He didn't care much about Zhao Tan's lyrics and music, but regaining Huai Xi, annihilating bandits is what a true hero does in his heart.
Zhao Tong said: "No need to worry, just reply properly."
Lu Xiaolang said hurriedly: "Thank you, Your Majesty. Your Majesty has some questions, and I will always answer them with care."
As Zhao Tong walked, he casually asked him some questions about the troupe. Gradually, Lu Xiaolang was no longer nervous as before, but answered very appropriately.
When they arrived at the house, the steward called everyone over, and then introduced Zhao Tong's identity. Everyone was excited and wanted to pay homage.
Zhao Tong shook his head to stop them, and then sat on the chair brought by Lu Laowang. After asking some questions, the girl next to him took out the script of "White Hair".
Zhao Tong said: "I have a play here, which is divided into five parts. There are not many characters in it. From today on, the three of you will rehearse separately, but you must remember that the content cannot be spread outside."
The three class leaders nodded in agreement. They knew that this must be a new show. After all, if rumors cannot be leaked, it must not be an old show.
Zhao Tong added: "All three families must be able to sing. Whichever one sings better will be rewarded by me as an extra."
The three families' eyes lit up when they heard this. The prince's reward was no better than that of ordinary wealthy farm owners. It is impossible to say that one reward could be worth a year's salary.
The three class leaders also looked at each other, and they could all see what each other was thinking, and they began to compete secretly.
Zhao Tong smiled at this time and turned to look behind him: "I have a subordinate who likes to listen to music on weekdays. He is haunted by this Taoist spirit. Today I brought him here too."
As he spoke, a driver behind him stepped forward with an embarrassed expression, but it was Ouyang Bei.
The three class leaders didn't know what they meant. Lu Laowang muttered: "What does the prince mean..."
Zhao Tong pointed at Ouyang Bei and said: "Since my subordinate loves this art so much, I want to help him. I have left him a job in this opera. From today on, he will live in the theater and practice opera. What's the matter? If you don’t know how to do it, teach him more.”
The three class leaders kept saying "I don't dare", but they were very puzzled in their hearts. This opera singing is not an easy job. Why do the prince's men still have this hobby?
Ouyang Bei was also confused at this time. Zhao Yu called him over to drive the car without mentioning it at all. Why did he suddenly think of letting him act?
He scratched his head and said, "Sir, which one should I play?"
Zhao Tong lowered his eyelids slightly, looked at the script and said: "There is a rogue in this play, his name is Ouyang Renzhi, you should play him."
(End of chapter)
