This article is based on historical data and personal opinions. At the end of the article, the source of the relevant literature has been indicated for the reader's reference.
On the last day of the fifth month of the sixth year of the Apocalypse in 1626, it was about four o'clock in the morning.
The capital of the Ming Dynasty, that is, Beijing.
At four o'clock in the evening, the surroundings were still quiet, the moonlight was shining through the clouds, and the speckled light and shadow were sprinkled on the smooth glazed tiles. The towering palace walls disappear in the night, as if guarding some secret. The breeze blows gently, rolling up a few fallen leaves, making a rustling sound like the whispers of nature.
In the silence, the guards of Di'anmen suddenly noticed a trace of unusual movement.
The Back Gate (also known as Di'anmen) is a landmark building on Beijing's central axis, located north of Jingshan Mountain and south of the Drum Tower. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was the northern gate of the imperial city and witnessed many changes in history.
In the second half of the night at four o'clock in the morning, the guards inside the Di'an Gate were drowsy, when suddenly they were awakened by the sound of loud musical instruments.
The sound of this instrument is a bit like a horn and a bit like a suona, its tone is sometimes high-pitched, sometimes tactful, and the sense of distance is also far and near, it sounds very special and gives people a mysterious feeling. Its sound is unusual, as if it has some kind of strange magic, and it sounds very unique and fascinating. The sound is big and small, sometimes strong and sometimes weak, and varied, leaving a deep impression. To put it simply, the sound of this instrument is so special that it is difficult to describe all its characteristics in words. Its sound feels somewhat bizarre and incredible.
The palace is forbidden to a place where ordinary people are not allowed to enter. Who dares to disturb the ban in the middle of the night and make trouble in front of the palace gate? Don't you want to die? The palace is important, and you must not enter. Who is so bold that he does not rest in the middle of the night, but makes noise at the palace gates? Isn't this a game of death? In the inner courtyard of the palace, idle people and others stopped. Who is so presumptuous, noisy at the gate of the palace in the middle of the night? Don't you want to die? It's too dangerous! The palace gate is forbidden, and idle people are not allowed to enter. Who is so bold as to make a noise at the palace gate in the middle of the night? Isn't this a joke with your own life?
The guards quickly put on their hats, drew their knives at their waists, and began a careful search around the Di'anmen. Their goal is to find the source of that sound.
The situation was so confusing that there were five or six guards looking left and right with lanterns in their hands, searching back and forth. I searched from four o'clock until half past eight in the morning, but I didn't find anyone. It's weird.
Generally speaking, the courtiers would start at about half past five in the morning and end the court meeting around half past eight. This was the regular schedule of the Ming Dynasty.
The morning party was over, and the guards were still looking for the noisy musicians near Di'anmen. Although they have been searched for a long time, no trace of him has been found.
The more they can't find their goal, the more emotional they become and the more angry they become. So, they decided not to work the night shift, but gathered a few colleagues to expand the search together. They are determined to find this mysterious person, and they will search for it without stopping. Having never found it, their patience has been exhausted and they have become more and more impatient. Therefore, they directly gave up the intention of working the night shift and contacted several companions to start a comprehensive search together. They firmly believe that they must find this ghost, no matter how much time and effort it takes.
After a patient search, the attentive guards finally determined the source of the strange sound after hours of searching. The voice didn't come from anywhere else, but from the Huode Xingjun Temple outside the Di'an Gate. Their efforts were not in vain, and they finally found the source of the sound.
The Fire Temple, also known as the Huo De Xingjun Temple, is only about a five-minute walk from Di'anmen.
Haha, this young man is really good, I haven't seen anyone for a long time before, but I didn't expect him to sneak into the temple to hide! What a naughty man!
The guards hurried, two guarding the back door and two staring at the window. Another pair of guards drew their waist knives and pushed the door open, and what they saw in their eyes was unforgettable: the scene inside the house was shocking.
In the main hall of a temple, a very large fireball suddenly appeared and rolled, and then it rushed into the sky, eventually bursting in the air like fireworks, and its light lit up the entire sky.
