Bringing the Railway to Daming

The Mid-Autumn Festival is fast approaching.

Because Empress Ma needed to go to bed early, the movie screening banquet was scheduled for noon.

However, at nine o'clock in the morning, Liu Kuan arrived at the Dashan Hall of the Imperial Palace with Zhu Huilan and other family members.

Zhu Yuanzhang, Empress Ma, Zhu Biao and his family, as well as other princes and grandsons who remained in the capital, were already there.

After Liu Kuan and his family paid their respects, he observed that Empress Ma was in relatively good spirits today, but compared to last year or even the year before, she had aged considerably and her hair was almost completely white.

This time, without Zhu Yuanzhang asking, Liu Kuan took the initiative to reveal his arrangements.

"Your Majesty, I have prepared ten songs, two movies, and four videos. There are still three hours before lunch; how about we watch a movie first?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, "We'll do as you say."

Then, the palace servants skillfully set up a "home theater".

However, this time, to accommodate Empress Ma's health, the front seats are more spacious.

Before long, the tables and chairs were set out, and Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao helped Empress Ma to her seat.

Empress Ma laughed and said, "I can walk by myself, why would I need two people to help me?"

At Zhu Yuanzhang's signal, Zhu Biao released his hand, and then Zhu Yuanzhang helped Empress Ma to her seat.

After everyone was seated, Liu Kuan put the tablet computer away.

"Your Majesty, this time we are showing a classic comedy from later generations, which is also adapted from a classic opera from later generations. I mentioned it before, and it is called 'Flirting Scholar'."

Tang Bohu Points at Qiu Xiang?

Upon hearing the title of the play, most people showed interest.

During a movie-watching gathering one year, Liu Kuan mentioned that Tang Bohu was a famous scholar in the mid-Ming Dynasty, one of the Four Talented Scholars of Wuzhong, and became even more renowned in later generations.

The story of "Flirting Scholar" is obviously about romance, which naturally interests most people—even royalty enjoy gossiping about matters between men and women.

Although a few people, including Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao, would prefer to see some useful films and television programs, they naturally did not say anything, considering that this Mid-Autumn Festival film screening was mainly held for Empress Ma.

Old Zhu nodded and smiled, "Okay, then play it."

Liu Kuan replied, "Your Majesty, let me explain first—because this is a comedy from later times, and the creator lived in Hong Kong at that time, the content may seem somewhat bold and absurd to Your Majesty..."

Thinking about certain parts of "Flirting Scholar," Liu Kuan didn't know how to describe them for a moment—in fact, he hesitated for a long time about whether to broadcast the show.

Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao and others were looking at him with puzzled expressions, he gritted his teeth and said, "In short, the contents are all fabricated, even less reliable than unofficial histories and folk tales. Some of the profound content is also a satire of certain customs in Hong Kong in later generations. Your Majesty can just laugh it off if you read it."

Zhu Yuanzhang chuckled after hearing this, "Do you think we don't know what the word 'comedy' means? Isn't it just about making people laugh, like a farce?"

Good comedy not only makes people laugh, but also satirizes some real-life phenomena, prompts deep thought, and even makes people laugh and cry at the same time, with tears in their eyes.

However, Liu Kuan did not explain, but instead said, "Then shall this humble subject play it?"

"Stop dawdling and start playing."

Liu Kuan said no more and started playing a movie on the touchscreen.

Soon the opening credits were over, and Stephen Chow's classic comedy, "Flirting Scholar," began.

Because it's a 1993 film, even though Liu Kuan showed a restored version, the picture quality still couldn't compare to the films from 2000 onwards that Lao Zhu's family had watched before.

Fortunately, everyone was eager for the film and wasn't picky.

The film opens with an exaggerated scene where others snatch Tang Bohu's scrap paper from the garbage thrown into the Tang mansion to show how popular Tang Bohu's calligraphy and paintings are.

The scene then shifts to Tang Bohu solemnly selecting from a row of calligraphy brushes, seemingly about to create something.

Zhu Biao and others thought so too—a talented man must enjoy writing poetry and painting in his spare time.

Who would have thought that after Tang Bohu selected his calligraphy brush, as the camera moved, he was actually using the brush to dip in oil and sauce to roast chicken!
Upon seeing this, Zhu Biao and the others were utterly stunned. Those like Zhu Chun, who loved literature and calligraphy, were even more indignant after their initial shock, muttering, "How can one use a brush like that? He's supposed to be a talented scholar; this is a disgrace to literature!"

However, Emperor Zhu, Empress Ma, and some concubines and princesses were stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter.

Then, an even more shocking plot development occurred, which left Zhu Chun and other people who valued calligraphy and painting even more "astonished".

Zhu Zhishan lost again and was heavily in debt, so he came to ask Tang Bohu to help him pay off his debts by painting a picture.

