Chapter 303: The world is shocked!

The heavy snow stopped, but the air was still filled with thick gray-yellow, like a curtain slowly floating in the air, silently covering the ruins.

Everyone looked at the statue of the god that was broken into pieces and buried in the rubble, and they were scared and couldn't help but feel glad... Fortunately, the wall of the temple was built strongly and did not collapse in the earthquake just now, so no serious casualties were caused.

After counting the number of people, eight were injured and no one died. Instead, the horses tied to the side hall were killed by the collapsed beams and pillars. But what else can I ask for after this sudden disaster?

Silence asked the guards to help all the injured on the carriage and take warm measures. After thinking about it, he said to Tiezhu, who was wrapped around his head: "Cut off the dead horse meat, we must be prepared to go to Xuzhou without any supplies."

"You mean?" Tiezhu asked in a deep voice: "There is an earthquake in Xuzhou?"

Silently nodded, looking at the red and yellow sky in the distance, an ominous feeling suddenly arose, and pondered: "If you are not afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of if you are not afraid of ten thousand, it is always good to be a little prepared."

It was already noon when they were all cleaned up. They ate some food around the ruins, and the group left in a row, a place that they would never forget for their lives.

In Shen Mo's view, this disaster is likely to affect a radius of hundreds of miles. But in fact, the earthquake on December 12, 34th year of Jiajing was shaking at the same time in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, and its power also affected the capital, Shandong, Nanzhili, and Huguang. In other words, half of the two capitals and 13 provinces in the country were affected!

The entire Northern China felt this terrifying earthquake. The capital of the Ming Dynasty, Beijing, had a particularly strong tremor. From the 12th day, the sound was like thunder, like waves, and the daylight was dark. The city gates such as Yongding Gate arrived at him, and the city walls collapsed for nearly ten miles, and the palaces, government offices, and residential buildings collapsed countless times. Even Emperor Jiajing's Western Garden was not spared. More than ten palaces collapsed, and Yuxi Palace was seriously damaged and could not be lived in at all.

Emperor Jiajing, who was extremely frightened, had moved to the Shengshou Palace. He didn't care about setting up his imperial bed, so he asked someone to set up the altar. He knelt on the cold stone floor in only one robes, and prayed to God: "All things are in trouble, the crime is on my behalf. The Five Emperors have punished me. I will suffer all the crimes. Do not hurt my people, and do not disturb the sects..."

For every emperor, although natural disasters and man-made disasters are annoying enough, the one he is most reluctant to face is this earthquake that cannot be explained. Because he didn't know which fragment thought of it, saying that the earthquake was the emperor's mistake, and that the gods committed crimes. This has been said for thousands of years, so that everyone believes it.

The extremely superstitious Emperor Jiajing naturally believed it even more. He firmly believed that this was God’s warning to him, or warning, so he had to ask God for forgiveness first, and then try to make up for his sins.

Of course, with the temper of Emperor Jiajing, he would not think that he was wrong. He firmly believed that those mistakes were all committed by his subordinates, and I had just suffered them on behalf of others. So after three days of praying, he sent four cabinet masters, six ministries, nine ministers, soldiers, and censors of the Ministry of Justice, and a total of more than 200 people to the outside of the hall and knelt down with him.

Don’t forget that this is Beijing, now it is the twelfth lunar month, and the real dripping water turns into ice. Even if the ministers kneeling outside the hall are wearing thick furs, if they kneel for an hour or two as usual, they will probably be called popsicles.

Fortunately, Emperor Jiajing still needed them to work, so half an hour later, the palace gate opened. The emperor, wearing only sackcloths and hemp shoes, appeared in front of all the ministers and workers.

"My emperor... slept thousands of times... slept thousands of times..." The ministers were so cold that their tongues could not be straightened.

Emperor Jiajing's face was extremely gloomy, his narrow eyes flashed with a colder light than the weather, and he asked, "Where have you ever been affected?"

Yan Song said with a voice: "Report to Your Majesty, in addition to the capital, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi and Shaanxi, there are reports. According to preliminary statistics, about 40 prefectures and counties have been affected, but how many people have been affected and whether the provinces have been affected will need to wait a few more days to know."

"More than 40 prefectures and counties in the five provinces? Is this the preliminary statistics?" Emperor Jiajing was dizzy, and Huang Jin hurriedly supported him, ordered someone to bring the dragon throne and ask the emperor to sit down.

The emperor did not sit down and still stood and said, "The earthquake in the 27th year has closely affected more than 20 prefectures and counties in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, and nearly 100,000 people died." As he said, his voice trembled, his eyes turned red and said, "How many people will die this time? 300,000? 400,000?" Then he covered his face and became sad: "This is my heart and soul with a knife!!"

"Your Majesty is a crime for me." The ministers cried and cried.

