You were asked to write a political intrigue drama, but you wrote "Da Ming 1566".

Chapter 17 Converting Rice Paddy to Mulberry Trees! That's what you call serving the country and its people!

[As the conversation turned to opening up maritime trade routes and establishing trade relations with overseas countries, Zhang Juzheng was still carefully considering his words when Yan Song preemptively took over the conversation.]

"Zhang Juzheng and I had previously discussed this idea."

Xu Jie and Gao Gong abruptly turned to look at Zhang Juzheng, who looked utterly bewildered and instinctively shook his head slightly.

Ignoring the expressions of those around him, Yan Song continued, "Once the sea trade routes are opened, the next thing to consider is what goods to ship overseas to earn the most silver."

"A bolt of fine raw silk might sell for only six taels of silver in the interior, but if it were shipped to Western countries, it could fetch at least ten taels of silver."

"Currently, there are 10,000 looms in Yingtian and 8,000 in Zhejiang. I am wondering if we could increase the number of looms to produce more silk?"

Upon hearing this, the Jiajing Emperor immediately spoke up.

"Of course! The key is silkworms. How can we cultivate more mulberry fields and increase silk production?"

Yan Song immediately bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise. Historically, silk production has largely relied on Zhejiang for supply, due to the local climate and soil."

["The cabinet suggests that half of the existing farmland in Zhejiang should be converted into mulberry fields, which would increase silk production by more than ten million taels per year."]

[Jiajing then asked, "With all the farmland converted into mulberry fields, where will the people of Zhejiang get their food?"]

Yan Song immediately replied, "Transfer it from other provinces. In previous years, one million shi of grain were transferred to Zhejiang from other provinces every year. With the addition of mulberry fields, we can transfer even more."

[Jiajing asked again: "Grain transported from other provinces will certainly be more expensive. Will the people who grow mulberry trees be willing to pay that price?"]

Yan Song calmly replied, "The income from mulberry cultivation and silk production is far higher than that from grain cultivation."

After a moment's deliberation, Jiajing finally made his decision: "Add one more clause: mulberry fields converted to farmland shall still be taxed according to the standards for farmland, and no additional taxes shall be levied."

"The cabinet should draft a detailed plan for this matter and entrust it to Hu Zongxian in Zhejiang to handle."

Taking a deep breath, Chen Yu's fingertips fell, and he slowly typed out the last line of text.

The court debate in the Golden Palace concluded, and the conversion of rice paddies to mulberry fields was officially established as the most pressing national policy of the Ming Dynasty. The Princess Consort Yu's heart-wrenching cries finally subsided with the clear cries of her newborn son; the Ming Dynasty welcomed its eldest grandson. The various factions in the court all experienced gains and losses, a mixed bag.

The Jiajing Emperor, having already prepared winter dates and chestnuts, entrusted a eunuch to deliver them to Prince Yu's residence. Before the entire court, he sighed, "Family affairs, state affairs, and affairs of the world—I dare not be ignorant of these matters."

After all the officials had left, the Jiajing Emperor kept Yan Song and his son Yan Shifan alone to enjoy the Lantern Festival. He sighed again, thinking, "Family affairs, national affairs, and affairs of the world—even I am not omniscient."

[The third act of the Ming Dynasty has officially come to an end!]

When the final chapter, which was much longer than the previous two acts, came to a close, the viewers in front of the screen breathed a sigh of relief. Immediately afterwards, a barrage of comments swept across the entire live stream.

Many viewers were puzzled by Yan Song's actions.

"What's going on?"

"Why isn't Grand Secretary Yan busy purging treacherous officials? Why is he instead focusing on national welfare and people's livelihood?"

"The idea of ​​converting rice paddies to mulberry fields sounds like a perfect solution. Grand Secretary Yan has considered every aspect, and the plan is so comprehensive."

"But I really can't understand why Zhang Juzheng had to be brought up when proposing this plan?"

Some viewers sighed softly, as if they had already seen through Yan Song's good intentions.

"That goes without saying. It's obvious that Grand Secretary Yan values ​​talent and recognizes Zhang Juzheng's abilities."

"Among the people present, only Zhang Juzheng proposed the method of increasing revenue. This vision was extraordinary. When Grand Secretary Yan came up with the national policy of converting rice paddies to mulberry fields, he naturally thought of giving Zhang Juzheng a hand and mentoring the younger generation."

