Daming kill

Chapter 283 Maybe It's God's Will

The first day of the first month of the 17th year of Chongzhen, the first day of the new year, Beijing.

Emperor Zhu Youjian of the Ming Dynasty woke up very early with joy.

Because according to tradition, the emperor will accept the New Year greetings from all the officials in the early morning of this day.

Chongzhen hopes to get off to a good start this year.

At the same time, he also needs blessings.

Therefore, Chongzhen attached great importance to it.

However, after waking up, Chongzhen was shocked to find that there was a strong wind blowing outside, and the whole world was shrouded in a rare sandstorm.

In the eyes of the ancient astrologers, the strong wind and haze is a sign of the rising of swords and soldiers, and it is a sign of great misfortune.

Even people who don't know astrology know that this is at least not a good sign.

Chongzhen's heart immediately became chaotic!
He stood there for a long time.

It wasn't until the Queen Zhou who accompanied him last night came to hold his hand tightly, that he pretended to be calm and got rid of his bad mood, forced a smile on his face and went down to clean up and wash after Zhou's somewhat abnormally over-warm service.

Yesterday was New Year's Eve, both public and private, the two wanted to be together.

Moreover, the Zhou family has been with Chongzhen since he was the king of Xin, and has a deep relationship with Chongzhen, and he is also very trusted by Chongzhen.

Chongzhen knew the Zhou family very well, and at the same time he also knew that the Zhou family knew himself very well, and he was really worried about himself.

However, on the way to Huangji Hall with all the preparations, facing the flying sand and rocks, the indistinguishable sky and the chaotic scenery, Chongzhen couldn't pretend anymore, and soon his face was clouded again.

The Huangji Hall was renamed the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Qing Dynasty, also known as the Jinluan Hall. It is the place where various important ceremonies are held, and it is also the largest and highest-level building in the Forbidden City.

When he came to the gate of Huangji Hall, Chongzhen still decided to sort out his mood, so he forced a smile again.

But as soon as he entered the palace, his face changed drastically again.

Because there was not a single minister in the whole hall, only a leader of Jin Yiwei standing under the hall.

At this time, the bells for gathering all the officials had stopped.

Chongzhen was dumbfounded all of a sudden, he didn't know how to react except his face turned livid.

He had never encountered such a thing, nor had he heard of it.

At this time, the lonely leader of Jinyiwei was also very embarrassed and at a loss.

He was on duty in the palace last night, and it is actually unclear what the situation is.

But the guy rolled his eyes for a long time, and decided to take the courage to smooth things over and said: "The weather is not good today, and the officials probably didn't hear the bell, so they couldn't enter the palace in time. Please order the bell to ring again, so that all officials can listen to the bell." When the bell strikes, I will be sure to come as soon as possible.”

Chongzhen's face changed for a while, and it took a long time before he uttered an unknown note.

He obviously didn't want to approve the words of the leader of Jinyiwei.

At this time, he firmly believed in his heart that the incompetent and disobedient ministers must have done it on purpose, and they had been linked up long ago, in order to demonstrate to him in the New Year, and countless grass-mud horses began to run wild in his heart.

But no matter how angry he was, Chongzhen seemed to understand that he could only borrow a donkey to go downhill for the time being.

But unfortunately, such words cannot be said to him who has always had a good face.

Since everyone is unclear about the note of Chongzhen, everyone can only wait for Chongzhen's next words.

But Chongzhen did not follow.

As a result, the hall was terrifyingly quiet, and the air was full of eerie smells, which made the wind outside even more ear-piercing.

When everyone stared blankly at each other and didn't speak for any reason for a long time, the eunuchs who were the most familiar and closest to Chongzhen finally had to stand up, and they had to be cannon fodder to "make their own decisions."

But the strange thing is that the eunuchs rang the bell several times in a row, and the sound of the bell and drum was still "the one who has not come for a long time".

There was still no sign of a minister.

Chongzhen was completely stunned this time, his face almost turned into a liver color, and his hands began to tremble.

