Chapter 415: Thunder and Fire Shocked the World

"The world is peaceful ......"

Although it was the middle of the night, the doors of the inner palace had already been locked, but in addition to the eunuchs who were on the watch, there were still a group of several palace maids who walked slowly along the side streets, singing that the world was peaceful. At this time, the thunder was quite scary, no one knew whether it was going to rain or not, and several roving eunuchs hurriedly prepared to take refuge in the straight room, and a middle-aged eunuch glanced at those palace maids, and then snorted lightly: "Last year, there was no Wang Guifei, and last month Yu Xianfei was gone, and the emperor's temperament became more and more bad, and as a result, more palace maids were punished than in the past, and there were several rings of the bell almost every night." ”

"That's good, it's the beginning of April, and even a heavy rain won't make it happen. If this is punished in the cold winter of the ninth month, it will be miserable! The other old eunuch shook his head lightly and said, "After the incident in Layue last year, there were often more than a dozen palace maids who were punished for lifting the bell in one night, and it was a snowy day, and few people could survive it overnight, and I don't know how many corpses filled the well." Cough, don't talk about them, are there still fewer little chamberlains who were killed in the Qianqing Palace? ”

This line is all eunuchs of the West Sixth Palace, since they have to be sent out to patrol the night at night, they are naturally not considered to have heads and faces, but they are not the lowest miscellaneous servants, and they are busy walking after sighing for a while. Just as everyone was hurrying, a bright light suddenly burst into the air, and then there was a loud thunder, which frightened a young eunuch to sit on the ground. Seeing his pus-filled appearance, the others immediately burst into laughter, and the middle-aged eunuch who started to speak shouted angrily: "It's not promising, it will look like this when you hear thunder, hurry up!" ”

"This year's sky is really hell, it was gloomy for half a month but it didn't rain, and the first two days were also dry and thunderous......"

As soon as this thunder word came out, everyone only felt a brighter white light explode in front of them, and then a thunder sound that was several times louder than just now suddenly exploded in their ears. In an instant, even the middle-aged eunuch who had just spoken out to reprimand him was frightened, and two or three people were almost jumped by the thunder. The eldest old eunuch was about to speak, but Leng Buding caught a glimpse of an electric light on the side of the street again, this time it was directly slashing into the temple. Before he could exclaim, several thunderbolts slashed down again in an instant, and it took a long time for him to scream under this astonishing celestial phenomenon.

"Oh my God...... Thunder and thunder! ”

Seeing that the roof of the temple was burning, the others immediately panicked, and the middle-aged eunuch hurriedly shouted, "Hurry up...... Hurry up and report the news, quickly, find someone to put out the fire! ”

Not long after, not only did the long "peace in the world" sound of the palace maids who were punished for lifting the bell stopped, but also the palace guards and eunuchs also scurried around like rabbits that had been rushed by someone, and hurried from the left and right doors of the Yuntai to the outer court to fight the fire. Not long after, the concubines who had already slept in the East and West Sixth Palaces were all alarmed, and Zhu Di, who was resting alone in the Qianqing Palace, was also awakened by a loud shout. Impatient, after he heard the words of Liu Yongcheng, the eunuch of the imperial horse eunuch, even though Zhu Di was almost never afraid of anything in his life, he couldn't help but be stunned.

Although hundreds of eunuchs were almost pushed out of bed and rushed to the scene as fast as they could; Although the lids of the dozens of gilded copper cylinders were opened as soon as possible, someone was scooping water with copper basins and other materials to put out the fire; Although the forty barrels near the three halls were manipulated with all their might; However, because the weather was dry these days, there was only thunder and lightning and no rain, so the fire burned more and more.

The golden silk wood mixed with spices crackled and the firefighters screamed and screamed, and even the ground seemed to make a cracking sound. Although the three halls were built with the finest timber cut deep in the mountains, and the pillars were even treated with the best treatment to ensure that they would not rot or decay, in such a fire, the pillars were so fragile that they fell down violently. The graceful glazed tiles burst one by one under the astonishing heat, and the shards flew everywhere.

