Ming Dynasty: At the beginning, the house was ransacked and the ancestral temple was burned down.

Chapter 74: Marriage-in-law?

"Third uncle, just now you said that my 'father-in-law' handwriting is good. How good is it? Do you have his original handwriting? I want to see it."

Zhang Chonghui suddenly asked such a somewhat puzzling question.

"Hey, do you want to practice calligraphy?" Zhang Maoxiu was a little surprised and surprised. He thought his nephew wanted to practice calligraphy and said hurriedly:

"It seems so. Although Jin Yiwei ransacked the house and took away all the valuable calligraphy and paintings, the calligraphy and paintings of an unknown person like Zhao Shizhen are still there. I will ask your third sister-in-law to look through them later, and I should be able to find them. .”

Zhang Chonghui showed a very interested look, and smiled obediently: "Thank you, uncle."

Seeing that his eldest nephew was suddenly so studious and well-behaved, Zhang Maoxiu suddenly felt that his previous rudeness was no longer so rude.

After all, children can be naughty occasionally.

Taking another look at his sixth brother Zhang Jingxiu, who was still lying on the ground and rolling around, Zhang Maoxiu looked away without even noticing.

……

Zhang Chonghui didn't quite understand why Zhao Shizhen, 'Schrödinger's father-in-law', didn't come to cancel the engagement.

Is it possible that a friend in need is a friend indeed?

Zhang Chonghui didn't believe it even more. After all, Zhao Shizhen was not Zhang Juzheng's disciple, and there had been friction between him and Zhang Juzheng over the matter of "stealing love." It would be damned if there was any true love in this.

The biggest possibility at the moment is that there is only one possibility, and that is that the other party wants to drag it out.

The Zhang family was dragged on until they couldn't bear it any longer and took the initiative to come to 'blackmail' them. At that time, the other party would not respond.

If the situation is better by then, you may be able to blackmail a sum of money, but if the situation is bad...

wrong!

"Wait!" Zhang Chonghui seemed to have suddenly discovered something, and he hurriedly asked: "Does Zhao Shizhen have a son at home?"

Several older uncles were stunned by this question...

"It seems... not..." Zhang Sixiu replied blankly.

Zhang Jianxiu was even more shocked and said: "Oh my God! No wonder I have to come to break off the engagement! He wants our eldest nephew to marry into his wife!"

……

Just when the Zhang family was shocked that Zhang Chonghui might be getting married, the Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun, who was far away in Shuntian Mansion in the capital and in the Forbidden City, was so sad that he shed tears.

The first son of Zhu Yijun and his beloved woman Zheng Fei died.

The newly born second prince Zhu Changxu died in his father's arms. He may not have had time to see his parents, let alone the world.

Zheng Mengjing burst into tears, while Zhu Yijun carried his son's small body to the Ancestral Temple. While he knelt in front of the ancestral tablet and cried, he murmured in a trance:

"Xu...the ancient name is Xu Shui, also known as Shuanglong River. It originates from Xupu, Hunan and flows into the Yuanjiang River..."

"Yuanjiang... Miaomiao Yuanjiang Road, it's still late to come, but I am suspicious of Sanjia, and I know Ermao invades..."

"Beihai Zun Lei is there, the south garden has deep vegetation, the water pavilion is windy and moonlit, and the eight chants are left behind..."

Zhu Yijun's mind was in a trance, and he didn't even know what he was mumbling.

He seemed to be speaking to the child in his arms, to his ancestors, and more to himself.

……

The twelve years of Wanli passed like this.

This year, Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun ordered to inspect the home of his former teacher Zhang Juzheng.

This year, Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun lost his first son with his beloved woman.

Many things happened this year, and many people died. This was an extremely uneven year.

Bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, everyone is looking forward to a better new year. However, on the 19th day of the first lunar month in the thirteenth year of Wanli, during the first lunar month of the Ming Dynasty, a mutiny occurred in Jianwu, Sichuan.

