The Ming Dynasty 1626 Enlightenment

Chapter 43 I can't do it!

Before the Tianqi earthquake, and some time after the Wanggongchang explosion.

The Forbidden City, the Qianqing Palace.

On the throne, Zhu Ming looked down at the memorials, his vermilion pen moving across the paper without raising his head.

"Zhou Jianzheng, what brings you to see me so urgently?"

"Your Majesty," Zhou Ziyu stood ramrod straight, his voice booming, "Four days before the Wanggongchang explosion, I observed the celestial phenomena and saw a red guest star in the Purple Palace, its rays encroaching upon the Emperor's throne. According to the Kaiyuan Zhanjing, 'When a guest star encroaches upon the Purple Palace, the emperor will be obscured by treacherous ministers, and the inferiors will overthrow the superiors.' I dared not fail to report this."

"A treacherous minister?" Wei Zhongxian sneered, drawing out the last syllable of his sentence. "Supervisor Zhou, explain yourself clearly. Who is the treacherous minister?"

Zhou Ziyu ignored him and looked only at the emperor on the throne. "Your Majesty, I only know about celestial phenomena, not human affairs. As for human affairs, Your Majesty is wise and can make your own decisions."

"Oh!" Zhu Ming finally raised his head, his gaze landing on Zhou Ziyu's face. "Are there any other interpretations of celestial phenomena?"

"When the Spring and Autumn Annals records natural disasters, it does not say that a certain disaster corresponds to a certain event, but only that 'Heaven sends out signs, and the ruler should reflect on them.' The way to reflect on oneself begins with removing obstructions and understanding the feelings of the people," Zhou Ziyu continued.

When he said the word "obstruction," his tone became slightly heavier.

Wei Zhongxian's pupils suddenly contracted.

This term was directed at his Eastern Depot.

After all, the day after the Tianqi Explosion, officials of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau observed the celestial phenomena and performed divination, concluding that: "At the hour of Si (9-11 AM) on the sixth day of the fifth month, the earth will rumble, like the sound of thunder, coming from the northeast Gen position, moving to the southwest, where clouds will obscure the sky and linger for a long time."

The divination concluded with ten words: "The world will rise up in arms against each other, and women and eunuchs will be in great chaos."

The news caused an uproar in the capital.

Upon hearing the news, Wei Zhongxian was furious and immediately wanted to order his men to drag the officials from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau who were divining out of the palace and beat them to death, but Zhu Ming stopped him.

The more Wei Zhongxian pondered, the angrier he became. He ordered his men to search through all the divination books of past dynasties, finding all the celestial phenomena that were unfavorable to him, thus creating a strange and inexplicable knowledge base.

So, upon hearing the word "obstruction," he immediately devised a rebuttal and prepared to press it.

"Your Majesty..." Wei Zhongxian wanted to engage in a verbal battle, but Zhu Ming raised his hand and stopped him.

"Zhou Jianzheng is right," Zhu Ming nodded, his tone calm. "But if it was a celestial warning, why wasn't it issued in advance? An advance warning could have prevented the Wanggongchang explosion."

"This..." Zhou Ziyu was speechless for a moment, not expecting the emperor to ask such a question.

"Since Lord Zhou can observe celestial phenomena, why can't he avoid natural disasters? Or is it that..." Wei Zhongxian seized the opportunity and continued the conversation in a sarcastic tone, his words dripping with barbs.

Zhou Ziyu shuddered, and sweat instantly soaked through the back of his official robes.

"Your Majesty..." he stammered, his voice faltering, "Celestial phenomena can change in an instant. On the night of the fifth day of the fifth month, I observed the heavens and was astonished to see a guest star suddenly brighten. I was about to report this, but it was too late..."

"Deceiving the emperor is a grave crime!" Zhu Ming interrupted him bluntly. "I've had some education; I'm not easily fooled!"

Zhu Ming's meaning was clear: Don't play the role of a Monday morning quarterback; he's not stupid.

"Your Majesty, I dare not!" Zhou Ziyu was sweating profusely, his previous composure completely gone.

"You wouldn't dare?" Zhu Ming looked at him with interest. "I heard that Censor Gao and the others searched for you all night! You're quite bold!"

Zhou Ziyu's knees buckled, and he fell to his knees with a thud: "Your subject is guilty! It was Imperial Censor Gao and his associates who ordered me to submit this memorial!"

"These people are really something!" Zhu Ming said casually. "The year before last, Shaanxi suffered a severe drought, and they called it a natural disaster; last year, locusts swarmed Jinan, and they still called it a natural disaster; the Yellow River breached its banks southeast of Xuzhou, and they still called it a natural disaster!"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Zhou Ziyu kneeling on the ground.

"By the way, your Imperial Observatory even endorsed them, saying things like Mars is reddish, has a large body with rays, Venus is visible in broad daylight, and treacherous officials bring disaster to the country..."

"..." Zhou Ziyu listened without daring to speak.

"In the six years since I ascended the throne, natural disasters have been frequent. In September of the second year, there was an earthquake in Longde; in September of the third year, there was an earthquake in the capital; in October of the fourth year, there was an earthquake in Nanjing..." Zhu Ming said simply and clearly, based on his memories from before his transmigration. "The Imperial Observatory did not issue any warnings for such natural disasters."

He lowered his hand, and his tone suddenly turned somber.

"Tell me, besides recording data, what else can the Imperial Observatory do? What does it want to do?"

"..."

As a time traveler, Zhu Ming knew that earthquakes were inevitable and didn't mean to be too harsh, but the ancient people's ideas about the interaction between heaven and man did need to be changed.

If it can't be changed in a short time, then turn the Imperial Observatory into a linguistic weapon that he can still use.

"Since your Imperial Observatory is so capable," Zhu Ming said slowly, seeing the atmosphere had reached this point, "then show me what natural disasters will strike the Ming Dynasty next, and where we need to make advance preparations?"

"His Majesty?"

Zhou Ziyu was completely stunned.

He looked up, his face full of astonishment.

Is this... asking him to make a forecast?

Which Imperial Astronomical Bureau could withstand such turmoil?

Hindsight is 20/20, which is their consistent style.

After all, hindsight is always their style, and based on past experience, even if the emperor doesn't believe them, he won't pursue the matter too much.

The Donglin Party is really ruining him. They're saying that as long as he speaks frankly based on celestial phenomena, he can overthrow the eunuch faction and will be rewarded by His Majesty.

Bah! They've certainly painted a pretty perfect picture of a pie in the sky.

But they never said His Majesty the Emperor would do that.

"Let's set a time," Zhu Ming said, ignoring Zhou Ziyu's embarrassment, "this month or next month. Minister Zhou, take a good look at the celestial phenomena and see where an earthquake might occur. I'll make preparations in advance."

"Your Majesty, I..." Zhou Ziyu's old face flushed red, and after a long pause, he suddenly blurted out, "I cannot do it!"

He was stunned for a moment after he finished speaking.

Your concubine?

That word isn't quite right.

But saying it like that... seems a bit tragic.

He couldn't care less about anything else.

"Oh? You can't do that?" Zhu Ming's tone was slightly mocking. "So the Donglin people tell you it's a natural disaster, and you just say it's a natural disaster! Is this the Donglin Party's Imperial Astronomical Bureau, or mine?"

"Your Majesty, this old minister is the Imperial Astronomical Observatory of Your Majesty," Zhou Ziyu kowtowed deeply.

"Good to know."

Zhu Ming put down his vermilion pen and leaned back.

"I recently had a dream in which the Taizu Emperor said to me: 'The Ming Dynasty is currently facing many disasters and difficulties, and it is not easy for me to be the emperor. The Taizu Emperor cherishes his descendants, so he appeared in my dream to tell me some things about the future. I don't know if it is accurate, so please take a look for me, Minister Zhou."

He thought for a moment and added, "It's probably sometime in early June, southwest of the capital, there will be an earthquake."

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Zhou Ziyu suddenly looked up, his eyes wide open.

Wei Zhongxian was also stunned, then his eyes darted around, seemingly lost in thought.

Indeed, as a time traveler, Zhu Ming clearly remembered that a major earthquake would occur in Lingqiu, Shanxi Province in June of the sixth year of the Tianqi reign.

Historical records state that "the entire city collapsed," with official records indicating that over 5,200 people were crushed to death, and no government offices, military or civilian residences survived. Hunyuan and Datong were also severely damaged.

Since people in this era believed in celestial phenomena and ghosts and gods, he then fabricated a story of "Emperor Taizu appearing in a dream".

When celestial phenomena clash with dreams, the only solution is magic to counter magic!

"Yes, Your Majesty! Your subject... Your subject obeys!"

Zhou Ziyu didn't know why Zhu Ming suddenly used the powerful weapon of the Emperor Taizu's dream, but it was at least a way out, so he could only follow it.

Zhu Ming picked up his brush and wrote four characters on the yellow paper: Lingqiu, Shanxi.

He casually handed it to Wei Zhongxian.

Wei Zhongxian took the paper, looking at Zhou Ziyu with a half-smile, rolled it up and handed it to him, saying, "Zhou Jianzheng, you'd better watch the celestial phenomena carefully for me. If there's anything wrong, I'll take your Imperial Observatory down with me."

These words were spoken lightly, but Zhou Ziyu sensed the chill in them.

"Your subject will certainly do his utmost!" Zhou Ziyu replied repeatedly as he received the imperial edict from Zhu Mingdi.

After all, the emperor had to consider the reactions of the court officials before deciding to kill him.

But Wei Zhongxian wouldn't do that.

Thus, the scene unfolded in the imperial court where Zhou Ziyu accurately pinpointed the location of an earthquake in Lingqiu, Shanxi.

Actually, he was also worried: what if it wasn't Lingqiu?

However, his divination results indicated that the earthquake would occur in the Shanxi area.

The yellow paper said it was from Lingqiu, Shanxi. Whether it was right or wrong, that was all he could say, and that was what he should say.

After determining the location of the earthquake, Zhu Ming immediately ordered the deployment of disaster relief efforts.

Firstly, he told all the civil and military officials that what Zhu Ming wanted were capable ministers who could govern the world well, and he would trust such ministers.

Secondly, it continues to demonstrate decisiveness in handling major court matters such as natural disasters. Zhu Ming's takeover of the court is not just talk; it is a concrete action.

Thirdly, it allowed the Six Divine Guardians of Apocalypse, which he had been preparing for for half a year, to officially step onto the historical stage.

This army, entirely of his own making, will be his personal Ironclad Guard.

Subsequently, the Six Divine Guards of Tianqi, the Three Great Camps of the Capital, and the four field armies that gradually formed later constituted the absolutely powerful and loyal armed forces that enabled Zhu Ming to sweep across the world and dominate the globe.

The Forbidden City, Xianfu Palace.

Many people have already arrived at Consort Ren's palace.

When the earthquake struck, Empress Zhang Yan immediately sent someone to inform Zhu Ming, and then rushed to Xianfu Palace.

Consort Ren and Prince Zhu Cijiong are now figures whom the Ming Dynasty cannot afford to lose.

This concerns the very foundation of the Ming Dynasty.