Chapter 56 Theater (please ask for monthly tickets)
The role of the Inspectorate was to protect the imperial power by controlling the power from a small one, but when it became a fish pond for party struggles, it became useless.
Now after reform, the Metropolitan Procuratorate maintains its independence, but its greatest role has become supervision.
As we all know, it is really difficult to expect a group of loudmouths to do practical things.
What Zhu Yixi wants to do now is to formulate a prosecutor system like that of Japan and South Korea.
They are specifically responsible for investigating some political cases.
For example, corruption in disaster relief, corruption in river engineering, fraud in imperial examinations, killing good people and taking credit for merit, etc., involve a large number of officials and political influence.
It would be too troublesome and unnecessary to send an imperial envoy every day.
Therefore, it can be said that they are a standing team.
The first thing this group of people must have is full of enthusiasm, a high bottom line, and can even be said to be as stubborn as an ox.
"In the central government, under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, we should first establish a procuratorate to train a group of highly professional officials for my use and let them investigate serious crimes..."
It was roasting on the fire, and the nose was full of the smell of sweet potatoes. The emperor couldn't help but have an appetite, and he pulled it away regardless of the dirt, and didn't pay attention to the help of the eunuch on the side.
Eating sweet potatoes with big mouthfuls, a hint of sweetness flooded into his mouth, filling his mouth with a soft and glutinous feeling, which made Zhu Yixi extremely satisfied.
After supplementing his nutrition, his mind also works faster.
"In local justice, the county judges the person with a sentence of less than 100,000, and the government reviews the case, and then the prosecutor makes another trial. This is too cumbersome and not conducive to the benefit of the people."
Everyone understands the principle of officials protecting each other.
Generally, when there is no conflict of interest, proposals reviewed at the county level are rarely rejected.
Although there are cases of collusion of interests, most of these cases are not well-known, and it is difficult for the government and provincial levels to know the details.
There are several counties under the jurisdiction of the government and dozens of counties in the province. How is it possible to verify them one by one? It is unrealistic.
So the review becomes a superficial process.
As long as the magistrate did not offend anyone, he would not be beaten back, but if he offended someone, he would be beaten back, which would be extremely painful.
Therefore, unless the public is extremely angry or the gentry intervenes, it will be difficult for superiors to know the details.
Who can find out based on literature alone?
"So, according to the court system of later generations, there is a general judge in the county. If the plaintiff or the defendant is dissatisfied, he can apply for admission to the government. The general judge of the county will review the case, which is an intermediate court."
"Finally, if you still refuse to accept the decision, we will order a final review by the Supreme Court."
"The establishment of a prosecutor's office in the local area is responsible for investigating difficult cases and death penalty cases, which can be regarded as filling the judicial loopholes."
"The death penalty is thousands of miles away from Dali Temple. How can it be clearly investigated? If officials are not filial, they will be punished immediately. It will affect the test results and require a prosecutor."
Zhu Yixi shook his head. He clearly understood the unspoken rules of officialdom, but he could not change them.
I have to praise others for their hard work.
"Don't be hasty, just take it step by step."
Zhu Yixi chuckled lightly, he is only forty years old now, it's not too late yet!
…
The heavy snow in Beijing is getting worse day by day, and it is constantly covering the streets. For a time, there are so many people, it is difficult for cars and horses to move, and there are some congestions.
The scoldings flew up and the complaints continued.
Under the cold wind, the thinly-clad civilians felt very uncomfortable.
The King of Liao looked at this scene with great interest, and he was not too cold. He opened the curtain and couldn't take his eyes away.
It was obviously regarded as a drama and it was very lively.
Although he was born with a noble stomach, the King of Liao especially liked the atmosphere of the market and would go back and forth.
In his opinion, the laughter and fun among the people is always better than the coldness and warmth in the palace.
Although they are connected by blood, the affection between brothers is not even comparable to that of civil neighbors.
"Your Highness, the wind is strong." Zhou Zhao shrank his head. He really didn't understand the hobbies of the King of Liao. What's so good about quarreling? The quarrels between the common people were full of dirty words, which was insulting to gentle people.
"You kid, you are just Xu."
The King of Liao put down the curtain without saying anything, and said helplessly: "Aren't the various flavors in the world interesting?"
Zhou Zhao curled his lips.
The relationship between the two is excellent, and they don't mind it at all.
"By the way, have you found your gourd?"
The King of Liao regained his composure at this time, and said hurriedly and enthusiastically: "Lend me to play with you for a few days. The old man is almost out of his mind, and I am not allowed to touch it."
Zhou Zhao smiled bitterly: "Sir, Uncle Zhu is back, but I can't let you play with him, otherwise my mother won't be able to spare me."
"Your Majesty, don't you have a few more at your place? Just go and ask for them."
King Liao shook his head and said helplessly: "I don't even have the crown prince, how can I have this ability?"
