Lu Shisan’s official position at the moment is not low either.
All of this can prove how much Lu Shisan respects and trusts Shen Lian.
Shen Lian smiled and said, "Lu Shisan is indeed reliable in his work."
As he said this, he winked at Fatty Zhang.
Fatty Zhang immediately understood what Shen Lian meant and began to carefully inspect the Temple of Heaven, looking for any hidden mechanisms.
Shen Lian, on the other hand, looked at Deshun and said at the beginning, "Eunuch, I want to know, from the beginning of the construction of the Temple of Heaven until now, has anything strange happened in the middle?!"
"Something strange?!"
Deshun heard Shen Lian's question, thought about it carefully, and immediately said, "Since I followed His Majesty, I have been here many times with Your Majesty, and I have never encountered anything strange."
"However, before I followed Your Majesty, I heard that something very strange seemed to have happened when the Temple of Heaven was being built."
"Something weird?!"
Shen Lian raised his eyebrows and asked, "What's weird?"
Deshun shook his head, "This... I don't know too well. It was too long ago, and I didn't take it seriously at the time. After all, anything abnormal that happens in this palace is completely normal, so I didn't take it seriously either." I think it’s a big deal.”
"If Master Shen wants to know, I happen to know a few people who worked with me to build the Temple of Heaven. Master Shen should be able to find out by asking them."
Shen Lian nodded slightly and said, "Then it's my turn to thank you."
Deshun arrived quickly, "This is not a big deal. Master Shen, please wait a moment. They will be here soon."
With that said, Deshun immediately went down to the Temple of Heaven and said something in the ear of a young eunuch, who quickly left.
Deshun did not go to the Temple of Heaven to disturb Shen Lian.
Instead, he was very sensible and stood under the Temple of Heaven, quietly waiting for Shen Lian's instructions.
When Shen Lian saw this, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
No wonder Deshun was able to work beside Li Shimin among such involved eunuchs.
This kind of vision is not something ordinary people can possess.
Shen Lian withdrew his gaze and looked at the Temple of Heaven.
He stepped on the Temple of Heaven and could feel that the white marble ground under his feet was very stable.
There is no hollow sound.
It seems that, either, there is no mechanism under the Temple of Heaven.
Or, in order to deceive others, the agency has made it very hidden and difficult to detect using normal means.
Shen Lian stood here, looking into the distance.
Standing on a two-meter-high platform, he could see through the courtyard wall and see the scene outside.
He could see the patrolling guards in the distance.
You can also see some palace maids and eunuchs walking quickly with their heads lowered.
Although the entire palace cannot be glimpsed, it can still be seen from a distance of several hundred meters to the southwest.
At this time, he found some people walking towards here quickly.
There are eunuchs and guards.
And they don't seem to be particularly young, they are at least in their thirties, or even around fifty.
These people...
Shen Lian's eyes flashed.
He knew who these people were.
"Master Shen."
At this time, Deshun's voice sounded, "Sir, the people you want to see are all here."
Sure enough, these people were the ones who participated in the construction of the Temple of Heaven.
The Temple of Heaven was built more than ten years ago. Those who participated in the construction at that time were at least twenty years old.
The older ones may be in their thirties or forties.
Therefore, after more than ten years, these people will generally be quite young.
Shen Lian turned around and saw a dozen people standing behind Deshun.
After Shen Lian came down from the Temple of Heaven, these people quickly bowed respectfully to Shen Lian and said, "I have met Mr. Shen."
Shen Lian nodded slightly and looked at Deshun.
Deshun said, "Master Shen, these are the people who participated in the construction."
"For more than ten years, the people in the palace have changed one after another, and these are the only ones left."
Shen Lian was not surprised.
The life span of ancient people was generally short...
Not to mention, in this palace full of crises.
If you say the wrong thing even a little bit, it will be a dead end.
In the deep palace, it is normal for one person to die and each other to have a dog.
Moreover, the people who built the Temple of Heaven back then included not only those from the palace but also craftsmen from outside. The total number of people who built the Temple of Heaven was only a few hundred.
Therefore, it is considered normal that there are only a dozen people left in the palace now.
Shen Lian glanced at their faces. In front of him, there were fifteen people in total, including five eunuchs and ten guards.
Shen Lian said, "Tell me what you were responsible for at that time."
