After being scolded, the two brothers and sisters didn't even get anything to eat in the end. When one of them was beaten and the other scolded, it was over. Unexpectedly, their mother's mood was as capricious as the weather, which made the two of them angry. I stood under the tree that Li Hong had planted and thought about it for an hour.
The sky had been overcast all night, and I originally thought that some raindrops would fall, but after a night, there was still a thick layer of clouds, but no raindrops fell at all.
When they went to court in the morning, all the ministers who were in high spirits were praying for rain, but the clouds seemed to be sealed, sweeping into the air like a thick curtain being caught in a net. not raining.
The dejected ministers hurriedly returned to their official offices and began to pray for when it would rain soon. When the rain would stop, the worry on His Majesty's brows in the court could be alleviated.
However, it has been noon since yesterday night, but it has not rained at all, and some ministers began to whisper, is it time to ask the Holy Father to go to the Mingtang to pray for rain? After all, people have begun to spontaneously pray for rain on the Luoshui River.
Li Hong followed the ministers and listened while walking, asking curious questions from time to time. When he heard that the people were preparing to offer boys and girls to the God of Luoshui to pray for rain, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he hurriedly asked: "This is asking for rain." How can I ask for a virgin?”
"Your Highness, it is natural to give it to the Luoshui Water God. This will ensure that it rains." A minister looked at His Highness the Crown Prince who was more than a head taller than him and said hurriedly.
"Send it to Luoshui Water God? How to send it? In a carriage or..." Li Hong's face became a little gloomy, and in the eyes of the minister, he seemed to be asking questions knowingly.
How else can I give this away? Of course it should be put into the Luo River and sink. Otherwise, how could it be given to the Luoshui Water God
This kind of thing is not as detailed as what His Royal Highness asked. Praying for rain is inevitable.
"Then where did you get these boys and girls?" Li Hong pulled Jiang Ke's sleeves and asked persistently.
"Your Highness, you don't have to ask about this matter. In short, it will be enough to ask for rain to relieve the suffering of all people." Jiang Ke said with a laugh.
Seeing Jiang Ke laughing and laughing, Li Hong's expression was the same as the weather was gloomy but not raining. I don't know if Jiang Ke is a good official, but he should be considered good in history, right? There aren't many records, but I don't remember anything he did that was evil.
Seeing Jiang Ke and other officials leaving, he also returned to Shangshu Province. The more he thought about it, the more wrong he became. With the ignorance of this era, even after another thousand years of development, China is still so ignorant. Is asking for rain a normal thing
"Yang Wu, go to Luoshui immediately. Any people who ask for rain will be dismissed. Find all the boys and girls for me. If you miss one, your head will be used to pay for it! I don't care what methods you and Lian Tie use. As long as in the Henan and Guanzhong areas, if someone uses a boy or girl to pray for rain today, you and Lian Tie will bear all the blame!" Li Hongtie said with a green face.
"Your Highness, would you... think twice..."
"Don't think twice, do it immediately, I will bear all the consequences!" Li Hong glanced at Yang Wu, who had some worry in his eyes, and naturally knew what he wanted to say.
I'm afraid I just want to know whether the father or mother secretly approved these requests for rain.
"Yes, slave, go right away."
"Xuan Shangguan Yi and Minister of War Ren Yaxiang are here." Li Hong said, rubbing his temples.
If Jiang Ke knows about this, but is unwilling to tell him too clearly, then obviously someone from his father and mother must know about this prayer for rain. What is Jiang Ke's surname? His surname is Jiang, and from time to time in the court, he often calls himself a descendant of the water god Gonggong.
What does this mean? It’s just a far-fetched connection between my Jiang surname and Gonggong’s Jiang surname!
Li Hong, who was sitting in Shangshu Province waiting for Shangguan Yi and Ren Yaxiang, was irritated and couldn't be irritated anymore. If his father and mother really agreed to offer boys and girls to the water god to pray for rain, then... alas... In the end, Li Hong Hong could only sigh helplessly.
Shangguan Yi ran in in a hurry, and Ren Yaxiang behind him was also in a hurry. The two came in one after another and were about to salute when they were immediately stopped by Li Hong.
"No more nonsense. Originally, I wanted to wait and see if the rain would come down, but now it seems that it may be hopeless, and no one will give me a chance to wait any longer." Li Hong said , while patrolling back and forth on the maps of Guanzhong and Henan Road.
"Your Highness, why don't you wait any longer? Didn't you say that the thunder that day was too dangerous?" Shangguan Yi has been staying in the East Palace since being summoned by Li Hong yesterday, waiting for Li Hong's decision to activate the cloud explosion.
"It's dangerous, can it be dangerous? When I was in Anxi, I had already run far enough, and I was almost struck by lightning. But now we have no time. In Luoyang, boys and girls have been sacrificed to pray for rain. event."
"Ah? Isn't this nonsense! If they can ask for rain like that, why didn't they ask for it yesterday? Why did they have to rush to ask for it at this time? People are dead and the rain didn't fall. What does it matter? Isn't sincerity enough? Let's add a few more children Only boys and girls can do this! Your Highness, you... you have to stop it." Shangguan Yi has been in charge of Chongwen Hall for many years, and after replacing Xu Jingzong, he is also the prince and tutor, so what he said is reasonable.
