There are many theories about why there is no northwest corner in Beijing, many of which involve Feng Shui, prophecies, legends and other romantic stories, but there is a local saying that is relatively close to science!
Because in the northwest corner of the capital, when Zhu Di built the city of Beijing, there was a river and a huge lake, which was called Weitang at the time!
This is the water inlet of the capital. In the early Ming Dynasty, the area of this reed pond was several times larger than that of the Tongzhi Dynasty. If a right-angled city wall had to be built here, a large number of civilians would have to be recruited to start filling the lake!
On the one hand, it is a waste of manpower and material resources, and on the other hand, if the city wall is built on the land filled in the lake, the foundation will definitely not be as solid as other places. From the perspective of military defense, this is a weakness of the capital's city defense system!
Therefore, Yao Guangxiao made a few superstitious statements to silence the emperor and the court. He simply made a slanted city wall and bypassed the reed pond!
As the population multiplied and the capital developed through the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the population became more and more, and the consumption of resources also increased. The area of the reed pond was reduced several times by the Tongzhi Dynasty!
But even if it has been reduced several times, the reed pond still extends from Deshengmen to the west to a place close to Xizhimen. It is a vast pool of water. This reed pond can even support dozens of families of fishermen with no worries about food and clothing, and the annual production of The reeds are even more popular in the capital!
The river water from Yuquan Mountain flows into the Reed Pond from the west, and then passes through the river into the sluice gate on the west side of Desheng Gate and enters the Jishui Pond in the inner city of the capital!
From Jishuitan, it flows all the way to Shichahai, Houhai, and Beihai. It can be said that this reed pond is the transfer station for the capital's water source!
Today's fire started from the warehouses and barracks on both sides of the reed pond!
Reeds were an important commodity for ancient people. They were used for reed mats at home, reed sheets for roofs, reed blocks for granaries, and even reeds mixed with soil are directly used as raw materials for building houses!
Every year, both the military and civilians in the capital use a very large amount of reeds. Not only do the reeds from the lakes around the capital have to be harvested and used, but hundreds of thousands of carts of reeds are purchased across the country every year to cover the entire year's consumption!
Reeds are produced here in Reed Pond, so as a matter of habit, the imperial court set up an official treasury to store reed materials here!
The campsites stretch for more than ten miles, and at least 70,000 to 80,000 cartloads of reeds are stored here, not to mention the reed mats and straw curtains that have been woven!
What's even more frightening is that there must be hayyards around the military camp, which are even more flammable!
Precisely because of the importance of danger, the imperial court has always dared not relax in the prevention and control of fires in the capital. Especially now in the crisp autumn weather, it is the time when the water level in the reed pond has dropped and the reeds are harvested. Each department in the military camp has to arrange several patrols of soldiers every day, especially at night. Be more careful with candles!
But it was also strange. Around 9:30 in the evening, when everything was so quiet that even the dogs were asleep and too lazy to bark, suddenly thick smoke billowed out from more than ten places around the reed pond, and then flames shot into the sky!
Not only the reed pond, but also the warehouses around Huanggu's tomb began to burst into flames. Fifty or sixty fire points started burning at the same time almost instantly!
At night, a northwest wind of level 4 or 5 blew up in the capital. Although the wind was not strong, it was enough to stir up the fire. In less than a quarter of an hour, the entire west side outside Deshengmen had turned into a large fire zone. !
The entire camp exploded, and in the flames were the screams of countless soldiers and civilians. Officials directed the soldiers and civilians to start putting out the fire, but buckets of lake water poured by human power could not stop such a spreading fire!
The idiom "a drop in the bucket" is so vivid when used here!
Today is the day when the emperor's wedding is being celebrated by all the people. Many people in the army and the people are drunk. They can't form an organization in a hurry, let alone a large-scale fire brigade. Some people were even burned to death in the house while intoxicated. There's no way to escape!