But sitting on the dragon chair and panting violently for a while, Chongzhen found sadly that he seemed to have nothing to do but get angry.

He couldn't shamelessly let people call those ministers who had been waiting outside Chang'an for a long time, "Come and go to court!"

Wouldn't that just fall into the trap of these courtiers!

Moreover, the law does not blame the public, and he cannot punish all ministers for their crimes!
At present, what he needs more urgently is to get rid of the embarrassment of the moment.

So his mind started spinning wildly!
Finally, after looking at the shivering Jinyiwei leader below with red eyes, Chongzhen gritted his teeth and decided to pay homage to the Ancestral Temple first, and then come back to accept the worship of all officials.

This can not only resolve the temporary embarrassment, but also air out those ministers who are doing things for him.

Unfortunately, misfortunes never come singly.

When Yousi was preparing to drive, another bizarre incident happened because more than a hundred horses were required for driving and ceremonial guards and could not be assembled for a while.

Chongzhen finally could no longer control his emotions.

Although the time of worshiping the Taimiao was moved a little earlier, it was only a little bit, and it was calculated by the hour, not by the day.

Moreover, worshiping the Taimiao has been planned for a long time, and it does so every year.

How did the company prepare for this?
This is a serious dereliction of duty!
Chongzhen couldn't help scolding the eunuch in charge with a ferocious expression.

If today is not the New Year's Eve, he is worried that it will be unlucky, he will definitely swear, and he may even kill someone.

Chongzhen's fury was temporarily stopped until someone suggested that the horses for the officials to ride near the dismounting stele outside Chang'an Gate could be driven into the palace to make up the numbers.

Riding horses is not allowed in the Forbidden City, and officials must only go through the left and right gates of Chang'an to enter the palace, so the horses they ride can only be temporarily placed near the dismounting monuments of those two gates.

There must be horses there.

Chongzhen thought this idea was very good.

If you don't come to court, then I will drive away your horses and tell you that I am busy with other things first and will not accept your kidnapping.

And it is also possible to remind the officials that it is time to go to court without losing their value!

But when everything is ready and ready to go.

The eunuch, the chief of ceremonies, started playing cautiously, thinking that the horses outside had not been trained, and that accidents and confusion were prone to occur in today's weather.Not to mention that if something happens and people are hurt, even if there is chaos, it is not appropriate for a grand ceremony like worshiping the Taimiao.

And if you accidentally hurt the emperor, that would be even more unacceptable.

After Chongzhen thought about it carefully, it really made sense.

So he reluctantly accepted the suggestion after emphasizing that worshiping the Taimiao was a big matter and personal safety was insignificant, and then returned to the hall depressed and restless waiting for the officials who didn't know when they would appear.

He was very disturbed and thought a lot.

It took a lot of time to prepare to worship the Taimiao, but still no ministers came for such a long time, Chongzhen's heart was completely confused and very helpless.

Fortunately, after a while, the belated ministers finally began to appear one after another.

Chongzhen also gradually breathed a sigh of relief.

Civil and military officials enter through the left and right gates of Chang'an. Because they need to stand according to the civil and military divisions, all officials need to pass through the middle gate to adjust their positions.

But because Chongzhen had already arrived at the main hall early, under the gaze of the emperor, all the officials had to lower their heads and circle around in the queue.

Coupled with the fact that the ministers came intermittently and at different times, the whole process not only took a long time, but also looked very undignified, even a little funny.

But luckily nothing else happened.

In this way, the last New Year's meeting in the history of the orthodox Ming Dynasty, the emperor waited for the ministers for several hours, and the final ceremony was hastily completed.

Of course, with Chongzhen's temperament, he couldn't hold back and reprimanded the ministers for why they didn't come for so long?

But all the ministers said with one voice, because the storm did not hear the bell.

Chongzhen had a gloomy face and said nothing, of course he still didn't believe the explanation given by the leader of Jinyiwei before.

