July fourteenth.
That was the day when Zhang Zhou told Wu Hao that a hailstorm would occur that day.
When I woke up early in the morning, the weather was a bit gloomy. All the officials went up and down as usual, but Zhang Zhou was not seen.
In the morning of the morning, the appointment to Zhu Fu, the Duke of Chengguo, was highlighted... Previously, because the wife of the Zhu family, Zhu Hu, claimed to be ill, the emperor authorized Zhu Fu to return to the capital to take care of his mother. His mother was enjoying her old age...and she didn't even mention a word about returning to Nanjing to serve as a garrison. But behind the scenes, he couldn't stay in the capital any longer, so he wanted to return to Nanjing.
Things have changed.
The emperor doesn't care where you are, Zhu Fu, or whether you will be the garrison of Nanjing.
But it's different now.
Because there was a "mighty man" Zhu Feng in the Chengguo Duke's palace, Zhu Youtang was "in love with Zhu Fu". Zhu Youtang was ready to send Zhu Fu back to Nanjing to serve as a garrison minister, but he lacked the opportunity.
Zhu Youtang just raised a topic that day, but in fact he was also waiting for an opportunity... Zhang Zhou had already told him that there had been hail and earthquakes in the capital in the past few days... He was busy making arrangements and it was too late.
"Your Majesty did not pay attention to the hailstorm today."
On the way out of the palace, Tu Yu deliberately walked over, approached Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, and said something.
Xu Qiong looked back at Tu Yu, shook his head and said: "Everyone knows that Shuntian Mansion cannot be unprepared. I heard that there is a report in the capital, which also states that a disaster will happen."
Tu Yu said: "Di Bao?"
Xu Qiong sighed: "I heard that it was written by the East Palace, and there are also rumors outside that the printing workshop that publishes the Di Bao has a close relationship with the Imperial Store. For more details, let's ask Shuntian Mansion and the Wucheng Army and Horse Department."
Xu Qiong didn't take it seriously at the moment.
Who would think a hailstorm would happen?
Will people take it seriously after they find out?
Tu Yu came to tell him this, what did he want to test from his mouth? Xu Qiong didn't even bother to think about it. Anyway, I said what I could say, and what I couldn't say... I had no comment.
…
…
The whole government and the public were waiting for a hailstorm that day.
It was a disaster related to whether Zhang Zhou could be killed at once, so much so that the doorsteps of Qin Tianjian and Wu Hao's homes were almost trampled to pieces in the past two days. The method Wu Hao chose was... Cat.
No matter how you come to question me, I won’t see anyone.
I'll show up again after the incident has passed... He just politely asked for sick leave, and then disappeared. No one saw him for two days.
This was also to prevent him from being interrogated by some ministers or pavilion elders... Xie Qian went to see him before and treated him as a rare person... If he met a few more people, there was no guarantee that the emperor would not ask him to tell the truth. If the news is leaked, then he has failed his holy mandate and falls into the category of "bullying the emperor".
It was very quiet in Qintian Prison that day.
Two ninth-grade Wuguan Sichen, who were only sixteen or seventeen years old, held pens to the sky and observed the day. They wanted to record today's weather in detail to make reasonable records.
This is one of their daily tasks, but the weather that day was really... nothing to remember.
"Did it hail?"
Inside, a tall and thin man with facial features named An Bian came out and took a look. There was nothing unusual in the courtyard of the Qintian Prison. There was only a huge armillary sphere placed there, and someone was covering it from the rain. raincloth.
The other hand was holding a pen. His name was Zi Qing. He propped his head and thought for a while: "It's your turn. I've been standing here for a long time. How can there be hail? I'm afraid it won't even rain."
Although the two of them already have official status, to be specific, they are a type of "official officials". They did not come from the official imperial examination. Let alone being scholars, they have never taken any imperial examination.
The Qintian Supervisor of the Ming Dynasty wanted "skilled workers". The reason why the two of them had their current official status was because it was good to "reincarnate".
Zi Qing is the son of junior brother Wu Hao, and Zi Qing is his Taoist name; An Bian is the son of a wealthy family in the capital. Someone in his family once served as an official, but he had no potential to study, but he was given to Wu Hao as a disciple since he was a child, so that at his age At the tender age of sixteen or seventeen, he became an official.
