ILSITM Chapter 18

“The Great Explosion occurred around nine o’clock in the morning. The sky over the Capital was clear when suddenly a roar, gradually moving from the northeast of the city to the southwest corner, was heard. Simultaneously, a massive fireball rolled across the sky. Amidst the deafening sound, wispy, wave-like, colorless chaotic clouds scattered, and large, dark mushroom and ganoderma-shaped clouds rose like pillars in the southwest corner of the city. Instantly, the sky darkened, dust and fire filled the air, the earth collapsed, and countless homes were leveled,” Wen Rourou replied.

“From Fucheng Gate in the east to Xingbu Street in the north, over nearly two thousand meters long and approximately six thousand five hundred meters wide, wood, stones, human remains, and animal carcasses rained down from the sky. Tens of thousands of houses and over twenty thousand people were pulverized, tiles flew into the air, and clothing was carried as far as Changping. The dead were all…” Old Lin said.

“The dead were all…? That’s a bit odd,” Zhu Youxiao said, puzzled.

“The craftsmen working in the Forbidden City were thrown from the tall scaffolding, two thousand of them falling and becoming bags of flesh. The elephants in the honor guard preparing for Your Majesty’s departure from the palace, panicked and escaped from their enclosures, rampaging through the streets, trampling countless people to death and injury,” Old Lin continued.

“Where was I when the Great Explosion occurred?” Zhu Youxiao asked.

“You were having breakfast in the Qianqing Palace. Suddenly, the hall shook violently. You hurriedly dropped your bowl and rushed towards the Jiaotai Hall. As you ran past the Jianji Hall, wooden railings and roof tiles fell from the sky, and your personal guard’s head was crushed, killing him instantly. The Qianqing Palace was severely damaged, a scene of utter devastation, with the imperial throne and desk overturned on the ground. The eunuchs who served you breakfast all perished; no one survived,” Old Zhang replied.

“And my family? Were they safe?” Zhu Youxiao continued to ask.

“Your Imperial Crown Prince Zhu Cijiong, who was not yet a year old, died of fright from the Great Explosion,” I replied.

Zhu Youxiao fell silent.

“Your Majesty, we are here today for two reasons: first, to inform you of a major event that will occur tomorrow, and second, we want to investigate Wanggongchang to see if this explosion was caused by human actions or a natural disaster,” I said, looking at the somewhat apprehensive Zhu Youxiao.

“An investigation is necessary. If it was caused by human actions, then no matter who is responsible, they must be executed without mercy,” Zhu Youxiao said through gritted teeth.

After leaving the Royal Palace, the four of us immediately headed to Wanggongchang.

Wanggongchang was located in the southwest corner of the Capital, about six miles from the Royal Palace.

Today was the Dragon Boat Festival, and there were many pedestrians on the streets, many of whom were wearing Five-Poison Auspicious Attire.

The Five-Poison Auspicious Attire was a seasonal costume for the Dragon Boat Festival in the Ming Dynasty. Its style was the same as regular and casual wear, but the clothing often featured patterns with auspicious themes.

As we passed many residences, we saw calamus and mugwort pots placed on both sides of the house gates, and hanging screens on the doors. The screens depicted stories of heavenly masters or immortals descending to subdue the five poisonous creatures with their swords.

At noon, every household also drank cinnabar realgar calamus wine and ate zongzi and cold noodles with garlic.

Emperor Zhu Youxiao should have gone to the West Garden today to watch dragon boat races and boating, or to insert willow branches in front of Mountain Forever and watch the martial arts performances on horseback by the brave men of the Imperial Horse Administration, but now he only had woodworking on his mind and didn’t want to go anywhere.

On the eighteenth day of the fifth month last year, Zhu Youxiao went to the West Garden to play on a pleasure boat. A sudden gust of wind capsized the boat, and Zhu Youxiao unfortunately fell into the water and almost drowned. Although he was rescued, the shock left him with an illness, and despite various treatments, his health deteriorated, which was also the main reason why he didn’t want to go out.

Wanggongchang was the royal armory, also known as the gunpowder bureau, and was a place dedicated to making gunpowder.

The factory had one supervising eunuch, more than thirty craftsmen, and some temporary workers.

