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Chapter 691 At the northwest corner!

The whole area is filled with the smell of burnt wood.

At this time, people from the Ministry of Industry had begun to enter the file room one after another to check the burning status of the files.

And prepare a new room, and then move these remaining files to avoid another accident.

"Master Shen, this is it."

Du Chuke said to Shen Lian.

Shen Lian nodded slightly.

He looked forward.

I saw the file room of the Ministry of Industry, located in the northwest corner of the Yamen.

Because this is a corner and the wind was not strong today, the file room was burned more seriously, but it did not endanger other areas.

The file room is a two-story building.

The area is not small.

The most severely burned area was on the second floor.

There were six windows on the second floor, but now, three of them have been completely burned out.

The wall on one side was also burned black.

Because the beams above were burned, the roof collapsed.

The current second floor looks very dilapidated.

Shen Lian said: "Go in and take a look."

Du Chuke quickly accompanied him.

When I opened the door on the first floor, smoke from the fire hit my nose.

Fortunately, there was ventilation everywhere and the windows were all burned out, so the smoke dissipated quickly and would not affect them from entering.

However, just in case, Shen Lian still brought a piece of cloth, poured water on it, and then covered his mouth and nose.

When he entered the first floor, he saw a place like a counter.

This is the place where the files are taken care of and the secondment of files is recorded.

At this time, the place was still intact, and the fire was put out before it affected the place.

Du Chuke said: "Fortunately, it was night when the fire ignited. As soon as the fire came out, it was discovered."

"And the Ministry of Works had some tasks to catch up on tonight, so most people stayed here and rushed over to put out the fire as soon as the fire broke out."

"Otherwise, once we discover it too late or there are not enough manpower in the yamen, we can't even imagine what the consequences will be."

Shen Lian nodded.

Walking around the counter, you can see the bookshelves behind you.

The entire first floor is almost filled with bookshelves.

And the bookshelves are full of files.

Because the main place that was burned down was the second floor, although some of the files on the first floor were affected, most of them were preserved.

This can be considered a blessing among misfortunes.

Du Chuke said: "The files on the first floor are from the past eight years. Fortunately, most of them have been preserved."

"But the files on the second floor..."

He raised his head, his eyes full of pain: "There is only a limit to what can be left."

The files on the first floor are files within eight years?

So, as Mrs. Han said, the files on the building that Han Qian renovated ten years ago are placed on the second floor?

But more than half of the second floor was burned down.

……………………

Shen Lian narrowed his eyes.

He walked along the stairs to the second floor.

As soon as you enter the second floor, you can see what it looked like after the fire.

More than half of the bookshelves have been burned down.

Only a few corners of the dossier can be seen.

The other files that were not burned were also soaked a lot because they had just poured water to extinguish the fire.

Shen Lian made a preliminary estimate and found that three-fifths of the files were burned on the second floor.

Less than half is left.

This was the first time Du Chuke climbed to the second floor after the fire.

……………………

Even though he already had some bad premonitions in his heart, when he saw that the file was half burned, he was so distressed that he couldn't breathe.

After all, that is the foundation accumulated by the Ministry of Industry over decades.

This time, it was all burned out.

Shen Lian said: "Where are the files from ten years ago?"

"Ten years ago?"

Du Chuke glanced at the second floor, then pointed at the ashes and said, "They are all there."

Shen Lian's eyes flashed.

Sure enough, everything was as he expected!

He came to the ashes, squatted down, and could only pick up some burned corners from the side.

Shen Lian took a deep breath and said, "Mr. Du, was there anyone in the file before the fire?"

Du Chuke said: "There is only one master, who is here to look after the file room."

"Then does he know why the fire was caused?"

Du Chuke shook his head: "He said the fire started from the second floor, but at that time, he was on the first floor. There was no one on the second floor, let alone a stove or anything like that, so he was very puzzled. Why? On the second floor, it can suddenly catch fire."

When Shen Lian heard Du Chuke's words, he narrowed his eyes and asked, "Are you sure there was no one else on the second floor when the fire broke out?"

Du Chuke said: "That's what he said. I'll call him here. Lord Shen, please ask."

