The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 110 Jumping a Prophet

The first day of December in the 11th year of Hongzhi.

The emperor personally went to the Tiandi Altar in the southern suburbs to participate in the sacrifice.

The Great Sacrifice was the most important sacrificial activity in the Ming Dynasty, offering sacrifices to heaven and earth. However, before Jiajing, the Circular Mound Altar had not been built, and the sacrifices of heaven and earth were all in one place.

After the sacrificial activities, Wu Hao, the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple and the supervisor of Tianjian, used the armillary sphere to measure the secrets of the heavens, so as to determine the good and bad luck of the coming year.

Wu Hao was a famous astronomer in the Ming Dynasty, but he only made some achievements in astronomy. Others asked him not only to count astronomy, but also to ask him to measure good and bad, which is a bit difficult for him...

Usually, he can only preach from the book, and he can only mention what is recorded in the book.

But the problem is...

It is beyond the reach of ordinary people to connect astronomy with what is happening in the world.

It was a bit windy that day.

After the sacrifice was completed, many ministers were still waiting. On the other side, Wu Hao seemed to have some dispute with his assistant, and he didn't report to the emperor the oracle about the good and bad luck of the coming year for a long time.

In the end, Dai Yi, the eunuch in charge of the chief inspector of ceremonies, came down and urged, "Wu Shaoqing, haven't you come to a conclusion yet?"

It means that the emperor and all the ministers are waiting there, don't you make any preparations in advance?Who do you think you're counting on you to actually figure out?Hurry up and leave. You can't let the monarchs and ministers scramble to waste time here just because you are alone.

Wu Hao handed over the strangely shaped tortoise shell to a person beside him, and said to Dai Yi: "Eunuch Dai, please allow the officer to think about it."

Great winter.

Dai Yi found beads of sweat on Wu Hao's head.

As if it was such a physically demanding activity.

"Hurry up, Your Majesty is still waiting to return to the palace. This wind is not small."

Wu Hao went to the side of the armillary sphere again, and looked at the sky. It was cloudy that day, and it was difficult to control the direction of the sun.

Deputy Supervisor Liu Pin came over and asked, "Wu Shaoqing, hurry up. In normal years, it's time to donate long ago! The old ministers below are also shivering from the cold."

There are many civil servants and generals standing below.

Wu Hao also felt a lot of pressure on his body.

"Wait, wait, wait..."

The reason why Wu Hao was under so much pressure was that a lot of things happened that year from a metaphysical point of view.

He didn't figure out any of them in advance.

Although Li Guang was blamed for many things, Qin Tianjian, as an important institution of Ming Dynasty, played soy sauce in front of many things.

Instead, Zhang Zhou, a Juren who was born outside the palace, calculated a lot...

There is no harm without comparison.

Wu Hao also wanted to follow the usual gourd painting and put forward the calculation results to deal with the matter, but this year can't do it. If he is not accurate, he probably won't do it as the Qintian Supervisor.

at last.

After the emperor urged him three times and asked him four times, Wu Hao wrote the inscription and brought it to the emperor himself, and Dai Yi handed it over.

Zhu Youtang didn't even bother to look at it.

Zhu Youtang asked: "What is the fortune of Daming in the coming year?"

This is ignoring the details, asking Wu Hao to make a summary.

Only then did Wu Hao feel that not only did he attach great importance to this divination, but even the emperor seemed to have changed his previous style of not asking questions.

It's all because of Zhang Zhou.

Could it be that you, Wu Hao, are the only ones under pressure, the emperor shouldn't ask more questions and then cross-check with Zhang Zhou's calculation results?
"It's okay." Wu Hao really couldn't think of a better explanation, "The contents of Liuren's divination are all listed in the sky table, please read it, Your Majesty."

Zhu Youtang squinted at Wu Hao.

Let you calculate for a long time, and you can calculate "okay"?
Fortunately, everyone in Daming praises you as a rare astrologer since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, but it seems that you are far worse than Bingkuan whom I trust.

Zhu Youtang handed the inscription to Xiao Jing, and said: "Ask Bingkuan later to see what he thinks. Let's stop here for today, let's show off."

The emperor didn't deliberately save face in front of Wu Hao either.

Ask Zhang Zhou to check it out, he is clearly saying, you Wu Hao stand aside.

Beads of sweat were already dripping down Wu Hao's head, but his face was ashamed, and he was too embarrassed to raise his head to see the king.

……

……

Zhang Zhou is actively preparing for the exam recently.

It felt a lot easier not to enter the palace gate, but occasionally Wang Yue would visit with a stern face.

There is only one question - when will the Tartars come.

But everyone knows that the grassland tribes also have to spend the winter, and they all know that there is no production in the winter in the north of the Ming Dynasty. The style of the Tartars grabbing and running does not match.

Since there is no battle to fight in winter, let's delay it first.

Even Zhang Zhou didn't directly answer Wang Yue or the emperor's question about when the battle will start.

According to Zhang Zhou's records, the next time the Tatars harassed the border was in February, and the discussion time happened to be when the general examination was in progress.

Wang Yue just came to visit this morning.

In the afternoon, Xiao Jing brought Wu Hao to the door with a "Book from Heaven" with some strange symbols to ask for advice.

"Prove what?"

After Zhang Zhou heard the meaning of the emperor conveyed by Xiao Jing, he still didn't understand it.

Xiao Jingdao: "Naturally, it confirms the good and bad luck of the coming year."

Zhang Zhou asked curiously, "Through the changes in the stars, can we calculate the good or bad luck of the country? It needs to be calculated a year in advance. Wouldn't it be... a bit demanding?"

Xiao Jing smiled wryly: "Mr. Zhang, you are really straightforward, you don't say you can't do anything about it?"

"Yeah." Zhang Zhou said, "Eunuch Xiao still understands me."

"you……"

Xiao Jing almost wanted to hit someone.

Am I here to ask you for help?I am here on behalf of the emperor.

Are you just being so perfunctory?

Are you proud of being favored?
Zhang Zhoudao: "If you want to calculate, you can't calculate like this. I may not even be able to measure the weather accurately tomorrow. Let me directly calculate the fortune trend of the next year. I'm afraid I can't do anything. Many things are about to happen, and then there are signs. "

"Really?" Xiao Jingxin said, you finally said something human.

Xiao Jing knew in his heart, at least go back and talk to the emperor, and he will be able to deal with business.

Zhang Zhou leaned over and said, "Eunuch Xiao, let me tell you a secret. I estimate that there may be an earthquake in Henan recently, but it's not too serious."

"Ah?" Xiao Jing was taken aback, but his eyes were eager, "How close is it recently?"

Zhang Zhoudao: "In six or seven days, there will be houses collapsed in Xinye County, Henan Province, and there may be casualties. It is estimated that there will be less than ten people. If we take precautions in advance..."

Xiao Jing swallowed and said, "Is it accurate?"

Zhang Zhou shook his head and said, "Eunuch Xiao, this is just a rough guess, you don't want to make any articles out of it, do you?"

"Mr. Zhang, you don't know." Xiao Jing said with a serious tone, "Many people in the court thought that the Qingning Palace disaster you calculated earlier was fabricated by someone in the palace deliberately wanting Li Guang to fall. You say it is ordinary fire, but you deliberately say it is sky fire... If you can calculate the earthquake, no matter how big the disaster of the earthquake is, it will eventually make those doubtful voices disappear."

Zhang Zhou nodded in agreement: "It makes sense, then I'm sure."

Xiao Jing smiled wryly and said: "You still have preconditions? Are you sure? Our family can go back and report to His Majesty. Your Majesty trusts you very much, maybe you just said it in front of the courtiers."

"Oh, alright."

Zhang Zhou also felt that there was no problem.

With the butterfly effect, changes are generally in the humanities, and it makes sense to say that it can change the weather.

After all, the appearance of Zhang Zhou has brought about changes in the contact between people in history. If one spreads the message ten times, the effect will be infinitely magnified. Therefore, it really takes a bit of luck to accurately predict when the Tatars will attack Ming Dynasty. , that is, the Tatars had already negotiated for a few days, otherwise, with his appearance, history may change.

But this thing about earthquakes...

The effect of the butterfly effect is negligible.

Zhang Zhou didn't have the ability to crush a certain tectonic plate, or whether it should be broken or not.

Zhang Zhou asked himself that he knew a lot about history, but it was limited to some easy-to-remember contents. He could only remember [-]% to [-]% of the contents of "Records of Emperor Xiaozong". Geological records, especially books recording earthquakes, can be memorized.

"In the 11th year of Hongzhi's December [-], the earthquake in Xinye County, Henan Province was as loud as thunder."

The time was calculated to be the seventh day of December of that year.

Xiao Jing said: "What day is it?"

"The seventh day, the eighth day... the seventh day."

Zhang Zhou looked indifferent.

Xiao Jing raised his thumb and said: "Mr. Zhang, you are really calm and composed. If you don't come to ask you, why don't you say yes? Maybe in your heart, this is just a trivial matter?"

Zhang Zhou showed the scroll in his hand: "I've been busy preparing for the exam recently, and I read too many books, so I won't be free to calculate these."

Xiao Jing said: "It seems that you should really be admitted to Jinshi earlier, so that you will have more leisure to calculate the fate of the country."

"Haha, that's not necessarily true. Maybe I'll be too busy with court affairs to take care of it."

"..." Xiao Jing felt that he had been beaten by Zhang Zhou long ago and was covered in bruises all over his body.

But he still had to go back quickly and report to Zhu Youtang truthfully what Zhang Zhou said.

……

……

Morning the next day.

As expected, Zhu Youtang mentioned this matter when discussing matters in the court.

When everyone heard that the emperor had been able to accurately tell the earthquake that would occur five days later, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay.

Liu Jian came out and said, "Your Majesty, is this calculated by Qin Tianjian yesterday?"

Zhu Youtang said: "No."

Liu Jian said "Oh" as if he understood something, and persuaded: "Your Majesty, since ancient times, there have been people who have predicted earthquakes, but they are all alchemists who made false statements. If someone deceives the public with false words, they should be punished!"

meaning is.

What can't be said is what it is.

Now that the emperor has openly brought it up to the court, it cannot be taken lightly.

You don't even need to wait until the time to verify it, you just have to be charged with "bewitching the public".

don't say anything else...

The reason is that none of the people who have predicted earthquakes in advance since ancient times can predict it, let alone this kind of prediction at the exact time and place... It is more abhorrent than lying to the public.

Zhu Youtang was not happy when he heard it: "My dear family, I said it so that the local government can take precautions as soon as possible. If not, you can just pretend that you didn't hear it. Why do you want to judge the crime?"

Li Dongyang and Xie Qian looked at each other.

The two can hear it as soon as they hear it.

The emperor seemed very protective of the person who predicted the earthquake.

Based on their knowledge of the people around the emperor, Zhang Zhou is probably the only person who can make such a nonsense prediction.

A candidate for the provincial examination in the south of the Yangtze River, Xie Yuan, is not afraid of being talked about as "bewitching people", and dares to predict the earthquake so clearly?

Does he think he has not enough troubles?
(End of this chapter)