Wanggongchang was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Works and was guarded by the Capital’s Imperial Guards, who patrolled day and night, responsible for fire prevention and preventing thieves from invading. The management was very strict.

Around the gunpowder depot, several deep wells had also been dug for fire fighting.

After carefully inspecting the periphery of Wanggongchang, we entered the factory with the supervising eunuch and inspected the storage of gunpowder in the depot.

When we came out of the depot, I noticed a pile of fresh soil in a corner of the factory, and half of a vat was exposed in the excavated pit.

Out of curiosity, I went closer to take a closer look and found that a vat was buried here.

The vat had a small mouth and a large belly, and the mouth was covered with a lid.

“What’s in the vat?” I asked, looking at the supervising eunuch.

“Oh, it’s just a few bugs that I’m raising to pass the time,” the supervising eunuch said evasively.

I noticed that the eunuch’s expression was a little strange, so I ordered, “Open the lid! Let me see what kind of bugs are in the vat!”

The supervising eunuch hesitated, but still calmly opened the vat lid.

The vat had a small mouth and a large belly, and it was pitch black inside, so I couldn’t see what was inside.

“Dig the vat out for me!” I said loudly.

Several craftsmen brought shovels and were about to start digging when suddenly a bug that looked like a centipede, about three feet long, crawled out of the vat.

“What exactly is in this vat?” I asked, sternly, looking at the somewhat flustered supervising eunuch.

“These are Gu worms! Every year on the Dragon Boat Festival is the day to raise Gu, and the reptiles caught on any day other than the Dragon Boat Festival cannot be raised into Gu. It seems that these Gu worms have been raised for a year,” Old Lin said definitively.

I had heard people say before that those who raise Gu would catch twelve kinds of reptiles from the wild every year on the Dragon Boat Festival, put them in a vat and raise them for a year, letting them devour each other in the vat, the more poisonous eating the less poisonous, the strong eating the weak, and finally only one was left, which became a Gu worm. However, the Gu worm was no longer what it used to be; it had changed its shape and color.

These reptiles usually included poisonous snakes, centipedes, scorpions, toads, earthworms, leeches, and millipedes.

I took a shovel from a craftsman and smashed the Gu worm to death with one blow.

The supervising eunuch’s legs went weak with fright, and he immediately knelt on the ground.

According to the supervising eunuch, he was a believer of the White Lotus Sect, and he was determined to use Gu to poison the current Emperor and the ministers of the court.

Since the Tang and Song dynasties, the White Lotus Sect had been a secret religious society circulating among the people. By the Ming Dynasty, the organization and teachings of the White Lotus Sect had gradually changed, the precepts were relaxed, sects were established everywhere, the composition of the leaders was very complex, and their attitude towards the court was also very inconsistent.

Some deceived believers by promoting religion and amassing wealth; some relied on writing scriptures to curry favor with the upper echelons and please the court; some developed believers among the eunuchs, bureaucrats, and wealthy families in the court; and some combined with the struggles of the common people against the government to launch armed uprisings.

Unfortunately, due to the hasty nature of the investigation, we only scratched the surface and did not delve deeper, missing the best opportunity to capture the mole hidden in the Ministry of Works, which ultimately allowed their conspiracy to succeed.

The next day, Wanggongchang was ignited by a few bewitched Imperial Guards, setting off the gunpowder in the depot. The explosion still occurred, and the Royal Palace was not spared. The Imperial Crown Prince Zhu Cijiong, who was not yet a year old, died of fright from the Great Explosion.

Although we promptly arrested the mole hidden in the Ministry of Works afterward, it was already too late.

Under the instigation of Wei Zhongxian, Zhu Youxiao blamed us and ordered us to immediately travel back to Jiudong City, forbidding us from ever returning to Great Ming, cutting off the pipeline for transporting Japanese sake, and dismantling the wooden train inside Tiger Cave and the wooden bridge built over the nine time-travel caves.

Later, if we hadn’t traveled back to Great Ming again, there might not have been the story that followed.

In the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, we violated Emperor Zhu Youxiao’s orders and traveled back to Great Ming again.

So what exactly drove us to travel back to Great Ming again?