Royal study room.

The Emperor of Ming Dynasty was wearing casual clothes and his face was very ugly.

He was having fun with Concubine Yan just now, when he suddenly heard a loud noise, which almost stopped him.

The eunuch on duty at night told him that there were flames reaching into the sky in the west of the capital.

This almost made him think that rebels had entered the capital, so he immediately sent Wei Ziyun, the commander of the Jinwu Guards, to take people to check, and at the same time called Zhang Banban to his side.

After learning that there were no rebels, but that the gunpowder magazine in the Firearms Supervisor exploded, Emperor Ming still came to the Imperial Study Room, determined to find out what was going on.

The firearms of the Ming Dynasty were more powerful than those of other countries, which was the basis for the Ming Dynasty to occupy the Central Plains.

Without firearms, the Ming Dynasty's military strength would have been greatly weakened.

When Wei Ziyun came to the imperial study, Emperor Ming hurriedly asked: "Wei Qing's family, what happened? How could the firearms supervisor have an accident? Why didn't the supervisor come?"

He, the emperor, comes to the royal study in the middle of the night. What's wrong with the censor entering the palace in the middle of the night to meet the emperor?

Wei Ziyun lowered his head: "Your Majesty, the Firearms Supervisor was poisoned and died. It is not sure whether he committed suicide by taking poison or was poisoned to death."

"The explosion occurred in a secret warehouse of the Firearms Supervision Bureau, in a less crowded area in the west. Fortunately, it did not cause too many casualties and the fire has been extinguished."

The Emperor of Ming Dynasty breathed a sigh of relief. There were no rebels and no heavy casualties were caused. It was finally a blessing in misfortune.

"What's going on? Is someone stealing gunpowder?"

Wei Ziyun: "Your Majesty, I don't know. But we also saw the bodies of the two factory directors of the East Factory and the West Factory at the scene."

Emperor Ming suddenly stood up and stared at Wei Ziyun: "Can you say it again?"

The Firearms Supervisor died, but he didn't care. He could just replace him with someone else. Anyway, the Firearms Supervisor was more important to the craftsmen. He could just turn it over to the East and West No. 2 Factory to find out the cause.

Catch those who deserve to be caught, and kill those who deserve to be killed!

But now Wan Yulou and Liu Xi are both dead. These are the two most important chess pieces in his hand. Without them, his control over the court will inevitably decline rapidly.

Wei Ziyun said again: "Your Majesty, the two governors of Dongchang and Xichang are dead, and their bodies are outside the palace."

"In addition to Chen, I have also seen the stalls of Dongchang and Xichang, as well as two Qianhu officials from Jinyiwei. Your Majesty will know after summoning them."

The two stall owners from the East Factory and the West Factory came in and listed out all the "evidence" they had prepared in advance. There were even prepared witnesses, and they all said that the other party framed him.

But both of them were very smart and stopped mentioning Jin Yiwei's matter.

The people covering their heads were gone, and if they offended Lin Lang, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, they really wanted to be buried with the two factory supervisors.

Wang Wu and Jia Liu only said that they heard the noise and rushed over with a few of their men. When they learned that it had nothing to do with the Jianghu people, they planned to leave. They didn't know anything else.

Lin Lang definitely didn't arrange for them to go there. Neither of them saw Lin Lang after dinner today, nor did they see anyone in Lin Lang's mansion.

After everyone had gone out, Emperor Ming looked at the screen: "Zhang Banban, what do you think of this matter? Is it really Wan Yulou and Liu Xi who plotted against each other and died together?"

Zhang Banban came out from behind the screen: "Your Majesty, neither Wan Yulou nor Liu Xi would have the guts to kill each other. Moreover, I also know that they had secretly met many times some time ago, and they seemed to be discussing how to deal with someone together.

personal."

Wan Yulou and Liu Xi are both eunuchs in the ceremonial department, Bingbi, and there is only one eunuch in the palm print, so the person they want to join forces to deal with is definitely not the eunuch in the palm print, so there is another yamen or person that both of them are afraid of.

It's self-evident.

Emperor Ming tightly grasped the paperweight in his hand: "You mean, they were originally going to join forces to deal with Lin Lang?"

Are these two people crazy in their struggle for power? If Lin Lang dies, who will shock the world?

Do you still want to have another incident where Jianghu people invade the capital and make noises about going to the palace to meet the saint?

Although Lin Lang did not recruit the Sun and Moon Demon Sect as he thought, and the Northern Shaolin and Wudang Sect did not obey the orders, at least Lin Lang was here to prevent those Jianghu sects from being reckless, and occasionally he could inquire about some other countries.

Jianghu affairs, and then infer some trends in other countries' courts.

The last time the Prince of Dali came over, if it weren't for Lin Lang, he and the Ming Dynasty would have been completely disgraced.

He was a little angry at Lin Lang, but he needed Lin Lang. How dare Wan Yulou and Liu Xi do this!

What made him even more puzzled was that since Wan Yulou and Liu Xi joined forces, how could they die together?

The goal has not been completed, so you won't take action because of uneven distribution of the spoils, right?