"However, Zhu Lingbizhi has arrested the thief, and the theater troupe in Beijing has been arranged. Let's go and see how it goes."
As he spoke, he said with joy: "Boss Shang has a great voice, he must be a good singer."
"Your boy will also make an appearance at this time, be proud of you, he will leave a name for the ages!"
Zhou Zhao said angrily: "Fourth Master, if you still say that, who doesn't know that you took the lead in arranging it? Otherwise, a mere actor would dare to offend my Zhou family?"
"Hahaha!" The King of Liao did not take it for granted, but laughed loudly: "I have been appointed as the editor-in-chief, responsible for compiling famous opera classics. How can I miss such a good thing that happened to your family?"
"It's not a family scandal. My father has forgiven me. What are you afraid of?"
Seeing that Zhou Zhao still looked unhappy, King Liao pretended to be sorry and said: "You know that I will have to leave the capital to join the vassalage either next year or the year after."
"For you, listening to the opera is only a carriage ride away, and I'm afraid it's thousands of miles away."
"Your Highness, you always have many reasons." Zhou Zhao's eyelids twitched and he finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Hahaha, who told you not to accompany me to the Liao Kingdom?" The King of Liao patted his shoulder and said softly: "How about following me to the Liao Kingdom? I will go and convince my father."
"When the time comes, I will give you a prince, a hereditary and irreplaceable prince."
Hearing this, Zhou Zhao admitted that his heart was moved.
But in an instant, he calmed down again.
Although the earl became a baron after three generations, it was hereditary and would not be downgraded.
Although a baron in Beijing is inconspicuous, he is definitely better than a county prince in the Liao Kingdom.
Opera, snacks on the streets, all kinds of cloth, and new gadgets were not available in the Liao Kingdom.
"Master, my parents will not agree."
"It's boring." King Liao vomited: "Why does the old man give you a count for no reason? What a mess."
The carriage was sparkling, and after a while it arrived at the busiest place in the capital: Qianmenwai Street.
That is Zhengyangmen Street.
From Wupai Tower through Zhengyang Gate to the Daming Gate, there are high-rise cloth tents with vertical and horizontal aisles. From jewelry and antiques, silk and leather goods, calligraphy, painting, brushes and inkstones, to clothes and cloth, knives, scissors, ceramics, paper flowers and playthings, everything is available in one stall.
There are a lot of tourists at this stall.
In the inner city of Xigui (Wanping) and Dongfu (Daxing), a curfew is implemented at night at Haishi (nine o'clock), while in the outer city, business can be operated until midnight, and the curfew is equivalent to no curfew.
The carriage arrived at a theater: Tongle Theater.
In the Sui Dynasty, it was called a theater, in the Tang Dynasty, it was called a music shed, in the Song Dynasty, it was called a hook bar, and in the Yuan Dynasty, it was called a theater.
In the pre-Ming Dynasty, the old name was still used.
By the Shaowu Dynasty, the commodity economy was developing rapidly and products were abundant. In order to attract customers, the restaurant attracted a large number of talents:
There are newspaper readers, storytellers, erhu players, drummers, monkey performers, and wrestlers.
If you like to hear and see things like opera, you will naturally go to the restaurant.
Over time, the charm of opera far surpassed anything else, and it became the most popular program in the capital.
Some performers who perform brilliantly are called horns or bosses, and the entire troupe depends on them for their livelihood.
In this way, some people thought of building a theater in the style of a restaurant, specializing in singing and not bringing in other storytellers and monkey tricks.
The three-story restaurant has stands, tables and chairs on the third floor. The stage is five feet high and is located in the center, where the actors are singing.
The third floor is a private room, which is private and condescending. The sound is clear and it is very enjoyable to watch.
They serve good drinks and cost at least ten silver coins a night.
On the second floor is a spacious square table and chairs, which can seat four people for only one yuan, plus a table of snacks and tea.
The first floor is basically full of ordinary people. Sitting there, drinking high-froth broken tea, it can squeeze in about a hundred people, and more can be added as long as they can sit down.
Three copper coins (thirty coins) can keep you entertained all night.
You can only do it standing up, it costs two copper coins, and there is no tea.
In the capital, those who carry bags at the pier outside Chongwenmen can only earn thirty or forty cash a day, which shows that the price of theaters is high.
After one night, a theater can earn at least ten or twenty silver dollars, excluding the expenses.
The King of Liao loved theater so much that he naturally spared his money and spent a thousand silver dollars to buy a courtyard, and then spent nearly five thousand silver dollars to build the largest theater building in the capital:
Chang'an Theater.
There are twenty private rooms alone, and the second and third floors combined can accommodate two to three hundred people.
Because of this, he earned 1,500 silver dollars in one month, but he could not recoup his capital in half a year.
But there are hundreds of theaters in Beijing, large and small, but few can compare with the Chang'an Theater.
