Chapter 23 Three or four reconstructions

The three main halls were burned, so naturally they had to be rebuilt.There are four major reconstructions: The first time: The reconstruction project of the three halls is extremely huge.After the three halls of the Yongle Dynasty were burned down, they were rebuilt in September of the sixth year of Ming Zhengtong (1441).It has gone through four dynasties of Yongle, Hongxi, Xuande and Zhengtong for 20 years. The second time: After the three main halls were hit by thunder and fire during the Jiajing period, in September of the 41st year of Jiajing (1562), the three main halls were rebuilt.During the Jiajing period, "Southern Japanese and northern captives" built the outer city, and "built three halls, and there is no empty day in every year."

The third time: in the twenty-fifth year of Wanli (1597), the three halls were burned down by thunder and fire, and in August of the seventh year of Tianqi (1627), the three halls were rebuilt.There was an interval of 30 years. At the end of Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng occupied Beijing and set fire to the Forbidden City before retreating.This fire forced Emperor Shunzhi to hold his ascension ceremony at Huangji Gate (Taihe Gate).The last time the Hall of Supreme Harmony was completely repaired, it will be the Kangxi Dynasty. The fourth time: In the eighteenth year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1679), the Hall of Supreme Harmony suffered another fire.In February of the thirty-fourth year of Kangxi (1695), the reconstruction of the Hall of Supreme Harmony was completed.The Hall of Supreme Harmony that people see today is roughly the appearance of the reconstruction in the Kangxi Dynasty.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony is a master of ancient Chinese architectural technology and art, and it also embodies the efforts of countless skilled craftsmen.I have introduced "Style Lei" before, that is, the Lei family who were in charge of designing the palace buildings. They were the chief engineer who rebuilt the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Kangxi Dynasty.Here is another engineer—Liang Jiu.At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Feng Qiao was in charge of building the palace in the capital.He was already old when he arrived in Chongzhen, so Liang Jiu wanted to learn art from him.After a few years, Feng Qiao just didn't pass on the art, while Liang Jiu served around, not slack, but more respectful.One day, when Liang Jiu was serving his master alone, Feng Qiao sighed and said, "You are really a teachable talent!" and taught Liang Jiu all his skills.After Feng Qiao's death, Liang Jiu registered with the Ministry of Industry and replaced Feng Qiao in charge of construction projects.When the Hall of Supreme Harmony was rebuilt in the thirty-fourth year of Kangxi (1695), Liang Jiu made a palace model out of wood by himself. Although it is small, it is very precise. The craftsmen use this model as the basis for construction and never make mistakes.

The story of Liang Jiu is just a microcosm of the engineers and technicians who built the three main halls.According to "Ming Yingzong Records", in the fifth year of Zhengtong (1440), the three halls of Fengtian, Huagai, and Jinshen, the second palace of Qianqing, and Kunning were built, and more than 70,000 active-duty craftsmen and officers were recruited.In the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing (1557), there was a fire in Sandian, and 30,000 military workers were used to clean up the fire.Not only labor-intensive, but also expensive.The whole country is full of troubles, "the mountains and forests are empty, and the disasters are hurt."After it was repaired, it burned down again.Emperor Wanli wanted to build it again, but ended up spending more money: "The construction of the three halls, the collection of Nanshan trees in Huguang, Sichuan, and Guizhou cost more than 9.3 million taels of silver, which was collected from the people, which was more expensive than the annual fee of Jiajing. times." ("History of the Ming Dynasty Shihuo Zhi" Volume 82) When the three halls were built during the Tianqi period, they said that "a total of five million nine hundred and fifty-seven thousand five hundred and ninety-nine taels of silver was used", which was not even enough to buy wood. , obviously greatly reduced.

The royal family built palaces, and the people of the whole country suffered.Some admonishing ministers risked their lives to dissuade them.Liu Kui, a member of the Ministry of Industry during the Jiajing period, and a native of Taihe, Jiangxi, first asked his family to buy a coffin, and then made a memorial: "The cost of one battle can reach hundreds of millions. Civil engineering, clothing, embroidery, craftsman class Zhuzi, Daoliu's residence plan It was banned in the palace. The country's use has been exhausted, and the people's power has been exhausted, so it is not a useless thing for this, not to show the world to future generations!" ("Ming History Liu Kui Biography" volume 209) As a result, Emperor Jiajing was angered, and Liu Kui was killed. The imperial staff was sent to prison again.The three fellow prisoners in the same prison were not allowed to deliver food at home. "The three of them were on the verge of death repeatedly, and they kept lecturing."In contrast, Jiang Gao in the Qing Dynasty was much more skillful when he was an official.

