Chapter 218: An Exaggerated Shockwave

Jiang Zhe began his analysis:

"According to the 'Record of Celestial Changes',"

"On the morning of May 30, 1626—"

" 'Early on the sixth day, the gatekeepers suddenly heard music. First, there was a burst of loud music, then soft music, repeating three times. The guards were startled and searched for the source, finding it coming from the temple.' "

" 'Just as they pushed open the temple doors and jumped in, they suddenly saw an object like a red ball soar into the sky, drawing everyone's gaze. Shortly after, a thunderous sound erupted from the East City.' "

"In layman's terms, this means: 'Early that morning, the gatekeepers at Di'anmen suddenly heard music. First, a burst of loud music, then soft music, repeated three times. It sounded like some kind of secret code.' "

" 'People were very surprised and searched everywhere for the source of the music, finally discovering it coming from the Fire God Temple.' "

" 'Then, some bold individuals pushed open the temple doors to investigate, and suddenly saw a red ball of lightning roll out of the hall and shoot straight up into the sky.' "

" 'When people looked back, the Fire God statue in the hall was wobbling as if it were about to step down from its stone pedestal.' "

"These were some of the omens before the 9 o'clock Tianqi Explosion on May 30."

At this moment, the attentive audience began searching for information online while listening to the lecture.

Soon, they indeed found relevant materials confirming the strange phenomenon of a red lightning ball flying into the sky from the Fire God Temple.

Many people were very curious about what this red fireball, described in some documents as a red lightning ball, actually was!

However, Jiang Zhe did not satisfy the audience's wish and continued his explanation on his own.

"Everyone, do not dwell on the sound or the red ball just yet; let us continue with the specific sequence of events. Once the incident is over, you will naturally understand the cause of this series of phenomena."

Hearing this, the audience had to suppress their curiosity and continue listening to the full account.

"Let us continue from the incident at the Fire God Temple."

"Because the guards and nearby residents at the time were not highly educated and were superstitious, they mistakenly believed the Fire God was manifesting to bring disaster, so they cried, hugged the statue, and begged: 'Do not bring disaster upon us!' "

"But unfortunately, amidst their pleas, the time finally reached past 9 o'clock in the morning."

"It was then that a roar suddenly erupted over the capital, spreading gradually from the northeast of the city toward the southwest."

"At the same time, a massive red fireball came rolling along with the roar."

"Following this, countless giant black mushroom clouds rose up, standing between heaven and earth in the southwest."

"Then, in an instant, the capital was torn apart; gray dust and orange flames flew everywhere, and houses sank directly into the ground."

"After this event, cries of anguish filled the capital—from Shunchengmen Street in the east to the Ministry of Justice Street in the north, over 10,000 houses within a 13-li radius were destroyed."

"The area around the Armory was ablaze with fire, houses collapsed, and casualties were everywhere."

"Along Chang'an Avenue, heads and severed limbs fell, and a 5,000-jin stone lion on Shifuma Street was blown out beyond the Shuncheng Gate."

"This is the Tianqi Explosion as seen from the perspective of the common people."

"By the way, a little science: 5,000 jin equals 2.5 tons. The CF6 turbofan engine used on a Boeing 747 has a thrust range of 21 to 30 tons, and its maximum exhaust velocity exceeds 300 m/s. The engine's thrust is enough to blow away a 5-ton car. Comparing this 5-ton car to the 2.5-ton stone lion, you can get a sense of how massive the shockwave was at that time!"

Hearing this, the audience closed their eyes to imagine it.

Some science students did the calculations in their minds, using a typhoon as a comparison.

The wind speed of a Category 20 super typhoon is over 76.9 m/s. The destructive power of such a superstorm is unparalleled, and a two-ton stone would easily be blown away.

A standard family car weighs about 2 tons.

If a car were at the scene of the explosion, it would likely be blown into the sky instantly.

This wasn't even at the center of the explosion, but nearby.

Just how far was the stone lion from the center of the Tianqi Explosion?

A pedantic viewer sent a bullet comment:

"The distance from Shifuma Street to the Armory, converted to modern locations, is equivalent to the distance from Guangcai Hutong to Xuanwumen, which is about 600 meters."

"In other words: the shockwave from the Tianqi Explosion at Xuanwumen blew a 2.5-ton stone lion in Guangcai Hutong, 600 meters away, into the sky."

"So, everyone, now you know how exaggerated the aftershocks of this explosion were. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a small nuclear bomb!"

Looking at the converted data, the audience gasped.

This...

The moment of the explosion and the shockwave were simply unprecedented!

If you don't calculate it carefully, it doesn't feel that terrifying.

But once calculated, you get a converted answer—

"A short-range super typhoon nearing Category 21 suddenly appeared at the Armory in the feudal Ming Dynasty in 1626!"

The audience shook their heads repeatedly, all perceiving the terrifying nature of the Tianqi Explosion!

At this point, Jiang Zhe continued to explain.

