After the flames were extinguished, Wang Xian and others regained their sight, but they still couldn't extricate themselves from the shock! Who could have imagined that these three halls of the Forbidden City, which were built to the strictest standards and had extremely tight security during the entire construction process, actually contained these things.
Terrible stuff!
"What is this?" Wang Xian asked with a trembling voice after taking a long time to calm down.
"Sulfur powder, fire salt, and rosin..." Gui Shou Zhang said softly: "We found that these things are commonly found in the rubble of the three main halls..."
"Rubble?" The dazzling glazed tiles of the three main halls immediately appeared in front of Wang Xian's eyes, and he asked in a hissing voice: "Could the glazed tiles contain these things?!"
"Impossible." The person who replied was not a ghost, but an old man who was busy beside the rubble. He raised his head and said slowly: "I don't know something, sir. The mineral material used for firing glazed tiles in Ouchi is named
The so-called 'crucible soil' is produced in the Duangzihuaishan area of Liuliqu Village on the west bank of the Yongding River. Since the Yuan Dynasty, a glazed bureau has been set up there to burn tiles in a kiln, exclusively for large houses. If there is something in this crucible soil
How can these things be repaid once they are put into the kiln?" As he said this, he handed a piece of relatively complete tile to Wang Xiandao: "Your Excellency, you might as well take a look."
"Sir, this is Lao Zhou who was hired by our Sixth Office," Guishou hurriedly explained to Wang Xian: "When the Nanjing Imperial Palace was being built, he was the head bricklayer."
Wang Xian took the piece of tile, and at the old man's signal, he turned it over and saw some words printed on the bottom of the tile. He carefully identified it as "Kiln owner Zhao Wanquan, color maker Xu Xiang, head of the house Xu Nian, burner".
Potter Li Shang'.
"Every tile is like this. If there is a problem in any process, the responsible craftsman will be beheaded." The old man said slowly: "They are all craftsmen who have been in Beijing since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Who dares to take advantage of the whole family?
adventure?"
"That's not necessarily the case!" Erhei on the side said in a deep voice: "Anyway, since we know that it is the problem of the building itself, then from top to bottom, no one can escape!" Then he asked Wang Xian for orders: "Sir, please
Immediately order the arrest of all officials and craftsmen involved in the case!"
Wang Xian pondered for a moment, nodded, and Erhei took the order and left.
In the room, Wang Xian weighed the tiles in his hands and asked the old man named Zhou: "Where did those things come from?"
"It should be mixed in the mortar." The old man replied: "Before hanging tiles on the roof of the three main halls, you must first pave the bottom with mortar, wipe it with mortar, and then use pigment mortar to joint." After a pause, he said: "Sulfur powder
, the rosin should be mixed into the paint, and the fire salt should be mixed into the mortar."
Wang Xian couldn't help but nod after hearing this. He had already understood the process of the fire in detail. It was caused by a few rockets that landed on the top of Fengtian Hall. At first, those rockets did not ignite anything, and they did not even attract attention. At that time,
Everyone thought that the rocket that landed on the glazed tiles would surely extinguish automatically soon. However, just when the flame of the last rocket was about to disappear, a fierce fire suddenly broke out!
If, as the old man said, someone mixed flammable substances in the gaps and bottom of the glazed tiles, the rockets could just heat them up. When the temperature rises to the ignition point, the entire roof of the temple can be ignited in an instant! This is in line with what happened that day.
What a sight!
Although the facts still need to be proven, Wang Xian has already believed everything...
Erhei moved very quickly. In the afternoon, he had already detained the Ministry of Works officials, craftsmen, handymen, and even the Yulin Guard officers and soldiers responsible for the security of the three halls in charge of supplying materials and construction to Beizhen Fusi! Although the action was not small.
, but with Dongchang Zhuyu in front, the commotion caused was minimal...
"Sir," Erhei accompanied Wang Xian to the courtyard where the prisoners were detained. "At that time, more than a dozen craftsmen who hung tiles were missing. The house was empty and there were piles of ashes. At least as early as a year ago, the whole family escaped...
…”
"Yes." Wang Xian nodded, with no expression on his face. The guards guarding the courtyard hurriedly knelt down on one knee when they saw the governor. Wang Xian waved his hand slightly, indicating that they should not salute, and then stepped into the courtyard.
The yard was crowded with anxious craftsmen. They naturally knew that the three halls they built had been burned down, and now they were captured by the Jin Yiwei. They could imagine with their toes what a tragic ending awaited them!
As soon as they saw Wang Xian wearing a python robe, the craftsmen knew that a high-ranking official was here. Although this high-ranking official was really young, it did not stop them from kowtowing and begging for mercy: "Master Qingtian, we have been 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 were connected to the three halls, then his fate was not something he could decide. If
The Emperor, who was about to go crazy, insisted on killing them to vent his anger, but he had no choice...
Wang Xian suddenly thought that, let alone them, his own fate was not yet certain...
