high official

Chapter 870 Interrogation
After the flames were extinguished, Wang Xian and others recovered their eyesight, but they still couldn't extricate themselves from the shock!Who would have imagined that the three halls of the Forbidden City, which were built with the strictest standards and with extremely tight security during the entire construction process, hide these terrifying things!

"What is this?" Wang Xian asked in a trembling voice after a long time to calm down.

"Sulfur powder, fire nitrate, and rosin..." Guishou Zhang said softly, "We found that these things are commonly found in the rubble of the three halls..."

"Debris?" Wang Xian immediately saw the dazzling glazed tiles of the three halls, and asked in a hissing voice, "Could it be that the glazed tiles contain these things?!"

"Impossible." It was not Guishouzhang who answered, but an old man who was busy beside the rubble. He raised his head and said slowly: "My lord does not know that the ore used for firing glazed tiles in Da Nei is called It is called "crucible soil", which is produced in the area of ​​Duizihuai Mountain in Liuliqu Village on the west bank of the Yongding River. Since the Yuan Dynasty, the Liuli Bureau has been set up there, and kilns have been opened to burn tiles for Da Nei. If there is any These things, once they enter the kiln, are they still worth it?" He handed a piece of tile that was still relatively complete to Wang Xiandao: "Your Excellency, you might as well take a look."

"My lord, this is the old Zhou hired by our six divisions," the ghost hand Zhang hurriedly explained to Wang Xian: "When the Nanjing Imperial Palace was being built, he was the chief bricklayer."

Wang Xian took the tile, turned it over under the guidance of the old man, and saw some words printed on the bottom of the tile. After careful identification, it was "Zhao Wanquan, the kiln owner, Xu Xiang, the colorist, Xu Nian at the head of the house, burned Potter Li Shang'.

"The same is true for every piece of tile. If there is a problem with any process, the craftsman in charge will be beheaded." The old man said slowly: "They are all craftsmen in Beijing since the founding of the country. Who dares to take the whole family? adventure?"

"That's not necessarily!" Erhei said in a deep voice: "Anyway, since we know that it is the building itself, no one can escape from top to bottom!" Immediately order to arrest all officials, craftsmen and guards involved in the case!"

Wang Xian pondered for a moment, then nodded, and Erhei led away.

In the room, Wang Xian weighed the tiles in his hand and asked the old man surnamed Zhou, "Where did those things come from?"

"It should be mixed in mortar." The old man replied: "Before hanging tiles on the top of the three main halls, you should first use mortar to pave the bottom, wipe it with mortar, and then use paint mortar to joint." After a pause, he said: "Sulfur powder The rosin should be mixed in the paint, and the fire nitrate should be mixed in the mortar.”

Wang Xian couldn't help but nodded when he heard this. He had already learned about the process of the fire in detail, and it was caused by a few rockets that landed on the top of Fengtian Hall.At first, those rockets didn't ignite anything, and they didn't even attract attention. In the eyes of everyone at that time, the rockets that landed on the glazed tiles would definitely extinguish themselves soon.However, just as the flame of the last rocket was about to disappear, a ferocious fire burst out suddenly!
If according to what the old man said, someone mixed inflammable materials in the gaps and bottom of the glazed tiles, then the rocket can just heat it up, and when the temperature rises to the ignition point, the entire roof of the hall can be ignited in an instant!This is exactly what I saw that day!

Although the facts still need to be proved, Wang Xian has already believed in seven or eighty-eight...

.

Erhei's actions were extremely fast. In the afternoon, the officials of the Ministry of Industry, craftsmen, handymen who were in charge of supplying materials and construction of the three halls, and even the officers and soldiers of the Habayashi guards who were in charge of guarding were all arrested in Fusi, Beizhen!Although the action was not small, with Dongchang Zhuyu in front, the commotion caused was minimal...

"My lord," Erhei accompanied Wang Xian to the courtyard where the prisoners were detained, "At that time, more than a dozen craftsmen who hung the tiles disappeared, and the house was empty and piled with ashes. At least as early as years ago, the whole family escaped... ..."

"Yeah." Wang Xian nodded, with no expression on his face.The Jin Yiwei guarding the courtyard hurriedly knelt down on one knee when he saw the governor, Wang Xian waved his hand slightly to signal them not to salute, and then walked into the courtyard.

The courtyard was full of anxious craftsmen. They naturally knew that the three halls they had built had been burned, and now they were captured by Jin Yiwei. With their toes, they could imagine what a tragic end awaited them!

As soon as they saw Wang Xian in the python robe, the craftsmen knew that a senior official was coming. Although the senior official was really young, it didn't affect them kowtowing like garlic, begging for mercy: "Master Qingtian, we are wronged! Come with us!" It doesn't matter at all..."

Wang Xian looked at these craftsmen, and his heart was full of sympathy. He naturally believed that most of these people were innocent.But since they are connected with the Three Great Halls, the fate is not up to him.If His Majesty the Emperor, who was about to go crazy, wanted to kill them to vent his anger, there was nothing he could do...

Wang Xian suddenly thought, not to mention them, but his own fate is not certain...