I don't know how long it took, but with the futile efforts of countless firefighters, the corner of the temple that caught fire first collapsed, as if it were a chain reaction, followed by the middle ridge and the other corner. The flames completely engulfed the Jinshen Palace, and then the Fengtian Hall and the Huagai Palace, the red color of the flames reflected the terrifying faces, and even the crown prince Zhu Gaochi and the imperial grandson Zhu Zhanji, who arrived in a hurry, were so shocked that they couldn't speak in the face of this situation. When he saw Yang Rong running over with a group of sergeants with a scorched face, Zhu Gaochi's heart was even tighter.

"Yang Qing, you are ......?"

"Back to His Royal Highness the Prince, there was something at night, so I was on duty with Du Yishan, fortunately, he walked outside in the second half of the night, and when he saw the fire, he quickly called me!" Yang Rong said that he was happy, but his face turned pale, "This fire is burning too fast, he and I only had time to lead people to snatch out the picture books in the three major halls, and now they are all piled up outside the Donghua Gate and guarded by the guards." His Royal Highness the Prince, the son of the daughter can't sit down, this is too close to the fire, please take shelter with His Royal Highness the Imperial Grandson! ”

Zhu Gaochi nodded stiffly, but did not move his steps. When he saw Zhu Di surrounded by a group of people, and when he saw his father's rare distracted expression, he couldn't help but take a look at the raging fire again.

Even if he is a father who has always been strong and never admits defeat, he is helpless in the face of natural disasters. Three halls...... Finished!

When the sky was bright, although the officials who came to the court were blocked by the janissaries at the left and right gates, the fire of the Forbidden City last night burned half of the sky, and the smell of burning in the air could not hide people, besides, although there were many guards, they could not hide people's eyes, and they could not hide the three majestic halls that had indeed turned into charcoal and ruins.

As a result, even an old and serious civil official like Xia Yuan Ji Jianyi, even a military general like the British Gong Zhang Fu who had experienced strong winds and rains, was so shocked that he couldn't speak. And the imperial historians of the Metropolitan Procuratorate gathered together in twos and threes, and their eyes revealed a bit of gloom that could not be hidden.

Zhang Yue and Du Juan stayed at Du's house for two nights, just went home last night, and were awakened by the exclamations of the next person in the second half of the night, and the family also stayed awake all night. He had visited the Forbidden City in his previous life, and knew that there had been thunder and fire here many times, but he didn't expect that he would encounter it. The three halls of Fengtian Palace, Huagai Palace, and Jinshen Hall are magnificent and gorgeous, but such a sturdy palace was destroyed not long after it was built? With a dry throat, he took a deep breath, finally recovering from that utter consternation, and immediately thought about the consequences of the incident. Sure enough, there was a lot of whispering all around

"Thunder and lightning are the power of heaven, this is a warning of the heavens, you must not quit!"

"In order to repair the city and palace of Beijing, I don't know how many craftsmen were served, and how much grain was consumed...... Alas! ”

"There will be drought and little rain in the spring this year, and if there is another drought in Beizhili, it will be even worse!"

"Do you want to go to court today? The three major halls were all burned, and even if it was the Zhengdan Dynasty in the future...... It's better to go back to Nanjing......"

Nine out of ten people actually said that it was a warning of natural disasters, and although he knew that it was inevitable, Zhang Yue couldn't help but feel his heart sink. After a long time, a little eunuch finally came to deliver the decree, and the Tao was to go to the court of heaven today. As a result, the buzzing discussion among the court officials came to an end for the time being, and they stood in the south of Jinshui Bridge according to their grades. Although this is a place where you have to whisper even to breathe on weekdays, at this moment, everyone can clearly see the tragic situation after the fire in the three major halls, and they still can't stop the commotion for a while.

Sure enough, when the hundred officials crossed the bridge after the sound of the silent whip, and after paying homage to the court outside the Fengtian Gate, Zhu Di, who had not slept at all in the second half of the night, appeared on the golden platform in the Fengtian porch with a sinking face, and then ordered the Zhongguan to announce the decree.

