Chapter 430 - 337, Escape
The Chessboard Street and East Rongmi Lane were engulfed in thick smoke, the arsenic mixed in the bamboo tubes stinging everyone’s eyes shut.
Chen Ji used his sleeve to cover his mouth and nose, hiding within the smoke. He didn’t rashly approach the Huitong Hall but quietly closed his eyes and leaned against the side to wait.
Waiting for the Five Cities Military Department to be diverted.
In the white smoke, the sedan bearers, clerks, and ministry officials who had just finished their shift were choking and unable to find their direction, squinting their eyes to distinguish their surroundings with difficulty.
The shop owners rushed out from the street-side taverns, someone shouted loudly: "There’s a fire, put it out!"
"Where are the Fire Armor soldiers? Where are the fire troops from the Five Cities Military Department?"
"Quickly bring the water bags!"
The Imperial Capital was dry, with more than a hundred fire incidents occurring every year, some minor burning down a house, others destroying entire rows.
Chessboard Street was the busiest place in the inner city, where every merchant pooled funds to establish the "Water Cabinet Workshop," where the cowhide water bags stored therein could hold three stone of water.
Every month, merchants also had to remit "Fire Armor Money" to the Five Cities Military Department. If not paid, the military department would stand by idly during incidents. Paid, they would protect your home first.
Hence, once a fire broke out, the Five Cities Military Department would definitely extinguish it first.