Within a week, the songs soared to a high position on the Qianxun Music Chart...
Li Chencan didnāt have a clear concept of how significant this was.
But Xiao Zhi had a very clear understanding.
He knew how difficult it was.
To reach the top 100 on the Qianxun Music Chartās New Songs Chart was already a very challenging task. Many singers who considered themselves exceptionally talented, despite putting in a lot of time and effort to promote their new songs, often failed to even make it into the top 200.
The key was that the Qianxun Music Chart was the largest in the country, making it particularly hard for anyone to break through.
For example, the Qianxun Music Chartās New Artists New Songs Chart, which seemed like a favor to new artists, allowed all new artists to appear on this chart for the first time. However, many new artists had the support of music promotion companies behind them. After intense competition, many could only secure a mediocre ranking and would eventually be eliminated.
To secure a spot in Chinaās Good Music within a week before the selection process ends, one would need to at least make it into the top 50 of the New Artists New Songs Chart!
As for Li Chencanās two songs... although Xiao Zhi also thought they had a good future, he estimated that they might only reach the top 30 on the Amy Music Chartās New Songs Chart, which would already be quite an achievement. As for the Qianxun Music Chart, it was hard to say... just making it into the top 300 in the first week would be a success, and the top 200 would be a major success!
"Alright... weāll see how it goes then." Li Chencan had to put his thoughts aside. No matter how eloquently he spoke, it was all just talk until the songs of "Deskmate" and "Brother on the Upper Bunk" proved their worth. Only then could it be considered a success, and only then would others recognize it as such.
On the 24th, the two songs would be released... he wondered if they would live up to his expectations!
Li Chencan was confident, but not entirely certain.
After bidding farewell to Xiao Zhi, Li Chencan returned home.
That evening, he didnāt continue writing "Those Things in the Ming Dynasty" but stayed in the living room with his family. Yang Yifang was still embroidering, and at Li Chencanās request, the light above her head was finally turned up brighter.
Although Li Chencan had just received the royalties for "Those Things in the Ming Dynasty," and the book was now selling like wildfire in Rongcheng and throughout China, the situation at home hadnāt changed much yet.
The TV was broadcasting the news. It turned out that Emperor Chongdingās birthday was approaching.
Emperor Chongdingās name was Li Yi, who ascended the throne ten years ago, with the era name Chongding. He was the great-grandson of the founding emperor, Li Yunxiao. Although the empire was a constitutional monarchy and the emperor had little power, the idea of having an emperor still provided a sense of unity and a shared vision.
"In the blink of an eye, the emperor is already in his forties," Li Chaoyong said, sitting on the sofa, somewhat wistfully.
Yang Yifang, without looking up, said, "Who would have thought? When the emperor ascended the throne, our little Chencan was only eight years old. Now heās all grown up, and itās been many years since weāve seen the crown prince. I wonder what he looks like now. I remember the crown prince was also born in 1994, about the same age as Chencan."
Crown Prince Li Jing was indeed about the same age as Li Chencan.
Li Chaoyong suddenly said with interest, "Chencan, Iāve never told you this before, but we are actually related to the royal family."
Li Chencan had never heard this before and was immediately intrigued. "Really? So am I a royal uncle?" He immediately thought of a certain descendant of the Prince of Zhongshan from the Three Kingdoms era.
Li Chaoyong said, "Not exactly. You and the current crown prince are of the same generation, but the founding emperor didnāt continue the family name system. During the reign of the previous emperor, Xianfeng, our ancestors lived in Zhongnan Province with the current emperorās ancestors. Later, when the Taiping rebels attacked Tanzhou, our branch of the family moved to Tianfu Province to avoid the conflict. At that time, the founding emperorās grandfather and your great-great-grandfather were cousins."
Li Chencan was confused by the long lineage but asked, "If thatās the case, why didnāt our family participate in the governance of the country when the founding emperor established it?"
Li Chaoyong said, "Of course, we did participate, but the founding emperor was very strict. He didnāt pay much attention to distant relatives, and he didnāt even care much about his closest family. Look at your uncle; heās still in office, isnāt he?"
"Even his closest family?" Li Chencan was more interested in his fatherās words than in his uncle.
Li Chaoyong nodded. "When the founding emperor established the country, the empire participated in World War I, and then fought Japan in World War II, followed by conflicts in Southeast Asia and Central Asia, meeting up with the Allies. The founding emperorās army, unlike the armies of Zeng Guofanās Hunan Army, which were divided into various factions, became a truly modern national army. After World War II, our empire became one of the three major world powers. At that time, the founding emperor could have continued to rule as a dictator, but he chose to reform the country into a constitutional monarchy. If he had cared about his family, he would have left a dictatorial empire for his descendants, but he didnāt..."
Li Chencan commented, "That shows his high moral standards and his prioritization of the country. Itās not that he didnāt care about his family, but he at least left them this honor. Yuan Shikai didnāt have such a fate..."
"Yuan Shikai?" Li Chaoyong was a bit surprised. Li Chencan had let it slip and quickly tried to cover it up. In this timeline, Yuan Shikai was subdued when he and the founding emperor Li Yunxiao were competing for control of Korea.
Li Chaoyong, who had once been wealthy and well-read, knew the history of the empire well, and the two could talk about many things.
Later, they saw an entertainment report. The screen showed: "Last night, Xu Jun held the first stop of his global tour in Nanjing, drawing a massive crowd..."
Xu Jun was one of the most popular stars among independent music producers in the empire. Each of his new songs achieved a dream-like sales figure of tens of millions of downloads. He was the winner of Chinaās Good Music five years ago and was now famous throughout the country.
Seeing Xu Junās success, Li Chencanās determination grew even stronger.