Finally, the group came to the Shadow Garden, which is located in the southwest corner of Yangzhou City, on the North Lake of the Lotus Pond and on the East Bank of the Erdao River. Because it was built between the willow shadow, the water shadow and the mountain shadow, the Ming Dynasty calligrapher and painter Dong Qichang inscribed the "Shadow Garden" to Zheng Yuanxun, so it was named.

Historically, this "willow shadow, water shadow, mountain shadow, trance, picturesque. The shadow garden was destroyed in the fire at the end of the Ming Dynasty, in fact, this is also the final fate of Yangzhou Garden.

However, Zhu Guoqiang didn't have time to be sentimental about all this, in fact, there was nothing to be sentimental, but it was just a rich man's garden. In the film park, the local officials and gentry of Yangzhou took a lot of thought to welcome his arrival. Under the introduction of Yang Ren, the imperial envoy of Cao, after meeting with the local officials and gentry one by one, when the sky gradually darkened, the group went to the painting boat by the river in the shadow garden.

The big red candles of one color are lit in the painting boat, and the lanterns of various shapes are hung high in the bow and stern of the boat, including rabbit-shaped lanterns, fish-shaped lanterns, deer-shaped lanterns, turtle-shaped lanterns, etc., not only the lanterns are hung on the painting boat in the river, but also various lanterns are hung on the side of the shadow garden, which reflects the Changyu Island, which stretches for two or three miles. Not only that, but even the gardens on both sides of the river are lit up with colorful lanterns.

Flower lanterns were originally an indispensable project for salt merchants to fight for wealth, and salt merchants would always light up all kinds of strange lanterns in the painting boat and garden. Now as the four brothers of the Zheng family, the owners of the movie park, naturally want to take the opportunity to display the Zheng family's lanterns, and although the other families did not receive the errand to entertain the prince, they are not willing to lag behind to light up the lanterns and want to show their faces in front of the prince.

In fact, now is never the season to appreciate the lanterns, after all, the river has frozen, but even so, they still took great pains to make out the lanterns of Yangzhou Xiaoqinhuai, so it can also be seen that their scheming is delicate.

If they were normal and had their eyes on the top, they would naturally not put the prince of De in their eyes, but now the prince in front of them is related to their net worth and life! Naturally, he did everything possible to please this prince.

For a time, the lanterns on both sides of the frozen river were more colorful, varied, candlelight, and ingenious than before.

The lights on the shore and the bright moon in the sky reflect each other, coupled with the sound of silk strings coming from the buildings everywhere, for a while, this poetic and charming moonlit night seems to have the illusion of being in a peaceful and prosperous world.

"Oh, I originally thought that it would be rare to see this scene in this life, and before I left office, I could see the Yangzhou lights in the middle of winter, and this is really a peaceful and happy world again!"

Jia Donan, the imperial envoy of salt patrol, couldn't help but sigh.

The imperial envoy of salt patrol is appointed once a year, and he is the second time he has held this position in August last year, and according to the rules, he will leave office in another month, so he has such a sigh.

The exclamation fell into Zhu Guoqiang's ears, making him sneer in his heart...... It's a shame that he can speak, these people!

Looking at these officials and gentry in the painting boat, in their eyes, there are Jiannu who have entered the gang, and what are the homeless people and the rebellious rogue, in their eyes, I am afraid that there is only silver in vain......

"This is all the blessing of the prince! If it weren't for the defeat of Jiannu after the prince went south, how could we enjoy this peaceful world? ”

Zheng Yuanhe, who is the son of the Zheng family, looked at the prince and said flatteringly, and got up to pour wine into the cup of the prince.

"Changji is polite!"

Zhu Guoqiang, who was sitting in the first seat, although he was quite dissatisfied with his words, still looked around quietly and said infinitely intoxicated.

"This Yangzhou light scene night moon is indeed wonderful, the beauty of Yangzhou garden, is really breathtaking."

"Yes, what the prince said is very true, this Zheng family's four gardens can be regarded as the first scenery in Yangzhou!"

Yang Ren, the imperial envoy on the side, immediately affirmed, and pointed to the lights on the shore and said.

"Shiziye, you see that this is Chaozong (Zheng Yuanxun) Shadow Garden, Zanke (Zheng Xiaru)'s Closed Garden, Changji (Zheng Yuansi)'s Jiashu Garden, and the five-acre garden in the back, the famous garden in the south of the Yangtze River, and the Zheng family occupies the fourth!"

Zheng's four gardens were quite famous in Yangzhou in the late Ming Dynasty, but later the Zheng brothers' gardens were only the most famous for Zheng Xiaru's closed garden. In fact, that is because at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, only the closed garden remained. In the late Ming Dynasty, the most well-known is the movie park. In the early years of Chongzhen, after the establishment of the political and literary group Fushe with Jiangnan Shifu as the core, Zheng Yuanxun, the owner of the film garden, was the leader of the Jiangbei of the Fushe Society, and the film garden naturally became the Jiangbei activity base of the Fushe and the place to preside over the southeast literary affairs, and he had frequent exchanges with Qian Qianyi, Mao Xiang and a number of literary celebrities in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Yangzhou was prevalent in elegant gatherings. Zheng Yuanxun and his fourth brother Zheng Xiaru once made friends with literati and bachelors, and formed an association to chant poetry. Funded and presided over the participation in the Quartet's famous Confucian Shuoyan feasting and drinking poems in their gardens.

