Chapter 3 3. Mei Yutian is late

However, Tan Xinpei was not so easy to invite.Tan Xinpei's popularity began at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Because he was often invited to perform in the palace, he was appreciated by the Empress Dowager Cixi and honored as "inner court worship". Many princes and nobles who love to listen to Beijing opera wanted to fawn on him.Although it has entered the era of the Republic of China, some officials of the Beiyang government, big and small, are still fascinated by "Tan Jiaotian".As long as there is a play of "Boss Tan" in theaters in Beijing that day, there will be no empty seats, even the aisles are full of people.Tan Xinpei's life in the capital is quite good, and he is already old and addicted to cigarettes, so he is not willing to travel far, and is a little afraid of going far.

Shanghai is naturally a place where you can make a lot of money. Prior to this, Tan Xinpei had been here four times, and the two times the situation was not the best, Tan Xinpei couldn't help feeling apprehensive. The first time was in 1879, that is, the fifth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty. Tan Xinpei was only thirty-three years old.The location is Jingui Tea Garden. The second time was in August 1884, performing in the Osmanthus Tea Garden opened by Liu Weizhong.But not long after the performance, he fell out with Liu Weizhong over a trivial matter, and before the contract expired, Tan Xinpei packed up and returned to the north.Liu Weizhong was very "road" in this point, and did not ask Tan Xinpei for the paid Baoyin.

The third time was in 1901, at the invitation of the groom Aliu who opened the Sanqing Tea Garden in Daxin Street, Sanma Road, to go south.It was the sixth month of the lunar calendar, and the heat was unbearable. After singing for only one month, the performance was discontinued. However, Tan Xinpei did not return to Beijing, but went to Hangzhou to pay pilgrimage.Back in Shanghai, he entered the Osmanthus tea garden run by his son-in-law Xia Yuerun and his brother.The poster was posted, which aroused the dissatisfaction of groom A Liu, who sued Tan Xinpei for breach of contract.Later, after mediation between people, Tan Xinpei agreed to go to "Sanqing" to make up singing for three days, and the turmoil finally subsided.

Tan Xinpei sang in "Dangui" for a month, and had to rest for a few days to go to Suzhou to have fun. The Xia brothers did not dare to disobey the old man's wishes and accompany him.But Tan Xinpei returned to Shanghai after visiting Suzhou, and was poached by Tianxian Tea Garden.The Xia brothers didn't know about it at first, but when they saw a sign on the door of "Tianxian": "Xiaojiaotian Huishen Parade", they were very angry, and they didn't want to do anything to the old man.So he telegraphed Tian Jiyun (stage name Xiang Jiuxiao), a famous Dan in Beijing, and asked him what he could do?Tian Jiyun's call back was a few words: "Pull out his eyes and chop off his hands".Xia Yueheng was horrified, isn't this going to lead to a life lawsuit?After thinking about it again, I realized that Tian Jiyun wanted Xia Yueheng to get rid of Lao Tan's right-hand men, one was Li Wu who played the drums, and the other was Mei Yutian who played the huqin.Xia Yueheng considered again and again, and decided to keep Li Wu, but persuaded Mei Yutian to return to Beijing, and "Dangui" would pay for the package of silver, which was a lot of money.Mei Yutian was homesick, so she agreed and left.Lao Tan lost Mei Yutian's huqin, and his performance on stage was indeed reduced a lot.

Mei Yutian was Mei Lanfang's uncle, known as the "master of huqin". At that time, the audience welcomed Mei Yutian's huqin no less than Tan Tiao.It is said that there was a time when Tan Xinpei performed the full version of "Qiong Lin Banquet" in Beijing, and Mei Yutian was late for some reason...