After crying for a while, Emperor Jiajing suddenly raised his tone and said, "Where is Zhou Chenglong, stand up for me!"

An official kneeling in the last class stood up with difficulty and said in his loudest voice: "I am here!" He was wearing a fifth-rank robe, and was the Imperial Heavenly Superintendent of the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Imperial Heavenly Supervision monitor monitors the celestial phenomena and earth signs, and should take advantage of my good fortune and give me a warning in advance. Why did the Imperial Heavenly Supervision detect no signs at all for such a large earthquake?" the emperor asked.

Zhou Chenglong quickly knelt down and said, "I call your Majesty. The earthquake is a warning from God. The power of heaven is unpredictable. How can ordinary people and ordinary people guess this? Even the Imperial Heavenly Prison dare not slander the heavenly heart, so as not to anger God and cause greater disasters."

"Hmph," Emperor Jiajing snorted angrily: "I only know how to shirk away! Tell me, what is God's warning?"

"The sage said: 'The common people's sorrow and resentment are dry and harmonious, which leads to floods and droughts, solar eclipses, stars change, earthquakes, and springs dry up.'" Unexpectedly, Zhou Chenglong's face was unchanged and said: "There is an earthquake warning. In fact, because the world is unstable and the people have resentment, this disaster is called!"

Zhou Chenglong's loud and vocal statement made the hall silent. Everyone burst into a sentence in their hearts: "This Guangdong barbarian is going to make trouble again!" This person has always been honest and never knew what it means to "rest and calm people."

The loud and vocal words hit the emperor's heart, which made Emperor Jiajing feel uncomfortable, but he believed it. He looked coldly at the ministers at the stairs and said, "What are the intentions of the ministers?"

All the ministers looked at Yan Song, and everyone knew that Yan Ge was the best magic weapon to calm His Majesty's anger. Sure enough, Yan Song said slowly: "Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that self-reflection and self-inspection are indeed the most important, but the most urgent thing is how to organize relief," he sighed and said with a worried look on his face: "There are so many places that have been affected this time, and it is the cold winter month. If local relief is not good, countless people will definitely freeze and starve to death!"

Emperor Jiajing nodded and indeed followed Yan Song's words and said, "With relief, of course, you need relief, and you still need great relief!" He raised his hand and said, "Don't think about what the Spring Festival is like now. Disaster relief is the top priority. After the cabinet drafts the charter, no matter how high the official you are, as long as you use it, you must obey the allocation."

"I'm following the order." After such a big incident, everyone knew that this year would be bad, so it was not surprising.

Then he heard the emperor say again, "But disaster relief is just an emergency, and the fundamental matter is still self-examination!" He sighed and said, "God warns you, as if you want to turn the country of your ancestors into the sky... I am deeply afraid of it whenever I think about it! I have been thinking these days that I have lost my moral character and have not taken care of the care of the cafeteria? Or are the unfair and illegal things done by all the ministers and officials, and the censors of the Taoist sermons do not follow the report directly, so they have no way to rely on the will of heaven, which leads to this great disaster?"

"I am guilty." The ministers shouted in unison. In fact, this is the most annoying thing. It is obvious that "the law does not punish the public" and is prone to behave like a person.

Emperor Jiajing sneered secretly and said slowly: "In this way, I am first of all concerned about fear and panic, trying to rectify and reflect, and think carefully about the reasons for summoning disasters in the palace, and seek ways to eliminate disasters. At the same time, all the officials will go, think deeply, wash the lungs and intestines, and try to eliminate all the accumulated problems in the future, and correct the past."

"I obey the order..."

"Several Pavilion Masters, Li Fang and the other tribes are here, and the rest are all kneeling down." Jiajing waved his hand tiredly and floated into the hall. A neat voice came from behind him: "Greatly send your Majesty..."

After entering the hall, the emperor changed into a cotton robe with ink, leaned tiredly on the bright yellow soft couch, looking at the copper incense burner covered with blue smoke, and was stunned and thought about it...

It's quite depressing to say that Emperor Jiajing was the only one who moved in his life. He moved from Huguang to Beijing, then from Forbidden City to Xiyuan, then from Wanshou Palace to Yuxi Palace, and then to this Shengshou Palace. Fortunately, he was willing to do so in the first two times, but in Xiyuan, he was in fire and earthquake, which made him have to wonder whether my character is so bad?

The palace people have long set up this Holy Shou Palace like a Jingshi Temple, just to make His Majesty less depressed.

"Your Majesty, the adults are here." Huang Jin reported softly and called the emperor back from the Shenyou Taixu.

"I'm going to see Your Majesty." After the adults saluted, Huang Jin brought Jindun to Master Yan Ge, and the rest had to stand and reply.

These are the core officials of the Ming Dynasty. In response to them, Emperor Jiajing's question became straightforward: "How much else can the treasury take out?"
Chapter completed!