I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 143 Zhu Houzhao's Poems

Historically, the disaster in the Qianqing Palace in the ninth year of Zhengde was caused by the Aoshan Lantern presented by Prince Ning, which burned a large area of ​​the imperial palace.

According to historical records, Zhu Houzhao pointed at the blazing fire and said to those around him with a smile: What a great fireworks display!
From this we can see that the historians were deliberately discrediting Emperor Zhengde by omitting the details of Zhu Houzhao's order to put out the fire, and portraying him as a heartless and incompetent monarch.

Only in the private writings of civil officials can we find Zhu Houzhao's accounts of disaster relief. He was indeed heartless, but he also knew to send people to put out the fire first, and then after returning to the Leopard House, he pointed at the flames and watched the show.

To get back to the point, Zhu Houzhao himself liked this form very much, because most of the time he could only stand on the city wall to watch the lanterns every year. So walking down and passing through the lanterns was also a unique experience, and it also created a festive atmosphere.

Zhu Houzhao was in a good mood as he walked among the lanterns. He was also fond of Prince Ning, who had created so many Aoshan lanterns. He specially brought Prince Ning to his side, and of course Zhu Houxun also accompanied him.

Many workers in Qizhou were also attracted by the Lantern Fair and joined in, making the entire Lantern Fair even more lively.

Zhu Houzhao walked around with great interest and suddenly saw a two-meter-high shed in the distance. It was dark and out of place with the brightly lit lantern market.

What made Zhu Houzhao even more curious was that there were more than a dozen furnaces burning next to the shed. A group of people around were constantly taking turns blowing up large bellows. The large bellows were connected to the furnaces. The furnaces burned very vigorously under the blowing of the large bellows, and the flames shot up very high.

Zhu Houzhao has always been a person who is very interested in new things, and he is even more curious when he sees things he has never seen before.

"Is that the lantern you prepared? Why isn't it lit?" Zhu Houzhao said, pointing at the shed.

Prince Ning took a closer look and replied, "No, the lanterns I sent you are not of this style."

Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhu Houxun again, and Zhu Houxun smiled and said, "My royal brother is really perceptive. I can't hide anything from you. This is a gift I specially prepared for you. But they should not be ready now. The weather is a bit cold, and it takes more time to heat it up."

"Oh?" Zhu Houzhao became even more interested.

In the following time, Zhu Houzhao continued to watch the lanterns. After all, it was rare to see so many Aoshan lanterns. But he asked Zhu Houxun every once in a while. He knew that what Zhu Houxun made were not ordinary.

Half an hour passed before Zhu Houxuan announced that the performance was ready and asked all officials and royal family members to go to the shed.

Many tables and chairs have been placed near the shed.

Just at that time, everyone was a little tired from shopping, so they sat there to rest.

Everyone looked at the red-hot furnace curiously, wondering what performance would take place next.

There were also many people from Qizhou gathered around, but everyone stayed far away from the shed.

I saw a dozen big men suddenly take off their upper clothes in the cold winter wind, wear gourd ladles turned upside down on their heads, and then smear oil on their bodies. Their strong upper bodies could be clearly seen in the firelight.

The women in the crowd quickly covered their eyes, but were curious about what would happen next, and peeked through their fingers.

The furnace was opened, and inside was a crucible filled with molten iron that had turned bright red.

"Making iron flowers?" Finally, an official from Henan recognized what this performance was.

But people still didn't understand what this was for.

I saw a man holding an upper stick filled with iron juice in one hand and a lower stick without iron juice in the other hand, and he quickly ran to the flower shed and hit the upper stick with the lower stick. They held a fresh willow stick that was as thick as a fist and more than a foot long. There was a circular groove with a diameter of 3 cm on the top of the stick to hold the iron juice. A dozen flower beaters took turns to go back and forth between the furnace and the flower shed, one after another.

The flower shed has two floors, with a layer of fresh pine branches on the top, and all kinds of fireworks, firecrackers, and fire starters tied to the branches. In the middle of the top of the flower shed, a pole about ten feet high is erected, called the "old pole". Long hanging firecrackers and large fireworks are also tied to the top of the old pole, which is called "setting up colors".

One rod of iron flowers shot up into the sky, and another rod followed, one after another, in an endless stream.

The iron juice in the rod rushed towards the flower shed, and burst into pieces after hitting the pine branches on the roof, igniting the firecrackers and fireworks on the flower shed. Iron flowers flew, meteors were like waterfalls, and firecrackers blasted together, shaking the sky.

Making iron flowers began in the Song Dynasty, but it is not yet popular in the Ming Dynasty. It is only popular around Kaifeng. The iron flower making masters in Qizhou are actually refugees from Henan. Now they are workers at Daye Iron and Steel Plant, but their skills have not been lost.

Zhu Houxuan thought that making iron flowers was in line with the temperament of the Prince of Jing's Mansion. After all, his reputation as the "Prince of Blacksmith" was well known, so he prepared this performance.

It was the first time for most people present to see the iron flower performance, and they were all dazzled.

Zhu Houzhao stood up suddenly and said, "It's really fun. I want to go and play too."

Zhu Houxuan quickly stopped him and said, "Brother, this iron flower making looks simple, but it is very dangerous. It is no joke to have the iron liquid poured on your body. These people on the field have been practicing for at least three or four years."

Although Zhu Houzhao was playful, he was not stupid and was quite receptive to advice on such matters.

I have to say that the iron flowers are still spectacular, even if Zhu Houxuan looks at it from the perspective of a time traveler, not to mention the other people who were watching the iron flowers on the spot.

The performance on the field gradually reached its climax. The molten iron in the other furnaces had been used up, and only two performers were left on the field.

The temperature of the molten iron beside them has reached over 1600 degrees. The performer threw the boiling molten iron into the sky, and another person hit the molten iron with a wooden board before the molten iron fell. This time they hit an open area.

After being hit vigorously, the molten iron breaks into smaller pieces, which bloom like fireworks in the air, a perfect combination of strength and skill.

Iron flowers are flying everywhere, bursting out several feet high, rushing into the air and blooming. The scene is magnificent and majestic, and then falling down and drawing arc-shaped shining lines of fire in the air, like blooming flowers.

When the audience saw this beautiful sight, they all stood up and cheered, followed by exclamations, because the performers had been covered by iron flowers.

Seemingly scalding-hot iron flowers fell on the performer's head and body like raindrops, but they slid away after touching the gourd ladle on his head and his exposed body, causing no harm to the performer.

The audience then felt relieved and continued to appreciate this rare beauty. Only Prince Ning looked unhappy because the Aoshan Lantern that he had spent so much effort and money to make was overshadowed by this.

"This is what fireworks are all about!" Zhu Houzhao laughed happily when he saw this scene. "This scene makes me feel poetic. I want to write a poem!"

The people around Zhu Houzhao immediately held their breath and listened to Zhu Houzhao composing poetry. The scene instantly became quiet.

Zhu Houzhao actually thought about it carefully, and then recited: "Fire trees and silver flowers fill Qizhou, and fragrant carriages and jade carriages gather in Jingfu. Zhengde Jing Wang has made great achievements, and next year will surely be a prosperous era."

"Hahaha, what do you think of this poem of mine?" Zhu Houzhao asked proudly.

(End of this chapter)