xymnovel Chapter 9: Evidence of the Jurchens' Detonation of the Wanggongchang Incident
Chapter 9: Evidence of the Jurchens' Detonation of the Wanggongchang Incident
How can an emperor trapped in the capital make judgments and deploy troops based on secondhand, thirdhand, and repeatedly embellished information?
Relying on memorials to the emperor? Memorials to the emperor are often embellished through layers of revision.
Relying on the newspaper? The newspaper was published more than ten days ago.
Relying on the Eastern and Western Depots? The spies of the Eastern and Western Depots had their own selfish motives, and the secret reports from the Embroidered Uniform Guard were not necessarily all true.
Zhu Ming sat in his study, reviewing dozens of memorials every day, but how much of the information could he truly trust?
This is the most frustrating thing about being an emperor: you think you are governing the world, but in reality you are only governing a bunch of filtered information.
What's this talk about generals in the field sometimes disobeying imperial orders? What's this talk about imperial power not reaching the countryside? This is the helplessness of an era of information isolation, and the powerlessness of emperors deep in the palace over the affairs of the court!
Therefore, every decision you make is a gamble based on one side of the story; if you win, you are a wise and sagacious ruler; if you lose, you are a foolish and incompetent ruler.
The so-called major historical events are nothing more than a torrent of history formed by the convergence of countless small events and information, and also the history books embellished by literati.
The problem with the eunuch faction was never Wei Zhongxian himself, but rather that Wei Zhongxian's network filtered all the information, ensuring that the emperor could only see what he wanted him to see.
The Donglin Party was similar; their rhetoric was more sophisticated than that of the eunuch party, but their essence was the same: they all filtered information, guided judgments, and tried to turn the emperor into a tool in their hands.
Of course, as a time traveler, Zhu Ming had already read and was familiar with the major historical events of the late Ming Dynasty. Although he could see the general direction clearly, in actual operation, he still needed the intelligence tool of the Imperial Guard—his true weapon...
"Luo Sigong! Tian Ergeng!" Zhu Ming suddenly raised his voice, his tone heavy with coldness.
Factory guards.
The Eastern Depot, the Western Depot, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
This is the most handy tool he has right now. After a year of careful training, it has now taken on the shape of Zhu Ming!
The Eastern and Western Depots were in charge of investigations, while the Embroidered Uniform Guard was in charge of criminal justice. One was overt and the other covert, and in theory, they could infiltrate every corner of the empire.
But theory is one thing, but as Wei Zhongxian also served as the director of the Eastern Depot, the spies of the Eastern Depot were loyal to Wei Zhongxian first, and only secondly to him as the emperor.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard was no better off; its former commander, Tian Ergeng, was promoted by Wei Zhongxian.
Therefore, last year Zhu Ming found an opportunity to remove Tian Ergeng, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and directly promoted Luo Sigong, who had a grudge against the eunuch faction, back to serve as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Tian Ergeng, after being coaxed and persuaded by Zhu Ming, was successfully tricked into becoming the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's secret guards.
At that moment, two figures entered simultaneously at Zhu Ming's deep call.
One, dressed in a robe embroidered with flying fish patterns, strode in; the other, clad in dark blue, remained silent.
"The investigation into the Wanggongchang explosion has dragged on for so long; I need a definitive answer."
"I was ordered to investigate the Wanggongchang explosion case. After examining the scene, interviewing more than 200 people, and reviewing historical records, I have deduced that the explosion was most likely caused by the spontaneous combustion of gunpowder. It is believed that the gunpowder had been stored for a long time and was not properly stored. On the hot day of May 6th, the sulfur and saltpeter spontaneously combusted, igniting the entire factory. The relevant responsible persons have been detained."
Zhu Ming took the document, but did not open it; he placed it on his desk.
He looked at Luo Sigong, his face congested, and said, "Come, come! Tell me, how did those thousand-plus pounds of explosives in Wang Gong's factory end up like that?"
To be honest, before Wanggongchang was emptied out, everyone believed Luo Sigong's words about 50%!
However, since Zhu Ming had emptied the place beforehand and installed a delayed detonation device, I would never believe it still had that kind of power.
However, the area within a two-mile radius of Wanggongchang was razed to the ground, and the five-thousand-pound stone lion on Shifu Street was lifted into the air and landed outside Shuncheng Gate.
After all, Zhu Ming already knew that the Tianqi Explosion in history was caused by a meteorite!