The fame of such a "shadow garden" is naturally famous all over the world, and I don't know how many talents have been received in this garden, of course, it has also received many beauties, but after the death of Zheng Yuanxun at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and the "shadow garden" was destroyed by fire, it naturally disappeared into history.

When the wine was drunk, someone suddenly said from there.

"Look, what's that?"

Someone stood up and pointed to the side and screamed in surprise.

Following his gestures, I saw that the other painting boat next to him didn't know when the lights were turned on, and there was a soft silk bamboo sound, and it was vaguely seen that there were women dancing on the painting boat. Suddenly, everyone's attention was attracted by this painting boat.

As soon as he saw the line on the painting boat, Zhu Guoqiang knew that this was a "big song"!

The so-called "big singing" is relative to the "small singing", the big singing not only needs silk and bamboo accompaniment, but also has to have a costume and background props, according to the book, it is a "drama", but it is different from the Peking Opera, Yue Opera, Huangmei and other dramas in later generations, it has no character masks, and the actors' costumes are more daily, with dialogue, singing, and performances, and of course interspersed with dance. The overall performance form is more like Western opera.

In fact, it should be said that Western opera is more like singing, after all, "singing" has been popular as early as the Hongwu year, when official prostitutes performed mainly, and they are not qualified to be called famous prostitutes if they can't sing loudly. Later, the imperial court banned official prostitutes. Unemployed official prostitutes became private prostitutes, and folk Qinglou rose from then on, due to manpower, stage and other reasons, famous prostitutes have changed to small singing, small singing does not need to dance, does not need props to dress up, almost is an excerpt from the song.

However, for the vassal kings, eunuchs, and wealthy people, it is normal for more than 100 family musicians to have a "family class" at home, and the so-called "banquet must dance music" is actually to invite people to dinner, and they are embarrassed to say hello if they don't come to an opera performance. Yangzhou salt merchants are among the leaders, and "Salt Industry Jiale" is famous at home.

It should be said that it is right to come to a "big singing", after all, opera has only appeared for a few decades, and perhaps Europeans were influenced by the "big singing" of the Ming Dynasty and made the so-called opera. In fact, later generations only saw the "Western learning to the East" at the end of the Ming Dynasty, but the more profound "Eastern learning to the West" was selectively ignored by many people.

This kind of "learning from the East to the West" does not only stay in the philosophical circle, but also exists in science, art and other aspects, just like "Heavenly Creation" and other Ming Dynasty science books have been found in the libraries of many European countries, the rise of modern science in the West, not to learn from the Chinese civilization, and in art must be the same.

Why did opera appear in Florence, Italy, around 1600?

What is the theatrical music that originated from ancient Greek drama?

Why didn't it originate for hundreds of years before? Could it be that after many missionaries entered the Ming Dynasty and returned to Italy, opera appeared?

To put it bluntly, it is not because the missionaries entered the homes of the gentry and dignitaries, watched the "big singing" of the Ming Dynasty all day long, and remembered it vividly, and after returning to Italy, they continued to tell people about the "big singing" of the Ming Dynasty, and then there were Italian singers who absorbed the performance form of "big singing" on the basis of theater music, and then "invented" the opera.

It seems that "Big Singing" must be the ancestor of opera!

When Zhu Guoqiang sighed that creation made people, the protagonist appeared!

Although they are two feet apart and the lights on the painting boat are dim, when the protagonist first appears, Zhu Guoqiang finally understands that there will be such a thing as "the color of a fallen city".

"Sure enough, it's bright and outstanding!"

Staring at the woman on the painting boat, Zhu Guoqiang clapped his hands and praised, in an instant, he actually had a feeling of heartbeat, the most intuitive performance of being a straight man of steel is to look at the face, and then the figure, and this woman's figure is indeed graceful.

Zhu Guoqiang, who was slightly drunk and drunk, and in the soft sound of silk and bamboo, he was unconsciously indulged in the soft music and dance on the painting boat with everyone.

The shadow of the mountain, the shadow of the lamp, and the shadow of the beautiful woman, reflected on the ice, reflecting the stars and the moon, and even charming, even if he is used to seeing the light show of people from another world and seeing too many big scenes, Zhu Guoqiang still can't help but marvel in his heart.

People in this era will indeed enjoy, no wonder even a hundred years later, the literati under the rule of the mite Qing Dynasty, are still fascinated by the Qin and Qinhuai lanterns and shadows, and the painting boat, which has achieved the fame of "Qin Huai Bayan", which is no wonder, only the fish and insects, the study of the mite Qing rule, China has long become a cultural desert, in the "text prison" under the confinement of the natural no Ming people, as for the woman, wrapped in the little feet of the woman, how can she dance like a dream like a fairy in the boat.

Yes!

This may be the final swan song! Eventually, the dance music of the Han family disappeared from this land along with the big singing, until a few centuries later, when it came to this land in a different form, it became a tall "foreign thing", but it seems that the "big song" itself also belonged to the entertainment of a few wealthy people.

The clothes are slim, and they will eventually become a sound......