Zhu Houzhao knew that reforming meant going against most of the gentry in the world, and his own life safety could not be relaxed at any time.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao gave a decree to Gu Dayong, the commander of Xichang, from the beginning, asking him to continue to expand the number of people in Xichang, and strive to spread all over the Ming Dynasty and even the whole world, especially in crowded places such as teahouses and restaurants, and even to install eyeliner in the mansions of officials, gentry and nobles, including vassal kings.

Anyway, Zhu Houzhao is not short of money now, and he also has enough funds to expand the West Factory and maintain the intelligence work of the West Factory.

Now Zhu Houzhao has asked not only the West Factory to be responsible for his own safety, but also the safety of Ma Wensheng and other reformist officials.

Moreover, there is a special group in charge, once one of them or one of the reformist officials is assassinated, the people of the special group of the West Factory will also lose their jobs and be directly expelled from the West Factory!

Because of this, Zhu Houzhao and the reformist officials have so far encountered no danger.

Of course, Zhu Houzhao also relied on the West Factory to know the secret movements of many officials and gentry.

The main secret agencies of the Ming Dynasty now include Jinyiwei and the East and West Factory.

Because the empire's demand for military intelligence gradually increased, Jinyiwei began to gradually fade out of the intelligence investigation and arrest work within the empire, specializing in military intelligence collection and the arrest and execution of military personnel;

The East Factory began to replace Jinyiwei's arrest of civil officials and gentry and common people;

The West Factory was responsible for intelligence gathering within the empire, except for the military.

For example, not long after returning to Beijing, Zhu Houzhao learned from Xichang that a Jiangnan gentry secretly went to Nanchang to see King Ning, which also aroused his vigilance.

But Zhu Houzhao didn't let the people of Xichang come out, after all, the current King Ning can't become a climate.

And now, because of the incident of craftsmen killing important members of the imperial court, Zhu Houzhao had to summon Gu Dayong, the commander of the West Factory, again to inquire about the recent developments of the officials of the Ministry of Industry and the War Bureau.

At this time, Gu Dayong picked up the pre-prepared booklet and replied:

"Zeng Jian, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, suddenly suffered from acute pain in the middle of the night last night, holding down his right abdomen and wailing, his forehead was sweating, and he was in pain!"

"The left waiter of the Ministry of Works......"

……

After listening to Gu Dayong's recent situation of the officials in the Ministry of Industry system and the Military War Bureau system, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but fall into deep thought, thinking that on the surface, except for the sudden request for the restoration of the craftsman registration system in the middle of the engineering department, it seems that these officials have no abnormal behavior, could it be that the officials of the Ministry of Industry and the Military War Bureau really did not plan this matter?

And at this time, Ma Wensheng, the first assistant of the cabinet, came over: "Your Majesty! The Ministry of Works' Shangshu Zeng Jian said that he suddenly suffered from stone showering last night, so he asked for permission to take a leave of absence for ten days, and Zuo Shilang took his place. ”

Zhu Houzhao had already known through Gu Dayong of the West Factory that Zeng Jian, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, was sick last night, and he didn't feel suspicious, but he suddenly remembered that the people from the West Factory said that Zeng Jian was holding down his right abdomen and wailing, so he looked at the booklet handed by Gu Dayong again and again, and after confirming that it was written like this, he was puzzled:

"This stone is a kidney stone in the later life, there is severe pain, but it should not be a severe pain in the right abdomen, the right abdomen is mainly stomach, if the kidney pain is to touch the back, because the anatomical position of the kidney is in the back, not to mention that I have seen others."

But Zhu Houzhao didn't express the doubts in his heart, but said: "I know, let's give him leave first, since the Ministry of Industry Shangshu said that he was sick, he summoned the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Industry and the young eunuch Chi Zong, and they immediately came to the cabinet and the master of ceremonies to report the situation of the registered craftsmen!" Confirm whether the craftsman who committed the offence as specified by Suncheonfu is a registered craftsman. ”

After speaking, Zhu Houzhao asked Ma Yongcheng, the commander of the East Factory, "Have the craftsmen who committed the crime all taken from Shuntian Mansion to the East Factory?" ”

"Back to the emperor, they are all taken to Dongchang, but now they all confess to their guilt", Ma Yongcheng, the governor of Dongchang, replied.

"Continue to interrogate, why they dare to kill important members of the imperial court, and who is the mastermind behind them."

Zhu Houzhao instructed, he naturally can't trust the people of Shuntianfu, and letting Dongchang be in charge of trying this case can naturally make him more at ease, and can also use this to dig out the people who are planning this matter behind the scenes, Zhu Houzhao believes that if there is no big man in the court and the central government planning in secret, it is impossible for a few craftsmen to have the courage and opportunity to murder the three court officials, and directly use firearms!

Ye Heng, the left attendant of the Ministry of Works, and Chi Zong, the young eunuch of the War Bureau, came to the cabinet and the celebrant supervisor at this time, and after saluting Zhu Houzhao, they handed Zhu Houzhao the booklet of craftsmen who had not been revoked, and personally pointed out the location: "Your Majesty, you see, these craftsmen suspected of killing the officials of the imperial court are all registered craftsmen, and the ministers dare not cheat!" ”

Zhu Houzhao also had some hope in his heart that the Ministry of Industry and the War Bureau would randomly find a few people to plot the imperial court officials, and then let Shuntianfu put the charges on a few craftsmen, but now he saw that there were indeed the names of several murderers reported by Shuntianfu in the craftsman book, and he had to admit for a while that the officials who were against him behind him did a really clean job.

Zhu Houzhao had to let the two retreat.

Seeing this, Jiao Fang, the senior scholar on duty in the cabinet, had no choice but to say: "Your Majesty, look at it like this, you can only wait for the results of the trial on the side of the East Factory!" As long as those murderous craftsmen are willing to tell the mastermind behind the scenes, they can also be executed directly in the name of murdering the officials of the imperial court, and teach these officials who tried to prevent the imperial court from abolishing the craftsman registration system! ”

Zhu Houzhao nodded: "This matter must be resolved as soon as possible, and the imperial court has to hire skilled craftsmen to create excellent weapons immediately after the abolition of the craftsman registration system, not only if it is delayed like this, the matter of recovering the Hetao can only be delayed for a few more years!" Now it depends on when the results of the East Factory will be reviewed. ”

……

At this time, in the edict of Dongchang.

Qiu Ye, the head of the East Factory, walked in and asked Zhang Yan, the head of the stall on duty: "Where is the governor?" ”

"Go back to the big stall, the governor is still talking to the emperor, and he will reply later", this Zhang Yan replied.

"Where are the criminals who were brought in now?" Qiu Ye asked.

"Go back to the big stall, in the Xuanzi room", this chapter Yan replied.

"You come with me, these criminals are related to important cases, don't be sloppy, you have to explain it in person! Of course, this is also what the Governor has instructed before! ”

This Qiu Ye said and took Zhang Yan into the narrow aisle of the Xuanzi room, and after seeing that there was no one, he suddenly took advantage of Zhang Yan's inattention, the rope strangled Zhang Yan, and then tied it tightly, threw it on the beam and hung it up, and then put a stool under this Zhang Yan, creating the illusion that Zhang Yan hanged himself.

Then, there was a muffled snort in the Xuanzi room, and several craftsmen all died of anger.

And this Qiu Ye walked out indifferently and shouted at the gate of Xuanzihao: "Zhang, look at it!" I will check this file later, don't be sloppy! ”