When the flames were extinguished, Wang Xian and the others regained their eyesight, but they still couldn't extricate themselves from the shock Who could have imagined that these terrible things were hidden in the three halls of the Forbidden City, which were built with the strictest standards and security throughout the entire construction process "What is this" Wang Xian asked after a long time to calm down, and his voice trembled. otbnkotgt "Sulfur powder, fire salt, and rosin," Ghost Hand Zhang said softly, "We found that these things are common in the rubble of the three major halls."
"Rubble" Wang Xian's eyes immediately appeared in front of the brilliant glazed tiles of the three major halls, and he hissed and asked: "Could it be that the glazed tiles contain these things?"
"Impossible."
It was not the ghost hand Zhang who replied, but an old man who was busy beside the rubble, he raised his head and said slowly: "My lord doesn't know that the mineral material used to burn glazed tiles for Da Nei is called crucible soil, which is produced in the area of Huai Mountain in Liuliqu Village on the west bank of the Yongding River.
Since the Yuan Dynasty, the glazed bureau has been set up there, and the kiln has been opened to burn tiles, which is dedicated to the inner hall.
If there are these things in the soil of this crucible, you will have to pay it back as soon as you enter the kiln," he said, handing a piece of tile that was still intact to Wang Xiandao: "Your Excellency, you may wish to take a look." ” "My lord, this is Lao Zhou, who was hired by our six departments," the ghost hand Zhang hurriedly explained to Wang Xian, "When the Nanjing Imperial Palace was repaired, he was the head of the bricklayers. ” Wang Xian took the tile, under the old man's signal, turned it over and took a look, only to see some words printed on the bottom of the tile, carefully identified as the potter Zhao Wanquan, the color matchmaker Xu Xiang, the head of the house Xu Nian, and the potter Li Shang.
"This is the case with every piece of tile, and if there is a problem in the process, the craftsman in charge will be killed."
The old man said slowly: "They are all craftsmen in Beijing since the founding of the country, who dares to take the whole family to risk" "That's not necessarily" Erhei on the side said in a deep voice: "Anyway, since you know that it is the problem of the building itself, then from top to bottom, no one can run" said and asked Wang Xian for his life: "My lord, please immediately order the arrest of all the 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 took a look at 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 roof of the three major halls, you must first smooth the bottom with mortar, wipe it with mortar, and then use pigment mortar to hook the joints.
After a pause, he said: "Sulfur powder and rosin should be mixed in the pigment, and fire nitrate is mixed in the mortar." ” Wang Xian couldn't help but nod when he heard this, he had already learned the process of the fire in detail, which was caused by a few rockets that fell on the top of the Fengtian Palace.
At first, those rockets did not ignite anything, not even attract attention, and in the eyes of everyone at that time, the rockets that fell on the glazed tiles would definitely go out soon.
However, just as the flame of the last rocket was about to disappear, a ferocious fire suddenly burst out If, according to the old man, someone mixed flammable materials in the gaps and bottoms of the glazed tiles, then the rocket could just heat it, and when the temperature rose to the ignition point, the entire roof of the temple could be ignited in an instant, which was exactly what he saw that day Although the facts still need to be proven, Wang Xian has already believed it Erhei's movements were extremely fast, and in the afternoon, the officials of the Ministry of Engineering, craftsmen, miscellaneous servants, and even the officers and soldiers of the Yulin Guard, who were responsible for the supply and construction of the three major halls, were all detained in Beizhen Fusi, although the action was not small, but 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 tiles were missing, and their homes were empty, and there were piles of ashes, at least as early as a year ago, the whole family fled."
"Hmm."
Wang Xian nodded, no expression on his face.
The brocade guards guarding the courtyard saw that the Governor hurriedly knelt on one knee, Wang Xianwei waved his hand, signaled them not to salute, and walked into the courtyard.
The courtyard was crowded with panicked craftsmen, who naturally knew that the three major halls they had built had been burned, and now they had been caught by the Jinyi guards, and they could think of with their toes what a tragic end awaited them As soon as they saw Wang Xian wearing a python robe, the craftsmen knew that a big official was coming, although this big official was really young, it didn't affect them kowtowing like pounding garlic, and begged for mercy: "Lord Qingtian, we have been wronged and have nothing to do with us."
Wang Xian looked at these craftsmen, his heart was full of sympathy, and he naturally believed that the vast majority of these people were innocent.
But since they are linked to the three major halls, then fate is not something he can say.
If His Majesty the Emperor, who was already on the verge of madness, had to kill them to vent his anger, there was nothing he could do Wang Xian suddenly thought, don't talk about them, it's not necessarily what his fate is Sighing, he turned and entered the first room on his left, the door closed, and the pleading outside was much quieter.