It is estimated that it is difficult for anyone else to believe it!
Because everything in the palace is specially designed, and it has been verified long ago.Naturally, it is impossible not to consider the impact of abnormal weather.Not to mention the strong wind, even if there is a thunderstorm, it is impossible for the ministers waiting outside the left and right gates of Chang'an to fail to hear the bell.

Nothing like this has happened in the Forbidden City for more than 200 years.

What's more, in order to ensure that the officials will go to court, the left and right gates of Chang'an will be opened immediately after the bell rings.

I can't hear the bell of the Shang Dynasty, so hard to see that the door to the palace has opened!

That was the first time the door was opened every day.

Also, if the person outside one door cannot hear the bell and see the door open, how come everyone outside the two doors is like this.

This is too coincidental!

It is hard to believe that it was not collusion.

However, in the face of the collective unity of the ministers pretending to be stupid, Chongzhen could only bear it no matter how angry he was.

And such weird things are not made up, but real history.

It wasn't until he returned to his bedroom that Chongzhen couldn't help but explode in full force.

He was very annoyed and poured out the anger in his heart to Queen Zhou, lamented sadly that there was not a single minister under his command, and accused all the ministers of betraying him.

But Queen Zhou said calmly after listening quietly: "I probably can't blame everyone for this. The emperor doesn't go out of the palace, so he doesn't know what's going on outside."

Chongzhen didn't realize it for a while, he was stunned and then said displeasedly: "What do you mean! Don't they blame me for not being able to do their part one by one? Besides, what does this have to do with whether I am out of the palace or not?" ?”

Chongzhen and the Zhou family are also considered old couples. They have three sons and three daughters together, including the crown prince who has always been in a stable position and the eldest son Zhu Cihong, so there are no so many twists and turns when talking to each other.

There are no special circumstances, they basically just say what they say, and generally don't hide their emotions very much.At the same time, there is often no need to worry about hurting the other party because of a bad tone.

"It's not your fault. I mean that the emperor should learn to be considerate of others." Empress Zhou explained in a rather helpless tone.

In fact, she had already heard about the predicament that Chongzhen encountered.

Although she didn't know the exact reason, she still felt the need to think about the problem from other people's perspective first.

Moreover, the situation in the country has collapsed to the point that she knows that she can no longer delve into this issue!
So after sighing, Mrs. Zhou continued to meet Chongzhen's unkind eyes and said, "I think it may be caused by this plague. Now the plague is rampant in the capital, and the dead have nothing to do with it. There are sayings that this is all the white-clothed ghost." In the ecstasy, people all over the city beat iron tools all night, "sounding up to the ninefold" to drive away ghosts.

The wind and haze today made it impossible to tell the difference between day and night in the early morning, and the common people should also continue to knock on the iron tools.The officials were waiting outside the palace, presumably they were disturbed.Coupled with the strong wind howling, it is normal to not hear the bell.

And the emperor has always been a very disciplined person, the officials couldn't hear the bell, and no one came to summon him, even if they saw that the left and right doors had been opened, how dare they enter the palace privately!
As for Yousi who prepared the chariots and horses, I think they also had difficulties.

In this terrible plague, so many people died, and horses were no exception, even worse.I heard that the horses in the city are almost out of ten.The horses in the city are like this, but the horses in the palace are not much better!
I guess that in order to ensure that the emperor worships the Taimiao, Yousi may have used the expedient method of demolishing the east and making up for the west.But the emperor temporarily adjusted the itinerary, and they were caught off guard.But after that, didn't they have no more problems? "

Although Zhou's words of consolation were relatively gentle, the explanation was very reasonable, and the words were chosen carefully, but Chongzhen's complexion not only did not improve, but became even uglier.

Of course Chongzhen knew about the plague outside, and he also knew it was very violent. After all, this did not happen recently, but had been going on for a long time.

Memorials about the plague flew into the palace like snowflakes.

At the same time, Chongzhen's status as the emperor who governed the world according to the will of heaven was further severely damaged.

