I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 228 Royal Theatre

Zhu Houxuan clearly knew that what Zhu Houzhao lacked most was not majesty, but the favorability of the people, so he took great pains to design this new version of the silver coin. Otherwise, how could this version of the silver coin be designed for more than a year without being finalized?
Before the trial production of this version, Zhu Houxun even took the drawings to many people for experiments. After looking at the drawings and knowing that the person on the drawings was Zhu Houzhao, their impressions of Zhu Houzhao improved.

Even if one has heard many absurd legends about Zhu Houzhao before, when one actually sees the kind, friendly and handsome Zhu Houzhao on the silver coin, one's impression of Zhu Houzhao will undergo some subtle changes.

The saying "seeing is believing" is exactly this truth.

"I still don't like this version." Zhu Houzhao played with the silver coin for a long time and said hesitantly, "I still feel it should be more majestic."

Zhu Houxuan understood what was going on with Zhu Houzhao at a glance, and Zhu Houzhao was a little bit unable to adapt to the change in his temperament.
"Brother, the purpose of issuing this version of silver coins at this point in time is not that simple," Zhu Houxuan looked at Zhu Houzhao meaningfully.

"You mean?" Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhu Houxuan.

"Yes." Zhu Houxuan said in an affirmative tone.

Zhu Houzhao's eyes fixed, and he hesitated for a moment before making a decision: "In that case, let's use this version."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Zhu Houxuan bowed and saluted.

"Okay, stop flattering me and talk about something interesting. I heard that your Royal Theater is about to open, right?" Zhu Houzhao asked curiously.

"Yes, my brother is concerned about this?" Zhu Houxuan said with a smile.

"It's not just me who is concerned about this. People all over the capital are concerned about this. I heard that your grand theater is built with steel pillars, is four stories high, and has a lot of glass tiles on the roof. It was built so quickly, it's impossible for everyone not to be concerned about it," Zhu Houzhao said with relish.

The Royal Grand Theater is a building under the name of the Propaganda Department of the Ming Royal Group. Construction began in the eighth year of Zhengde. It is located next to the platform factory. It is an integrated building mainly made of steel and concrete. It is 20 meters high and covers an area of ​​more than 6000 square meters.

The theater has four floors of auditorium, with a total of 4 seats upstairs and downstairs, and the floors above the second floor are for boxes.

A large amount of transparent glass is used for lighting. Although each piece is relatively small, it is still very eye-catching in this era.

In fact, this theater is not big. From the perspective of later generations, it is just an inconspicuous small building on the roadside. But in that era, it was already horrifying enough. After all, the largest single building known now, the Fengtian Hall, only covers an area of ​​more than 2000 square meters.

It’s not that the Propaganda Department doesn’t want to build a bigger one, nor is it that they don’t have the ability to build a bigger one, but there was no sound amplification equipment in that era, and in order to ensure that all viewers had a good viewing experience, they could only build it this big.

But what surprised the people in Beijing was the speed of construction. Such a large building was topped out in just half a year, and then the interior decoration began.

The Propaganda Department built this theater for two reasons: first, to make a profit. The Propaganda Department is not profitable yet and needs continuous funding from the group to maintain it. Second, to guide the direction of cultural trends and provide more cultural products that conform to the values ​​of industrial society to influence social trends. Third, to promote new construction technologies.

"It's about to open. The interior has been renovated and the various troupes from the Propaganda Department are already rehearsing inside," said Zhu Houxuan.

The reason why the Royal Theatre was renovated so quickly is that it did not follow the luxurious Baroque style of Europe, but instead adopted a modern and simple style. The decoration is not luxurious and will not cause dissatisfaction among some officials.

"Are there any new plays?" Zhu Houzhao smiled excitedly. "Yes, the Propaganda Department is rehearsing a big play, waiting to launch the first shot after the opening."

"What drama? I didn't even know about this!" Zhu Houzhao felt itchy.

"'The Inspector General of the Song Dynasty' is a series of dramas with more than twenty scenes in total." Zhu Houxuan said after thinking for a while.

"Ah? The Song Dynasty? The Chief Justice?" Zhu Houzhao asked in confusion. The enthusiasm on his face quickly disappeared. "Doesn't this sound interesting?"

"It's very interesting. You'll know when you go there. I've reserved a special box for you," Zhu Houxuan said mysteriously.

The project of "The Inspector General of the Song Dynasty" was led by Zhu Houxuan. He believed that with the current technical conditions, there was nothing more suitable for the stage than a suspense and mystery drama because the event scenes could be made smaller.

Each show is an independent story. Even if you don’t know the previous and subsequent plots, it will not affect your viewing experience. There is also a main line connecting each story, which attracts the audience to watch all the shows.

Moreover, suspense, reasoning, and murder investigation are very attractive in any era, and are suitable for all ages. If "The Great Song Dynasty Judge" becomes popular, it can also withdraw from the Di Renjie and Bao Qingtian series.
In this way, the Propaganda Department will have a stable cash cow.

"Okay, I will definitely go to see it then," said Zhu Houzhao.

After leaving the Leopard House, Zhu Houxuan did not return to Nangong, but instead drove the carriage to the Royal Theater in Taijichang.

When he arrived at the Royal Theatre, Zhu Houxuan went straight to Sun Gong, the head of the Propaganda Department, who was the music director of the Prince of Jing's Palace.

Sun Gong was very surprised by Zhu Houxuan's arrival, "I didn't know your Highness was coming, so I couldn't greet you from afar."

"I came to see if you were so focused on the theater that you put more important things in second place," Zhu Houxuan interrupted Sun Gong directly.

"Your Highness, how dare I? I am an old man in the Prince of Jing's Mansion. I always put the prince's words first. Now the people from the Propaganda Department have already penetrated into the four northern provinces as the prince said." Sun Gong complained.

Then Sun Gong began to report the work of the Propaganda Department to Zhu Houxuan in detail.
"Not bad," Zhu Houxuan said after listening to Sun Gong's report.

"In a few months, your Propaganda Department will be needed. If you do a good job, your Propaganda Department will be able to show off your reputation in the group and make great contributions! I will personally award you the medal at that time! If you fail, you can just go back to Qizhou!" Zhu Houxuan said with a stern face.

"Yes! I understand," Sun said respectfully and firmly, although he didn't know what would happen in a few months.

Time quickly came to May. During this period, merchants who had received invitations to the first Ming Dynasty Merchants Conference arrived in the capital one after another.

They all attached great importance to this conference. Merchant groups from various places, such as Shanxi merchants, Qin merchants, Huizhou merchants, Fujian merchants, etc., all sent important figures to the capital.

In the end, there were less than a thousand merchants participating in this conference, much less than the four or five thousand people who attended each examination.

The first Ming Dynasty Merchants Conference will be held in the newly renovated Royal Theatre.
(End of this chapter)