"I bow to the Mandate of Heaven, only Shao Hongtu, antique system, Zhaojian two capitals, is the eighth day of the fourth month of the nineteenth year of Yongle Fengtian and other three palace disasters, I am afraid, I don't know what to do. Is there any neglect in the ritual of respecting heaven and God? Or is the ancestor of the law angry and the government affairs obedient? Or is the villain in the reign of a sage who hides away from good and evil? Or is the prison unjust and innocent and unjust? Or slander and then disloyalty? Or expropriation and exploitation to the land? Or reward and punish undue wealth and unbridled spending and the state is extravagant? Or is the tax too heavy, the forced labor is uneven, and the people's livelihood is not satisfied? Or the military has not been requisitioned and has no way to pay for it? Or is there an overwork, and the demand is numerous and the people's labor is withering? Or the traitors are attached to the powerful group of officials to play the law, or is there a priest who is soft, greedy, cruel, and indulgent? Powerful to the people, against the sky, I am ignorant, not to investigate the reason, Erwen and Wu ministers were appointed by me, the weal and woe are the same, I have done something inappropriate, it is advisable to have no hidden information, and I want to change it to return to the will of heaven. Chin this. ”

Although Zhang Yue, who was listening carefully, did not know who drafted this edict, he knew between the lines that it was a straightforward edict. He couldn't see the emperor's expression clearly from where he was, but with his understanding of the emperor, he could almost imagine the anger that Zhu Di was depositing in his heart at this moment.

Because the shock of the burning of the three major halls haunted the hearts of the hundred officials, on this day, the court meeting routinely finished the urgent tasks of their respective yamen, and then dispersed early. Anyone who has a heart has thought of a problem, such a big natural disaster, although the emperor issued an edict to speak out, but according to the old practice of the previous dynasties, the minister of Zaifu should also be held responsible - although there is no Zaifu now, there are still Qiqing and cabinet ministers...... Besides, in the end, the emperor should issue an edict against himself, because this is a warning from heaven!

There is no urgent matter in the Yamen of the Ministry of War now, so after returning from the dispersal of the dynasty, the officials of the various divisions are also quietly discussing. Because the staff wailang and another director went out to deliver official documents, so there were only two people in the chamber of the Arsenal Division, Zhang Yue and Wan Shijie, taking advantage of the time when there were no outsiders, Wan Shijie gathered around Zhang Yue and said in a low voice: "This natural disaster came suddenly, and the edict was said to be straightforward and said that the ministers were reprimanded by the current affairs, I just looked at a few imperial histories and the appearance of the matter, but I am afraid that when I go to the book, I will speak fiercely." ”

Seeing that Zhang Yue was thoughtful and didn't speak, Wan Shijie simply spread it out and said: "If you want to talk about two major events in recent years, one is to move the capital, and the other is to open the sea ban. Both of them broke the old precedent of Taizu. Although the ban on opening the sea is not as significant as moving the capital, after all, it is against Emperor Taizu's imperial ancestral teachings, and it happens to encounter the three major palace disasters, so I am afraid that those who opposed it at the beginning will not let go of this opportunity. ”

"It stands to reason that Confucian scholars only worship saints, but when they encounter such a time, they can't help but block the road of governing the country with the will of ghosts and gods." Zhang Yue sighed lightly, and his face immediately showed a look of confidence, "The move of the capital is to guard against Meng Yuan, you must know that almost all the national capitals of all dynasties are in the north, and the successive dynasties with the capital in the south are not long. As for the sea ban...... The emperor is not a character who changes his mind overnight, and the tax levied by the city is also quite considerable, and the people are convenient, and it will not be hindered by natural disasters. By the way, if you're going to write a book......"

Halfway through listening outside the door, Shang Shufang Bin, who originally wanted to come in, suddenly stopped. When he was secretly discussing the relocation of the capital, he was also a supporter of Shangshu, and this time he encountered such a big disaster, he couldn't help but worry a little that he would be thrown out as a scapegoat. But now that he thinks about it, the older he gets, the more confused he becomes, how can the emperor be the kind of person who is easily moved by natural disasters?

It's just that this time, I'm afraid that those nasty officials won't let go of such a good opportunity, but as long as the Sacred Heart is firm, things will be much easier!