Because Chang'an Theater not only has famous actors, but also constantly produces new plays, leading the entire Beijing opera community.
In this way, those theater troupes are more willing to cooperate with Chang'an Theater.
Only the Chang'an Theater dared to arrange a play for Lingshou Bofu.
Outside the Chang'an Theater, Uncle Lingshou's carriage stopped. The sharp-eyed head of the hall hurriedly came over to greet him, and personally moved the carriage to the carriage: "Fourth Master, uncle."
"Yeah!" King Liao nodded slightly, got out of the car in a low-key manner, passed through the side door and entered the theater.
The whole process is extremely smooth and unobtrusive.
After stepping up the stairs, King Liao entered his own large box and collapsed on the soft couch, not wanting to get up at all.
"Master, if you want to watch a play, you can just invite the theater troupe to come over. Why come here?"
Zhou Zhao found a seat and sat down, taking a sip of tea.
"You do not understand."
The King of Liao pointed at the people below: "These theater fans are all money!"
"Whenever I come to the theater, seeing these people is like seeing pieces of silver coins, and I feel so happy."
Zhou Zhao resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
While the two were chatting, Yiyi started singing on the stage, and the originally noisy Qi Tower became silent for an instant. Everyone stared at the stage intently and pricked up their ears.
Even the King of Liao was no exception.
After a while, the King of Liao came back to his senses: "Back then, this theater was still called the theater, but the people called it the theater casually."
"I know, it involves sacred taboos!"
Zhou Zhao nodded.
The emperor's name is Zhu Yixi, which has a similar pronunciation to "xi" and "xi". It would not matter in other rural areas, but it is a bit inappropriate in the capital.
"His Majesty didn't care at all back then. He said casually, I am avoiding taboos. Don't say that they are homophones. Even if they are the same words, as long as they are not used together, there is no need to avoid taboos——"
"Your Majesty is so magnanimous that the ancient sages are not as generous as you." Zhou Zhao hurriedly raised his hands to the north and praised him.
"Hehe!" King Liao laughed and said: "Our Chang'an Theater won the first place and got this name."
"Even if the Chang'an Theater is only two or three years old, the number one theater in Beijing is my home."
"No one can compete with us."
Zhou Zhao was suddenly startled: "Your Highness, couldn't you have written that memorial?"
"Nonsense, am I that stupid?" King Liao said casually: "I just gave the censor some advice."
Suddenly, the singing started again on the stage.
The King of Liao was immediately distracted and interrupted the conversation.
When the song reached its climax, a voice came out from the box on the third floor: "Reward——"
The waiter waiting on the third floor hurriedly carried the plate inside. When he came out, he hurried to the stage and shouted: "Master Zhu of Yuquan rewards you with a hundred yuan of silver——"
"Oh, what a big gesture."
Zhou Zhao was shocked and couldn't help but said.
One hundred silver coins may not seem like much, but it is a generous reward, just like feeding a cat or dog, and even Zhou Zhao would be reluctant to part with it.
You can't waste money like this.
"What is this?" King Liao rolled his eyes at him: "Is this how much Jiao'er is worth?"
As he spoke, he gave instructions in a low voice.
After a while, there was a sound on the stage: "Uncle Lingshou rewarded you with two hundred yuan."
In an instant, the whole theater was boiling.
Everyone on the stage bowed and gave thanks.
"Your Highness——" Zhou Zhao's face turned pale.
"Don't worry, I'll lend you your name and the money will be mine." King Liao said casually.
"Your Highness, the most important thing for me is my reputation!" Zhou Zhao gritted his teeth and said, "If my parents know about it, they won't be able to break a stick."
"I will give you medicine, the best medicine for golden sores." King Liao chuckled.
At this time, the box rang again, and then it said: "Master Zhu from Yuquan, I will give you another three hundred yuan -"
Crash--
The troupes on the stage wanted to kneel down and kowtow.
Good guy, enough to buy twenty acres of land.
Just when the King of Liao was about to come again, Zhou Zhao quickly stopped him: "Sir, you are my biological father. If someone gives you money, you can't ruin someone's elegance!"
"You're right." King Liao finally said: "But I can't get the money from the reward to the theater troupe."
"It's also unseemly," he added.
"The Yuquan Zhu family, I would like to know who they are."
In the box, brothers Zhu Yue and Zhu Fan were sitting opposite each other. The younger brother Zhu Fan said proudly: "Brother, look, that man is at a disadvantage."
"Who can beat our Zhu family when it comes to money?"
"Nonsense!" Zhu Yue shook his head: "If my mother finds out, you will be in good hands."
"Hey, who knows our identities?"
Zhu Fan said confidently: "It will be Chinese New Year when we get home. Even if the mothers find out, they won't blame us."
"Besides, next year is the college examination, what if it affects it?"
"You're still smart, kid."
After the play was over, the two brothers returned home.
As everyone knows, the King of Liao investigated their identities: