My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 248 The Three Halls Are Destroyed

In the imperial city, Zhu Di walked into the ruins with a livid face.

Yesterday afternoon, thunderstorms hit the three main halls of Fengtian, Huagai, and Jinshen one after another. You must know that these three halls are the core palaces of the imperial city, but they were destroyed by thunder and fire when the construction was about to be completed. How could Zhu Di not be angry?
Zhu Zhanhe followed behind Zhu Di with a tired face. After he received the news yesterday, he rushed to the palace immediately and directed everyone to help put out the fire, but the fire was so huge that it took a whole night to put it out.

At this moment, I saw Zhu Zhanji dragging his exhausted body, his face covered with black and gray, and quickly stepped forward to plead guilty: "Grandson is guilty!"

Zhu Zhanji is responsible for supervising the construction of the imperial city. Now that the three main halls of the imperial city have been destroyed, even if it is a natural disaster, he is also responsible.

"How's the loss?"

Zhu Di asked in a deep voice.

"The main halls of the three main halls were all burned down, and the side halls were also ignited by the fire. Only the side halls of the Jinshen Hall were still intact. In addition, hundreds of people in the palace were injured. Thirteen corpses were found in the fire, and six others were missing. "

Zhu Zhanji replied in a low voice.

He originally lived in the palace, so he arrived at the scene of the fire earlier than Zhu Zhanhe. At that time, he tried his best to direct everyone to put out the fire, but it was of no use at all, the three halls were still destroyed by the fire.

"Grandfather, this is a natural disaster, and the elder brother has already tried his best!"

Zhu Zhanhe saw that Zhu Di's expression was not right, so he hurriedly stepped forward to persuade him.

Yesterday he saw with his own eyes Zhu Zhanji screaming at the fire, and even rushed into the fire several times. Unfortunately, the fire at that time was too big. With the fire fighting methods of this era, it was impossible to extinguish it. Until this morning, all that could be burned was burnt out. The fire was extinguished.

Zhu Di gritted his teeth and took a long breath, then looked at Zhu Zhanji whose face was covered in black ashes and whose clothes were even burned a few times, and finally waved his hands weakly: "Forget it, go back and rest first!"

"Grandson is not tired, I want to clean up the scene of the fire!"

Zhu Zhanji shook his head stubbornly.

He watched the three halls with his own eyes and built them bit by bit. During this period, he also put in countless efforts. Now that they were destroyed overnight, he felt more heartbroken than anyone else.

At this moment, the elderly Jin Zhong came with Xia Yuanji, Zhang Fu and other cabinet ministers. Seeing the ruins all over the place, several people also frowned.

"See Your Majesty!"

Jin Zhong stepped forward to salute.

The fire in the palace yesterday could be seen from most of the capital city. At that time, the whole city was heavily guarded, and they did not go to court this morning. They were not allowed to enter the palace until the fire was extinguished.

"How does the court say?"

Seeing Jin Zhong and others, Zhu Di asked directly.

The destruction of the three main halls in the palace was not only a natural disaster, but also a serious political event, which was why Zhu Di was so angry.

"This……"

Even Jin Zhong hesitated at this moment, and then replied helplessly.

"The three main halls have been destroyed, and now there is a lot of discussion among the officials in the court, and some even wrote a letter saying that everything went wrong after moving the capital. The destruction of the three main halls this time is a warning from the heavens. I hope that your majesty will take back the order and return the capital to Jinling! "

"What nonsense!"

Zhu Di roared angrily, he didn't believe in any warning from heaven at all, but felt that these ministers were taking the opportunity to make trouble.

"Your Majesty, there are still relatively few people who have signed the letter, but as the news spreads, more and more officials will definitely write the letter. At that time, the public opinion will be fierce, so we must pay attention to it!"

Jin Zhong stepped forward and said again.

Regarding the move of the capital, there was already a lot of resistance in the court. If it hadn't been for Zhu Di's strong implementation, it would have been impossible to move the capital.

As a result, not long after arriving in Beijing, the three major halls that were about to be built were struck by lightning from the sky. This was simply hitting Zhu Di in the face. Those officials who opposed the move of the capital would definitely take the opportunity to oppose it again.

Zhu Di's face was also very dark. When the three main halls were struck by lightning, he had already foreseen the consequences.

Zhu Di hesitated for a while, and finally ordered Jin Zhong and others: "You help me to block it for the time being, I need time to think about it!"

"I obey my orders!"

Jin Zhong and the others immediately agreed, although they also knew that it was not an easy task to block the advice of the ministers, but as cabinet ministers, this was their duty.

After Jin Zhong and the others left, Zhu Di gritted his teeth as he turned around and looked at the ruin-like scene of fire in front of him.

"Grandfather, why do I feel that this is a bit abnormal!"

At this moment, Zhu Zhanhe suddenly stepped forward and said in a low voice.

"What's not normal?"

Zhu Di asked immediately.

"The buildings in the imperial city are tall, so it's normal to be struck by lightning. In the past, the imperial city in Nanjing often caused fires due to lightning, but most of them were only struck by lightning in a certain palace, such as the Wenyuan Pavilion last time."

Zhu Zhanhe paused at this point, and then said again.

"But this time the thunder and lightning hit the three halls one after another, causing the three halls to catch fire together. Is this too coincidental?"

As soon as Zhu Zhanhe's words came out of his mouth, Zhu Di immediately came to his senses.

Fires caused by lightning did happen frequently in the imperial city of Nanjing in the past, but this is often only relative. Sometimes it happens once or twice a year, and sometimes it happens less than once in a few years.

And even if it was hit, at most a certain palace was hit once, and it rarely happened that multiple buildings were hit at the same time.

It turned out to be a good thing this time, the three main halls were hit by lightning at the same time, you must know that although the three main halls are on the central axis of the imperial city, they are still far away from each other, there are many buildings in between, but only the three main halls were hit , which is indeed a bit of a coincidence.

"Could it be because the three halls are the tallest, so they are more likely to be struck by lightning?"

At this time, Zhu Zhanji, who was next to him, expressed his thoughts.

"It is indeed possible, but I still think there is something strange about it."

Having said this, Zhu Zhanhe solemnly bowed to Zhu Di and said, "Grandfather, grandson, please allow me to investigate this matter!"

Zhu Di's sense is also very keen, and he nodded immediately: "Okay, then you and Jin Yiwei will jointly investigate this matter, but don't say anything, everything will be done in secret!"

"Yes!"

Zhu Zhanhe immediately agreed.

"Grandfather, I also want to investigate with Zhan He. After all, I supervised the construction of the Three Great Halls, and I am also very familiar with the structure of the Three Great Halls. Maybe I can help!"

Zhu Zhanji also asked at this time.

"Okay, then you and the two brothers will go to investigate together, even if nothing can be found, I will not blame it!"

Zhu Di nodded immediately, but although he agreed, he didn't hold out much hope. After all, lightning strikes are natural disasters. It's a coincidence that the three main halls were hit at the same time, but it can't be found in the sky, right?
With Zhu Di's permission, Zhu Zhanhe was about to start the investigation immediately, but at this moment Zhu Zhanji asked, "Second brother, where should we start the investigation?"

"No matter what kind of fire, we need to start the investigation from the fire scene!"

Zhu Zhanhe pointed to the ruins of the fire scene in front of him, there might be clues he needed.

(End of this chapter)