Chapter 783: Let the Fun Begin
As the officials and common people of Xi'an watched, their hearts trembled with a secret awe. Indeed, this Immortal Treasure Mirror could reveal events from the past.
If it could see the past, then surely it could glimpse the future!
The divine power of the immortals was truly vast and boundless, utterly beyond mortal comprehension.
The screen then darkened, only to brighten again, revealing Gao Yiye once more.
She smiled and announced, "Having seen the previous images, you now understand the function of this Immortal Treasure Mirror, don't you? From now on, every evening after dinner, anyone with free time can come to the market square to watch the news broadcast. The Immortal Treasure Mirror will bring you all sorts of interesting tidbits from recent days."
"Furthermore, it will also teach you agricultural cultivation techniques, blacksmith forging skills, and various programs like language lessons, mathematics, and Shi Kefa's legal education will be broadcast in rotation."
"Shi Kefa's legal education?" Lian Guoshi stared at Shi Kefa, astonished.
Shi Kefa grinned smugly. "Your humble subordinate has long been aware of this thing, and has even cooperated in filming several segments, aimed at promoting the Great Ming Code."
Lian Guoshi merely grunted in surprise.
The screen instantly lit up, and a young woman, Miss Cai Lin, resplendently dressed and impossibly beautiful, wearing flowing cloud sleeves, ascended the stage. As she began to sing, she performed "Brocade Carp Scroll."
"Distant scenes... as if fine rain endlessly falls..."
The common people gasped with wonder!
The entire city of Xi'an instantly erupted in excitement.
Zhu Cunji was the most boisterous of them all. His eyes filled with a multitude of beautiful women, their dance graceful and enchanting. As the atmosphere ignited, Zhu Cunji could no longer restrain himself, beginning to awkwardly twist and sway, mimicking the dancers' movements.
His princess consort, concubines, and other wives beside him all collectively rolled their eyes at Zhu Cunji. "Damn it!" they thought. "At the mere sight of beautiful women, his legs turn to jelly! This good-for-nothing, foolish husband of ours! How did we ever marry such a specimen?"
A large group of officials gathered around Lian Guoshi.
"Governor, shouldn't we report this matter to the capital?"
"This ought to be considered a heaven-sent auspicious sign, shouldn't it?"
"The Emperor would surely be pleased to see this."
"Stop!" Lian Guoshi raised a hand, silencing the murmurs. "Are you all so secure in your positions that you're seeking trouble? The current Emperor despises talk of divine revelations and strange phenomena. Have you so quickly forgotten how Wang Shunxing was dismissed from office?"
The officials fell silent.
Lian Guoshi concluded, "As for this Immortal Treasure Mirror, everyone can watch it, enjoy it, and then let it pass. Don't go looking for trouble where there is none."
Just as the entire city of Xi'an was buzzing with excitement.
Li Daoxuan sat before his computer, uploading video clips to his old classmate, Queen of a Thousand Faces M.
"Alright, old friend," Li Daoxuan said. "Here are some clips from the new film, *A Soldier of the Daling River Border Army*. It's all up to you to edit and produce it now. This time, your production skills will be put to the test."
Queen of a Thousand Faces M casually opened one of the videos. Her eyes widened as she took a closer look, and she gasped sharply. "Holy cow! You... you... how much did you spend filming this segment?"
It turned out that what she was seeing was a segment of "Qing soldiers attacking Daling River City." The Qing soldiers were passionately portrayed by Zao Ying's cavalry battalion and the Gao Family Village Militia, while the border defenders were played by Lao Nanfeng's Guyuan Border Army. Half the population of Han City was mobilized to act as extras.
They weren't so much acting as they were performing a full-scale military exercise!
This super large-scale exercise, involving both military personnel and civilians, was in fact preparation for real combat in the future.
The fighting looked incredibly lively and authentic.
No director in later generations had ever witnessed a true Ming Dynasty war, making it nearly impossible to authentically simulate the scenes of battle from that era.
But for Lao Nanfeng and the Guyuan Border Army, wasn't this knowledge etched into their very bones? Did they need to deliberately act it out?
Queen of a Thousand Faces M exclaimed, "How many damn extras did you hire for this?"
Li Daoxuan replied, "Relax, it wasn't that many. Just 100 yuan per extra per day, you know. Hardly a problem at all."
Cold sweat streamed down Queen of a Thousand Faces M's back. "One hundred yuan per person per day... ten thousand people would mean a million yuan a day!"
Li Daoxuan said, "Didn't our last movie earn us a few million? I just thought, using the money we earned last time to hire some extras for a day's filming wouldn't be a big problem, would it?"
Queen of a Thousand Faces M asked, "And where did you find this city?"
Li Daoxuan replied, "I spent a bit of money and rented out the Jiangjin Baisha Film and Television City in Shuangqing."
Queen of a Thousand Faces M murmured, "Oh, I see. So that's it. You're incredible, truly spending money like water. By that logic, if this film doesn't recoup a few million, it won't even break even?"
Li Daoxuan grinned, "Indeed. So, I'm entrusting it all to you."
Queen of a Thousand Faces M declared, "Alright, rest assured and leave it to me. With such incredible combat footage you've captured, if I can't generate some profit from it, I might as well jump into a river."
Li Daoxuan chuckled, "Oh, and by the way, I'd like you to make two versions of it."
Queen of a Thousand Faces M asked, "Which two?"
Li Daoxuan explained, "One will be a short-drama format, with each episode just over a minute long. The other will be a movie format, a continuous hour and a half."
Queen of a Thousand Faces M waved her hand. "That's a small matter, leave it to me. Your fight scenes are shot so brilliantly, I'll need very few special effects. Just some sound effects, transitions, smoke, and fast-motion/slow-motion effects. It won't take long; I can have it ready for you in a few days."
Li Daoxuan instructed, "In a few days, send me the movie version first; I'll keep it for my collection. As for the short-drama version, I'll leave the promotion and distribution to you."
A few days later...
Outside the Puzhou Grand Theater, crowds surged. The people of Puzhou, who had been deeply moved by the previous showing of *Mu Guiying*, hearing that the new film, *A Soldier of the Daling River Border Army*, was being released, immediately brought their children and flocked into the grand theater.
Movie tickets had sold out three days in advance, but many wealthy individuals who hadn't secured tickets still sent their household retainers to the theater entrance, shouting loudly, "High price for movie tickets! High price for movie tickets! Anyone willing to part with theirs, my master is willing to pay double the original price!"
"Damn it," another retainer shouted, "my master is willing to pay double plus ten percent!"
"My master offers double plus thirty percent!"
"My master will pay four times the price!"
"Holy cow, is your master flipping the table now?"
This escalated quickly. The wealthy had entered a phase of competing solely on their financial power.
Meanwhile, those of average means who had been lucky enough to buy tickets looked at the tickets in their hands and pondered deeply. "The movie isn't just showing once, after all," they reasoned. "It doesn't matter if I don't watch it today. I can always watch it tomorrow, the day after, or even several days from now. Why don't I... sell my ticket for four times the price and then come back another day to watch it? Wouldn't that be a massive profit?"
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