In the forty-fifth year of Qianlong's reign, Zhengyang Gate suddenly caught fire for some unknown reason, burning down the eastern and western side walls, official buildings, shopfronts, and some facilities and stores along the main street.
It was the main gate of the imperial palace and a vital thoroughfare. Leaving it unrepaired would have been unsightly. All in all, it was a massive restoration project, entrusted to Prince Zhi Yongrong. After three years of construction, it was finally completed in the forty-eighth year of Qianlong's reign. However, the total cost exceeded the budget, especially the bricks, which went over by thirty percent.
The bricks used in the palace, especially in structures on the central axis like Zhengyang Gate, were tribute bricks from Linqing. These bricks were made from the local "Lotus Soil." The Yellow River deposited heavy silt there, but it also left behind fine, impurity-free river sand with just the right stickiness. After the river washed over the banks, it left patterns resembling lotus petals, hence the name "Lotus Soil." Bricks fired from it rang when struck, and the Echo Wall at the Temple of Heaven was also built with tribute bricks from Linqing.
But freight costs had risen at the time, as had the price of firewood for firing bricks, causing the budget overrun. This should not have been a major issue; price increases were perfectly normal in prosperous times. Yet after the project was completed, a horizontal crack appeared in the old and new barbicans. This frightened Ying Lian, who had overseen the repairs.
In the worst interpretation, it was a "heavenly omen." An unexplained fire had already been abnormal enough. Later inspection revealed that the new barbican had not been given a new foundation at all, but had been built on the old foundation with wooden