Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 88 How did you do it?

On the way, Chen Ce kept his head down thinking. This wildfire came inexplicably. There was snow everywhere on the mountain, so it was not easy to set a fire unless it was human-caused.

Putting this aside, it is worth thinking about why wildfires suddenly appear out of nowhere.

Chen Ce was a little confused and looked up casually, only to see Wang Yue and Zhu Houzhao looking at him as if he were a monster.

"what happened?"

Chen Ce touched his nose awkwardly and asked, "Is there something on my face?"

Zhu Houzhao said: "No!"

"But, but, little brother, your trick of fighting fire with fire is too incredible, isn't it?"

"How did you do that?"

Wang Yue also looked at Chen Ce curiously. He had been studying all his life and had read many books about various tricks and techniques, but he had never seen such a method to put out a forest fire, and he didn't know the principle behind it.

Chen Ce said, "There will be an upward airflow between the two flames. This airflow will have a strong attraction. Have you heard of a tornado? It's probably based on this principle."

Wang Yue and Zhu Houzhao seemed to understand, but they still couldn't help but admire Chen Ce's talent.

Chen Ce shook his head and whispered, "This fire is a bit strange. It is likely to be set by someone. Maybe it is aimed at the emperor to build Wansui Mountain? Is there anyone who doesn't want the emperor to build it?"

Zhu Houzhao exclaimed, "What does this have to do with the emperor building Wansui Mountain? It's totally unrelated."

Wang Yue smiled and explained to Zhu Houzhao: "A fire at the site where the materials were collected is considered an ominous sign. The civil officials can take this opportunity to persuade the emperor to stop repairing Wansui Mountain."

Zhu Houzhao still does not understand the weight of the four words "imperial power is granted by God". This is a sword hanging over the emperor's head by the civil officials.

Otherwise, why would the emperor in feudal society offer sacrifices to heaven so grandly and frequently? Why did the civil officials always emphasize that the imperial power was granted by God? It was because they wanted to use this to suppress the imperial power.

After Chen Ce told Zhu Houzhao about Dong Zhongshu's concepts of "harmony between heaven and man" and "imperial power is granted by heaven", and patiently explained to him the means by which civil officials could limit imperial power, Zhu Houzhao finally understood that being an emperor could also be limited by so many things.

If this drama was directed by civil officials simply to prevent Emperor Hongzhi from building Wansui Mountain, it would be a good thing.

Chen Ce didn't think much about it. When he returned to Huaihua Hutong in Shuntian Prefecture, it was already afternoon.

Zhu Houzhao and Wang Yue left separately, and Chen Ce returned to the courtyard alone.

……

The lights in the Forbidden City are still bright late at night.

A memorial from the cabinet caught the attention of Emperor Hongzhi. A forest fire broke out in Xiaolang Mountain, Changping County this afternoon.

The Changping County Magistrate inspected the mountain before putting out the fire and found no signs of anyone having gone up the mountain, so the fire must have been caused by something from the sky.

Emperor Hongzhi didn't pay much attention at first, after all, the fire had been put out. But just after he finished reviewing the memorial, he suddenly froze.

He seemed to have thought of something, and asked the eunuchs who were serving him, "Where does the material for Wansui Mountain come from?"

The eunuch hurriedly replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, Changping Xiaolang Mountain."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Hongzhi's face turned pale. How could a forest fire break out at this time!
I don’t know how the court will react tomorrow.

He was very worried that the civil servants would use this as a reason to persuade him to stop repairing Wansui Mountain. After all, Emperor Hongzhi had no way to refute these superstitious things.

Early the next morning, there will be a Umrah meeting.

After the six ministries of the Cabinet had finished their review, the Military Affairs Department's Censor stepped out.

When Emperor Hongzhi saw these censors, he knew roughly what they were going to write in the memorial, and he looked at the Censor of the Ministry of War with an unpleasant expression.

"Your Majesty, a sudden wildfire broke out on Xiaolang Mountain in Changping yesterday. This is indeed an ominous sign."

"Changping is located in the northwest of Peking. This is God's way of telling us that there is injustice in the northwest."

Ok?
Emperor Hongzhi originally thought that the censors and civil officials would link the Changping mountain fire with the repair of Wansui Mountain, and thus criticize him for being immoral in repairing Wansui Mountain. How come this is different from what I thought?
Emperor Hongzhi breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they were not here to disgust him, everything would be fine.

But soon Emperor Hongzhi realized something and said coldly, "What do you mean? Is there injustice in the northwest? What injustice?"

The military official bowed and said, "I don't know."

The Minister of Rites stepped out and said, "Since you don't know, then you must make your own guesses."

"It's just an ordinary wildfire in winter. Why make so many assumptions? It may not be a sign from God."

The fire in Changping seemed to have ended without any cause. At most, the Military Affairs Department wrote a letter to the Emperor, but it did not cause much reaction.

Anyway, the wildfire was finally brought under control and the timber loss was not too much, which was within the acceptable range of a minor disaster.

Fortunately, the entire Little Wolf Mountain was not burned down, and there was still a lot of wood to be cut down and used.

……

Zhu Houzhao was lying on the big bed in the Eastern Palace with his arms and legs spread out, still staying in bed even at noon. It was too cold in the mornings over the past two days, and there were fewer classes in the Eastern Palace, which also gave Zhu Houzhao enough time to rest.

Liu Jin carefully found Zhu Houzhao who was lying in bed and whispered, "Master, the Duke of England wants to see you."

Zhu Houzhao said impatiently: "No, I want to sleep, let him go."

Liu Jin hurriedly said, "The Duke of Ying brought the silver."

When Zhu Houzhao heard that Zhang Mao was coming with silver, he immediately jumped up and said hurriedly, "Hurry up and invite him to the central hall to wait for me."

Soon Zhu Houzhao finished washing up with the help of the maid, then walked out with a smile and said in a casual tone, "Uncle Zhang!"

"Since you're here, what are you bringing money for?"

Although I made some money from selling farming racks with my two uncles last time, it’s still better to have more pocket money.

Zhang Mao smiled and said, "Aren't we here to thank the Crown Prince? The Crown Prince taught us well, and our dull grandson has finally become smart."

"Isn't this bringing some money to thank you?"

Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "No problem."

He calmly took the money and handed it to Liu Jin, who quickly took the money and left.

"Haha, have tea, have tea, Uncle Zhang."

"Uncle Zhang, did you just leave court?"

Zhang Mao nodded and said, "Nothing serious happened today, except for a fire in Changping."

Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a moment. Yesterday, he had been thinking about whether there would be anything else about this wildfire, so Zhu Houzhao was on guard. He laughed and asked Zhang Mao casually, "What? What happened to this wildfire?"

"Will someone use the wildfire to impeach my father for his immorality?"

Zhang Mao shook his head and said, "No, that's not the case. The censors said that Changping is located northwest of Peking, so they said there was injustice in the northwest. Anyway, they couldn't explain it, and it ended up in nothing."

That's it?

Didn’t it cause too much waves?

I thought the civil officials would take the opportunity to impeach my father for his immoral behavior in building Wansui Mountain, but it seems I was overthinking it.

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "Is that so? It really is not a big deal, just a small matter."

Zhang Mao looked at Zhu Houzhao suspiciously and asked, "Why does Your Highness suddenly care about this?"

Zhu Houzhao asked Zhang Mao mysteriously, "Uncle Zhang, do you know how the wildfire was stopped?"

(End of this chapter)