To be an official in Qintian Prison, in addition to being a good teacher, there is also another important point, that is, you need to have outstanding appearance and a clear voice. After all, sometimes you need to serve as the announcer at court meetings.
An Bian took the paper and pen, looked up at the sky and said: "From what I have learned, this hail is most likely to fall at the turn of spring and summer, when the weather suddenly warms up and then turns cold. If hail falls in midsummer, , it’s mostly sunny days, and it can only rain when there are sudden dark clouds and thunder and lightning... Today’s weather doesn’t look like thunder and lightning, and I’m afraid it won’t even rain hail.”
Zi Qing said hurriedly: "Brother, don't talk nonsense. This is your uncle who said there will be hail, and that is your master."
"Oh yes."
An Bian then remembered that if he said there would be no hail, he would be undermining the reputation of his master Wu Hao. After all, this time was not predicted by Zhang Zhou, but calculated by Wu Hao. This was related to the honor of Qin Tian Jian.
"Then just wait." An Bian sighed.
Zi Qing stood aside for a while and said helplessly: "Is this hailstorm waiting for you?"
Now An Bian didn't know what to say.
The two of them were bored, and Zi Qing said: "Senior brother, have you heard? The Dongyue Tea House is teaching "The Condor". I went to listen to two sessions. After today's break, let's go together?"
An Bian raised his head and looked at the sky without squinting his eyes. He said calmly: "Don't think I don't know. You just want to give me a meal. You don't have to spend your own money and you can also listen to the book for free."
Zi Qing said: "Oh! Senior brother, who asked you to be born in the capital, and you usually spend so much, just give me some benefits?"
"Okay." An Bian said, "You can have dinner with me if you want, but you can't watch "The Condor". I want to watch "The Romance of the West Chamber"."
"What's so good about "The Romance of the West Chamber"? You've already finished watching it. If Senior Brother invites you to treat me, I'll take you to a nice place to watch a play, but it's "The Legend of White Snake"."
"What?"
An Bian finally became somewhat interested and looked sideways at Zi Qing.
Zi Qing said with a longing look on her face: "I heard that the theater was opened by An Bianhou. Anbianhou has returned to the capital, and he often goes to the theater recently. If he is lucky, he can meet him... I heard He has a heroic appearance, and among the young talents of the Ming Dynasty, he is the most free and easy."
An Bian shuddered and said, "Are you going to listen to a show or to meet people?"
"Wouldn't it be nice to be together? I'll be satisfied if I can see Anbian Hou." Zi Qing looked obsessed.
"cut!"
An Bian looked at the hourglass on the side and said, "From what you said, it seems that it's almost time to go to work. The master won't be here today. Why don't we leave early and get a good seat."
"Very good, very good." Zi Qing naturally raised her hands in agreement, and suddenly he shouted, "Brother, it's raining, it's raining!"
"Yeah?"
An Bian picked up his pen and was about to record the moment when it rained. Suddenly he felt that something was wrong. He walked out of the palace gate and stood in the courtyard. He turned back and glared at Zi Qing: "Is this also called rain?"
Zi Qing also ran out, pulling An Bian back and said, "Senior brother, don't get cold, the drizzle is also rain. Maybe it will rain heavily in a while?"
The two waited seriously.
Then……
The rain stopped.
And the hourglass that records the time has just finished leaking.
"It's time to work part-time!" Zi Qing said excitedly.
An Bian said: "Then how do you remember today's weather?"
Zi Qing's head was more flexible and he said: "Brother, what do you think? There is still wind today and it rains a little bit. Let's just record 'it's windy and rainy today'. This is not considered a false report, right?"
"good."
An Bian picked up his pen and immediately wrote down the remarks Zi Qing drafted on paper.
"Let's go."
The two of them hurriedly changed into their regular clothes and left immediately.
Inside, there was a young junior brother who was responsible for serving tea and water and was not even of a higher grade. He shouted: "Two senior brothers, walk slowly. Master said today that we have to wait until night. If there is hail, the road will be dangerous."
"Know it!"
Zi Qing replied, but she pulled An Bian and left Qintian Prison without looking back.
…
…
The Six Ministries of the Central Government and other yamen did not take the hail disaster seriously.
If this is what Zhang Zhou predicted, it will still get some attention. Who makes Zhang Zhou's crow's mouth so bright every time?
