I founded a heavy industry group in the late Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 163 Celestial Phenomena are Celestial Phenomena

Chapter 162 The Tianqi Emperor leaned back on his dragon throne, rubbing his temples. His brows were furrowed with exhaustion, and his complexion was poor. His eyes were sunken, clearly indicating that he hadn't slept well for many days. The ruins of the Wanggongchang explosion had not yet been completely cleared. Although the incident had passed, the repercussions remained. Rumors were flying everywhere, with all sorts of things being said. Now, thunder was booming overhead, causing panic among the people and clamor among the court officials. He, the emperor, was caught in the middle, suffering from both sides.

Looking at the Tianqi Emperor, Chen Ying felt utterly helpless. In fact, none of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, including Zhu Yuanzhang, had ever lived a comfortable life. This was related to the political system of the Ming Dynasty. Many people in later generations said that Zhu Yuanzhang was a bloodthirsty and murderous emperor, not as magnanimous as Li Shimin, nor as visionary as Zhao Kuangyin. This is just pure idiocy from believing popular science videos on Douyin. During Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, he massacred the nobles of Huaixi. Zhu Yuanzhang did indeed purge meritorious officials on a large scale, but the number of executions (thirty-four or sixty-six) is a simplified version used by the public. In reality, only about ten founding meritorious officials were directly executed.

Zhu Yuanzhang bestowed titles upon a total of thirty-four founding nobles. Even if he wanted to kill sixty-six, he wouldn't have enough heads to make up the number. Zhu Yuanzhang killed the nobles who had fought alongside him, but some of them lost their ideals. After becoming nobles of the Ming Dynasty, some wanted to tarnish their reputations, such as Feng Sheng and Fu Youde. They thought that they only needed to be corrupt officials, oppress the common people, and be single-minded in their pursuit of wealth to live a carefree life. However, the problem was that they underestimated Zhu Yuanzhang and the importance of the people in his heart. Zhao Kuangyin could tolerate the military families of the Northern Song Dynasty annexing land and running rampant with the law. In the Northern Song Dynasty, as long as they did not rebel, murder, arson, and abduction of women were considered minor matters.

Zhu Yuanzhang was an idealist who could not tolerate any dissent. Lan Yu was arrogant and domineering, had privately taken a concubine, kept slaves on his estate, and beat officials. Moreover, there was evidence of his plot to rebel (such as planning to launch a coup during Zhu Yuanzhang's ceremonial day). Li Shimin could not tolerate him and he was doomed. Hou Junji was also a meritorious official of the Tang Dynasty, but he was killed as well. It's just that from different perspectives, there are different views and outcomes.

The environment in which the Tianqi Emperor grew up in made him a strong believer in the concepts of divine intervention and divine warnings. He was now like a child in a state of utter confusion, wondering if he had made a mistake in employing Wei Zhongxian, thus prompting a divine warning. However, Wei Zhongxian, standing beside the Tianqi Emperor, had no idea that he had already narrowly escaped death.

Chen Ying stood before the imperial desk, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, I believe it is irrelevant."

The Tianqi Emperor smiled wryly, "But the books I read since childhood don't say that. The Book of Documents says: 'Heaven's calamities can be avoided; self-inflicted calamities cannot be escaped.' The Spring and Autumn Annals record calamities and anomalies, all corresponding to human affairs. In the five years since my ascension to the throne, natural disasters have been constant, with frequent droughts and floods, and now there's the Wanggongchang explosion and the thunder in winter—sometimes I wonder if I haven't done enough, if I've misjudged people, thus incurring the wrath of Heaven and the resentment of the people."

Chen Ying was shocked. He hadn't expected that the Tianqi Emperor would blame himself for all these natural disasters. This young emperor appeared calm and collected on the surface, but the burden in his heart was heavier than anyone else's.

"Your Majesty, if I may be so bold as to ask, does Your Majesty recall Tao An, the strategist under the Hongwu Emperor?"

