An Auspicious Sign From The Heavens

In the beginning of the sixth year of the Qing calendar, both Northern Qi and the Qing Kingdom had mysterious things happen within their borders. Due to cold weather, the millet had not yet grown in the rice paddies, so there were no double ears of grain or white fish in the rivers, and no one found any kylins in the mountains. When Wuzhou was excavated, they dug out a pair of copper walls. When Shazhou was repairing its river, workers found—to their great surprise and joy—a giant turtle decorated with cloud patterns; there also were black birds in the Jiangnan rice paddies and red geese flying in the horizon.

No matter whether it was copper walls, cloud turtles, or black birds, these were all auspicious signs. Officials from all over rushed to send in memorials and all kinds of fawning, however, the Emperor in Jingdou did not care because this shameless atmosphere of auspiciousness began in the Northern Qi.