Chapter 2821 Serialized Drama

"There's basil, oregano, thyme, sage," Sonya said, sniffing the air. "How unusual—I've never seen the Chinese use these spices."

"Well, this is Australian cuisine..."

"Aren't the Australians Chinese?"

"I don't think they're quite the same," the Persian girl hedged.

"I agree." Sonya picked up her fork, speared a still-steaming slice of flatbread, and popped it into her mouth, washing it down with the chilled kvass that had been served alongside. The flavors were unlike anything she'd tasted before. The yellow-white substance in particular—rich with dairy fragrance yet impossibly smooth—was truly exquisite.

With just one bite, both girls recognized the yellow-white substance as cheese, prepared in the European fashion.

What neither of them knew was that this ingredient was the cornerstone of old-timeline pizza: mozzarella cheese. This mild cheese, originating from a southern Italian city in the old timeline, was crafted from buffalo or cow's milk through a relatively complex process requiring specific cultures and rennet for fermentation—one of the Senate's most closely guarded secrets. Senator Huang Dashan, who had brought the cultures across, would earn considerable profit in the years to come by licensing the corresponding technical patents to Peony House's proprietors.

The two finished their meal in high spirits. The bill came to roughly one silver yuan voucher, close to Zahra's expectations. With the discount coupon, they received an additional reduction. As they departed and observed the stream of diners flowing downstairs, Zahra couldn't help but sigh—whoever owned this establishment was certainly going to get rich. In truth, Zahra didn't realize that she herself could be considered one of Peony House's mistresses.

During the Second Plenary restructuring, Xiao Zishan had set his sights on the circulation voucher dividends accumulating in Senator accounts. Under his initiative, the Administrative Office and Planning Commission jointly launched a series of optional internal investment projects for Senators. Peony House, positioned as the new timeline's answer to McDonald's, was among them. And Senator Xu, ranked fifth in total deposits, was undoubtedly an important participant in this venture. Anyone who examined Peony House's shareholder list would find Senator Xu's name prominently displayed near the top.

Less than three kilometers from Peony House, in the administrative district of the old county seat, the weekly Council of State meeting was proceeding as usual.

"Next item on the agenda: Mainland Cultural Infiltration Strategy. This topic is rather lengthy, so everyone might want to take care of personal needs first." Xiao Zishan handed out a stack of documents, distributing one to each Senator while speaking with a smile.

By the time the leaders returned to the conference room wearing satisfied expressions, Dingding had already taken his seat at the conference table alongside his assistant Okamoto Makoto, his face wreathed in smiles. Though Dingding's expression was bright, he was actually quite displeased inside—especially upon seeing Hu Qingbai, who rarely attended Council of State meetings. His heart brimmed with disdain.

At the Third Plenary, the Culture and Science Ministry had been established by merging propaganda, technology, and education—three powerful departments—which resulted in the largest one, Education, gaining the upper hand. The schoolteacher Hu Qingbai had "usurped" the position of Culture Minister. "Who knows how many female students he's corrupted!" Dingding cursed internally while greeting Hu Qingbai with a radiant smile.

Hu Qingbai's mood at this moment was no better than Dingding's. Theoretical meetings about strategic direction held no interest for him whatsoever. Had Dingding's Mainland Cultural Infiltration Strategy not extended beyond the Culture Ministry's purview and required military and overseas station support, he wouldn't have bothered attending the Central Council of State meeting at all. It would be best if this project got rejected outright; otherwise, he'd inevitably be saddled with yet another "Such-and-Such Working Group Leader" title. Such titles were far less important than basic education planning and construction in Guangdong. Even now, the province was already beginning educational development according to Hu Qingbai's vision: establishing a basic education system centered on Guangzhou—one middle school and two complete primary schools in the city itself. Larger urban centers like Zhaoqing, Wuzhou, Nanning, and Guilin would first build complete primary schools; county seats would establish junior primary schools. Worker night schools in industrial cities like Guangzhou and Foshan, plus literacy classes run through the military, would round out the system.

This grand plan required continuous investment. Naturally, the Senate didn't have that kind of money.

How to secure Senate funding for his plan—that was what concerned him most. Cultural infiltration, arts and entertainment activities—in his view, all a waste of resources.

Just as Hu Qingbai was lost in thought, Dingding had already begun explaining his "strategy."

"...We've only paused our northern offensive, but we still need to consider two issues: First, how do we acquire more resources from the northern mainland market during peacetime—including human resources? Second, when we advance north again, how do we gain local support? Therefore, we must leverage our cultural advantages to launch an offensive on the cultural battlefield—before setting foot on northern soil, cultivating forces friendly to us, establishing allied armies and collaborators..."

Though three meters away with no risk of being sprayed by Dingding's spittle, Ma Qianzhu still instinctively picked up a towel to wipe his face. Hot towel rolls were a recent trend; most formal meetings attended by Senators were now equipped with this amenity. What he didn't know was that this Australian-style indulgence had already, under certain commercial interests' promotion, spread to large entertainment venues in Lingao and Guangzhou. In these establishments, the white towels prepared for particularly important occasions were even embroidered with a line of small text: "Administrative Office Special Supply."

"The importance of cultural infiltration is beyond doubt. I believe everyone has read the documents. Please be brief and proceed directly to the operational phase," Ma Qianzhu finally interrupted, unable to restrain himself any longer. His hands, which had been loosely cupped over his teacup, took the opportunity to shift position.

Dingding realized he'd been grandstanding and quickly moved to substance. In truth, his strategy was conceptually straightforward—roughly a simplified version of "peaceful evolution," borrowing heavily from a batch of relevant papers from the old timeline. Since information exchange wasn't as convenient as in the old timeline, "Voice of Australia-Song" was out of the question. So the actual offensive directions had been innovated by Dingding himself, divided into three prongs: cultural carrier delivery, promoting personnel mobility, and commercial-technical diffusion.

Cultural carrier delivery primarily meant opera, storytelling, popular novels, and similar methods. Dingding established a keynote for these new artistic works: "Promote the happy life in Australia-Song, reflect the dark rule of Ming." The former was intended to induce readers to unconsciously compare and develop longing and affinity; the latter, since they couldn't directly attack the Ming, used indirect criticism and metaphor to reflect the various ills of Ming rule. The broadsides widely used in the Second Counter-Encirclement Campaign received only brief mention in the plan.

To strengthen his case, Dingding had specially prepared two case studies. One was the storytelling series Amazing Tales of the Kun; the other was the puppet show Pleasant Village Stories. Everyone had seen the puppet shows—South Sea Storm and The Trial had been performed hundreds of times across Hainan. Changing the script was easy enough to understand. But this storytelling series? The audience immediately erupted in whispers.

"Pleasant Village Stories? That sounds very familiar!"

"Pleasant Sheep, Beautiful Sheep, Warm Sheep, Fit Sheep, Lazy Sheep..." someone began humming softly.

...

"Dingding, are you trying to reinvent storytelling?" Wu De finally raised the question dripping with malice. Dingding was planning to use this opportunity to crown himself as the grandmaster of folk arts, so Wu De chose his words deliberately.

As a professional critic, how could Dingding not anticipate the Senators' petty schemes? He was well prepared for this question.

"'With every sound uttered, listeners hear it as swords and cavalry, sweeping the empty sky. Or as wind wails and rain weeps, birds grieve and beasts tremble. The hatred of a fallen nation suddenly arises; the sound of the sandalwood clapper pales...' This is Huang Zongxi's description of Liu Jingting's storytelling. This same Liu Jingting is currently performing in Nanjing. In fact, several famous storytelling works like Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, and Sui-Tang have already emerged. Of course, they're not called 'storytelling' yet—the style is more akin to 'sung tales.' Liu Jingting performs to the accompaniment of string instruments."

After this educational bit, having dispelled the Senators' doubts, Dingding grandly waved his hand and continued: "You could say reinventing is accurate too. We're going to reinvent folk arts using modern management thinking. The traditional master-apprentice system, oral transmission, and secretive old customs will be utterly defeated before our serialized-drama production method—and then be reborn!"

"Get to the point." Seeing Dingding about to slip into passionate mode again, Ma Qianzhu quickly interrupted, rescuing the meeting from veering off track.

Through Dingding's case introduction, everyone finally grasped what the so-called "serialized drama mode" entailed. Roughly, it borrowed from television series production methods: thematically compile various news materials into highly story-driven scripts, then adapt them into different forms—storytelling, drama, puppet shows, and so forth. The final products would be standardized by the Propaganda Department—primarily scripts, along with costumes and props for theatrical productions—then disseminated into Ming territory through overseas stations using "invite in, send out" methods.

In ancient society, learning costs ran high and script update frequencies remained low. A script persisting unchanged for decades or even centuries after its creation was entirely normal. Water Margin had been polished from the Song dynasty through to modern times. For the relatively popular northern storytelling tradition, commonly performed scripts numbered fewer than twenty. Traditional opera possessed a larger repertoire, but commonly staged scripts still didn't exceed a hundred. From a refinement perspective, all these works had certainly been tempered through countless performances. Yet dated plots and monotonous storylines were undeniable flaws. Their century-long continuity stemmed from the cultural market's chronic shortage of new products.

(End of Chapter)