"this----"

While many believe Liu Ji and Liu Bowen were Zhu Yuanzhang's primary strategists, Tao An was actually Zhu Yuanzhang's advisor when he first rose to prominence in the Red Turban Army. Tao An was instrumental in Zhu Yuanzhang's conquest of Nanjing. Tao An served as Left Assistant Secretary (a staff officer) under Zhu Yuanzhang. When Zhu Yuanzhang became Duke of Wu and established the Jiangnan Provincial Secretariat, he appointed Tao An as Left Assistant Secretary. In 1364, Zhu Yuanzhang became King of Wu and sought to appoint renowned scholars such as Liu Ji, Song Zhiwen, Zhang Yi, and Ye Chen. He asked Tao An for his opinion on these four men. Tao An replied, "My strategic acumen is inferior to Liu Ji's, my scholarship to Song Zhiwen's, and my talent in governing the people to Song Zhiwen and Ye Chen's." Zhu Yuanzhang praised him as "an unparalleled strategist of the dynasty, and the foremost scholar in the Hanlin Academy." He was instrumental in the early Ming dynasty's rites and regulations, making significant contributions to the establishment of the Ming dynasty's institutional framework.

Liu Bowen was the Earl of Chengyi, while Chen Ying was posthumously granted the title of Duke of Gudun, a higher rank and official position than Liu Bowen. Chen Ying laughed and said, "Tao An Gong has a poem called 'Written on the Night of the Sixth Day of the Tenth Month,' which says, 'Last night thunder and lightning brought rain, tonight I hear thunder again in the sky—of course, there was thunder in the capital during the winter of the forty-third year of the Wanli reign?'"

The Tianqi Emperor was taken aback: "Is that so?"

"have."

Chen Ying took out a document from his sleeve, presented it with both hands, and explained: "Your Majesty, I had someone check the records of the Imperial Observatory. In November of the 43rd year of the Wanli reign, there was a winter thunder in the capital, which killed one person and destroyed three houses. At that time, there was no explosion at Wanggongchang, and no court official said it was a warning from Heaven. In December of the 46th year of the Wanli reign, there was a winter thunder in Tongzhou, which sounded like tearing silk and lasted for half an hour. In January of the first year of the Tianqi reign, there was a winter thunder in Datong, which blasted a deep crater in the snow. The Imperial Observatory has archives of these records, and Your Majesty can consult them."

The moment Chen Ying heard Dong Lei's voice, he anticipated the reaction of the Donglin Party and others, who would definitely pin the blame on him. He prepared in advance. In fact, he didn't know Tao An or his deeds. He had researched relevant information beforehand. Chen Ying was no small figure; he had a large number of people under his command, especially Chen Wanyan, the headmaster of Shahe Academy. Although the old man had a bad temper, he was truly capable. He could quote all kinds of allusions with ease; he was practically a living encyclopedia of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, Chen Ying did not treat him unfairly. He not only paid Chen Wanyan an annual salary of 500 taels of silver, but also provided him with a grain subsidy of 120 shi. The academy hired four guards for him, in addition to various benefits. His legal income was almost 1,000 taels of silver per year. More importantly, there was hidden welfare income. Chen Ying had a printing bureau. He would publish a book and receive a writing fee of several hundred taels of silver, with the highest being as high as 3,000 taels of silver.

Chen Wanyan has now become one of Chen Ying's advisors. Whatever information Chen Ying needs, the old man will immediately rush over to find it, or find information about the Imperial Palace. Chen Ying doesn't even know where the Imperial Observatory is, yet these documents are right there on his desk.

The Tianqi Emperor took the document, read it carefully, and his brow gradually relaxed. He looked up at Chen Ying: "You mean, winter thunder isn't rare?"

"It's not rare, just uncommon."

Chen Ying explained, "When I was in Shahewei, I asked some old farmers. They said that although winter thunder is rare, it happens every few years. Sometimes it strikes in the wilderness and no one hears it; sometimes it strikes in the capital and then people notice it. This is not a warning from heaven, but the way of nature."

Chen Ying smiled wryly: "Your Majesty, I haven't fully figured out this problem either. But I suspect it's related to celestial phenomena."

"Celestial phenomena?"

"Your Majesty, I have had nearly fifty years of weather records compiled and discovered a pattern: starting around the twentieth year of the Wanli reign, winters in the north have become increasingly cold, summers increasingly short, and crop yields have declined year after year. The Jiangnan region has also been affected; Taihu Lake, Poyang Lake, and Dongting Lake have all frozen over, with ice layers reaching several feet thick. This has never happened before. When I was in Shahewei, I heard an old farmer say that when he was a child, cotton and winter wheat could be grown in Beizhili (northern Hebei) with good harvests. But now, even winter wheat in Beizhili is afraid of freezing to death, so they can only switch to spring wheat. This shows that the weather is indeed getting colder, not just in one or two years, but a trend that has been developing for decades or even centuries."