Inside the room, a middle-aged official wearing a three-grade civil official uniform with a black and rough face was sitting at the table rubbing his hands nervously, his finger joints thick and his palms had thick calluses, which were completely different from the slender and white hands of civil officials.
Behind him, there were also two brocade guards, obviously to prevent him from looking for a short sight.
Zhou Yong took off his cloak for Wang Xian, Wang Xian sat opposite the official, the official was full of horror, and stammered almost pleadingly: "Uncle, uncle, we are old acquaintances, you must help me" He is the chief engineer of the Forbidden City, after the completion of the Forbidden City, the first good craftsman of the Ming Dynasty, the Yongle Emperor Longyan Dayue, gave him the nickname of Kuailuban, and also named him the left waiter of the Ministry of Industry for a while, Kuaixiang became the idol of the world's craftsmen, and stood on the pinnacle of life that he could not imagine It's just a trick of creation, Kuaixiang has just been at the peak of his life for a few months, and then he fell into today's bottomless abyss "Hey, Lord 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 Kuaixiang's pale face with his spare eyes, and then sighed again: "Only by helping the emperor find out the case as soon as possible, maybe he can be dealt with lightly."
"Yes, yes" Kuaixiang nodded vigorously, Wang Xian asked him to serve him a cup of tea, Kuaixiang held the tea, sorted out the chaotic thoughts, and told Wang Xian about the whole process of the construction of the three major halls.
"The three major halls project is the core part of the entire construction, and all the original materials need to be checked one by one to confirm that they are correct before they can be used."
After Kuaixiang finished speaking, he said with a painful look on his face: "However, in the eleventh year of Yongle, the emperor came to inspect the new palace, thinking that the scale of the three major palaces was too small, and ordered to tear down and rebuild" "Not bad."
Wang Xian had an impression of this matter, nodded, and listened to him continue.
"The emperor has a will, the three major halls that have been completed can only be demolished and rebuilt" Kuaixiang 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 the household department requires us to carefully protect those materials when demolishing, and try not to buy too many new materials when rebuilding."
After a pause, the waiter who was still more like a craftsman than an official said: "We know that it took too much money to repair this palace, and Xia Shangshu was very, very difficult, so he agreed without hesitation." ” "When dismantling, the craftsmen were very careful, from the glazed tiles on the roof of the hall to the gold bricks in the hall, all of them were carefully removed by hand, properly wrapped, and transported to the square for sorting and preservation."
Kuaixiang said with a painful look on his face: "At that time, in order to protect these materials, hundreds of large sheds were set up in the square, and these sheds were connected into a piece, which made the construction site look very chaotic at a glance."
"Is it because these materials have been checked once, so when they are used again, they will be paralyzed," Wang Xian asked in a deep voice.
"Absolutely not" Kuai Xiang hurriedly denied it, and said a little deflated after speaking: "It's just that the reconstruction of the three major halls is getting tighter and tighter because of the already tight construction period."
Unexpectedly, the craftsmen took three shifts, and they were also working at night, and everyone was very tired, and it was inevitable that the supervision was not effective."
"Hmm."
Wang Xian nodded, and asked if there was anything abnormal among the craftsmen at that time, such as those who believed in the White Lotus Sect "That's inevitable" Kuaixiang's answer was unexpectedly simple: "How can there be craftsmen who do not believe in religion, those who believe in Buddhism, and those who believe in Jingjiao, and there are naturally those who believe in White Lotus, as long as they don't mess around and don't make it public, no one will care." ” "Can't you use the White Lotus Sect," the second black urn on the side asked.
"It's simple," Kuai Xiang said with a wry smile: "The whole city of Beijing is under construction, and the most lacking thing is craftsmen, and the skilled craftsmen all over the world are here, which is far from enough."
That's why it's always been a matter of turning a blind eye."
"I see."
Wang Xian sighed, he had basically figured out the ins and outs of the matter, and all that was left was to arrest the prisoner. casually comforted Kuaixiang a few words, and he went out of the house.
Behind him, Kuai Xiang asked in a mournful voice: "Uncle, I won't be killed, right?"
Wang Xian shook his head, and he didn't know whether he would say no or not.
When he came to the courtyard, Wang Xian coldly glanced at the craftsmen who were still kneeling on the ground, and said in a deep voice: "It has been found out, among the craftsmen, there are White Lotus cultists, who smuggled sulfur powder, rosin, fire nitrate and other materials into the palace and mixed them in the mortar used in the construction of the three major halls, which caused this fire because of a little spark" Saying, his eyes became fierce, and his tone was extremely stern: "So this is not a natural disaster at all, but since it is, someone must pay the heaviest price."
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The craftsmen were already frightened, and if Wang Xian was bluffed like this, many people would be-in-a-pissi: