Jiang Cheng's father, Jiang Dejun, was a very traditional man especially when it came to his work. He always considered himself a traditional scholar and held himself to old traditional ideas.
So when Jiang Cheng applied to Shanghai Drama Academy, although Jiang Dejun eventually nodded his agreement, he still held some reservations.
Jiang Dejun had always wanted Jiang Cheng to inherit his so-called traditional culture and ideas, so he always wanted him to become something along the lines of a literary major or a history major, he didn't expect Jiang Cheng to choose the performing arts.
He had always held a biased opinion against actors and the entertainment industry and though acting was considered part of the arts he viewed it as something of lower rank.
In the past, Jiang Cheng always wanted to prove to his father that even if he became an actor in the future, he wouldn't forget the culture, traditions, and ideas inherited from Chinese civilization and would instead strive to promote them.
The old Jiang Cheng thought of writing a book. He thought if he could write a book that could gain Jiang Dejun's admiration and respect, he would have no objections.
It was a pity that although he was very smart and held outstanding academic achievements since childhood, engaging in book publishing and editing work since childhood, his fondness of literature and writing alone wasn't enough when it actually came down to it.
Writing a book was very difficult.
After all, writing one wasn't just writing whatever came to mind but the long-term accumulation of skill and writing material.
Therefore, although the original Jiang Cheng always held such an idea it unfortunately never came to fruition.
But there was no such problem now. Jiang Cheng had a lifetime of memories and experiences. Not to mention Jiang Cheng himself was a screenwriter, a master of storytelling. In his memories there were a huge number of best-selling books, more than a decade's worth.
However, considering his current age and identity, Jiang Cheng decided to plagiarize the future historical book: 'Stories About The Ming Dynasty' that would become popular in the south and the north.
In the past, when it came to history, the first thing people thought of was the rigid records of history textbooks. Rarely did anyone except those studying the subject deliberately consult those history books. It was because the books were truly unsightly!
Except for those without much choice or the truly enthusiastic no one else would be willing to troll through thick chunks of information filled with nothing but facts and dates.
But the emergence of "Stories About The Ming Dynasty" had broken those previous conventions, letting people realize for the first time that history could be written like this.
Although it delivered the same information, the writing method used by the author was different. It was a kind of fresh brushwork full of vitality, the characters seemed like they were all about to jump out of the book.
With his pen, the historical figures were no longer rigid names you had to memorize for an exam but real people. As the Ming Dynasty experienced its ups and downs, you couldn't stop reading.
True to the opening words of the book: [History should be fun to read]. The author did his best to make learning about the Ming Dynasty enjoyable.
As a screenwriter, Jiang Cheng knew that the success of a good book was one that allowed the reader to have a strong sense of substitution when reading it. If there was a sense of substitution, the reader would unconsciously fall into the world of the book and would read on not wanting to stop; on the contrary, if there was no sense of substitution, the reader would just place the book down and move on.
Undoubtedly, the previous rigid history books wouldn't give anyone a sense of substitution.
Especially now so, as technology developed and people became less and less interested in researching the past and reading ancient texts. With less and less need in real life, there were fewer and fewer people who studied history.
"Stories About The Ming Dynasty" was different. The author Mingyue used humorous language to narrate those historical events like they were telling a story. The historical characters were given humanity and character, this made them feel more like humans with flesh and blood, people that had actually lived once upon a time.
The reader discovered over time that the emperors and princes in history too were ordinary people, they too had joys and sorrows, as well as worries and fears. As if passing through space and time, the reader felt a strong resonance and those historical figures and historical events seemed to be within reach.
This book successfully increased interest in history. Showing that history wasn't something only for professors but something that everyone could touch.
Therefore, writing this book could not only cope with Jiang Dejun's complaints, but also indirectly ignite his fame, killing two birds with one stone, especially since he was most in need of fame now, why not?
Getting excited as he thought of his plan, Jiang Cheng immediately acted.
First of all, he found lots of books about the Ming Dynasty. After all, it was a thing of his previous life. Jiang Cheng's memory of the book was only an approximation, he only remembered the language style, as well as the overarching plot.
Moreover, Jiang Cheng didn't intend to copy Mingyue word for word, it would only be a loose frame, he wanted to write something that was his own.
Fortunately, his father had a plethora of history books if nothing else.
After selecting a couple of relevant ones, Jiang Cheng turned on the desktop again and opened up Word.
The first input was a huge title- [Stories About The Ming Dynasty]
Then the famous sentence under the title: [History should be fun to read]
The title of the first chapter "Emperor Hongwu" followed and as the story of the legendary emperor Zhu Zhongba slowly unfolded, the book also began to take shape little by little....