The Tianqi Emperor's expression changed: "Are you saying that the Ming Dynasty is about to turn cold?"

"It's not that the Ming Dynasty is getting colder; it's that the whole world is getting colder," Chen Ying said. "When I was in Lushun, I met several missionaries from Europe. They said that Europe is also getting colder; the Seine and Thames freeze over in winter, and crops don't yield good harvests. This shows that getting colder is not a phenomenon unique to the Ming Dynasty, but a phenomenon shared by the whole world. I don't know the reason for this, but I know that it's not because Your Majesty has done anything wrong, nor because there are treacherous officials in the court. It's because—the way of Heaven is constant; it doesn't exist for Yao, nor does it perish for Jie."

The Tianqi Emperor murmured repeatedly: "The course of Heaven is constant; it does not exist for Yao, nor does it perish for Jie—"

"These are the words of Xunzi," Chen Ying said. "Your Majesty, the ancients spoke of the interaction between Heaven and man, but that was because they did not understand the way of nature."

While I was in Lushun, I studied the steam engine and discovered that water boils into steam, and steam condenses back into water when it cools. This is physics, not magic. Lightning is the same; when positive and negative charges meet in clouds, lightning and thunder are produced. Thunder in winter occurs because warm, moist air currents move northward while cold air moves southward, and the two air currents converge violently, producing lightning. This is not a warning from heaven; it is a natural phenomenon.

The Tianqi Emperor remained silent for a long time. He stood up, walked to the window, and opened it. A cold wind rushed in, carrying the chill of early winter. He gazed at the gray sky and murmured, "Minister Chen, I don't understand most of what you're saying. But I know you won't lie to me."

Chen Ying knelt down: "Your Majesty is wise."

The Tianqi Emperor turned around, helped him up, and patted his shoulder: "Get up. I'm not blaming you, I'm thanking you. You've made me understand that natural disasters are not my fault, not Wei Banban's fault, and not your fault. It's the way of heaven and earth, with its own way. What I can do is not blame myself, but provide disaster relief, comfort the people, and make the Ming Dynasty strong enough to resist natural disasters."

A warm feeling welled up in Chen Ying's heart. This young emperor might not understand science, but he had a heart willing to listen and think. That was enough.

"Your Majesty," he said softly, "there is one more thing I would like to say to Your Majesty."

"speak."

"I propose establishing academies of natural philosophy in Shahewei, Lushun, and Yongning Port," specifically to study the principles of the universe and all things. For example, how lightning forms, how earthquakes occur, how the wind blows, and how water flows. By thoroughly understanding these principles, we can provide early warnings and reduce casualties. Like the Wanggongchang incident, if I had known a few years earlier that there was methane underground, I would have had wells drilled to release it, thus preventing the tragedy."

The Tianqi Emperor's eyes lit up: "This is a good idea. I approve it. Minister Chen, could you use your fire ox to extract biogas?"

Chen Ying was taken aback for a moment, then smiled: "Your Majesty is wise. Theoretically, it's possible. We can use a brute to drive an air pump to extract the methane gas from the ground and transport it to a safe place, or use it as fuel. This way, we can avoid explosions and utilize the methane gas at the same time. It's a win-win situation."

The Tianqi Emperor smiled and said, "Good! Go and do it. If you need money, take it from my private treasury."

Wei Zhongxian laughed and said, "Boying, your move has broken the magic of those civil officials. It will be difficult for them to use celestial phenomena to make a fuss now."

Chen Ying shook his head: "Father-in-law, I don't want to break their magic, I want the people to know the truth. There is only one truth, but there are a thousand lies. Once the truth spreads, the lies will fall apart on their own."

The Tianqi Emperor was silent for a moment, then nodded: "I believe you. But the people don't, and those civil officials don't believe you. They only believe in celestial warnings," they only believe that "disasters and anomalies correspond to human affairs." I must give the world an explanation.

Chen Ying thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I have a plan."

"explain."

"His Majesty has ordered me to establish the Bureau of Astronomy," specifically to observe and record celestial phenomena. Whenever an anomaly occurs, the Bureau of Astronomy will provide a scientific explanation and announce it to the world. The people may not understand at first, but over time they will realize that celestial phenomena are not subservient to human affairs; they are simply celestial phenomena.