Soon after, Mangyingli on the Burmese border attacked important areas on the Yunnan border twice.

On the border of Liaodong, Li Chengliang, the Liaodong general who had always been very capable in fighting, actually suffered a 'defeat'.

In addition, earthquakes occurred in Yingtian, Yangzhou and many other places, the rivers were boiling, and the name was lost.

In the thirteenth year of Wanli, the year had just begun, and the Ming Dynasty had already begun to feel uneasy.

However, what troubled Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun the most was not these, but the Shuntian Mansion in the capital. It had not rained for several months.

From August of the twelfth year of Wanli to February of the thirteenth year of Wanli, more than seven months had passed, and not even a drop of rain had fallen in the Shuntian Mansion at the feet of the emperor.

It doesn't rain for more than half a year. This is a drought.

Drought has caused rivers to dry up and crack, and deep wells to bottom out without water.

Shuntianbu has a population of nearly one million, and so many people live without water for a long time. This is a very serious problem.

The parched capital was in urgent need of a sweet rain.

In feudal society, when it didn’t rain, the only thing one could do was to offer sacrifices to pray for rain.

According to the old practice, the Ministry of Rites held a large sacrifice ceremony.

Dayu is also called "Yu Li", and the object of its sacrifice is the "hundred sources of mountains and rivers" that are believed to be able to make clouds and rain fall.

The sacrifices began on Gengwu Day in the second month, and there was a great sacrifice.

In March, Ding Chou comes, and then there is a big one.

On Bingwu in April, there was another heavy rain.

There have been three consecutive floods, but God still refuses to reward a drop of rain.

Now, the public resentment is getting deeper and deeper!

If it doesn't rain, who can the people blame?

Of course they blame their king and father, the emperor who has been given the authority to rule by heaven! If the emperor had not behaved righteously, how could God send disasters to punish his people?

In fact, before this, Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun had already issued an edict and ordered trials in various places to vindicate many unjust cases in order to alleviate the grievances of heaven.

He also ordered the release of some minor criminals in Fengyang, the hometown of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, the land of Longxing, as well as some criminals who had been imprisoned for too long.

However, God just refuses to rain.

At this time, people's doubts about the emperor were getting louder and louder, and many officials went directly to the court to ask Zhu Yijun, the emperor, to issue an edict against himself.

Of course Zhu Yijun refused. The last time he was forced by Zhang Juzheng to commit suicide, he still had not let go of the shadow.

Seeing that His Majesty the Emperor was so stubborn, the ministers could not give up and said one after another:

"When Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was alive, his merits were unparalleled. He humbly accepted advice, listened to the advice of his ministers during a severe drought, and humbly issued edicts to all people in the world. I hope that Your Majesty will imitate the virtues of Taizong of the Tang Dynasty."

What the ministers mean is: Even a man as awesome as Li Shimin still has to obey our ministers and admit his mistakes to the world. Why can't Zhu Yijun do the same?
  Zhu Yijun was speechless.

This drought lasted for a long time and tortured Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun to death. Sometimes he even wondered if Zhang Juzheng knew that his home had been confiscated and was seeking revenge in heaven for him, the emperor, and his Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yijun didn't know if Zhang Ju was taking revenge on him and his country. He only knew that he was very unconvinced.

As a result, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty made a decision that shocked all officials and the world!
  Zhu Yijun decided to walk in person! Go to the Temple of Heaven in person to offer sacrifices and pray for rain!

He wants to use two legs to walk to the Temple of Heaven step by step!
  He wants to pray to God himself! He wants to use his sincerity as the emperor to pray to the sky to bring down the rain!

He wants to prove to Zhang Juzheng that I am not afraid of your revenge!
  In the thirteenth year of Wanli, April 17th.

Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun, who had been fasting for three days, led the civil and military officials from Huangji Gate to the Temple of Heaven on foot!
  (End of this chapter)