Chapter 727: The Divine Mirror
Li Daoxuan coached her for a long time, and finally, Cai Xinzhi's acting grew increasingly spirited, less like a frail woman, and gradually took on the formidable presence of a mighty general.
At last, the play could proceed as intended.
Li Daoxuan kept the diorama box's view locked on the Stars Performing Arts Agency to maintain continuous filming, while he himself activated "Co-sensing," instantly shifting his consciousness to Shi Jian's unit in Yan'an County.
After dawn broke, Shi Jian's unit resumed their journey, advancing towards Yan'an County.
The reconnaissance hot air balloon from yesterday had already been retrieved; today, after refueling, it was launched again.
Li Daoxuan could switch his view to the sky at any time to survey the surroundings, the terrain and enemy forces within a dozen miles all visible to him.
After a quick scan showed no immediate danger, Li Daoxuan switched back to the Stars Performing Arts Agency to continue watching the actresses perform. After a while, he would switch back to the reconnaissance hot air balloon to check for any threats.
The front lines were quiet for now, and the actresses' filming progress was slow.
Li Daoxuan suddenly smacked his forehead. "Alright, I should prepare the venue and equipment for showing movies."
Tablet computers this small were no longer readily available and had to be custom-ordered.
Though the tablets were small, their LCD screens boasted extremely high resolution—4K HD, extremely high DPI, offering incredible detail. This was because the screen's pixels would be magnified two hundredfold when placed in the diorama box, so if the resolution and detail weren't high enough, the image would be unwatchable.
He took one tablet out of the box and after a quick estimation,
he realized its size within the diorama box was roughly equivalent to a massive screen in a large outdoor cinema.
"Hmm, just right!"
The best place to test such a peculiar item would be Puzhou.
Puzhou had a massive "theater" funded by Lao Nanfeng and built by the skilled workers of Gao Family Village, specifically for holding concerts.
In the center of the theater was a large stage where the actresses usually performed their singing and dancing.
Now, this stage could be put to good use.
Li Daoxuan slowly placed the tablet computer inside...
He positioned it right beside the massive stage, opening its stand and steadying it.
Remarkable!
Just right.
With this, Lao Nanfeng's "theater" now possessed an colossal screen, opening up a wealth of new possibilities.
He opened the pre-installed app on the tablet and pulled up the feed from one of his cameras.
Instantly, the screen displayed Cai Xinzhi and eleven other actresses. They were performing a dramatic scene about the twelve widows before they set off for battle.
The raw, unedited footage of the acting scene was projected directly into the center of the theater. Fortunately, the theater was empty for now, otherwise, anyone witnessing it would surely be startled.
"Excellent, the test is a success!"
Li Daoxuan chuckled, turning to the remaining pile of tablets in the box. "Let's put one in each city," he mused. "And not just in theaters. The screens in theaters will be for paid movie showings, but we also need to place some in public areas for propaganda."
Li Daoxuan was indeed planning to launch a powerful propaganda campaign!
The feudal old adage, "Good men don't become soldiers, and good iron isn't used for nails," was already hindering the expansion and security of Gao Family Village's influence. This mindset had to be changed through better propaganda and pro-military initiatives.
So, they would start by placing a large screen in the public area of every city...
At Li Daoxuan's command, the Blue Hats and Yellow Hats in every city sprang into action. In each city's "Caishikou"—historically a public execution ground—they began constructing a central city plaza.
Against the wall on the north side of the plaza, Li Daoxuan reached in and placed a colossal tablet computer. Oh, and considering exposure to wind and rain, he also installed a clear acrylic rain cover above each tablet.
A few days later, Yan'an County, thanks to Shi Jian's unit's fierce efforts, was successfully relieved.
As long as they deployed the reconnaissance hot air balloon, the terrain ceased to be an issue. It would be astounding if they lost a battle like that.
The three bandit leaders—Xue Hongqi, Yizuo Cheng, and Yizi Wang—were all eliminated. The fiercest of their subordinates were also killed, while over seventeen thousand others were captured and handed over to Wu Shen for disposition.
Wu Shen was now utterly destitute, with nothing to his name.
His position was no longer that of an "angel" sent by heaven to mitigate disaster; he was merely a Censor-Inspector. How could he possibly resettle over seventeen thousand people?
Therefore, without a doubt, these seventeen thousand people could only be sent to the Gao Family Village's Huanglong Mountain Prison.
Wu Shen hadn't left Xi'an for a long time to inspect the countryside.
To properly fulfill his duties as a Censor-Inspector, Wu Shen decided to personally escort these people to Gao Family Village. He also brought along his good friend, Shi Kefa, the Judicial Commissioner of Xi'an and a Jinyiwei hundred-household commander, and together they escorted the seventeen thousand people towards Gao Family Village.
As they entered Gao Family Village, Wu Shen let out a surprised "Oh?" "Brother Shi, look at that peculiar large mirror pasted on the outer wall of Li Family Fortress."
Shi Kefa turned to look and immediately recognized it. "Ah, the Divine Mirror."
Wu Shen asked, "Divine Mirror? What is that?"
Shi Kefa felt a little embarrassed. Back then, he had run across the Dragon Gate Yellow River Bridge like an idiot, and the Divine Mirror had recorded it and played it in the village, making him look utterly foolish.
Seeing the Divine Mirror now reminded him of that embarrassing incident, and the pressure felt immense.
"Lord Wu," he explained, "this Divine Mirror can record events that happened elsewhere in the past and play them back at any time."
Shi Kefa lowered his voice, "If you do something foolish and it gets recorded by the Divine Mirror, and then played publicly, the feeling... tsk, tsk... I assure you, you wouldn't want to experience it."
Wu Shen scoffed, "Is it really that exaggerated? I don't believe it."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the "Divine Mirror" suddenly lit up.
Next, Gao Yiye's face appeared on the mirror.
On the immense mirror, Gao Yiye also appeared colossal, but she still looked as beautiful as ever, a faint smile gracing her lips.
As the screen illuminated, a large crowd of Gao Family Village residents gathered, buzzing with excitement. "It's on, it's on!"
"It's been a while since we've seen the Divine Mirror. What will it show us this time?"
"Wow, it's the Saintess!"
Gao Yiye smiled at the audience outside the screen. "Testing... testing... Oh? Can everyone see me?"
The onlookers shouted in unison, "We can!"
"Haha, I can see it too!" Everyone suddenly heard Gao Yiye's laughter and turned to see that she was actually squeezed among the onlookers herself. Of course, while she appeared to be in the crowd, several guards were actually surrounding her, keeping a clear space.
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