Chapter 27
The Qintian Observatory is located east of Donghua Gate. It is where the Qintian Observatory observes celestial phenomena on a daily basis. The observatory rises from the ground, very majestic, and is round in shape. On the platform stand twelve celestial instruments, all of which are shining with golden light.
Li Chenghuan led the civil and military officials to the observatory, and in front of them stood Chen Yanzhi, the chief of the Qintian Observatory, and Prince Fuzhao of Goryeo.
It was Lin Nanjie's first time to go up to the observatory. He looked around with a curious expression.
When he traveled, he saw observatories from different dynasties, but the observatory of Daqi was particularly magnificent, and was even arranged according to the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.
[It is said that the late emperor’s favorite place besides the Taixu Palace where he practiced alchemy and sought immortality was this observatory.]
[He even spent a lot of money to create twelve pure gold Hun Xiang instruments to express his sincere heart to the heaven.]
[Compared to the dog emperor who was always trying to save money, the late emperor was indeed very wealthy and generous! ]
[This golden elephant statue is almost blinding my eyes! ]
Li Chengqian seldom came to the observatory, and he glanced at the twelve astronomical instruments. The sun was about to reach its zenith, the sky was clear, and the sun was bright, making the astronomical instruments sparkle with golden light.
Li Chengqian blinked uncomfortably. It was indeed too bright.
It would be better to change them into bronze ones, melt them into gold and add them to the national treasury.
If they knew Li Chenghuan's inner thoughts, I'm afraid all the civil and military officials would fall to the ground on the spot.
Although this golden elephant ritual is a bit exaggerated, it is just right for shocking the Koreans!
All the officials straightened their chests and were filled with pride when they saw that the Goryeo delegation was so shocked by the Twelve Golden Elephant Ritual that they were speechless.
Let this barbarian nation see what a great country looks like!
The twelve-seat Hunxiang instrument is made of pure gold!
Haven’t you seen it?
Fu Zhao and the envoys had never expected to see twelve golden astronomical instruments in the observatory of Daqi! Fu Zhao looked up at the astronomical instruments. The gold was refracted by the sunlight and the golden light fell on him. He took a deep breath and his fingers trembled. It was the smell of gold.
Shocking, so shocking!
Father!
You really should come and see it for yourself!
I can't imagine how happy my father would be if he brought back a pure gold elephant instrument!
Chen Yanzhi sneered inwardly as he looked at Fu Zhao and the great wizard, who were shocked and speechless.
This country still has little experience.
He bowed to Li Chenghuan and said, "Your Majesty, last night I observed the unusual phenomenon of the moon being eclipsed by the heavenly dog at this observatory. I am afraid that disasters will occur in many places next year, such as drought in the southwest and rain and floods in the southeast. I have also observed the celestial phenomena and found that heavy snow will fall in the future. I am afraid that many people will suffer from the snow disaster, so we need to take precautions in advance."
Li Chengqian nodded slightly and instructed the six ministers: "You go and make arrangements, prepare for prevention in advance, and properly resettle the people."
At this time, Fu Zhao suddenly laughed out loud: "Disasters happen every year. If you can only account for these, I'm afraid Master Chen's skills are still shallow!"
Chen Yanzhi's face was filled with anger. "If that's the case, I wonder what your country's great wizard thinks?"
The great wizard slowly stepped out from the delegation.
Lin Nanjie was quite curious about the great wizard from Goryeo, so he leaned forward slightly to take a look, and saw a strange-looking man walking out.
The great wizard was wearing a colorful robe, decorated with tassels and silver ornaments, which made a jingling sound as he walked, giving him the demeanor of a master from a foreign land. He wore a strange animal-skin hat with a few goose feathers stuck to the back of the hat.
The great wizard walked up to Li Chenghuan, placed his left hand on his chest, knelt down and saluted Li Chenghuan: "Your Majesty."
His voice was hoarse, as if it had been burned by fire, low and hoarse.