As a result, Tang Bohu actually used Zhu Zhishan's body as an ink brush, made him take off his clothes, splashed ink on his body, and made him create a "Soaring Eagle" painting on a large piece of paper.

The dialogue between Zhu Zhishan and Tang Bohu is full of twists and turns, which is not to mention the humor. When Zhu Zhishan took off his clothes, the concubines and princesses all exclaimed and quickly covered their eyes.

Old Zhu was initially taken aback, but when he saw that the key parts were blurred out and that Zhu Zhishan was quickly covered in ink so that nothing could be seen, he was somewhat relieved.

Even so, he couldn't help but say, "That's really bold, it's indecent."

Empress Ma, however, took a more open-minded view, laughing and saying, "How can we judge the events of later generations by the standards of this time? Besides, Hong Kong was colonized by the British for over a century, so the atmosphere must have changed drastically, which is understandable."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said no more, continuing to read on.

When viewers saw that Tang Bohu had eight wives who all gathered together to play mahjong and casually damaged his calligraphy and paintings, and that his mother and all eight wives threatened to hang themselves at the drop of a hat, from Zhu Yuanzhang to the young imperial grandsons and princesses, they finally understood why Liu Kuan had previously said that the movie's content was absurd.

This certainly seemed absurd to them.

Not to mention that it's impossible for a scholar or a licentiate to marry eight wives, even if they did have eight wives, how could they treat the head of the household like that?
What about the Three Obediences and Four Virtues?
However, it was only after seeing this that they truly began to treat it as a film to be laughed off.

After the film goes through scenes like "Prince Ning sends a doctor to visit Tang Bohu, who pretends to be sick and plays 'Dingjun Mountain' while fiddling with his meridians" and "Tang Bohu's mother recounts the story of the Tang family's two major enemies and the death of Tang's father," Tang Bohu's eight wives then stage a real-life scene of "destroying the house" and "causing chaos."

Later, Tang Bohu left home to clear his mind, where he met Qiu Xiang and fell in love at first sight. He then entered the Hua family mansion as a servant to pursue her...

Once the whole family viewed the movie as a "joke," they were able to appreciate most of the comedic moments. The more they watched, the more they laughed, including Empress Ma.

The entire series is over a hundred minutes long. At the beginning, the Zhu family felt it was a bit slow because they weren't used to the nonsensical humor, but once they got used to it, it felt like it was over in no time.

However, even though the movie was over, Old Zhu's family started discussing its content enthusiastically.

"The plot of this movie is so outrageous. I never thought there would be such a movie in later generations."

"I think, if you don't take it too seriously, the movie is actually quite funny... hahaha, my stomach hurt from laughing."

"It's really funny. I don't know what the moviemaker was thinking."

"···"

With a lingering smile, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "Biao'er, what do you think of this 'Flirting Scholar'?"

Zhu Biao glanced at Liu Kuan, pondered for a moment, and said, "Many things in it are indeed absurd, exaggerated, and even unreasonable, but I think it does have a lot of satirical meaning, and the core idea it ultimately expresses is a normal concept."

"For example, Tang Bohu's eight wives and concubines, although not as beautiful as the celestial beings described in the play, were all of above-average looks."

"But they lacked the three obediences and four virtues, and did not know how to appreciate Tang Bohu's talent, so Tang Bohu did not like them. Tang Bohu took a liking to Qiu Xiang when she was distributing steamed buns to the refugees, and he pointed out that he liked Qiu Xiang because of her benevolence."

"I am not familiar with the customs of later generations, so I cannot say for sure what specific things the movie satirizes in the later generations."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly.

Liu Kuan praised, "His Highness the Crown Prince has indeed seen through this movie—to be honest, many parts of the movie seem absurd and exaggerated, but the vast majority of the plot has a basis in reality."

"For example, in the opening scene, Tang Bohu's eight wives are playing mahjong and drinking at home, creating a chaotic atmosphere. This was indeed the case in some families in Hong Kong at the time, especially the concubines who were married into wealthy families. With nothing to do, they naturally had to play mahjong, drink, smoke, and engage in other forms of entertainment."

"Of course, the male heads of these families are not necessarily good people. Some wealthy descendants have several concubines, and they also have affairs and keep mistresses outside, and they drink, gamble and even smoke opium."

After a pause, Liu Kuan continued, "Actually, it wasn't just Hong Kong in later generations; there were also many things in Jiangnan during the late Ming Dynasty that seem absurd at that time."

"For example, many talented scholars, writers, and even officials considered it an honor to associate with famous courtesans, and it was common for officials to frequent brothels. There was even an official known as the 'Literary Master of Jiangzuo,' who held the position of Minister, who took a famous courtesan as a concubine and later made her his principal wife..." (End of this chapter)