Chapter 201: Minding Another Person Business

So what if she’s a student at Beijing University? Didn’t she just finish the high school graduation exam last year? It means she’s just a freshman! Even if she’s majoring in history, how can she be compared to Ms. Shen, who’s a PhD student?

The scriptwriter scoffed in her head.

Tan Mo turned to look at Shen Jingyi and asked, “Are you sure the script is legit?”

Shen Jingyi jumped in surprise and quickly averted the little girl’s gaze. “I am.”

“You do know that this is a historical drama, right? One that’s specifically focused on the historical aspect and not about abiding thrones or battles between the concubines. What Director Liu wants is a historically accurate one.”

Director Liu nodded in agreement.

“I do.” Shen Jingyi gritted her teeth.

“Then, why does the script only mention the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Groove, the Distinguished and Admirable Sense in Wei and Jin Dynasties, the openness of the dynasties, but not about the frequent changes in politics, the never-ending wars, or even the poor state the people were living in at that time,” Tan Mo said. “Isn’t it better to tell the whole thing instead of the just nicer ones? People would actually believe that living in that dynasties is bliss.”

“What the heck do you know?” Yuan Qishan roared as she was starting to get anxious. “We’re writing a script here, not a history textbook! If you really want to learn about history, you can just read about it! Why even bother watching a drama? Scripts are created based on the historical content and tweaked so that there are plots and conflicts!”

At that time, Shen Jingyi had no choice but to side with Yuan Qishan, or else she would be just admitting that she was doing a poor job as a consultant.

That was something that she would never admit to.

From the moment she told Yuan Qishan the script was up to standard, she’d already sided with the scriptwriter.

There wouldn’t be any problem if Tan Mo had never shown up in the first place.

The PhD student from Beijing University couldn’t help but curse Tan Mo for minding other people’s business. From her perspective, if the drama was a flop, it would be Director Liu’s problem and not hers. There was no need for Tan Mo to interfere since it would not affect her.

It was as if Tan Mo was intentionally making Shen Jingyi looked like the bad guy there.

Yuan Qishan then continued, “You aren’t majoring in history, nor you are a scriptwriter. Stop telling us how to do our job!”

“If plots and conflicts are all you want, then there are more than enough throughout our country’s history for you to tell. You don’t even need to change anything for it to be dramatic,” Tan Mo said as she took a step forward. “In Year 184, during the end of Han dynasty, there’s the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The time between Years 220 and 280 was plagued with wars between the three states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. Before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the population of the country was 50 million. At the end of the Three Kingdoms, only 8 million people were left.”

Tan Mo paused and continued, “In Year 280, the Western Jin Empire defeated the Eastern Wu and officially unified the three kingdoms into one. With Emperor Wu of Jin as the Emporer, the population of the Jin Empire totalled around 16 million people, including the slaves, while the Wei Empire had around 10 million people in total. The disaster of Yongjia occurred in Year 311 where the Xiongnu invaded the mainland and waged wars. In just 31 years, only 3 million people remained alive. Those who did not manage to retreat towards the south were all killed. Even though the Western Jin Empire lasted for a short 51 years, only 20 of them were peaceful, which was from Year 280 to nine years before Jia Nanfeng ruled the empire behind the scenes. The peaceful period was stuck between the Conquest of Wu by Jin before and was followed by the War of Eight Princes and the migration towards the south.”

Despite having a soft voice, everyone else could feel the impact coming from Tan Mo when she recited the numbers.

“I believe you can see how vicious the wars were during that time from the drastic change in regimes and the sudden loss of population. Just the time when Cao Cao invaded the Xu Province a total of five times is enough conflict for a drama, am I wrong? If you think that’s lacking, then how about I give you the detail of the Seven Sages of Bamboo Groove that was mentioned in the script? The seven sages got their fame during Year 240 to Year 290. The first sage, Ji Kang, was born in Year 223 and passed in Year 262. He married the great-granddaughter of Cao Cao and was a writer, philosopher, and alchemist. Ruan Ji was born in Year 210 to a prestigious family and passed in year 256. He was an infantry commander. Shan Tao, born in Year 205 and passed in Year 283. He was promoted to a Grand Herald during the Western Jin Dynasty. He was a palace attendant, a Secretary of Personnel, a tutor for the crown prince, and a high official before that.”

Tan Mo took a sip of water.

“Xiang Xiu, born in Year 227 and passed in Year 272. He was an emperor’s valet. Liu Ling, born in Year 221 and passed in Year 300. He was a military staff officer for Wang Rong, the General Who Establishes Might. And then, we have Wang Rong himself, who was born in year 234 and passed in Year 305. He was the Inspector of Jing Province, Inspector of Yu Province, General Who Establishes Might, Palace Attendant, and Minister of the Household for Emperor Wu of Jin and the Crown Prince’s Grand Tutor, Prefect of the Palace Writers, Household Counsellor, Prefect of the Masters of Writing, Minister over the Masses, and more for Emperor Hui of Jin. Lastly, we have Ruan Xian, whose dates of birth and death were unknown. He was the nephew of Ruan Ji. All these people lived in warring periods, and instead of telling the real situation of the society during these times, you decided to focus on their poems and songs instead. Have you ever thought that the fact they were born into prestigious families was the reason they could enjoy such a privilege? The Nine-rank System and the Occupation System by Emperor Wu of Jin were to protect the benefits of such families. The biggest failure of the Nine-rank System was that it prevented normal citizens from achieving spotlight and becoming an official. Unlike now, where everyone could become successful by getting a high score in the high school graduation exam, the people at that time did not have such a privilege.”

Tan Mo wasn’t going to stop there.

“At that time, most of the important positions were hoarded by prestigious families. The people who determined if one was fit to become an official or not were also from said families. These families only wanted to protect their own benefits. Here’s your conflict, one between prestigious families and normal citizens. Do you need more? Then how about this? Tao Kan was an important piece of the puzzle for the success of the Western Jin Empire. However, his great-grandson, the famous poet Tao Yuanming, was forced to live a life of a peasant after serving in the military. Then, we have the Sixteen Kingdoms from Year 304, where the Murong tribe of the Xianbei people invaded the mainland and raped thousands of young ladies. To make things worse, they would feast on the flesh of these ladies until there were only eight thousand of them left. Those who weren’t eaten were drowned alive in the Yi River. It was said that the bodies of these eight thousand young ladies clogged the river in the end.”

Tan Mo was now starting to tell them the darkest stories of that time.

“Similar to the Murong tribe, we have the Jie people. When they went to war, they never brought their own rations. Instead, they would kidnap young ladies of the cities they had conquered, raping them in the morning and feasting on their meats at night. They even called these ladies two-legged lambs. How’s that for conflicts? All of these happened during the period where your plot took place in. Other than the battle between concubines or poems and songs, the kingdoms were filled with war and conflicts. You might call me a busybody, but the drama would only make people think that life during that period was easygoing, which a lot of people already have the wrong impression of. Life during that time was hard, and people had to suffer. As some of the best directors out there, everyone is going to look forward to the drama he’s going to produce. A lot of people would also watch the drama because of its casting.”