Li Chengqian raised his hand and said, "No need to be polite. Please stand up. I wonder what the great wizard thinks of last night's celestial phenomena."
The great wizard stood up and looked straight into Li Chenghuan's eyes. A hoarse voice slowly flowed out from his lips: "The sun and the moon are the yin and yang of each other. The moon is the other side of the sun. The strange phenomenon in the sky last night means that the master is in the midst of chaos and disasters, and the imperial star may be shifted."
Wang Dehai's face suddenly changed, and he scolded the wizard without any courtesy: "How dare you! Your Majesty is not a barbarian like you who can make arbitrary assumptions!"
The expressions of the civil and military officials below changed quietly.
Who knows whether this lord is the present one or the previous one?
After all, yesterday was the day the late emperor passed away, and the mourning period had only been over for half a year. And last night, such a scene happened again. People inside and outside the palace were in panic. Even these old ministers who had experienced the palace coup could not help but feel worried.
Could it be a manifestation of the spirit of the late emperor, or could it be that the heavens were dissatisfied with something and showed this strange phenomenon to warn the world?
Li Chenghuan stared at the great wizard for a long time, and suddenly sneered: "Could it be that the great wizard has some hidden meaning?"
Lin Nan suddenly had an idea and his eyes lit up.
[Oh, oh, oh! So it's using the celestial phenomena to imply that the dog emperor's throne came from an illegitimate source? ]
[If we must follow the Daqi rule of appointing the eldest son as the heir, it seems a bit unrighteous. 】
Hearing Lin Nanjie's heartbeat, Li Chengqian's eyes turned cold.
What a shady origin.
The Goryeo wizard only felt that the aura of His Majesty the Great Qi in front of him was even colder. He calmed down and said without panic, "Everything has a spirit. Where there is a spirit, there is cause and effect. As long as there is cause and effect, it can be solved."
"I heard that the Great Qi Qin Tianjian can predict the celestial phenomena and natural disasters. I'm sure that Lord Chen has also figured it out."
Li Chenghuan looked at Chen Yanzhi with a look that was hard to tell whether he was happy or angry.
Chen Yanzhi fell to his knees with a bang.
"Your Majesty, I dare not. This is just a lie made up by a Goryeo wizard!"
The temperature in the entire observatory dropped to freezing point. All the civil and military officials were silent, and many people did not dare to raise their heads. There was a panic among the people.
Many of them thought of the emperor when they saw the eclipse last night. After all, it was at this critical moment. Especially the officials who had experienced the palace coup, they all changed color and kept silent.
Lin Nanjie was watching the Korean wizard's output like watching a show, when he suddenly heard whispers in his ears.
I saw a young man in a green robe with a pale face, trembling and about to fall, mumbling in despair: "I heard nothing, I heard nothing."
"I have a 70-year-old mother and a three-year-old child at home. I don't want to be beheaded..."
“Wuwuwuwuwu…”
Lin Nanqi: [Ah! She actually cried.]
[Let me see, Gao Jin, the editor of the Hanlin Academy, passed the imperial examination two years ago and is now an editor of the Hanlin Academy.]
[Ah, indeed. I have only been an official for two years and I have heard such explosive news.]
[Does everyone think that the dog emperor's throne is controversial? ]
[But...wait! ]
The Korean wizard spoke again: "There is a way to solve this phenomenon."
Lin Nanqi: [???]
[Can this be cracked???]
[Does he want to abdicate and let the wise take over? Or does he want to sacrifice himself to the heaven? ]
Li Chenghuan's face turned dark, and he really wanted to grab Lin Nanjie on the spot to find out what was in his head.
He looked at the Korean wizard with a bad expression: "What do you think, great wizard?"
The Goryeo wizard coughed hoarsely and said, "Your Majesty needs to pray to the moon every night at midnight. In addition, you need to take my Goryeo special medicine. Continue this for 365 days. Then, make friends and give charity. Then you can break this strange phenomenon."
