Chapter 343: Ming Dynasty Suffers Waterloo
The audience has high expectations for this drama, and naturally the crew members have even higher expectations.

This play can be said to be the painstaking work of screenwriter Liu Heping. It took three years to polish and complete, and countless books were used as reference.

As for the director, Zhang Li wanted to make the play "Da Ming" not to be shoddy, so he tried to achieve perfection in the costumes and props.

Various Ming Dynasty costumes were re-customized, and experts were invited to join the team for consultation on various etiquette at that time.

There may be some mistakes and omissions in the whole play, but compared with the Qing Dynasty dramas with Yin-Yang heads, the Hong Kong and Taiwan dramas in which Ming Dynasty officials wear the costumes of Song Dynasty officials.

It can be said that "Da Ming" has achieved excellence.

What about the actors?

Needless to say, everyone joined the crew with the intention of making a TV series with high artistic value. They spent all day studying the script and had no external activities.

Now that their work is about to be released, they also want to see the results of their hard work and whether they can get positive feedback.

At 8:30 pm the next day, "The Ming Dynasty 1566" officially landed on Mango TV's prime time.

On the first day, countless viewers turned on their TVs on time to get a sneak peek.

Forbidden City Meridian Gate

As five white words appeared on a black background, "The Ming Dynasty 1566" officially began.

In front of the towering palace, two groups of red-hatted eunuchs from the East Depot standing in the square holding court sticks.

A man dressed as an official, with disheveled hair, tilted his head and looked towards the gloomy sky.

The audience who saw this scene were very attentive.

“Wow, the costumes in this play look so real!”

"Yeah, the hairstyle, beard and all that stuff does look a bit ancient!"

"The details are well done. Look at the boots on the official's feet. They look like thin-soled official boots!"

……

As soon as the show started, the costumes and props made everyone feel the crew's dedication.

The story begins with this disheveled official.

This man was named Zhou Yunyi and was the director of the Imperial Observatory of the Ming Dynasty.

Because he advised against "the court's excessive spending, rampant corruption among officials, the people's miserable lives, the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people", he was beaten to death outside the Meridian Gate by Feng Bao, the eunuch in charge of criminal justice in the Eastern Depot.

Not long after, Jiajing, played by Shen Lang, appeared.

His appearance was actually to quell the conflict between the Prince Yu Party and the Yan Party in the court.

Due to excessive spending in the palace and the corruption of many officials who were members of Yan Song's faction, the national treasury suffered a huge deficit.

Xu Jie, Zhang Juzheng and other members of Prince Yu's party took advantage of this incident to launch a fierce attack on Yan Song's son Yan Shifan.

When Shen Lang appeared on the stage, he immediately attracted exclamations from the audience.

It turned out that they had never seen Shen Lang in this look before.

Jiajing, with his majestic look, Taoist robe and loose hair, gave a huge visual impact to everyone.

To be honest, many people have a rigid impression of the emperor in their minds, that he wears a crown and a golden dragon robe every day, and he glares at everyone he sees.

Shen Lang's appearance completely overturned everyone's impression of the emperor.

"How can this be the emperor? This is clearly a person from the outside world!"

"It was mentioned earlier that Emperor Jiajing practiced Taoism. Did he also dress so casually when he met with ministers? I don't understand. Who in my family understands? Can someone explain it to me?"

"What is the Silijian for? Why do the eunuchs in the Silijian dress the same as the ministers in the cabinet? They all wear red robes?"

After watching two episodes, everyone has heard of some names like Qi Jiguang and Zhang Juzheng, but most of them are confused. For example, what does "change rice to mulberry" mean?
In other TV dramas, the historical figures are all familiar to everyone. For example, in TV dramas shot on the Ming Dynasty, the most common one is the era of Zhu Yuanzhang.

When people hear about Xu Da, Chang Yuchun and Liu Bowen, everyone can say something.

But now?

Who are Gao Gong, Yang Jinshui, Zheng Xichang and He Maocai? Who are they?
Those who know a little about Ming history may know Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian, and Tan Lun. If you don't know much about Ming history, you may not even know who these people are or what their historical personalities are.

On the first day of broadcast, everyone was still waiting and watching because of Shen Lang and many veteran actors in the crew, hoping that they would understand more and more as they watched.

But on the second day, the plot of the story was still entangled with the great disaster in Zhejiang and the issue of converting rice to mulberry.

The audience gradually lost their patience when they saw this.

"What the hell is this film about? It starts with a bunch of eunuchs clacking around with abacus, then all the other stuff about rice and mulberry. It's not interesting at all!"

"He didn't fight either. What about Qi Jiguang? He fought against the Japanese pirates!"

"Shen Lang's Jiajing is also hilarious. He talks in a mysterious way and his words are so confusing that I can't understand him at all!"

Gradually, some critical voices also appeared in online media.

"A good script is one that finds a suitable balance between historical facts and what the audience likes to hear and hear!"

"In the drama "Da Ming", it can be seen that the entire crew tried very hard to make the TV series well, but unfortunately, they did not find the balance point."

"The audience has no clear understanding of the era, characters, and events. You unfold the story in a fog. This is why the crew's highbrow works are not widely accepted!"

The crew of "Da Ming" has a group. These days, everyone has been sending feedback on what they have seen to the group.

After reading the article forwarded by Zhang Zhijian, Shen Lang felt that the reporter's article hit the nail on the head.

In the past few days, he also asked several acquaintances around him. Although no one said it too directly, the implication of their words was that they could not put themselves into the play and feel the tension that the series wanted to express.

No one knew at all that the people of the Ming Dynasty were living in misery because of factional struggles, corruption, and the emperor.

For example, Wang Peipei, an intellectual who studied abroad, had no idea who Jiajing was, let alone that he was devoted to spiritual practice and had not attended court for more than 20 years.

And no one will know what happened in the year "1566" in "The Ming Dynasty 1566".

How can everyone get into the TV series?
Suddenly, the entire crew and Mango TV were stunned.

Our initial purpose in making this drama was very simple, which was to make a good historical drama with historical depth and practical significance.

However, the film was over-exaggerated and the subject matter was too biased, causing the audience's enthusiasm for watching to plummet.

Especially on the fourth day of broadcast, Mango TV's ratings dropped to 0.11%. This was the data generated by Shen Lang's appeal and the enthusiasm for watching the movie on the first day.

Mango TV's enthusiasm was suddenly extinguished by a basin of cold water.

Because a campus youth drama was being broadcast at that time, the station directly decided to adjust the broadcast time of "The Ming Dynasty 1566" from the prime time to 10.30: pm.

After hearing the news, the entire crew became EMO.

To put it in a metaphor, that feeling is like you think your son will get two perfect scores in the final exam.

But after the test, the teacher called you and scolded you, telling you that your son not only fought and flirted with girls at school, but also got zeros in the final exam.

Shen Lang asked Lao Donkey with a shameless face: "Ahem, Donkey, let me ask you, can we complete the task with a 0.11% audience rating?"

"What do you think?" asked the old donkey.

"I said yes!"

"you are wrong!"

(End of this chapter)