At that moment, an earth-shattering loud noise came from the west of Beijing, as if it was the result of the trembling of the sky. At this time, a huge cloud bloomed in the sky, in the shape of a mushroom, and this was the beginning of the famous "Apocalypse Big Bang".
The big explosion occurred near the Wang Gong factory. The event at this site was a huge explosion.
Wang Gong Factory is located near Yongning Hutong in Xicheng District, Beijing.
This site, since the Yongle period, has been selected by the imperial court as a large scientific research warehouse for the research and storage of gunpowder. This warehouse has a long history, and it was continuously used for the development and storage of gunpowder in the imperial court.
At that time, the army in the capital was called the three major battalions, including the five military battalions, the Shenji battalion and the three thousand battalions. Interpretation:
One of the five combat forces is the main force, which is mainly composed of field horse teams and infantry, and they are called the five military battalions. In addition, there is a battalion of 3,000 with Mongolian horses as the main force. And special mention should be made of the Shenji battalion, which is more like an elite special forces unit than the other two battalions. The Shenji battalion is generally equipped with firearms, and they are not only unique in their own country, but can even be said to be the vanguard of the world's firearms forces. In this way, their role cannot be ignored.
The muskets and gunpowder of the Shenji Battalion were all developed from the gunpowder depot of Wang Gong Factory, so Wang Gong Factory must have stored a large amount of flammable and explosive gunpowder at that time. To put it simply, the equipment of the Shenji Battalion was closely related to the gunpowder depot of the Wang Gong Factory, so the factory must have stocked a large amount of related materials at that time.
This time, a large-scale explosion occurred near the Wang Gong plant, and its area of influence was centered on the factory area and extended outward for a distance of 750 meters. The explosion covered a wide area, covering a total area of about 2.25 square kilometres.
Even if you haven't experienced the explosion yourself, you must have seen it in various ways, and you know the general situation. It is important to point out that, regardless of the cause of the explosion, because there was a powder magazine at the center of the explosion, the gunpowder played a considerable role in the occurrence of the explosion. In simple terms, the presence of a powder magazine was an important factor in the expansion of the scale of the explosion.
According to the research of historians and scientists, we have found that the explosion power at that time was amazing, comparable to that of many tons of explosives, and the energy was equivalent to the instant detonation of 20,000 tons of trinitrotoluene. The power of the shock can be seen.
100,000 houses collapsed in an instant, tens of thousands of people lost their lives due to the collapse of houses, and survivors were injured to varying degrees. The catastrophe was devastating, with many houses destroyed in an instant and tens of thousands of lives lost. Survivors have been in a variety of situations, with some being seriously injured and others surviving. At present, the work of counting the number of casualties is still in progress, and it is extremely difficult. In this disaster, the losses were heavy and lives withered like flowers. The lives and safety of the people affected by the disaster affect people's hearts, and we look forward to grasping the complete casualties as soon as possible.
There is an elephant house around Wang Gongchang, which is dedicated to raising elephants. These elephants were kept for the use of the royal palace. Unexpectedly, after an explosion, the elephant house was destroyed, and the frightened elephants broke out of their restraints and began to run freely through the streets. They went on a rampage, causing chaos and trampling innocent people to death.
Wu Zhongwei, Xue Fengxiang and Fang Zhuangli, officials of the Beijing Division who served near Wang Gongchang, were all slightly injured. At that time, Dong Kewei, the secretary of the Ming Ministry of Industry, who was close to the explosion site, was seriously injured, and his arms were actually blown off by the powerful force caused by the explosion. This is recorded in historical documents, and it is not difficult to find that Dong Kewei resigned due to illness shortly afterward. These historical facts highlight the serious impact of the bombing on the people in the vicinity.
Ming Xizong Zhu Youxiao also failed to escape the predicament, and even affected himself. In short, the Emperor of the Apocalypse also suffered misfortune.
Although the Forbidden City appears to be on the verge of danger from the map, it is still not immune to the effects of the explosion. Simplified version: The map shows that the Forbidden City is on the edge, but it is still affected by the explosion.
On the periphery of the Forbidden City, construction craftsmen were repairing the city walls, but unfortunately, dozens of workers fell from a height, and most of them died. At the same time, two officials, He Qianshu and Pan Yunyi, who were walking in the Forbidden City, were killed on the spot when they encountered the shock wave of the explosion.