"Otherwise, this eclipse will bring endless disasters to your majesty and Daqi! The imperial star will deviate from its orbit, and the people will be killed and their lives will be miserable!"
As the wizard finished speaking, the entire observatory fell into a vortex of worry and fear.
In ancient times, King Zhou of Shang was punished for disrespecting gods. Could it be that the moon eclipsed by the heavenly dog was really a reminder from heaven?
"Huh? This lunar eclipse is just an ordinary total lunar eclipse!" Lin Nan blurted out unconsciously.
[What kind of disaster? What kind of creatures are being smeared? The first picture is really made up. 】
[Even the people's miserable lives are mentioned. Isn't this too outrageous? 】
[It seems like he is trying to cheat people out of money with his secret recipe. He failed yesterday, so he is trying again today, right? 】
Fu Zhao didn't expect it to be this little eunuch again. He gritted his teeth and said, "How dare you, a mere eunuch, question the great wizard of Goryeo?"
Lin Nan was furious and said, "It's just an ordinary astronomical phenomenon. We in Daqi are not surprised by it. From the 80-year-old man to the 3-year-old child, everyone is used to it. How can you in Gaoli still believe it to be true?"
The great wizard had never thought that someone would dare to refute him so rudely. He said angrily, "How dare you blaspheme the revelation of the heavens?"
Lin Nanjie disagreed: "During the more than 300 years of the previous dynasty, there were more than 40 recorded total lunar eclipses. Does it mean that every time there is a total lunar eclipse, a major disaster will occur in the country? Will the imperial star deviate from its orbit?"
"Isn't this Emperor Star too busy?"
The great wizard had never thought that a small eunuch of Daqi would dare to speak like that. He was choked and speechless for a moment: "You are so unreasonable!"
The ministers below also came to their senses.
That makes sense!
There were only thirteen emperors in the previous dynasty. The lunar eclipse occurred more than forty times, but there were not forty emperors!
Chen Yanzhi's head trembled, and he suddenly rolled up his sleeves and stood up: "Not bad!"
"The lunar eclipse is not a rare event. It has happened five or six times in Daqi, and yet our national strength has continued to grow!"
The great wizard was so angry that he uttered incoherently: "You, you don't believe it, you will be punished!"
Lin Nan said: "The lunar eclipse is actually a very simple astronomical phenomenon. When the sun, the earth, and the moon are in a straight line, and the earth is in the middle, the entire moon will be in the earth's shadow, and a total lunar eclipse will occur, which is usually called the lunar eclipse."
He spread his hands and said, "It's actually nothing special, and it's not scary at all."
[Besides, even though the dog emperor came to power through a coup, it’s better than passing the throne to the prince, right?]
[The Crown Prince and the late Emperor have been taking so many elixirs that they can barely stand up. If they become the Emperor, Daqi will be finished.]
Li Chenghuan was startled, looking at Lin Nan's desperate expression with admiration in his eyes.
Well, although he didn't know what that Earth was, he roughly understood that it was where they were.
All the civil and military officials looked at each other in bewilderment, as they had never heard of the sun, earth, and moon.
But never mind!
At this time, whatever Lin Nanjie said was right!
Si Nanhao was the first to speak: "That's right, you guys made such a simple truth sound so mysterious, it's really hilarious!"
"Isn't it? There aren't so many strange phenomena, so much evil and misfortune. It's just a total lunar eclipse."
"It's normal for you small barbarian countries not to understand these things. After all, not all of you are as advanced as Daqi."
"It's outdated to use this method to seize the country's fortune. It's a pity that you still treat it as a treasure."
"Can your secret recipe control the moon?"
The ministers were in an uproar, talking one after another, and the Korean envoy was speechless.
Fu Zhao and the great wizard had never expected things to turn out this way and were both stunned.
What, what total lunar eclipse?
What connects the lines?
How come they have never heard of it!