"Next, there is the perspective of Emperor Tianqi of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youxiao. He was eating breakfast in the Palace of Heavenly Purity in the Forbidden City when suddenly, a thunderous roar broke the silence."

"The entire palace was shaking. Emperor Tianqi was shocked and ran out of the palace in a panic. Looking up, he saw debris flying in the sky. Unfortunately, a guard following him was struck and killed."

"The property damage from this event is negligible; as for the casualties, well..."

At this point, Jiang Zhe pursed his lips, "To minimize their own losses, the officials would underreport the number of casualties."

"But there are still records to look at."

"For example: 'Liangchao Congxin Lu' records '537 men and women crushed to death'—no need to look, this is definitely fake data because the explosion was too big, and the casualties are too low!"

"The eunuch Liu Ruoyu's 'History of the Ming Palace' states: 'There are thousands of known dead, and the number of unknown dead is countless.' This is very credible, but still a bit low!"

"The 'Brief History of the Imperial Capital' compiled by Liu Tong and Yu Yizheng during the Chongzhen reign states: 'Thousands of houses, hundreds of people'—this death toll is closer to the statistics of the West City Censor, but it's uncertain whether it's true or false!"

"But the 'Brief History of the Imperial Capital' differs from the figure of over 10,000 deaths in the journal of celestial changes."

"And Ming Dynasty loyalist Shi Xuan, who wrote 'Anecdotes of the Old Capital' in the early Qing Dynasty, recorded: 'The Armory incident destroyed two or three streets in the West City and injured or killed about a hundred people.' "

"Later, the 'Records of the Three Reigns of the Ming Dynasty' calculated: '57,000 people were crushed to death, and countless others were buried under bricks and stones.' "

"So, everyone's records are different, and there is a huge gap in the casualty numbers."

"According to later calculations, the death toll from the Armory disaster was over 10,000."

"Considering all factors, and based on historical materials used by our modern scholars, it is generally believed that the statement 'over 10,000 houses collapsed, over 10,000 people died' is more credible."

"I personally also believe that the figure of over 10,000 deaths is credible."

As the words fell, the audience and experts had their own considerations.

Some officials would definitely falsify reports to avoid punishment; this is a normal phenomenon.

Most people chose to believe Jiang Zhe.

"Alright, let us continue with the topic."

"After this incident, official and civilian reporters—of course, they weren't called reporters, just scholars who liked to pursue the truth."

"The officials and civilian experts began an in-depth investigation."

"Official records... well, never mind, let's not talk about that, after all, official data is inaccurate."

At this point, Jiang Zhe showed a 'you know what I mean' expression.

Seeing this, the audience and experts couldn't help but twitch their lips.

"Good grief, it seems you have mastered politics."

"Hahaha, I thought you were going to say something else, but you just said official data is inaccurate. So bold, be careful about being invited for tea."

"Ahem, speaking of which, is official data really inaccurate?"

"Nonsense, when has official data ever been accurate throughout history? How many truths have been treated as rumors by the authorities?"

"I am a retired soldier. I once participated in flood relief; I was at the scene, clearly watching the scene... well, I won't go into the process, but the data officially announced later was vastly different from what I witnessed, basically a 5 to 8 to 1 ratio for casualty numbers; so, everyone understands, right?"

"Ahem, I understand, I understand."

"..."

Inside the professor's building at Tsinghua University.

Laozi and Professor Zhuangzi couldn't help but smile.

"This kid, he's the only one who dares to say things like that."

"Who says that openly? Everyone says it secretly."

"Haha, keep watching, keep watching, it's a wonderful explanation!"

On the phone screen, Jiang Zhe continued:

"At that time, a civilian newspaper, in order to get first-hand information about the explosion, carefully examined the explosion site and interviewed some survivors."

"Afterward, they published the journal of celestial changes. This is the origin of the journal of celestial changes, which detailed the entire process of the Tianqi Explosion—"

" 'In an instant, a great roar, heaven collapsed and earth fell, it was as dark as night, and ten thousand houses were leveled. From Shunchengmen Street in the east to the Ministry of Justice Street in the north, three or four li long, thirteen li around, all turned to powder.' This is the content I mentioned in my outline earlier."

"According to the records of the journal of celestial changes, the diameter of the Tianqi Explosion was about 750 meters, affecting approximately 2.25 square kilometers of land."

"This is roughly equivalent to the area in today's Xicheng District of Beijing, south of Xinhua Street, north of Xuanwumen West Street, west of Tonglinge Road, and east of South Naoshikou."

"After the Tianqi Explosion occurred, even Tongzhou and Changping outside the capital—these two places are outside the Fifth Ring Road of Beijing—and Miyun was even further away; if there were a Sixth Ring Road, it would be beyond that."

"These places all felt strong tremors, and even hundreds of houses in Jizhou, Tianjin, were damaged."

"The explosion caused a total of over 20,000 casualties, and the economic losses were immeasurable."