So what does the explosion of gunpowder have to do with the two of them?

Zhang Banban lowered his head: "Your Majesty, if they want to kill the commander of the Jinyi Guards, they always need a scapegoat. If they can kill the other party and frame the fault, they can escape and their power will be greatly enhanced."

"It's just that I can't figure out why they didn't kill Lin Lang first. They must also be hiding something from Your Majesty. I'll send someone to investigate now."

Emperor Ming sighed: "If this matter needs to be investigated clearly, then who will be in charge of the East Factory and the West Factory now?"

The eunuch Bingbi of the Supervisor of Ceremonies is gone. Even if Zhang Banban takes charge of one, what will happen to the other one?

He also needs someone to protect him, should he rely on the little eunuchs who accompany him?

Zhang Banban remained silent. He would not recommend candidates. He would leave it to His Majesty to consider by himself.

Emperor Ming waved his hand and asked Zhang Banban to go down. He was also deep in thought.

It seems that we can only choose the right person from the general eunuchs of other supervisors. The East Factory and the West Factory cannot disappear.

Especially for Xichang, he and Liu Xi had planned to take action against the top ten general soldiers in Bian Town and arrest them all at the beginning of next month, and their replacements had already been selected.

But now that Liu Xi is dead, who will carry out the plan?

The death of these two eunuchs disrupted many of his plans and reduced his control over the court.

Candidates for the two key positions must be carefully selected, otherwise without ability and power, things will definitely go wrong.

So during this period, without the two factories, how could the powerful officials in the court be restrained?

Jinwu Guard and other guards could not intimidate the courtiers. It seemed that apart from Zhang Banban, only one person could do it.

…

Early in the morning, while Lin Lang was still meditating, he heard the housekeeper knocking on the door: "Sir, someone from the palace wants you to go to the imperial study."

Lin Lang opened the door and called to the imperial study room early in the morning. It seemed that something big had happened.

He put on his python robe, entered the palace, and arrived at the imperial study room with ease.

"Lin Aiqing is here. Please give me a seat."

The Emperor of Ming Dynasty was particularly enthusiastic at this time. Previously, only Ge Lao could be given a seat when he came here, and everyone else stood.

"Lin Aiqing, do you know what happened last night?"

Lin Lang looked very curious: "What happened last night when the gunpowder exploded? Didn't it happen that the new artillery was deployed and it accidentally exploded? There were many casualties? I am willing to donate half a year's salary."

Anyway, he never paid much attention to that little salary, it was not as valuable as a piece of his clothes.

The Emperor of Ming Dynasty looked into Lin Lang's eyes: "Not only did the firearms supervisor's warehouse explode last night, Wan Yulou and Liu Xi both died."

"Those two old men...the old eunuchs are all dead?" Lin Lang looked like he was suppressing a smile, "Hey, how could this happen? Is it an accident or man-made?"

The Ming Emperor was confused. Does this really have nothing to do with Lin Lang?

Otherwise, Lin Lang would either say he didn't know, or say something like he had a good relationship with them. He shouldn't have this expression and this attitude, right?

"I've sent someone to investigate this matter again. This time I'm calling you over. There's one more thing I want to hand over to you, or rather to Jin Yiwei."

"I am going to restore the power of Jinyiwei to inspect all officials. Could Lin Aiqing take on this important task?"

Lin Lang quickly shook his head: "That's inappropriate."

"It's already very difficult for the Jin Yiwei to deal with Jianghu sects. A few days ago, they discovered a large sect called Tianqin Sect with hundreds of people, and they managed to expel them with great difficulty."

"There must be other hidden Jianghu sects. Jin Yiwei must investigate and manage them. Especially the Sun Moon Sect, Wudang Sect and Northern Shaolin. These three sects may take action at any time. Jin Yiwei cannot relax."

"Having the East Factory and the West Factory is enough to scare hundreds of officials."

Emperor Ming was stunned. If others heard that he gave power, they would not agree immediately. Why did they push it out when they got to Lin Lang?

Lin Lang really doesn’t love power!

"You can put aside the affairs of the Jianghu for now, the affairs of the court are more important."

"Even if the East Factory and West Factory elect new factory supervisors, I will not take back the power of Jin Yiwei."

Afraid that Lin Lang would not give his best, Emperor Ming made another promise.

"I obey the decree." Lin Lang reluctantly agreed.

Sometimes power does not need to be fought for, it will naturally fall into your hands.

Moreover, it was the Ming Emperor who took the initiative to put aside the Jianghu matter for the time being, so that the Sun and Moon God Sect no longer had to worry about conflicts with the court.

With more time, we can develop, grow, and slowly surpass Northern Shaolin and Wudang Sect.

Emperor Ming was relieved when he saw Lin Lang agreeing.

At least now someone was helping him consolidate his imperial power, but he was still worried about Lin Lang leaving.

After all, Lin Lang was alone, just like Li Xunhuan back then, he could hang up and leave at any time.

If this happens again, it will be more difficult for the court to recruit martial arts masters.

"Lin Aiqing, don't you want to continue the family lineage and spread the branches and leaves of your Lin family?"
To be continued...