The eunuch on the left, who was about fifty years old, spoke first, "I was in charge of supervising the production at that time, supervising these people for Your Majesty to prevent them from being lazy and slippery."
Responsible for supervising production?!
Supervise for Li Shimin.
It seems that this person's status is not low.
At least more than ten years ago, he was quite trusted by Li Shimin.
But now, it should be marginalized.
Maybe it's because he's too old, or maybe because of something that Li Shimin doesn't like.
Shen Lian nodded slightly, thinking of the files he had read, and asked, "Your name is Li De?"
The old eunuch unexpectedly raised his head and looked at Shen Lian, "Does your Excellency know about this slave?"
Sure enough it was him.
In the archives, there are records of those who participated in the construction of the Temple of Heaven.
Li De is the supervisor.
Shen Lian nodded slightly, but he did not answer Li De. Instead, he looked at the second person and said, "What about you?"
"Sir, my servant is responsible for purchasing materials. I am responsible for buying all the things that are built."
Just as Shen Lian was about to nod, he heard the eunuch suddenly say, "Sir, something strange happened back then, and I don't know whether to say it or not."
Shen Lian's eyes flashed.
He looked deeply at this person and said, "Say!!"
Shen Lian looked at the eunuch in front of him.
This eunuch was about forty years old. Shen Lian remembered that in the file, his name was Zhao Heng.
During the Tang Dynasty, eunuchs could still use their original names.
It was only after the Qing Dynasty that people became completely impersonal and were called Xiao Dezi, small stool, small table and so on.
At this time, Zhao Heng said, "I remember that when the Temple of Heaven was halfway through construction, officials from the Ministry of Industry came to me and told me to buy new building materials when necessary."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "The slaves were very strange at that time, because according to the plan submitted by the Ministry of Industry, the building materials the slaves bought for them could be used for at least seven days. How could it be gone now?"
"So, I went to the warehouse to check, and sure enough... the building materials in the warehouse will be exhausted soon, and they can only be used for two days at most."
"But this shouldn't be done at all."
When Zhao Heng talked about the past, he still had doubts on his face. He said, "I can guarantee that the building materials purchased by me will not be deducted at all. After all, this is designated by His Majesty. No one has the courage to stand in the middle." Withholding.”
"So, I think the Ministry of Works may have accelerated the construction progress."
"However, officials from the Ministry of Works said that they were constructing exactly according to the plan, and the workload was so heavy every day that even if they wanted to speed up the progress, they simply couldn't do it."
"In other words, they did not speed up the construction progress at all, but there was a gap of at least five days in building materials."
Shen Lian understood what Zhao Heng meant.
He asked: "You mean...five days of building materials are missing?!"
Zhao Heng nodded, "Yes, he disappeared without any reason."
"Officials from the Ministry of Works can be sure that they did not use more building materials, because all the building materials consumed can be seen from the places where they worked."
"After the slave purchased the building materials, he also asked people from the Ministry of Works to check them, and there were no problems at that time."
"In other words, there is no problem for both of us, but five days of building materials disappeared for no reason."
Deshun was listening on the sidelines and could not help but frown at this time and said, "Although some strange things happen in the palace, which are normal, this incident is really strange."
Shen Lian thought for a moment and asked, "Is it possible that it was stolen?"
Zhao Heng shook his head, "This should be impossible. The warehouse is always guarded by guards, and the building materials are not particularly valuable. It is really not worth it to steal this thing from the palace."
"Moreover, the building materials are all made of stones, which are very heavy. It is impossible to steal them from the palace without startling anyone."
Shen Lian nodded slightly, "So you have ruled out the possibility of being stolen, the possibility of your own deductions, and the possibility of the Ministry of Industry using it."
Zhao Heng nodded, "Yes, all the possibilities we could think of were finally ruled out."
"That's why I think this is strange."
"When I heard Lord Shen ask about the past, I thought of telling Lord Shen about the matter."
Shining lights flashed in Shen Lian's deep eyes.
interesting.
I didn't expect that I would encounter such an interesting and strange thing when I first came here.
Five days' worth of building materials is quite large.
How come it disappears for no reason?
There is no corruption among these eunuchs. The Ministry of Works has conducted an inventory at the beginning, which can rule out corruption among the eunuchs.
The Ministry of Industry has not used it either, so there is no doubt about it.
