I am a historical film director in the entertainment industry.

In the struggle for the crown prince position, he appeared to passively "win by default," but in reality, he exploited the conflict between Li Chengqian and Li Tai, using his father to eliminate his two elder brothers.

After ascending the throne, he used the "deposing the emperor and establishing Wu Zetian" as a breakthrough point to join forces with Wu Zetian to attack the Guanlong clique, forcing his maternal uncle Changsun Wuji to commit suicide and completely reclaiming imperial power.

Do you think this emperor was 'weak'?

[Impressive! Li Zhi truly lives up to his reputation as a black lotus, just like Liu Heng, that white lotus; his methods are chillingly sophisticated.]

【…】

Seeing the immense popularity of "The Great Tang Dynasty" online, Shengli Film Company immediately stepped in to amplify the film's promotional efforts.

After the film's premiere, it will be shown nationwide.

As the movie was released, the box office soared, and everyone was shocked by the first day's box office results.

A single-day box office of 6000 million yuan—if this were a film directed by Cheng Sheng, perhaps people wouldn't be so shocked.

However, this was Liu Meng's first film as a newcomer, and apart from Cheng Sheng, no other director in China has achieved such a high single-day box office performance.

Cheng Sheng's "The Great Tang Dynasty 1" grossed 8000 million yuan on its opening day.

Liu Meng can be said to have achieved legendary status in one battle.

People in the industry posted messages to congratulate Liu Meng.

Although Liu Meng was excited, he did not get carried away, but instead focused his energy on his next work.

As time went on, the box office of "The Great Tang Dynasty 2" continued to rise, but unfortunately, the daily box office never surpassed that of the opening day.

After half a month, the total box office reached 600 million RMB.

Although this box office performance is already outstanding, in China, apart from Cheng Sheng, probably no one has surpassed Liu Meng's box office.

Compared to the box office phenomenon of "The Great Tang Dynasty 1", "The Great Tang Dynasty 2" is still far inferior.

《大唐1》一个星期票房就有5亿8千万，最终国内票房是8亿5千万，全球票房是7亿美金。

Currently, the box office of "The Great Tang Dynasty 2" after half a month has only slightly exceeded the box office of "The Great Tang Dynasty 1" after one week.

What's truly despicable are those unscrupulous media reporters who, seeing that "The Great Tang Dynasty 2" failed to surpass "The Great Tang Dynasty 1" at the box office, couldn't help but publish inaccurate reports online.

They directly and harshly criticized Liu Meng, saying that Liu Meng ruined the "Tang Dynasty" IP.

I almost pointed my finger at Liu Meng and started yelling at him.

All I can say is that those reporters were really desperate to grab attention.

Liu Meng's "The Great Tang Dynasty 2" is already very well made. Even the Youth Daily praised "The Great Tang Dynasty 2". However, some unscrupulous reporters just want to stand out and write things to attract attention.

Fortunately, the audience has discerning eyes and knows that although "The Great Tang Dynasty 2" has its flaws, it cannot be expected that every director is as good as Cheng Sheng.

After all, there is only one Cheng Sheng in China.

Soon it was May 20th.

And this day was the day when filming for "Zheng He's Voyages to the West" began.

This time, the press conference for the start of filming was not held in Kyoto, but in a city in southern Fujian, near the sea. At the dock by the sea, there were 10 ancient warships, which were the Fujian ships that Cheng Sheng had been asked to recreate one by one.

As a powerful naval weapon of the Ming Dynasty, the Fujian ship was as tall as a building and could accommodate a hundred people. It had macroscopic features such as a pointed bottom, a wide top, a raised and open bow, and a towering stern.

Fujian ships are characterized by their pointed bottom, small square bow and wide stern, and many watertight compartments. The pointed bottom is equipped with ballast stones, and the deep draft and good stability make them unafraid of wind and waves at sea.

The core of Fujian shipbuilding techniques lies in three key technologies: watertight compartments, fish-scale jointing, and multiple hull plates.

Watertight compartment technology refers to the use of bulkheads to tightly divide the ship's cabin into multiple independent, sealed compartments. Even if one or two compartments are flooded, the other compartments can still maintain buoyancy, greatly improving the ship's resistance to sinking and the safety of long-distance voyages.

This technology was invented in the Tang Dynasty, matured in the Song Dynasty, and reached its peak in the Ming Dynasty, leading the West for hundreds of years. It is still the fundamental principle of modern ship design.

The combination of fish-scale interlocking and multi-plate technology enhances the hull's robustness and impact resistance.

The seams of the hull plates are sealed with a sealant made of tung oil, hemp fibers, and oyster shell ash to ensure watertightness.

In naval battles, Fujian ships were as tall as city walls and could not be driven by human power. They relied entirely on the wind and could use their size advantage to press down and crush smaller enemy ships.

According to the "Treatise on Military Preparedness", this kind of giant ship had three floors, with protective planks on the sides, standing like walls. The top floor was a terrace, where soldiers could look down and fire arrows, stones and cannons from above.

The bow was equipped with various firearms and cold weapons, such as the Hongyi cannon and the breech-loading cannon. The crew included sailors and soldiers, making it an effective naval warfare platform. The Fujian ships of the Ming Dynasty were just like modern aircraft carriers.

It's impossible not to be impressed by the advanced shipbuilding industry of the Ming Dynasty.

Unfortunately, the blueprints for the Fujian ship were burned in history. If Cheng Sheng hadn't obtained the complete blueprints for the Fujian ship through the simulation panel, he probably wouldn't have been able to see the complete Fujian ship at all.

The ten Fujian-style ships docked at the pier resembled ten aircraft carriers, a truly magnificent sight. Many people stood by the pier, marveling at the spectacle and pointing at the ships.

Apart from a few people who don't follow online news, most people know that these ten Fujian ships were used to film "Zheng He's Voyages to the West".

[Holy crap, Cheng Sheng went all out! He actually built ten ancient warships just for filming a movie.]

[Wow, that's awesome! I heard Cheng Sheng invested around 1 billion yuan in this movie. If I had 1 billion yuan, I'd be living a life of leisure by now, why would I need to work?]

[A Fujian-style ship? It looks like a Fujian-style ship from the Ming Dynasty! But wait, weren't the blueprints for the Fujian-style ship burned?]

[It's a reconstruction! The blueprints were burned, but there are still scattered records in history books.]

The Ming Dynasty's Fujian ships were enormous, like small aircraft carriers. It's a pity that with such excellent ships, they never discovered the Americas.

Yes! If Zheng He, whom Zhu Di sent back then, had discovered the Americas, Zhu Di would definitely be considered a great emperor for all time.

[Damn it, it makes me so angry! They have such a nice ship, and they're going to sail the Western Ocean to look for the missing Zhu Yunwen.]

[And then there's the propaganda about the Ming Dynasty's power. What the hell? If I traveled back to Zhu Di's era, I'd want to slap him across the face. Promoting what kind of national power is that?! Wasn't colonization better? If the Ming Dynasty had started colonizing back then, China wouldn't have had over a hundred years of humiliation.]

[This is not Zhu Di's fault; at the time, people believed the sky was flat and the earth was round, and had no idea that the outside world was so vast.]

I think it's Confucianism that's to blame; it has emasculated the adventurous spirit of the Chinese people.

[You lot really think you're historians, spouting nonsense about the past and present. Shouldn't everyone be more interested in Cheng Sheng's new film right now?]

"Zheng He's Voyages to the West" is absolutely a masterpiece. If advance tickets were available now, I'd buy them immediately.

[Starring Andy Lau and Jing Tian, ​​with a supporting cast full of talented actors, this movie is phenomenal.] (End of Chapter)