The most important thing is that since he took charge of Chongwen Hall, he has begun not to believe in ghosts and gods. He doesn't want to pray for rain. Since the appearance of the crude dry ice, a student who poured a bowl of water on him in front of him immediately changed his mind. The fairy mist was so shrouded that I was not only shocked at first, but also almost worshiped the student.
It wasn't until the student explained to him the rationale, including the principle of the steam in the steamer, that Shangguan Yi no longer believed in ghosts and gods. Even when Yuan Tiangang came to Chongwen Hall to perform his duties several times, he was dismissed. Shangguan Yi reprimanded him for pretending to be a ghost!
What's Yuan Tiangang's temper? How can you be scolded and not retaliate? Why are you pretending to be a ghost? Even His Highness the Crown Prince is full of praise for what he has done! So the two had a fight in front of all the students, and then when they met again, they looked at each other through their noses and said nothing.
Li Hong sighed helplessly and said solemnly: "We have ordered Yangwu and Lian Tie to stop it. Chang'an and other places should also receive news of the carrier pigeon. I hope we can prevent all tragedies from happening."
"Your Highness, I'm afraid Yang Wu and Lian Tie don't have enough manpower. Do you want me to join the Ministry of War..."
"Quickly pull me down. You want my father to punish me for treason because of this matter? The Ministry of War can use it, but not for this. Even if my father doesn't punish me, the ministers will talk about it. Father The emperor will also be in trouble," Li Hong said with a headache.
"But as long as you can explode the clouds and make it rain, wouldn't your Majesty be the one to blame?" Ren Yaxiang thought for a while and said in confusion.
"That's what I said, but it's hard to say whether this thing will work or not. What if the explosion doesn't make rain, but it kills a few people? But having said that, Yang Wu and Lian Tie were also decided after careful consideration. , If there is secret support from the emperor or his mother, and Yang Wu and Lian Tie come forward, they can withstand the pressure, but the Ministry of War may be worse." Li Hong said as he started to receive the information from Shangguan Yi.
The homing pigeons had already been prepared by Shangguan Yi, and the students of Chongwen Hall were placed in various places. Now, without the assistance of Shenji camp firearms, they had no choice but to embezzle Tianlei from the Taiyi City Medicinal Food Room under Li Hong's order. , and Li Hong is under tremendous pressure on this matter. If he doesn't do it right, he will incur the real anger of his father Long.
Although the medicinal kitchen is still under his control, if he wants to use the contents inside, he must obtain the consent of his father Long. Now, without consent, Li Hong embezzled it privately. If the explosion did not cause rain, people would die. Then Li Hong will really suffer.
According to Li Hong's idea, the Kongming lantern was equipped with sky thunder and dry ice and sent to a place close to the clouds. However, how to control the lead of the sky thunder depends on whether the people in the medicinal kitchen are skilled craftsmen and can grasp the time difference.
This is why Chongwen Museum puts rabbits in Kongming lanterns into the sky, or puts other things into the sky, just to calculate the lift-off time and speed of Kongming lanterns under different weights and different air pressures.
Looking at the pieces of paper untied from the pigeon's legs in his hand, he saw that the cloud cover this time even covered the entire Henan Province and Guanzhong areas, while the areas lacking rain were mainly around Luoyang City and Chang'an. , Li Hong still had to take care not to blow up the rain, and it would be troublesome if he blew a hole somewhere in the palace.
The weather is too unpredictable. He has nothing to do in Anxi, and the area there is vast and sparsely populated. Unlike here, there are too many people gathered, and he might be imprisoned.
"Let's start. Let's try it from the Yellow River embankment where I visited yesterday. Remember to tell them that as soon as the Kongming lanterns are released, they should immediately ride back on their fast horses. They must not stay down and wait for the rain. The clouds will spread slowly. But the coverage area cannot be accurately measured with the naked eye," Li Hong warned as he watched Ren Yaxiang follow Guan Yi.
The military guards of the Ministry of War, together with the students in various places, are also equivalent to protecting the comfort of those students, because if those crazy people are disobedient, it is not impossible to stand under the Kongming Lantern and wait for the rain. Some people have even begun to think about it. I used a kite to induce thunder, and wanted to see if the thunder could be transmitted through the kite.
Li Hong has always been open-minded about their death-seeking style, but he has to choose the right time to commit suicide, and he can't commit suicide without harming himself.
Shangguan Yi shook his head with a wry smile and said helplessly: "Your Highness, these are the generation of students who have been influenced by you. Now, there is nothing they dare not do except what you can't think of. To be honest, even I am often worried. Let’s just talk about money. Which group doesn’t hold tens of thousands of dollars in their hands? With money, they would rather eat biscuits every day than try to attract the thunder and lightning, or tinker with it. Go up to the sky and see what kind of sky lantern can hold people."
"If you're not afraid of falling to death, just let them do it." Li Hong said angrily.
"It's true that they didn't fall to death, but there were several people who broke their legs after jumping from the top of the mountain with so-called parachutes on their backs. But just like that, before their legs recovered, they ran out to experiment again without telling their families."
Guan Yi and Ren Yaxiang, while issuing orders according to Li Hong's orders, talked about all the craziness of the Chongwen Hall students.
"Remember, the medical expenses will be paid by the college." Li Hong calmly put the message note sent by Li Jingmen on a candle and lit it. He watched it turn into ashes and said with a smile.
(End of chapter)