As for stealing...
It was always guarded, and if such a heavy stone was stolen, there was no way no one would notice.
So how did these building materials disappear?
Is this the same thing as the problem Han Qian discovered?
Shen Lian pondered for a moment, then he looked towards Zhao Heng and asked, "Did you check it carefully afterwards?"
Zhao Heng shook his head, "Although five days of building materials were lost, this thing is not valuable, and we are also worried that if this strange thing spreads, rumors may spread inside and outside the palace. After all, this is the construction of the Royal Temple of Heaven. Once If it spreads, it may cause some rumors and influence."
"So we asked Mr. Qin He, the minister of the Ministry of Industry who was in charge of building the Temple of Heaven at that time. Mr. Qin He went to see Yuan Tianshi again. After discussing it, they decided to suppress the matter, forbid anyone from speaking out, and arranged for more people to guard it. Building materials.”
"If the building materials are lost again, then there is nothing we can do but alert His Majesty."
"But if the building materials are not lost, then just pretend that nothing happened to avoid causing trouble."
"Later, the building materials were no longer lost, and the incident was not spread... However, this matter has been lingering in the slave's mind for these years, making it difficult for the slave to sleep or eat well. He has always hidden this in his heart. It’s hard to sleep and eat well.”
"If Master Shen can find out this matter, this slave can let go completely."
Shen Lian understood what Zhao Heng meant.
He looked at Deshun and asked, "Master Qin He, where are you now?"
He didn't remember that there was an official named Qin He in the imperial court.
Deshun said, "He retired and returned to his hometown ten years ago. Three years ago, news came that he had passed away."
Retired and returned home ten years ago?!
Han Qian built the Temple of Heaven, which year was it replaced?
After all, the Temple of Heaven was built for Li Shimin.
It is the Temple of Heaven used privately by the royal family.
Therefore, once it is reported that something strange happened during the construction of the Temple of Heaven, there will definitely be a lot of rumors.
For example, it's a bad omen.
For example, if you violate a taboo.
What's more, he may be used by rebellious officials and traitors to say that the Li family is not the right one, etc.
Once these rumors appear, in this feudal ancient times, it will have a big blow to the reputation of the royal family.
Li Shimin will definitely be furious.
And those of them who built the Temple of Heaven will definitely be punished.
Therefore, in order to avoid gossip and avoid being punished, they suppressed the matter, which is understandable.
And because the lost items are not valuable and only contain a small amount of money, no one will find them even if they are suppressed.
Moreover, they also decided that if the same thing happened again, they would have no choice but to fight against Li Shimin.
Shen Lian can understand this approach, and it is actually quite pertinent.
If it happens again, there must be a real problem. If it is indeed an ominous sign, it is better to solve it in advance than to make up for it afterwards.
But if it doesn't happen, it must be man-made, but on the contrary, the thing will not be lost, it will be lost, and it will be fed to the dogs.
In short, Shen Lian understands and thinks it is relatively appropriate to deal with Qin He and Yuan Tiangang.
The only inappropriate thing is that there was no proper investigation at the time.
If something like this happened to Shen Lian, he would have to find out the matter even if he didn't make it public.
Otherwise, this incident is enough to make many people panic, and once it is spread out later, it will still cause some trouble.
However, fortunately, not many people knew about it back then, and they were all strict-mouthed people. As a result, Shen Lian had been living in Chang'an and never heard of it.
I don’t know if Li Shimin heard about this later.
Shen Lian asked Deshun, "May I ask my father-in-law, what kind of person is this Master Qin He?"
Deshun did not dare to delay and was so busy that he said, "Master Qin He is an old minister of the previous dynasty. When the Supreme Emperor was conquering the world, he abandoned the dark side and turned to the bright side. Later, he followed the Supreme Emperor to found the Tang Dynasty. The Supreme Emperor thought of his merits and reused him."
"However, Lord Qin He obviously prefers fighting on the battlefield than dealing with these important matters of family and country. However, he is old, and the Supreme Emperor cannot bear to let him work hard at his old age, so he is allowed to work hard in the Ministry of Industry."
"The Ministry of Industry is also responsible for construction projects. There are not so many people scheming, so it is also with Mr. Qin He."
"The Ministry of Industry is also responsible for construction projects. There are not so many people scheming, so it is also with Mr. Qin He."