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Chapter 1443 The Armory Exploded

Hong Tao planned to relocate at least 1 to 1.5 million Koreans, scattering them from the Ming people and transferring them to the aforementioned regions. He believed that assimilation would be achieved through consistent implementation of the assimilation policy, resulting in a complete Ming population after one generation, and the disappearance of the Korean ethnic group and the state of Korea after two generations.

"...The Ministry of War is the same; they have to submit memorials and request imperial approval for everything. Your Majesty, Wang Jiazhen is here again to complain, trying to shift the blame for the ammunition depot explosion onto the Ministry of Industry and the General Staff."

Following the emperor's instructions, Wang Chengen carefully wrote his approval on the memorial, then picked up another memorial from the Ministry of War. He had barely glanced at it before becoming impatient, muttering under his breath. However, bound by the emperor's rules, he dared not conceal anything and reluctantly handed it over.

"Ammunition depot explosion? How come I didn't know!" Upon hearing this, Hong Tao involuntarily pulled his eyes away from the military map.

"It wasn't a large warehouse. Last month, a small factory's ammunition depot outside Lanzhou City exploded for no reason. The Ministry of War, the General Staff Department, and the Ministry of Industry sent people to investigate. On their way back, they were involved in a car accident. The train derailed and rolled down a hillside, and all four of them died in the line of duty."

With the fighting at the front lines intensifying, weapons and ammunition production is of paramount importance. The General Staff and the Ministry of Industry simply stopped sending personnel to investigate, instead accepting the local factory's self-investigation findings and ordering it to quickly rectify the situation and resume production.

But the Ministry of War didn't want the matter to end there, insisting that the Ministry of Industry and the General Staff send more people to investigate. Wang Jiazhen had argued with Wang Zheng and Tan Mingbu several times about this, and now he'd submitted another memorial complaining—truly giving His Majesty no peace of mind!

Seeing that the emperor seemed interested in hearing the memorial, Wang Chengen quickly picked it up. He didn't even need to read it to understand the gist of the matter; it had been causing a stir in small circles for over half a month and had already reached his ears.

"What does this have to do with the Ministry of War?" Hong Tao understood, but then he was a little confused.

Within the military departments of the Ming Empire, the Ministry of War was mainly responsible for logistics and reserve training, while arsenals and ammunition depots were definitely operated and managed by the Ministry of Industry. The General Staff was responsible for preliminary approval and subsequent supervision, and should not be associated with the Ministry of War.

"Uh... it seems that the factory's expansion occupied the Ministry of War's warehouse. With this explosion, the Ministry of War lost a warehouse for nothing, and the Ministry of Industry and the General Staff are unwilling to take responsibility. If the person responsible cannot be found, the Ministry of War will have to absorb this loss itself."

Although Wang Chengen held no official position, he controlled two royal intelligence agencies: the Cuju (ancient Chinese football) team and the Gecko (a type of celestial body). While he couldn't conduct large-scale intelligence gathering across the country, he had to be fully aware of all the major and minor events happening in the capital, especially within the officialdom; otherwise, he would be derelict in his duty.

"You think this is normal?"

However, this explanation sounded like a conspiracy to Hong Tao—a classic case of a fire dragon burning the granary! What puzzled him even more was that Wang Chengen only knew the basics and clearly didn't take it seriously, which was why he hadn't investigated further.

"This servant...this servant is foolish, please enlighten me, Your Majesty!" Wang Chengen finally realized something was wrong. It wasn't the matter at hand, but the emperor's tone. He quickly put down the memorial and racked his brains, but still couldn't figure it out. He had no choice but to shamelessly ask for an explanation.

"Sigh... It's a good habit to ask if you don't know!"

Glancing at the hungry Wang Chengen, Hong Tao sighed helplessly, feeling a pang of nostalgia for Wang An. That old eunuch was not only adept at political maneuvering but also quick to learn new things, though he never quite mastered any of them. This was the basic quality of a high-ranking leader's confidential secretary: not necessarily a master of one skill, but proficient in many, always ready to oversee, collect, and organize useful information for the leader, filtering out worthless official business, saving the leader more than half the time and energy.

Wang Chengen's loyalty is beyond question. He's followed me for over thirty years, yet he has less than a four-figure bank account, no stocks, no real estate, no godson, and no cronies. On the contrary, he has quite a few enemies. This guy is determined to spend his remaining years in the palace and hasn't even considered what would happen if he lost power in the future.

He was equally meticulous and responsible in his work. Whenever he had time, he would read the memorials over and over again, checking them word by word. He wouldn't approve a memorial if even a punctuation mark was missing. He argued with Xiong Wencan of the Office of Transmission quite a bit about this, and he used extremely harsh language towards him.

However, his learning ability is too poor. Apart from matters concerning the palace and the Cuju team, he only has a superficial understanding of everything else. It's not that he doesn't want to learn, he's just not smart enough to learn. In addition, he's busy with official duties and doesn't have much time to systematically catch up on his studies.

"In the Ming Dynasty, who dares to flaunt their knowledge in front of His Majesty? This servant will not stand for it!" Wang Chengen certainly had no idea what the emperor was thinking, and he kept patting the emperor, trying to cover up his mistake of being negligent.

As for why the oversight was missed, and where it occurred, I honestly don't know. But he can read the emperor's expression and listen to his tone. The moment that look or that manner appears, it's a sure sign he's in the wrong. At that moment, don't hide, don't try to cover it up, don't take chances; admitting fault is the wise thing to do.

"Hmm, then take a bag and let me teach you a lesson!"

Faced with such a stubborn and self-serving person, Hong Tao didn't know how to deal with them. He looked at the wall clock, stretched, and decided to take a break.

"..." Upon hearing that the emperor wanted to rest, Wang Chengen magically produced a bamboo tube for cigars, a lighter, and small scissors from his pocket. He then moved the ashtray to a convenient spot, poured out the tea and replaced it with a fresh one, slightly opened the two windows for ventilation, and then took out his notebook to prepare to record.

This series of meticulous operations took only about twenty seconds, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe it as smooth as flowing water, with not a single superfluous movement. But speed is not the key. Wang Chengen's ability to remain inconspicuous, or rather, to avoid lingering in front of the emperor, while still getting everything done, is the real skill, a true inheritance from Wang An.

"Let me ask you, why do cannonballs explode when dropped on enemy positions, but remain silent when stored in the warehouse?"

After lighting his cigar, Hong Tao finally spoke. As is customary, his first question was always followed by an answer. Then another question, another answer. After several rounds of questioning and answering, the matter he wanted to explain was basically clear.

"This servant does know this; I heard it from Minister Wang of the Ministry of Industry. For a shell to explode, it needs a fuse. To prevent the shell from exploding when it shouldn't, it cannot be placed with the fuse during production and transportation."

This incident was also mentioned in the investigation team's report, which stated that their on-site investigation strongly suggested the explosion was caused by lightning. However, due to the extensive damage at the scene, little evidence could be found.

Wang Chengen was thrilled to be able to answer the emperor's questions. This emperor was never afraid of his subordinates being clever; the cleverer they were, the more rewards they received. Concealing one's abilities was dangerous. The emperor himself had said that was called playing dumb, and anyone found doing so would be fired; none could be kept by his side.

(End of this chapter)