But if this is what Wu Hao said...who is Wu Hao? Are you kidding me?
When it was time to break up work, all the ministers came out of the yamen. The sedans and carriages outside were ready, and everyone was ready to go home. Everyone was in a relaxed mood.
At this time, the two leading people who came out of the Ministry of Personnel were, in addition to the Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, Tu Fu, and the cabinet minister Xie Qian. ...until dark, the legendary "hail disaster" did not arrive.
"Will there be hail on this day?" Xie Qian asked.
Tu Yan sighed: "If it's not going to rain on a cloudy day, why don't we wait until it's sunny? Alas! Yu Qiao, I'll have something to say tomorrow."
"Let's go." After Xie Qian finished speaking, he walked towards his sedan chair.
What he was thinking about was that if the hailstorm hadn't fallen, he would have to impeach Zhang Zhou again early in the morning... He said to himself that he didn't know what the emperor had done after delaying the past few days, and whether he would impeach Zhang Zhou tomorrow. Will there be changes?
Will the emperor use the excuse of Wu Hao and the British Duke Zhang Mao to impeach Zhang Zhou, and by extension, say that the ministers of the DPRK are making trouble out of nothing by talking about other disasters?
…
…
Xie Qian's sedan has just left.
Before Tu Yu could get on his carriage, Fu Han, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, came back from outside in a hurry. After the carriage stopped, Fu Han trotted all the way to Tu Yu.
"What's the matter?" Tu Yu asked.
Fu Han asked: "Where is Mr. Xie Ge?"
Tu Yu said: "You just left, I guess you have passed the intersection. If you have anything to say, please tell me."
Fu Han said with an anxious expression: "I finally found Wu Hao. At first, he still avoided it and refused to say anything. Finally, under my questioning, he finally said in anger that this was what Zhang Bingkuan told him. There is going to be hail in the capital today, I wanted to ask a few more questions, but he denied it."
"What?" Tu Yu was also surprised.
What Zhang Zhou said?
Wu Hao actually listened to Zhang Zhou and revealed the matter to Zhang Mao? Zhang Mao actually "honestly Bajiao" reported to the court, or did he go before all the officials to impeach Zhang Zhou?
Fu Han said with a sad face: "I also feel that the matter is not simple. I was also thinking on the way back that if Zhang Bingkuan really did it, he might be delaying time, but he might also have other motives..."
"Wow..."
Just when Fu Han was still guessing Zhang Zhou's intentions, the sound of something urgently hitting the ground suddenly came from the ground outside.
"Huh?" Fu Han and Tu Yu couldn't help but look away.
The officials who were preparing to get into their cars outside were so frightened that they quickly ran to a place with a roof to cover their heads. As they ran, they shouted excitedly: "It's hailing!"
It seems that there is no compassion for the suffering of the people because of the natural disaster. They all seem to be gloating about the misfortune.
It seems to be saying... With our hard work and hard work, after this day of suffering, the hail finally came as promised.
"It's hailing!"
"hail!"
Many people were running and shouting, and even those who had already walked some distance, such as the carriages of officials around the Liubu Yamen, had to find temporary shelter from the hail.
Tu Ting and Fu Han, who were the vanguard to impeach Zhang Zhou, stood in the yard blocked by the lintel. They didn't seem worried that the lintel would be smashed down by the hail, but they didn't dare to step out.
"this……"
Fu Han sorted out his words, "Tu Shangshu, do you know what this means?"
Tu Jingren was also a little confused.
Wu Hao said there were hailstones, but it was a strange thing to see hailstones.
If this is what Zhang Zhou said... then it would be much more reasonable. Zhang Zhou accurately predicted what would happen in the future, and it was not the first time... The time the emperor prayed for rain before, including the time Zhang Zhou people came to Xuan Mansion to pray first Yu goes to accumulate reputation... Anyone can guess that Zhang Zhou has some extraordinary abilities.
It may be a bit too much to say that he can control the wind and rain, but knowing the changes in the weather should be an ability he can possess.
But to understand Zhang Zhou’s own prophecy of hail disaster and for people to use it to attack him... Can anyone figure out the reason behind this?
"Tu Butang, the hailstones are coming!"
Just when Tu Tong was stunned by the group of fleeing people outside and the chaotic scene that was almost like a war, the subordinate officers of the Ministry of Personnel had already followed him out and told Tu Tong as if announcing good news.