Jiang Gao, a native of Tongcheng, Anhui, was the magistrate in Liuzhou, Guangxi during the Kangxi period.Just as the construction of the Hall of Supreme Harmony was underway, the imperial court sent envoys to Liuzhou to purchase large trees, and the common people were terrified.The old people said: When the palace was built in the Ming Dynasty, they came here to look for big trees. For this reason, countless people died, and their bodies lay across the valley.Jiang Gao sympathized and came up with a plan.When the envoy arrived, he asked the people to lead the way, and rode his horse to find Damu with the envoy.I saw a big tree standing on the cliff, and there was a deep valley below.Jiang Gao got off his horse and led the messenger to climb the mountain. The cliff became steeper as he walked, and he couldn't even get off sideways.The envoy said, "This can't be picked!" He went back to play the Emperor Ming and avoided the matter of buying.

Wang Zhi (zhi), born in Fushan, Shandong (now Fushan District, Yantai City), is my hometown fellow in Yantai.The official went to the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and the Minister of the Ministry of household affairs.When Kangxi pacified the San Francisco, Wang Zhi was in charge of the Songwei Road in Sichuan and was responsible for supervising the transportation of military rations. "The difficulty of the road to Shu is harder than going to the blue sky." "Manuscripts of Qing History" said that Wang Zhi and his party "overturned the boat and fell from the horse.When Kangxi rebuilt the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he ordered to go to Sichuan to find Nanmu.Wang Zhi, who had been a parent official in Sichuan, had an audience with the emperor and made a sincere statement.The general idea is: "Most places in Sichuan are high mountains and high mountains, only in the Chengdu area there are some flat lands. The place where big trees grow are high mountains and deep valleys, inaccessible to people, so it is very inconvenient to cut them down, so they can stay. When people go to the mountains to collect wood, they have to climb rattan, stick It is difficult enough to walk on the cliffs, and the big trees that have been picked have to be transported from the mountains to the riverside. The journey is 180 miles, with deep streams, rapids, and twists and turns, and it will take several months. It can only be transported. Timber transportation must grasp the seasons, water transportation must wait until the summer and autumn when the water is high, and land transportation must wait until the spring and winter when the water is low. It does not mean that it is difficult to walk along a road for a few days!" The hardships and dangers are very real.Wang Zhi went on to say: "Sichuan has been devastated by wars, and hundreds of miles of land has been deserted. The minister was transporting grain, and it was full of devastation. It was finally calmed down and he could recuperate, but the whole province has only more than 18,000 people. , not as many as Dingduo in a county in other provinces. From such a small number of people, 5,000 people will be sent to the mountains to collect wood, and hundreds of clothes, food, and utensils will be needed, and peasants will come from thousands of miles away. Everything is in ruins, where will the country collect taxes?" After some words of sincerity, Emperor Kangxi was persuaded, and issued a decree: "Sichuan has experienced repeated wars and fires, and it is extremely difficult. The people are tired of picking trees. The temple materials have been supported for hundreds of years, so why bother with nanmu? They are ordered to be exempted from picking and transporting.” (Vol.

Emperor Kangxi was relatively open-minded when he was young. He not only approved Wang Zhi's memorial request, but also approved the memorial proposal of Hubei governor Shi Lin, relaxing the time limit for picking wood in Hubei.As mentioned earlier, in order to rebuild the three main halls in Wanli period, wood was picked in Huguang, Sichuan, and Yunnan-Guizhou.In the Kangxi Dynasty, Shi Lin served in Hubei, Jiang Gao served in Guangxi, and Wang Zhi served in Sichuan. They all spoke for the local people and alleviated their suffering. The "Drafts of Qing History" did not forget to record their sympathy for the hardships of the people's benevolent government, which is still commendable.

According to "History of the Ming Dynasty", the Dragon Kiss in Fengtian (Taihe) Hall and Jianji (Baohe) Hall were both struck by lightning. On the contrary, the Zhonghe Hall is small in size, has neither dragon kiss nor been struck by lightning.Not only that, the Fengxian Hall where ancestors are worshiped in the palace, and the Dasi (Prayer) Hall in the Temple of Heaven outside the palace are all equipped with dragon kisses, and they were also struck by lightning in the Ming Dynasty.So someone asked: The same three halls, the same wooden structure, why were they seldom destroyed by thunder and fire in the Qing Dynasty?

Some scholars believe that the Qing Dynasty installed iron chains on the dragon kisses on the top of the three halls, which actually played the role of lightning rods.Is this a wise man's trick to avoid lightning, or is it an "accidental gain" to strengthen the Dragon Kiss?This is a historical mystery, leave it to construction and lightning protection experts to solve it! The Hall of Supreme Harmony was burned four times and rebuilt four times. The phoenix was reborn and the fire was reborn.In the past six hundred years, it has survived and become the pride of China and a world cultural heritage.The symbol of China, the Great Hall of Supreme Harmony, and friends from all over the world, everyone admires it!