Sighing, he turned around and entered the first room on the left. The door was closed, and the pleading outside became much quieter. Inside the room, a middle-aged official wearing a third-grade civil servant uniform with a dark complexion was speaking.
Sitting at the table, he rubbed his hands nervously. His knuckles were thick and his palms were thickly calloused, which was completely different from the slender, white hands of civil servants.
Behind him, there were two guards in royal robes, obviously to prevent him from committing suicide.
Zhou Yong took off Wang Xian's cloak. Wang Xian sat opposite the official. The official looked frightened and stammered like he was pleading: "Uncle, uncle, we are old acquaintances. You must help me!"
He was Kuai Xiang, the chief engineer of the Forbidden City and the best craftsman of the Ming Dynasty! After the completion of the Forbidden City, Emperor Yongle Long Yan Dayue gave him the nickname "Kuai Luban" and also named him Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Industry! For a time, Kuai Xiang became
The idol of craftsmen in the world has reached the pinnacle of life that is unimaginable!
It was just a trick of fate. Kuai Xiang had only been at the pinnacle of his life for a few months before he fell into the bottomless abyss he is today...
"Hey! Lord Kuai," Wang Xian rubbed his forehead hard and said bitterly, "Now you and I have to resign ourselves to fate." He caught a glimpse of Kuai Xiang's face turning pale from the corner of his eye, and then sighed again: "The only way is to help the emperor as soon as possible.
If the case is investigated clearly, maybe we can get a lighter sentence..."
"Yes!" Kuai Xiang nodded vigorously, and Wang Xian asked someone to serve him a cup of tea. Kuai Xiang held the tea in his hands, sorted out his chaotic thoughts, and told Wang Xian the entire process of the construction of the three main halls.
"The three main halls project is the core part of the entire construction. Originally, all the materials needed to be inspected one by one and confirmed before they can be used." After Kuai Xiang finished speaking, he said with a look of pain on his face: "However, in the eleventh year of Yongle, the emperor
I came to inspect the new palace and thought that the three main halls were too small, so I ordered them to be demolished and rebuilt..."
"Not bad." Wang Xian was impressed by this matter, nodded, and listened to him continue.
"The emperor has decreed 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...
...So Shangshu Xia of the Ministry of Finance asked us to carefully protect the materials when demolishing them, and try not to buy too many new materials when rebuilding." After a pause, Kuai Shilang, who still looked more like a craftsman than an official, said: "We
Knowing that it cost too much money to build this palace, Xia Shangshu was very, very difficult, so he agreed without hesitation."
"During the demolition, the craftsmen were very careful. From the glazed tiles on the roof to the gold bricks inside the temple, they were all carefully removed by hand. After being properly wrapped, they were all transported to the square for classification and preservation." Kuai Xiang said with a look of pain on his face.
: "At that time, in order to protect these materials, hundreds of large sheds were erected on the square. These sheds were connected together, making the originally clearly visible construction site look very chaotic. Even though extra personnel were deployed to guard it, I am afraid that someone still took the opportunity to move among the materials.
Hands and feet…”
"Is it because these materials have been inspected once before, so they are careless when used again?" Wang Xian asked in a deep voice.
"Absolutely not!" Kuai Xiang quickly denied it, and then said a little discouraged: "Just rebuilding the three main halls made the already tight construction period even tighter. No, the craftsmen worked in three shifts and stayed up late at night.
, everyone is very tired, and it is inevitable that supervision is inadequate..."
"Yes." Wang Xian nodded and asked if there were any abnormalities among the craftsmen at that time, such as those who believed in the White Lotus Sect...
"That's inevitable..." Kuai Xiang's answer was unexpectedly simple: "How can any craftsmen not believe in religion? There are those who believe in Buddhism, some who believe in Taoism, and some who believe in Nestorianism. Naturally, there are also those who believe in Bailian.
…Normally speaking, as long as they don’t mess around and don’t make it public, no one will care.”
"Can't we not use the White Lotus cultists?!" Erhei Urn asked from the side.
"To put it simply," Kuai Xiang said with a wry smile: "The whole city of Beijing is under construction, and the most lacking thing is craftsmen. All the skilled craftsmen in the world are here, but it is not enough. So I have always turned a blind eye..."
"That's it." Wang Xian sighed. He had basically understood the ins and outs of the matter. All that was left was to capture the prisoner. He comforted Kuai Xiang with a few words and then walked out of the house. Behind him, Kuai Xiang asked sadly:
"Uncle, I won't be beheaded, will I?!" Wang Xian shook his head, not sure whether he meant no or just didn't know.
Arriving in 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 cultists among the craftsmen who secretly brought sulfur powder, rosin, fire salt and other substances into the palace.
mixed in the mortar used to build the three main halls! It was only because of a little spark that the fire started!" As he spoke, his eyes became fierce and his tone became 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 had been frightened for a long time. If Wang Xian bluffed like this again, many of them would immediately pee and pee...