Tu Yan said to Fu Han: "Don't leak this in advance."
Fu Han said with a grimace: "If I tell others, can they believe it?"
Tu Yu thought about it, yes.
Tell people that this hailstorm was actually predicted by Zhang Zhou himself, or was used to attack Zhang Zhou himself... No matter how you say it, it doesn't make sense.
"Wait!" Tu Yu said, "When this hailstorm passes, quickly come with me to visit Xie Yuqiao, and... meet everyone you can! This is not a small matter!"
…
…
Xie Qian encountered this hailstorm on his way home.
He was sitting on the sedan chair, listening to the "crackling" sound coming from the top of the hailstones, and quickly asked the sedan bearer to find him a place to avoid the hailstorms. However, like people in the market who take shelter from hailstorms, they can only find the corner of the street. Every place and storefront along the street was busy with people entering to escape the disaster.
Xie Qian got off the sedan and looked at the people running in the street, feeling uncomfortable.
As a capital official, being an official in the capital is not that grand. The key is that he cannot afford to hire one. Being an official in the capital only looks good, and outsiders envy him... But even the elder of the Ming Dynasty only travels with his wife. There were only four bearers.
"Master, you are an official, right?" A shopkeeper appeared behind Xie Qian.
Xie Qian said hurriedly: "Thank you, I want to take shelter here."
"You're welcome." The shopkeeper was very polite.
Only then did Xie Qian notice that this was a cloth shop, and it seemed that it also sold some ready-made clothes, but not necessarily all of them were new clothes, there were also many old clothes.
This kind of store is quite popular in the capital. Clothes are also "hard currency" in the market in this era. It is very common for people to pawn or sell clothes when they have emergency needs. Even patched clothes can be sold for a good price as long as they are relatively new.
The shopkeeper smiled and said: "I was prepared early today and asked someone to notify the dyeing department and collect all the fabrics. Otherwise, the losses would be huge."
Xie Qian originally didn't want to deal with these people in the market because it was pointless.
But this time he became interested and asked, "Have you known this for a long time?"
"Yes." The shopkeeper said, "It's been published in the newspaper. Shuntian Mansion has posted notices everywhere, explaining that there may be a hailstorm today, and that it will happen between noon and before nightfall."
"Um?"
Xie Qian frowned.
To all the civil servants, it sounded like nonsense. Even he didn't believe that Wu Hao had such ability. How could Shuntian Prefecture pay so much attention to it? Di Bao also published it, what is the intention?
Or...has the emperor taken this hailstorm so seriously from the beginning? So that all disaster prevention measures have been secretly arranged?
The shopkeeper said: "We, the common people, don't understand, but I guess this is a great favor from the emperor. We are all grateful for the emperor's kindness."
Xie Qian felt bad when he heard such flattery from a distance.
This kind of words seemed to be more common to him when they came from an official's mouth.
"Do you believe it?" Xie Qian asked.
"Most people believe it." The shopkeeper said, "Look at the people traveling outside. Don't look at them going out, but they are also forced by life. There is Lai Guogong in the court. I don't expect that His Majesty will not face such a disaster. Those who forget the suffering of the people.”
"Humph." Xie Qian snorted, "What does this matter have to do with Zhang Bingkuan?"
"ah?"
The shopkeeper was surprised.
He was calling Zhang Zhou by his first name, and he seemed to be very familiar with the Duke of Lai.
"Zhang Bingkuan is the Duke of Lai in your mouth. I have known him for a long time." Xie Qian said.
The shopkeeper smiled and said: "Yes, I look at you and you are a high official."
Xie Qian didn't know whether this was a compliment or sarcasm.
It seems that the reason why I can be praised by the shopkeeper is not because I am an official, but because I know Zhang Zhou... Is this annoying?
"Lai Guogong was away fighting before, but now he has finally returned to the capital. As soon as he came back, he helped us solve a disaster."
The shopkeeper looked grateful.
Because in this era, the quality of house construction was generally not high, so hail damage prevention was taken very seriously.
Xie Qian turned his face and said: "This is not what Duke Lai Guo said, this is what Qintian Supervisor Wu Hao said! Remember! It's Wu Hao! Don't say it wrong again!"
(End of chapter)