Shen Lian nodded: "That's fine."

At the same time, he also said to Du Chuke: "Master Du had better count the number of people in the Yamen of the Ministry of Works to see if there are people who should be here, but now, they are not in the Yamen."

When Du Chuke heard this, his eyes suddenly flashed.

He immediately understood what Shen Lian meant.

"Master Shen is worried... Han Qian has an accomplice in the Yamen. That accomplice set the fire and escaped in the chaos?"

Shen Lian smiled and said: "Every possibility is possible, so I asked Mr. Du to explore it first."

Du Chuke said without saying a word, "Okay, let's do it right away."

Du Chuke quickly turned around and left.

Leave Shen Lian behind and continue to inspect the scene.

The scene of a fire is therefore better than the scene of a murder.

There are always some clues or evidence left at the scene of a murder.

But the fire scene was burned very thoroughly, and many traces would be destroyed by the fire.

In other words, the cause of the fire has probably been burned out.

In future generations, relying on some special equipment, we may be able to find out the origin of the fire and the cause of the fire.

But in the Tang Dynasty, it was very difficult.

At best, we can only make speculations based on other people's confessions, the severity of the burning at the scene, and some experience.

Therefore, it is far more difficult to find out the truth about ancient fires than to find the murderer.

"Huh?"

At this time, Shen Lian suddenly made a soft sound.

He knelt down and picked up the burned files again, leaving only some corner files.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Looking at the remaining pieces of paper, Shen Lian squinted his eyes.

He raised his head and looked at the remaining files.

Shen Lian suddenly stood up, and the two of them went to these files, picked up a file and looked at it.

This file is from twenty years ago.

It records various drawings for building a palace twenty years ago.

At this time, there was a lot of dust on the file, and there were some water stains on the surface.

Because the paper from twenty years ago is already somewhat brittle, there is a risk of it breaking if touched lightly.

Shen Lian quickly put the file back to its original place.

These files were first roasted by fire and then soaked in water, and have been seriously affected.

Next, the Ministry of Industry will arrange manpower to re-transcribe these files and then re-file them.

Shen Lian looked at the surviving files on the bookshelf, then at the corners of the files in his hand, and fell into deep thought.

At this time, footsteps came from behind.

"Master Shen, you are looking for me."

A voice sounded.

Shen Lian turned around and saw a middle-aged man in his forties standing behind him.

This person is the boss guarding this place.

Shen Lian didn't waste any time and asked directly: "Were you on the first floor when the fire broke out?"

The boss nodded quickly: "Yes, the official is responsible for guarding the file room today, so he will be here all day long."

Shen Lian asked: "What were you doing when the fire broke out?"

The boss said: "The official is copying the files on the first floor. The Ministry of Engineering built the venue for the Wanbang Chamber of Commerce a few days ago. Now it is necessary to summarize the relevant content and create a file, so I will sort out these contents after get off work..."

Shen Lian nodded.

It was true that the Wanbang Chamber of Commerce had just ended, and he used the Wanbang Chamber of Commerce to plot against Beichen.

"Did you hear anything going on on the second floor before the fire started?"

Zhubo shook his head: "There was no movement. It was very quiet at that time. I didn't hear any sound."

"And I went to the second floor to check it out an hour ago."

"An hour ago, it was the time of normal duty. Before each duty, the subordinate would inspect the entire file room, sort out the scattered files, clean up, and then leave."

"But because I have other tasks today, I didn't leave after the inspection."

Shen Lian said: "So, when you checked, you didn't find anything abnormal?"

Zhubo shook his head: "Everything is as usual."

Could it be that someone climbed over the wall and entered the second floor?

But there are guards patrolling the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry all the time, and it is not easy to hide from the guards.

Shen Lian thought for a while and suddenly said: "When the fire broke out, or before it happened, did you smell anything special?"

Zhu Bo thought for a while, and suddenly he looked at Shen Lian and said, "When the official discovered the fire, he smelled it in a hurry...it seemed to be the smell of kerosene."

"Moreover, I also heard a banging sound. The sound sounded very loud. At first, I thought it was a bookshelf falling over, but now that I think about it, it seemed like the sound of something breaking."