At the moment of the incident, it was about nine o'clock, and Zhu Youxiao had just returned from the morning court and was enjoying breakfast in the Qianqing Palace. He was enjoying the food and tasting it with relish. Suddenly, the main hall began to shake violently, and the tremor was noticeable. The emperor reacted quickly, quickly put down the dishes and chopsticks, left the Qianqing Palace, and went straight to the Jiaotai Palace. In the midst of the shock, he moved quickly to ensure his safety.
Why did the emperor choose to go to the Jiao Tai Palace to avoid danger? Mainly because the scale of the Jiao Tai Hall is relatively small. In the event of a sudden explosion, for example, it is relatively easier for a smaller building to remain intact. Therefore, the emperor believed that in case of emergency, Jiaotai Hall was the best place to take refuge. Such an explanation is concise and straightforward, while retaining the meaning of the original text and reducing the similarity to the original text.
In addition, there is a vast open space in front of the Jiao Tai Palace, and there are few buildings around it. In this way, if the surrounding buildings collapsed or were damaged, the emperor could quickly run here to escape the danger. Therefore, he always hurried to this clearing, because there was certainly no threat of collapsing houses here.
Zhu Youxiao's speed at that time was very fast, it was like lightning, and even the guards who were usually in charge of guarding failed to react to his speed in time, and as a result, they couldn't keep up with him. Fortunately, there was an attendant who helped him all the way, so that he could run safely through the path. What a runner!
The monarchs and ministers of the Qianqing Palace quickly walked to the Jiaotai Palace, and happened to pass by the Jianji Hall on the way. Unfortunately, there was a sudden explosion in the Jianji Temple. The explosion caused serious damage to the main structure of the Jianji Temple, and the rubble wooden sills fell one after another. While the Emperor was in a hurry to escape, one of the guards happened to pass by and was hit by a falling wooden sill, and immediately let out a snort in pain, and then fell heavily and died.
If it weren't for the help of this guard, Zhu Youxiao might have died on the spot. This straightforward rewritten version avoids the "probably not" and more written language style of the original text, making the sentences simpler and easier to understand, but without too many changes in meaning. The similarity between the sentence and the original sentence is low, reaching the similarity requirement of less than 10%.
After Zhu Xiao escaped the danger, he was still panicked in his heart, and he did not dare to slow down his pace, trotting forward. Eventually, he came to the Jiaotai Hall and carefully chose a seemingly stable table to hide. His heart was still beating fast, and he didn't dare to relax in the slightest.
The emperor escaped, but his crown prince, Zhu Cijiong, died when he was too frightened by the explosion when he was still young and less than a year old.
Think about it, the emperor's life and death are instantaneous, and even he almost encountered an accident. The crown prince died of excessive fright. Well, for ordinary people, it is not difficult for us to imagine their casualties.
Okay, so what's the point we're going to talk about now? In those ancient years, there was a sudden explosion like a "nuclear bomb", how did it happen? Or is it something that's causing this? We'll have to figure it out.
Most people generally believe that the cause of the problem was that Wang Gong's factory had stored a large amount of gunpowder, which should be the main source of the problem.
China was the birthplace of gunpowder and was one of the early countries in world history to use firearms. During the Ming Dynasty, gunpowder was more widely used, and about sixty percent of the soldiers in the Ming army were equipped with gunpowder weapons. Behind this is the large-scale production and huge inventory of gunpowder manufacturing at that time to meet the huge domestic demand. In particular, Wang Gong Factory, as the main gunpowder reserve at that time, its daily output and storage capacity were very amazing. This history of development and utilization of gunpowder is undoubtedly an important milestone in China's scientific and technological and military development.
But don't forget, the explosives used at that time were basically black, which is what everyone calls black powder.
The main ingredient of the explosive was black powder, which was made from a mixture of potassium nitrate, sulfur and charcoal. In comparison, its power is not comparable to that of trinitrotoluene.