Inexplicably, the world has fallen into extreme cold, continuous earthquakes, heavy rains and floods in various places, continuous droughts and locust plagues for years, foreign invasions that are becoming more and more difficult to resist, and riots in the world...

Almost all the heaven and earth visions that foreshadowed that the Son of Heaven might be unethical all came together, and each was more violent than the other, and none of them seemed to show any signs of ending or weakening.

This is almost unheard of in history.

It also forced Chongzhen, who had a strong self-esteem, to issue his own edict four times, becoming the emperor who has sinned his own edict the most times in history (there will be two more times before his death, reaching six times).

But now, the plague has directly turned the capital, the ruling center of the country, into a ghost town, which has become an ancient anecdote.

Chongzhen was also very frightened.

However, even though the plague had swept across the capital and frightened Chongzhen, as the emperor, Chongzhen still had a vague understanding of the plague, and never seriously understood or sent people to understand the plague and the damage it caused.

As for any strong measures to be taken, it is even more out of the question.

It could even be said to do nothing at all.

I don't know if it's because there are too many lice and I'm not afraid of biting, or if I really don't eat fireworks, or if I have already developed a taboo about disasters.Anyway, Chongzhen, a rare emperor who never went out of the palace, had a strange attitude towards the plague.

Therefore, the empress Zhou's consolation not only didn't work, Chongzhen was even more annoyed after hearing it: "Plague, plague! Everything uses the plague as an excuse. The people below always like to say things that are exaggerated to attract our attention and avoid responsibility. In other words, what I take you to watch often has a lot of acting elements. You just listen to it and watch it, how can you take it seriously.

Of course, the plague is really violent at the moment, and I know it too.But probably not to the extent they said.You see, the princes and ministers are all alive and well, and no one has lost their lives. "

"Your Majesty, how can you be so stubborn?" Empress Zhou looked at Chongzhen dumbfounded, and then said angrily, "You think the common people are idle, and it's fun to stay up all night and knock on iron tools, isn't it?"

But Chongzhen said with a dissatisfied face: "How can the common people knock on the iron all night? Occasionally, it is possible to knock for a while at night. I don't believe that it is all like this. Otherwise, how could the various yamen let it go? Could it be that they are all dry?" Is there something to eat?"

"The yamen really wants to manage it, can they manage it? If you don't believe me, you go out of the palace to have a look." Zhou almost shouted.

"The plague is so fierce outside now, how could I leave the palace at this time, do you want me to catch the disease too? And what does it matter if I don't leave the palace, I don't know what I should know." Chongzhen also raised his voice When he got up, his eyes also began to turn red with anger.

Chongzhen knew that the plague was contagious, and he also knew to be afraid.

"Okay, okay! If you think like this, I won't say anything. Anyway, you never listen to what I say. I also understand the grievance in your heart. I just hope that the emperor will not think too much, and don't talk to the group because of it." I'm angry." Zhou said a little dejectedly.

She didn't want to argue anymore, and she knew it was useless to argue.

She is too clear about the character of her man.

The world is already like this, but Chongzhen is still so headstrong, she really doesn't know what to say.

Of course, she is also aware of the stimulation caused by today's various bizarre situations to Chongzhen, who has always been known for his strictness and self-discipline.

Whatever the cause, this is indeed unacceptable.

Also, very unlucky.

At this time, neither Chongzhen nor the Empress Zhou knew that Li Zicheng, who later destroyed the Ming Dynasty, happened to be officially proclaimed emperor in Xi'an on this day.

And on the same day, a strange and strong earthquake also occurred in Fengyang, Anhui, the land of Longxing in Ming Dynasty.

At that time, Fengyang Shouling Gu Guozhen sent an urgent report on this.

"The Chronicles of Qing History" records: "The people in the houses near the imperial mausoleum collapsed, especially."

Sometimes the ancients said that there is God's will in the dark, maybe it is so!

(End of this chapter)