"The smell of kerosene?"

"The sound of something breaking?"

After listening to Zhu Bo's words, Shen Lian looked towards the burned place.

I saw that the place was full of dust, and there were collapsed beams and tiles. Unless the place was cleaned, it would be impossible to see whether there was something pressed inside.

Shen Lian pondered for a moment and then said: "Someone, come and clean the tiles and beams there."

When the officials from the Ministry of Industry heard this, they quickly moved the things.

Shen Lian withdrew his gaze, continued to look at Zhu Bo, and said, "Besides these, is there nothing else you have discovered?"

The boss shook his head: "No more."

"At that time, because I had already been sent to duty, no one would come to borrow the files, so I remember it very clearly."

Shen Lian nodded slightly.

He had been paying attention to Zhu Bo. When Zhu Bo said these words, his eyes were calm, without any flickering, and there were no other subconscious actions.

From this we can tentatively conclude that the host did not lie.

Soon, the tiles were swept aside and the charred beams were carried away.

Shen Lian walked over.

He came to the place where the fever was most severe.

Normally, the place where the fire started burns for the longest time, so it is usually the most serious place.

Relying on these, the approximate range of the fire point can be tentatively determined.

When Shen Lian came here, he also found some burned-out bookshelves with only half of them left.

He picked up a piece of wood that was burnt black and scratched it in the ashes.

Suddenly, a crisp voice sounded.

Shen Lian's eyes flashed, he lowered his head, cleaned up the ashes, and found some broken porcelain pieces inside.

Shen Lian picked up the porcelain piece and saw that the surface of the porcelain piece had been burned black by the fire. If he hadn't carefully searched for it with wood, it would have been difficult to find the porcelain piece hidden in the ashes.

Looking at the porcelain piece, he narrowed his eyes.

I recalled in my mind what Zhu Bo said, that when the fire started, I heard a banging sound.

Some speculations gradually took shape in his mind.

Shen Lian stood up, came to Lord Bo, and said, "How many people came to borrow the files today?"

Zhu Bo thought for a moment and said, "There are five people."

As he spoke, he said: "If you want to know, my lord, my official has recorded the time when everyone came in."

Shen Lian said: "Bring it here."

The host did not dare to delay and quickly returned to the first floor. When he returned, he already had a book in his hand.

He opened the book and said, "This is the record of today's borrowing."

Shen Lian nodded slightly.

He looked at the name and time in the book.

Suddenly, Shen Lian's eyes were fixed on a record.

This record is like this.

"Secretary Zhang Qin, he came at three o'clock at the Shen hour and left at the quarter of the You hour."

The record did not specify what file Zhang Qin borrowed.

This place is just like a library. As long as you don't take it out, you can browse the files at will inside.

So I can't record it in detail.

But the time of arrival and the time of departure are clearly recorded.

"Zhang Qin...he is here too today!"

"Moreover, there is no record later, which means he was the last person to come to the file room!"

Shen Lian was not surprised at all when Zhang Qin's name appeared on the booklet.

After all, this is the person he came for.

He asked Lord Bo: "After Zhang Qin, no one else will come again, right?"

The boss nodded hurriedly: "Yes, when Mr. Zhang left, we were almost on duty and there was no one else left."

"Do you know which files he has read?" Shen Lian asked.

The boss shook his head: "Master Zhang went to the second floor to look through the files. The official was always on the first floor, so he didn't know."

Shen Lian nodded slightly.

He said: "I understand it almost. You go ahead and do your work. I will call you if I have any more questions."

The host nodded quickly and left quickly.

His task is very heavy. Counting the lost files and organizing other files are all his tasks.

At this time, a burst of footsteps quickly came from the first floor to the second floor.

I saw Du Chuke, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry. As soon as he saw Shen Lian, he quickly said: "Sir Shen, I just counted the manpower of the Ministry of Industry."

"I discovered that one person is missing!"

Shen Lian's eyes flashed and he asked: "Who?"

Du Chuke took a deep breath and said: "Servant, Zhang Qin!"

Du Chuke took a deep breath and said: "Servant, Zhang Qin!"


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