But how could over a thousand pounds of gunpowder produce this effect? It's not a hydrogen bomb, why are you playing with a nuclear explosion!
"How could that be? Doesn't Wang Gong Factory always keep hundreds of thousands of kilograms of gunpowder on hand?" Luo Sigong asked, completely puzzled.
After all, as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Luo Sigong had been focusing on exposing the corruption of the court's civil and military officials and redeploying the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the two capitals and thirteen provinces for the past six months. As for Wanggongchang, it was not within his jurisdiction, and Zhu Ming had already ordered martial law to be imposed near Wanggongchang, so he had no need to interfere and dared not interfere!
Could the explosion at Wanggongchang have been caused by a natural disaster? Like the recent rumors circulating: strange celestial phenomena triggered divine punishment, or the emperor's moral failings brought divine retribution.
As vendors sold their goods, they told stories, which stirred up a frenzy among scholars and officials, with the rumors becoming increasingly outlandish.
The case has become increasingly perplexing, and the more we investigate, the more mysterious it becomes, and the more we learn, the more suspenseful it becomes, making one's heart pound with anxiety: was this human tragedy orchestrated by fate, or was someone setting the stage for it?
Thinking of this, and combined with what Zhu Ming said, Luo Sigong couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine!
"Your Majesty~", Luo Sigong asked nervously.
Zhu Ming interrupted him, then gestured to Tian Ergeng.
"Your Majesty! The items are ready!" Tian Ergeng pulled out a yellow package and respectfully placed it on Zhu Ming's desk with a dull thud.
The package was unpacked, and the contents were neatly arranged on the table.
The first item was a few brass plaques, about the size of a palm, engraved with Manchu and Mongolian script. The edges were blackened and curled from being burned, and there was a dent on the surface of the brass that had been melted by the high temperature.
The second item was a stack of burnt letter paper fragments, reduced to palm-sized pieces. The paper was yellowed, and several lines of Mongolian script were written on them. The ink was blurred by smoke, but the words "Wang Gongchang," "gunpowder," and "the sixth day of the fifth month" could still be vaguely discerned.
The third item was a few pieces of charred cloth, barely recognizable as indigo cotton. The cloth was embroidered with white cloud patterns and the stitches were rough. It was the hem of a military officer's robe from the Later Jin-Jianzhou Jurchen.
Upon seeing this, Luo Sigong was still completely puzzled. "What is Your Majesty doing?"
"This is evidence of the crime that triggered the Wanggongchang explosion!" Tian Ergeng responded calmly, his voice hoarse.
"You found out? How did you find out?" Luo Sigong's expression changed. He turned his head sharply and stared intently at Tian Ergeng.
His voice carried an barely suppressed anger.
Even the Embroidered Uniform Guard couldn't find it, but a secret guard did!
Where does this leave his old face? And he just "snatched back" the position of Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard from this guy last year, and he couldn't even find out about the first major event of his comeback. How come Tian Ergeng found out?!
"This is the result His Majesty desired!" Tian Ergeng's tone remained cold, and his hoarse voice made him seem even more mysterious and unpredictable.
"What result does His Majesty desire?" Luo Sigong's temper flared up instantly.
What he hates most are people who only say half of what they mean, especially Tian Ergeng, who was his mortal enemy before and is still his mortal enemy now.
What result does His Majesty want? Isn't this the usual tactic of the eunuch faction? First, fabricate evidence, then deceive the emperor, and finally eliminate dissidents.
He suffered this kind of hidden loss when he was ousted by Wei Zhongxian's men.
"You're trying to deceive the Emperor and eliminate dissidents! Are you implying that court officials are colluding with the Later Jin Jurchens... the Later Jin Jurchens?!"
He paused abruptly as he spoke.
Later Jin and Jiannu.
His gaze fell back on the things on the stone table.
A letter token in Manchu and Mongolian script from the Later Jin dynasty, charred letter paper, and fragments of a Later Jin officer's robe.
These things are not counterfeit goods that can be made in the Central Plains.
The craftsmanship of the Later Jin dynasty was crude, the handwriting of the Manchu and Mongolian scripts was stiff, and the weaving method of the indigo cloth was completely different from that of the Ming dynasty.
He had seen it before, among the special spoils of war sent from the Liaodong front.
"The Later Jin and the Jurchens...?" Luo Sigong murmured, repeating it over and over, his voice suddenly dropping, "Could it be...?"