Sighing, he turned around and entered the first room on the left, the door was closed, and the pleading outside was much quieter.Inside the room, a middle-aged official wearing a third-rank civil official uniform, but with dark and rough skin, was sitting at the table rubbing his hands nervously. His knuckles were thick and his palms were thick with calluses, and he was generally slender like civil officials. White hands are quite different.

Behind him, there were two Jinyi guards, obviously to prevent him from committing suicide.

Zhou Yong took off the cloak for Wang Xian. Wang Xian sat opposite to the official. The official was frightened and stammered almost pleadingly: "Uncle, Uncle, we are old acquaintances, you must help me!" He is the chief engineer of the Forbidden City, Kuai Xiang, the number one craftsman of the Ming Dynasty!After the completion of the Forbidden City, Emperor Yongle, Longyan Dayue, bestowed on him the nickname of 'Kui Luban' and named him Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Industry!For a while, Kuai Xiang became the idol of craftsmen all over the world, and stood on the pinnacle of life that he could not even imagine!

It's just a trick of good fortune, Kuai Xiang fell into today's bottomless abyss after just a few months at the pinnacle of his life...

"Hey! Master Kuai," Wang Xian rubbed his forehead vigorously, and said bitterly, "Now you and I have to resign ourselves to fate." He caught a glimpse of Kuai Xiang's pale face from the corner of his eye, and then sighed again: "The only way to help the emperor as soon as possible If the case is cleared up, maybe they can be given a lighter sentence..."

"Yes!" Kuai Xiang nodded vigorously, and Wang Xian asked someone to serve him another cup of tea. Holding the tea, Kuai Xiang sorted out his chaotic thoughts, and told Wang Xian the whole process of the construction of the three halls.

"The Three Great Halls project is the core part of the whole construction. Originally, all the materials need to be checked one by one, and they can only be used after they are confirmed to be correct." Came to inspect the new palace, thought the three main halls were too small, ordered them to be demolished and rebuilt..."

"Not bad." Wang Xian had an impression of this matter, nodded, and listened to him continue.

"The emperor has ordered that the three major halls that are about to be completed can only be demolished and rebuilt..." Kuai Xiang said softly, "However, the building materials of the three major halls are extremely precious, and many of them cannot be bought with money, such as those nanmu beams and columns... ...So Xia Shangshu of Hubu asked us to be careful to protect those materials when demolition, and try not to buy too many new materials when rebuilding." After a pause, Kuai Shilang, who still looks more like a craftsman than an official, said: "We Knowing that Xia Shangshu spent too much money to build this palace, it was very, very difficult, so he agreed without hesitation."

"During the demolition, the craftsmen were very careful. From the glazed tiles on the roof of the hall to the gold bricks in the hall, they were all carefully removed by hand. After being properly wrapped, they were all transported to the square for classified storage." Kuai Xiang said with a look of pain. : "At that time, in order to protect these materials, hundreds of large sheds were built on the square. These sheds were connected together, making the original clear construction site look very chaotic. Hands and feet..."

"Is it because these materials have been inspected once, so when they are used again, they are paralyzed?" Wang Xian asked in a deep voice.

"Absolutely not!" Kuai Xiang hastily denied it, and was a little discouraged after speaking: "It's just rebuilding the three halls, and the already tight schedule is getting tighter. No way, the craftsmen have adopted three shifts, and they are also lighting up the lights at night. , everyone is very tired, it is inevitable that the supervision is not effective..."

"En." Wang Xian nodded, and asked if there was anything unusual among the craftsmen at that time, such as some who believed in the White Lotus Sect...

"That's inevitable..." Kuai Xiang's answer was unexpectedly straightforward: "How can there be any craftsmen who don't believe in religion? There are those who believe in Buddhism, those who believe in faith, and those who believe in Nestorianism. Naturally, there are also those who believe in Bailian. "Usually speaking, as long as they don't mess around and don't make it public, no one will take care of them."

"Can't we use the White Lotus Cultist?!" Er Hei Wun asked in a voice beside him.

"To put it simply," Kuai Xiang said with a wry smile, "The entire city of Beijing is under construction, and what is most lacking is craftsmen. There are skilled craftsmen from all over the world here, and it is far from enough. So I have always turned a blind eye..."

"I see." Wang Xian sighed, he had basically figured out the ins and outs of the matter, and the rest was to catch the criminal.After casually comforting Kuai Xiang, he went out of the room.Behind him, Kuai Xiang asked sadly, "Uncle, I won't be beheaded, right?!" Wang Xian shook his head, not knowing whether he said he would or he didn't know.

When he came to the courtyard, Wang Xian glanced coldly at the craftsmen who were still kneeling on the ground, and said in a deep voice: "It has been found out that there are white lotus disciples among the craftsmen who secretly brought sulfur powder, rosin, fire nitrate, etc. into the palace. It was mixed in the mortar used to build the three main halls! This fire was caused by a little spark!" As he said, his eyes became fierce, and his voice was extremely stern: "So this is not a natural disaster at all! It's a man-made disaster! Since it's a man-made disaster! Then someone must pay the heaviest price!"

The craftsmen were terrified a long time ago, and if Wang Xian made such a bluff, many of them would immediately urinate...

(End of this chapter)