It can be said to be a red lotus hell. When Emperor Tongzhi arrived at Jingshan and began to command the overall situation, the camp and warehouses outside Deshengmen had long been burned to pieces. The soldiers on the wall were so frightened that their weapons fell to the ground. !
"Buddha! It's burning down the sky... This is burning down the sky..."
Everywhere you looked there were flames, reeds, fodder, wood, barracks... there was even a loud noise of gunpowder being ignited inside!
The temperature of the flames increased, and the fire whirlwinds rolled up, rolling the red coals into the air. Then the fire whirlwinds twisted their monster-like waists, and then spread the flames farther away!
The highest fire whirlwind was as high as four or five stories high, and the red coals even hit the faces of the city wall defenders with the wind, causing them to scream!
Although the population of soldiers and civilians outside the city was not large, there were only two to three thousand. Seeing that there was no hope of putting out the fire, some of them scattered and fled in the wild. Thousands of people gathered outside Desheng Gate, kneeling on the ground and begging the soldiers guarding the city to guard the door and save lives. !
Who dares to open the door? The night ban system is an iron law. Who knows if there are any troublemakers among you!
"Back off... Everyone is backing off... Are you all determined? Run to the north, run to the east... Do you have to go south into the city?"
"Master Jun! Please show mercy... We young people can escape, but these old people and children can't escape! Just open a crack in the city gate and let the old people and children enter the city to hide..."
"Military Lord Lord Wandai...save people! Please save people!"
There were thousands of soldiers and civilians outside, and sure enough, some young people began to flee into the distance, but a closer look revealed that those who stayed behind were all women, the elderly, and children.
The officers and soldiers guarding the city suddenly softened, and someone whispered, "How about opening a crack! There shouldn't be any problems if we let the children in, right?"
The sound of horse hoofbeats suddenly came from the inner city, and the cavalry on horseback pulled their necks and shouted, "Pass the decree...Preach the decree of His Majesty... The nine gates of the capital are closed, and no one is allowed to open the city!"
"If you dare to open any city gate...the imperial court will kill all your city-defending officers and soldiers. No one will be spared! No city gates are allowed to be opened!"
The murderous imperial edict shocked these lucky-minded officers and soldiers. As soon as they heard that they would sit together and open the city gate, they would kill all the officers and soldiers guarding the city. Now no one dared to speak, and allowed the soldiers and civilians below the city tower to beg and curse. No one is moved!
Zai Chun's response was very correct. The city gate could not be opened tonight. After this sudden fire, the Qinghe construction site in the north had already exploded!
During the emperor's wedding, the factory slaves in Qinghe were also given a half-day off. Each of them was given half a catty of wine, half a catty of cooked meat, and enough steamed buns, flatbreads, and rice!
These unlucky factory slaves drank and ate meat, and kept tossing it until eight or nine o'clock, when they gradually calmed down. But before everyone fell asleep, rumors began to spread among the more than 40,000 factory slaves!
"Hey...brothers, don't sleep too much...it's dangerous..."
"This wine is not good wine...it might be guillotine wine..."
"Didn't I tell you before...the iron factories of these Westerners are driven by the souls of injustice. There will definitely be a large number of people among us who will be killed and sacrificed to this iron factory!"
"You treat us so well? Do you give us food and wine? Don't you think you're going to kill us in the middle of the night!"
"Ouch...where did you hear that?"
"Don't worry about where I heard it from... Please be alert, someone may come to save us tonight..."
"Do you remember what I told you before?"
"Remember...didn't you say stop? There are cavalry coming from outside the pass..."
"Shut up...keep your voice down! Don't worry about anything. It's all about Xizhimen now. As long as they take action there, the world will be in chaos!"
In the shadows, many people are spreading various rumors. Some people you know, some people are just familiar faces, and some people you have never met at all!
But it’s strange to say that when people are in panic, even a random sentence from someone you don’t know can mess up your heart!
"Fire! Guys, look here...in the southwest...why is the sky so red?"
