In the palace, as the fire in the Qianqing Palace burned, the sounds of one after another continued to sound. The eunuchs, maids, palace guards, etc. in the palace were all alerted and quickly tried to put out the fire in the Qianqing Palace.
However, the Qianqing Palace is a house with an all-wood structure. There are many advantages to houses made of wood, including earthquake resistance and warmth in winter and coolness in summer. However, houses made of wood also have many disadvantages. For example, the most feared thing is fire.
The Qianqing Palace was the place where the emperor lived and worked. The quality of the houses here was naturally very good. Almost all of them were painted. The wood itself was easy to catch fire, and the paint was a combustion support. Once the fire started, it was difficult to put out.
Especially in the absence of advanced fire-extinguishing tools, the eunuchs and guards in the palace can only rely on buckets of water to put out the fire, which is a drop in the bucket.
The palace has been burned down many times in its history. The Hall of Supreme Harmony, where ministers went to court in the morning, has been burned down four times in history. As for the Qianqing Palace, Kunning Palace has also been burned down many times in its history. .
The fire in Qianqing Palace was getting stronger and stronger. Those who tried to extinguish the fire did not dare to get close even with water. Because the temperature was too high and the heat wave was scorching, they could only watch the Qianqing Palace burn violently in the fire. Fall down.
Fortunately, Emperor Hongzhi did not work here in Qianqing Palace tonight. Emperor Hongzhi, who had only one wife, would usually go to Kunning Palace to spend the night.
The huge commotion in the palace soon alerted the sleeping Emperor Hongzhi and Zhang Huanggong, and someone from Xiaohuangmen hurriedly came to report the situation.
"What happened?"
Emperor Hongzhi asked after getting dressed.
"Back to Your Majesty, the Qianqing Palace has been compromised."
Xiao Jing said quickly and respectfully.
"What?"
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he no longer felt sleepy and quickly led his people to the Qianqing Palace.
Soon, when Emperor Hongzhi came to the Qianqing Palace, the Qianqing Palace had turned into a sea of fire. The raging fire was burning very brightly, illuminating the night and temporarily dispelling the shrouded cold.
"Have all my calligraphy, paintings, and books been preserved?"
Emperor Hongzhi's face turned ugly. The Qianqing Palace was where the emperor lived and worked. Now a fire broke out. Whether it was deliberately set on fire or whether it was caused accidentally, this needs to be investigated carefully.
Of course, what he cares most about now are his calligraphy and paintings, books, etc., which are basically rare and genuine and priceless, and there are some of his favorite calligraphy and paintings among them.
"Your Majesty, they have all been moved out."
Xiao Jing quickly replied that there were enough people in the palace, and a lot of things could still be saved before the fire burned out.
"Investigate this matter carefully~"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded gloomily and then walked towards Kunning Palace.
The Qianqing Palace was burned down, and it definitely needs to be rebuilt. This is definitely a huge expense. As a place where the emperor lives and works, the Qianqing Palace was built to very high standards. The wood used, etc., are all needed. Transporting it from the Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan areas is very expensive.
Even though the current Emperor Hongzhi has a bulging pocket and a lot of money, he has always been frugal and frugal. When he thinks of spending a lot of money to rebuild the Qianqing Palace, he can't help but feel heartache.
Moreover, he is the emperor, and anything that happens around him will be highly concerned. The leakage of Qianqing Palace will definitely spread throughout the capital tomorrow, and then all kinds of things will happen.
In history, every time the Qianqing Palace, Kunning Palace, etc. caught fire, some people would use it to make a big fuss. If the Qianqing Palace caught fire, some people would definitely say that the emperor had no virtue and lost the support of the people, so it was a disaster from heaven.
As for the fire in the Kunning Palace, people may say that the queen is immoral, arrogant and arrogant, and takes advantage of the emperor's favor. She may even be attacked for interfering in government affairs and harming the royal heirs, etc.
In short, many times, any matter can be used to make a big fuss by someone who is interested. This is especially true for such a major event as the fire in the Qing Palace.
Sure enough, early the next morning, when Emperor Hongzhi went to greet his grandmother, the Empress Dowager Zhou, the Empress Dowager Zhou immediately said to Emperor Hongzhi: "Li Guang today, Li Guang tomorrow, it is indeed a disaster!"
The Li Guang the Empress Dowager Zhou mentioned was of course not the flying general Li Guang of the Han Dynasty in history. This Li Guang was a eunuch in the palace, but this eunuch was different from ordinary eunuchs.
He was an eunuch who specialized in using talismans to worship the Gu to gain the favor of Emperor Hongzhi.
You heard it right. In history, Emperor Hongzhi, who was widely praised, especially praised, for being the perfect emperor, believed in these things, and even favored eunuchs who specialized in doing certain things.
Here we have to talk about the reason why Li Guang was favored. Emperor Hongzhi has always been in poor health. He is only in his thirties now, but he looks no different from an old man in his fifties.
There are many reasons for this. One is that Emperor Hongzhi himself was very weak, which was related to what happened to him when he was a child. Another aspect is that he was too diligent in government affairs and lacked exercise, so his health was naturally not good.
In his thirties, he already felt that his health was failing, so like other emperors in history, he became superstitious about alchemy, immortality, health maintenance, etc., and tried to use some methods to obtain a longer life.
As for the eunuch Li Guang, he was conceived under such circumstances and gained the favor of Emperor Hongzhi.
Emperor Hongzhi, a diligent and frugal emperor, spent a lot of money on Li Guang's head, building Longevity Mountain, repairing Yuxiu Pavilion, performing semi-ceremonial rituals to pray for blessings and eliminate disasters, collecting rare treasures, and precious medicinal materials for making elixirs, etc.
There is no doubt that the things Li Guang did were of no use. He took advantage of the favor of Emperor Hongzhi to engage in corruption, accepted bribes, plundered people's fields, made tens of thousands of dollars from salt, and built extremely luxurious private residences surrounded by Yuquan mountains and rivers. .
When the Yuxiu Pavilion was built, it was said that it could pray for blessings and eliminate disasters, but at that time, a baby princess finally born to Emperor Hongzhi died again.
Everyone in the court, inside and outside the court, hated Li Guang to the core. In March of the 10th year of Hongzhi, the head of the Household Department, Hu Jue, offered sacrifices to the doctor Wang Yunfeng. In response to the incident, Ye Shen, the censor Zhang Jin and others wrote a letter to impeach Li Guang. , please behead him to eliminate natural disasters, his words are very fierce.
However, Emperor Hongzhi had no doubts about Li Guang and ignored him at all. This further fueled Li Guang's arrogance and arrogance, which aroused great dissatisfaction with him both inside and outside the court.
Even the Empress Dowager Zhou was quite dissatisfied with this, so this is what she said to Emperor Hongzhi.
Her meaning was already very clear, saying that Emperor Hongzhi favored and trusted Li Guang, which was why the disaster happened.
After hearing this, Emperor Hongzhi said bravely: "Grandma, it's just an ordinary fire. My grandson has already asked someone to find out what the disaster is."
In front of the Queen Mother Zhou, Emperor Hongzhi had no airs. He was raised by the Queen Mother Zhou when he was young. He had a deep affection for the Queen Mother and was very filial to the Queen Mother Zhou.
"Just check it out. I'm just afraid of you, Your Majesty. If you are bewitched by a demon, how can you trust this talisman and the art of alchemy?"
Empress Dowager Zhou looked at her grandson, sighed and said, she actually knew why Emperor Hongzhi wanted to replace Li Guang. The Emperor Hongzhi in front of her was already extremely old in his thirties, and she could see it in her eyes.
She said this after experiencing four dynasties. She didn't want to die behind Emperor Hongzhi, and she didn't want to hear the bells of the emperor's death in the palace again. But looking at Emperor Hongzhi in front of her, she was very afraid of such a thing happening.
"My grandson knows, my grandson knows, grandma, don't worry."
Emperor Hongzhi nodded repeatedly, and Queen Mother Zhou would naturally deal with it first. As for Li Guang's matter, he was slowly thinking of ways to deal with it.
What the Empress Dowager Zhou said to Emperor Hongzhi quickly reached Li Guang’s ears. Li Guang was actually very timid. When he heard that the Empress Dowager Zhou went to tell Emperor Hongzhi about her affairs, he was frightened and drank.