"All I can say is—sigh, I really cried while watching this."

Many viewers even had tears in their eyes.

"During the previous power struggles in the court, Grand Secretary Yan showed little reaction, appearing as if he were old and frail, with failing eyesight, and powerless to fight back in the factional infighting."

"But when it comes to things like converting rice paddies to mulberry fields, which would benefit all the people, Grand Secretary Yan is not deaf or slow to react. He speaks eloquently and his thinking is incredibly clear, as if he is burning out the last bit of his life force."

"My defenses have crumbled! They've completely crumbled!"

"Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, you all need to open your eyes wide and watch carefully, and learn from them!"

"Grand Secretary Yan is truly serving the country and its people!"

"You probably couldn't have come up with such a beneficial national policy in your entire lives!"

Having written such a long script in one go, even with his reputation as a "plagiarist," Chen Yu couldn't help but feel tired and couldn't help but move his sore and stiff fingers.

He picked up his phone and glanced at it. Seeing the overwhelming discussion among the audience, he couldn't help but chuckle.

Goodness, Chen Yu was wondering if any viewers would "realize their mistake" and realize that their understanding of the high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty had become ridiculously skewed.

But after watching the comments, Chen Yu was filled with nothing but admiration.

These viewers are going further and further astray, and there's no way to pull them back.

Following the portrayal of "Grand Secretary Yan, who was concerned about the country and its people," the young Grand Secretary Yan Shifan was also hailed as a pillar of the Ming Dynasty. Some viewers even felt that he was unfathomably shrewd and his skill level was approaching the ceiling of political intrigue, seemingly even surpassing that of the Jiajing Emperor.

Even more outrageous is that some people, when analyzing the Jiajing Emperor, said that he was kind-hearted, advocated frugality, and even criticized him for being too indecisive.

Dude, this isn't just outrageous, this is outrageous beyond belief! It's outrageous to the extreme!

Compared to these insightful interpretations, it's hardly surprising that viewers felt the conversion of rice paddies to mulberry fields was a nationwide policy.

After all, this national policy sounds quite reasonable at first glance, and there's nothing wrong with it.

However, once they see the plot breakdown of the third act, the expressions on their faces will be absolutely priceless.

Just thinking about that scene made Chen Yu's lips curl into a smile.

He glanced at the time.

By the time he finished writing this long section of the script, the first day of the "Creators Competition" live broadcast was almost over.

As is customary on the show, the various film and television companies present will then give their first round of offers based on each contestant's performance in the script broadcast.

This price is updated daily in real time.

The final price quoted after the show ends on the seventh day is the film and television company's final price for the script, and it also represents the commercial value of the script in their eyes.

If a contestant accepts the offer, they can sell the script to the corresponding film and television company at that price; if they do not wish to sell, they can retain the script copyright and find a partner on their own.

The final price of the script will be converted into competition points at a fixed ratio, and then combined with the professional scores given by the judges to determine whether the contestant can advance to the next round.

For this reason, the daily bidding process is the highlight of the "Creator Competition," and all contestants must attend.

With the pricing phase about to begin, Chen Yu naturally had no intention of continuing to write.

Moreover, he had written so much today that his fingers were already sore, numb, and stiff.

Anyway, the entire script of "The Ming Dynasty" was etched in his mind, so there was no need to endure the pain of his injured hand. He could rest for one night and write it again tomorrow.

Chen Yu stopped writing. Not long after, the director announced to all the contestants that they should proceed to the bidding stage.

Chen Yu got up and walked out of the competition room, slowly heading towards the main stage of the "Creator Competition".

Meanwhile, the contestants in the other competition rooms, seeing that the time was almost up, all breathed a sigh of relief, their faces showing a dazed look after mental exhaustion.

Scriptwriting is an extremely demanding task, especially the political intrigue and strategic battles they chose, which require meticulous polishing of each interconnected element.

But for these contestants who made it into the top eight of the national "Creator Competition", this level of difficulty is nothing at all.

To meet the bidding deadline on the first day, everyone worked incredibly hard. By now, they had finished writing the scripts for the first two acts and had also unlocked the ability to access the internet using electronic devices to view audience comments.

Before going on stage to participate in the bidding process, the group members naturally couldn't wait to open their own live streams to see the real-time feedback from the audience.

However, after clicking into the live stream, only a few scattered comments appeared on the screen, and the comment section was even quieter, with hardly any messages.