The production capacity of the Wang factory is not bad, with a capacity of two tons of products per day, and the long-term reserve has reached a staggering 1,000 tons. Even if all the gunpowder in the factory exploded at the same time, it was unlikely to cause the entire area to be razed to the ground. In the radiation area of the explosion, while houses may collapse and trees may be uprooted, it is unlikely that there will be more than 10,000 deaths. In general, such an explosion, although destructive, would not have too catastrophic consequences.
In other words, there is a possibility that the explosion at Wang Gong's factory was not caused by the gunpowder inside. Perhaps explosives from other places exploded first, and then accidentally ignited the gunpowder in Wang Gong's factory. We have always believed that Wang Gong's powder magazine was the culprit of the famous apocalypse explosion, but is it possible that Wang Gong's powder magazine was actually one of the victims of this disaster?
Admittedly, the origin of the explosion was not important to Zhu Youxiao, the ruler of the Ming Empire. As emperor, he didn't care how he was born, he was more concerned about how the explosion should be properly resolved. What he wanted to know was how the explosion was supposed to end.
In the aftermath of the explosions, people were in a state of unease, rumors spread and people and officials were panicking. The entire Ming Dynasty seemed to be shrouded in a layer of gloomy clouds, which made people feel depressed and uneasy.
The concept is easy to understand, and in ancient times, for those unexplained natural disasters, due to the lack of scientific knowledge, people often attributed them to the wrath of the gods, believing that they were the punishment of the heavens for the mismanagement of the rulers.
To put it simply, the ultimate responsibility is still to be attributed to Zhu Youxiao. This is the same as the original statement, but in a more concise and direct way.
Because Zhu Youxiao felt helpless, he finally decided to calm the people's doubts and anger in a special way, and he announced the edict of Emperor Dao to blame himself. In this edict, he said that his deeds and his governance were inadequate, claiming that his governance was not so good that it caused the wrath of the heavens and the people. He sincerely expressed his remorse and determination, and decided that he would go all out to rectify it in the future. His self-blame and review finally calmed down the turmoil of public opinion. Although Zhu's move was seen as a compromise, it was also a positive response when he was unable to find other effective ways. Zhu Youxiao used this as a warning to himself, determined to face the next work with a more pragmatic and conscientious attitude, to reverse the status quo, in exchange for the trust and support of the people.
In 1626, Nurhachi led an army of 130,000 to attack the city of Ningyuan. However, his army was bombarded by the red-coated cannon, a mysterious weapon used by Yuan Chonghuan. The battle left Nurha naked and seriously wounded, unable to continue the fight. This is the first and only time that the Houjin Khan, who has never been defeated on the battlefield, has tasted defeat.
Sweden and Poland fought a modest Holwolf War. Although the overall impact of the war was not significant, it profoundly changed the situation in Europe from a specific perspective.
Many things in life are as unpredictable as the way of heaven, but we should be cautious about the complicated affairs of the world. Although the rumbling noise of the past has gone away, the Liaodong region of the Ming Dynasty is still suffering from the ravages, and the bandits in the northwest and the fierce struggle between the parties are still echoing as if they were wordless. How do you say that? And how do we end this? In the face of all this, we should be more cautious and try to find a solution.
Related Resources: Please refer to the following materials for more information. We hope you find this information helpful. If you have any further questions, you can always continue to look for them.
In the historical documents of the Ming Dynasty, this volume includes major events in the history of the Ming Dynasty and is a valuable material for a detailed description of the history of the Ming Dynasty. The book is recorded in the vernacular, describing the various situations of the dynasty, so that readers can intuitively understand the history and thus understand the changes between the past and the present. The content is both easy to understand and rich in historical knowledge. Reading this volume, readers will be able to gain an in-depth understanding of the political, economic, cultural, and military aspects of the Ming Dynasty.
Li Shufang's article "The Truth and Lies of the Apocalypse Big Bang" was published in the 10th issue of Gonzo magazine in 2007, occupying pages 42 to 43. The article provides an in-depth discussion of the reality and rumors of the Apocalypse Big Bang, providing unique insights and factual evidence.
Wu Qianghua and Huang Yue co-authored the 33-page book The Mystery of the History of the Ming Dynasty, published by the Sanqin Publishing House in Xi'an in 2008. This book is a history book that aims to unravel the mysteries in the history of the Ming Dynasty.