The Water-Splashing Festival is an annual event. Even when Mu Tong was in power, he attached great importance to the Water-Splashing Festival and often enjoyed it with the people. Therefore, when the Water-Splashing Festival was held, both the upper and lower levels already had a set of methods to deal with it. Suddenly, Su Rong came in, and most of the local officials in Yunnan could not accept it.
The officials from the capital were all fine and very cooperative. Therefore, Su Rong made rapid progress in his initial investigation of the Inspection Office. The commander of the Inspection Office had already been taken over by an official from the capital.
But when it came time to investigate the Dali Prefecture's Craftsmen's Bureau, things began to become difficult.
After the Craftsmen's Office had Su Rong check the list and record book, they refused to allow Su Rong to watch the making of lanterns. In addition, the staff of the Craftsmen's Office also said confidently: "There has never been any mistake in the things made by our Craftsmen's Office. I have never heard of an amateur supervising the professionals and how to make lanterns. If Lord Su does not trust our Craftsmen's Office, he can just transfer people from the capital to replace us, the old-fashioned people!"
He spoke harshly and did not back down when confronting Su Rong. Su Rong looked at him deeply, raised his eyebrows and said expressionlessly: "In my opinion, how can Mr. Liu be so old-fashioned? You obviously know everything! The Craftsmanship Department does not allow people to watch the production process of lanterns? "
Mr. Liu snorted coldly: "That's right!"
He was already prepared for a conflict with Su Rong.
Who knew that Su Rong nodded calmly: "In that case, then I'm sorry to bother you."
They actually asked people to withdraw.
Mr. Liu was stunned and frowned in disbelief.
After Su Rong had been gone for a while, he returned to his room and heard a voice: "You're back so soon?"
Mr. Liu pulled himself together, hummed, and explained, "I don't know why, but he didn't force his way in. I said a few harsh words to stop him from breaking in, and he really didn't break in again..."
It doesn't seem that difficult to deal with.
The person sitting there sat quietly for a while, and suddenly asked, "How are the batch of lanterns that were prepared?"
"They have been sent out in advance. According to your instructions, these lanterns were treated as ordinary lanterns and given to the craftsmen. Those craftsmen naturally sold them to large lantern workshops..." Mr. Liu shuddered: "There are no more problems with the lanterns in our company, but there is still..."
He hesitated to speak, paused for a moment, and then asked tentatively: "Lord Long, what should we do with so much saltpeter?"
The reason why Su Rong was not allowed to come in to check was because there was still a lot of saltpeter. If they saw it, they would inevitably realize that so much saltpeter was not normal.
Ah Long, who was called Lord Long, coughed. He was not used to being called that. After he finished coughing, he said to Mr. Liu, "Do I need to teach you about this? You just need to speed up the construction and get the stuff out as soon as possible, right?"
Mr. Liu wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "Yes, yes, if anyone asks, just say it's for His Highness's future celebration."
Aaron closed his eyes and stopped talking.
Mr. Liu carefully retreated to do his work.
At this moment, Su Rong was standing in a teahouse opposite the Craftsmen's Office, his face looking a little gloomy.
Qingkun bought a glass of cold water and ran over: "Uncle, eat a few bites quickly."
Su Rong took it and asked, "What did you find out?"
If you want to find out if there is anything unusual in a place, you must first ask the people around it.
Qing Kun was a very smooth person, even better at talking than Ruan Xiaojiu. In less than half a day, he had become familiar with the old ladies and masters around him. Hearing Su Rong's question, he hurriedly said, "I asked, Master, and they said that the Craftsmen's Office here is responsible for building some noble houses and repairing wooden palaces. At the same time, it is actually similar to the Firearms Camp in our capital. Many of their weapons come from here."
The weapons of the craftsman...
Su Rong finished the cold water in a few gulps and nodded at him: "Go on."
"There are also some large-scale events that require them. They build floats, which are the floats for the courtesans to parade through the streets. They also make lanterns. Every year, they are responsible for arranging lanterns in the busiest places in the city. There are all kinds of lanterns."
Su Rong immediately took Qing Kun away.
The status of the Craftsmen's Office in the Mu Mansion is very important, which is somewhat similar to the status of the Imperial Observatory in the capital and the Ministry of Works. Mr. Liu is also an aristocrat among the natives. In terms of status, he is perhaps similar to Qin Fen. He has always been very arrogant.
But this is not just a matter of pride.
Ever since Old Master Mu came out to appease the military camp and a large number of officials were sent from the capital, most, if not all, of the officials in Dali Prefecture have been cooperating with the court's policies and have not reacted as violently as Mr. Liu.
It's obvious that there's something fishy going on.
He went straight to find the Bai family who were also in the Craftsmen's Office.
Bai Xiong was in the army. When he heard that there was something wrong with the Carpenters' Office, he subconsciously said, "I'll go ask my eldest brother to come over."
His elder brother Bai Bao also works in the Craftsmen's Bureau, but he is no longer in charge of the affairs now.
Bai Bao came over quickly. When he heard that Liu Yuanwai did not allow people from the imperial court to enter, he frowned and said directly, "There is nothing that the Craftsmen's Office cannot see. In the past, before and after major events every year, officials from the Mu Palace would go in to check. It is indeed unreasonable for him to stop us like this."
Su Rong immediately said, "Then I'm afraid I'll have to ask the adults for help. I think there must be something fishy going on in this matter, but I still need to find out what the fishy thing is."
Bai Bao did not refuse and agreed immediately. After all, the Craftsmen's Office was where he had worked for many years and it was the result of his hard work.
After seeing Su Rong off, he stayed in the study alone for a long time. He did not come out until it was time for dinner.
As soon as he came out, Bai Xiong was already waiting for him in the corridor. When he saw him, he called him "Big Brother". The two brothers naturally walked down the stairs side by side: "Big Brother, I'm afraid this job is not easy. Although you are in the Carpenters' Division, in recent years, because Mr. Liu is favored by the chieftain, he has already passed you by. You have not been involved in the things inside for a long time. If you go there rashly now, even a fool will know that you are going at the wrong time. It will not be easy to find out anything."
Bai Bao had been studying these things this afternoon. He hummed and said calmly, "Old Liu was spoiled by the chieftain. I thought about it, why did the craftsmanship department have problems? Old Liu was also liked by the chieftain, but the chieftain also... also used many people who should not have been used. Maybe this is also Old Liu's loyalty."
What this means is that Mr. Liu was also in collusion with Wei Desheng's group.