Seeing this, the faces of the group darkened slightly, though they weren't entirely unprepared.

After all, it was only the first day of the live stream, and the plot and world-building had only just begun to unfold, so it was to be expected that the audience's response would not be enthusiastic.

Although the data is a bit dismal, at least there's Chen Yu, a web novelist, to put them at the bottom, so it's not too hard to accept.

"Chen Yu is really in a bad situation. He might not even have finished writing two scenes of the script yet, and hardly anyone is watching his live stream."

"My situation is much better than his."

Feeling superior, the group unanimously clicked on Chen Yu's live stream room number 8.

Just as they were about to find some psychological comfort, the scene before them left their minds completely blank.

In Chen Yu's live stream, the barrage of comments was overwhelming, flooding the screen and almost completely covering it.

The comment section is already overflowing with tens of thousands of messages, and many industry experts and drama bloggers have posted lengthy analyses of the script.

This was a world of difference compared to their deserted live stream room, something they simply couldn't understand.

Before entering the competition room, Chen Yu still looked completely bewildered on stage.

Chen Yu is just a writer of online novels; he's not good at writing scripts about power struggles and intrigue.

No, why is his live stream so popular?

Why is my live stream so deserted?

Almost simultaneously, the group realized the same possibility and immediately raised questions with the production team.

"Production crew, there's something wrong with my equipment!"

"It must be because the equipment is too old; it can't display the comments. I can't see any comments in my live stream at all; it's completely frozen!"

"Otherwise, it just doesn't make sense. Chen Yu's live stream has so many viewers, how could mine have no viewers?"

"It's definitely a device malfunction. Can you give me a replacement device that can display the comments properly?"

The production crew remained silent for a moment before finally speaking softly.

"Forehead----"

"Teachers, is it possible that the actual number of viewers in your live stream is only this many?"

After hearing the staff's reply, the remaining contestants' faces were filled with disbelief.

"Is this all the viewers I have in my live stream?"

"How is this possible!"

"If Chen Yu can generate this much buzz, how could my script be inferior to his?!"

The staff member looked embarrassed and hesitated before making an "uh".

"I can't go into specifics of the evaluation, but in terms of equipment and technology, there are absolutely no problems."

"Teacher Chen Yu's script has been trending on social media several times today. It has not only broken the record for the highest number of views on the first day of the three seasons of the 'Creators Competition,' but has also received high praise from judges such as last year's champion, Teacher Yan Ning, and Teacher Shu Ping."

"So it's actually quite reasonable for him to have this kind of popularity."

Upon hearing this, the contestants' expressions changed simultaneously, their faces filled with astonishment, clearly not believing this explanation at all.

How can someone who writes web novels write such a great screenplay?

Could it be that the "Creator Competition" production team deliberately tampered with the show for the sake of entertainment?

Contestant number 6, Andrew, a screenwriter from overseas who was once quite famous in the industry, immediately sneered.

"I've long heard that variety shows in China have always had pre-written scripts, deliberately promoting people whose abilities don't even meet the standards."

"Isn't Chen Yu the one the show is going to heavily promote this season?"

"But it doesn't matter. The online discussion doesn't mean anything, and even the judges' comments don't count."

"Whether top film and television companies are willing to offer matching high prices is the only standard for judging the quality of a script!"

The remaining contestants all had the same thought in mind.

Before long, the group, with a sense of shared hatred for the enemy, walked out of the competition room one after another and headed towards the main stage of the "Creator Competition".

At this moment, Chen Yu was already standing on the stage waiting.

Seeing the other contestants walking over chatting and laughing, Chen Yu raised his hand to greet them.

To his slight surprise, these people acted as if they hadn't seen him at all, completely ignoring his greetings.

Not only that, when the group stood in their positions, they deliberately kept a distance from him, making the boundaries very clear.

Even the way they looked at him showed no friendliness whatsoever.

Chen Yu frowned slightly, and the polite smile on his face vanished instantly, his expression turning cold.

Chen Yu wasn't stupid enough to fawn over someone who was cold to him. Besides, with so many excellent scripts from his past life in his head, there was no need for him to bother trying to get along with these people. To put it bluntly, it wouldn't do any good.

He was too lazy to rack his brains to figure out why these people were so hostile towards him. He figured it was probably because his script was more popular than theirs, nothing more.

Let them think what they want, he doesn't care at all.