unclear

Chapter 1444 Natural Disaster or Man-Made Catastrophe?

"That's the problem! Since the warehouse was built by the Ministry of War, it must have been used to store military equipment. According to military regulations, such buildings must meet the conditions of being protected from water, wind, fire, and lightning in order to pass inspection."

After the military factory was occupied, it wasn't abandoned but rather strengthened, so how could it possibly be struck by lightning? Even if there were a coincidence, it's unlikely that all six warehouses would be destroyed at once. Did a typhoon suddenly hit Lanzhou, with a storm more powerful than the one on Luzon Island?

The destruction of an armory is not a big deal. In those days, the production and storage of explosives and propellants were not very safe, and similar incidents occurred almost every year. It should never have been sent to the emperor's desk.

To reduce the probability of such incidents, the General Staff has made many effective arrangements in production and storage, with written regulations governing everything from site selection and construction to commencement, storage, transportation, and supervision.

For example, regarding storage, according to the General Staff's regulations, explosives such as artillery shells, grenades, fixed bullets, and explosive cartridges cannot be stored in large quantities in one warehouse. Even if the warehouse area is large, they must be stored separately to ensure that if one explodes, it will not affect another and cause a chain reaction.

These regulations were drafted and issued by the General Staff, but Hong Tao participated in many of them. He didn't need to look at any books; they were all imprinted in his mind.

Upon hearing Wang Chengen's description, numerous doubts immediately arose. Without a reasonable explanation, the explosion was a man-made disaster, and someone must be responsible.

In fact, Hong Tao had no intention of intervening at this point. A mere tens of thousands of shells, hundreds of thousands of bullets, a few tons of nitrous oxide explosive, and a thousand or so rifles—let them explode. It wouldn't damage the national foundation, nor would it disrupt the supplies for the frontline troops.

However, when he heard that the personnel sent by the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Industry, and the General Staff to investigate the law had all died in a car accident on their way back, a scene immediately flashed into his mind: murder to cover up the crime!
Explosions happen every year, and so do car accidents, but when an explosion and a car accident happen together, the investigation team is the one who dies. The probability of such a coincidence is relatively low, and it is worth investigating in detail.

"If it's not lightning, then what is it?"

Wang Chengen could understand almost everything the emperor said, but he didn't understand why the emperor was so concerned about this particular bombing, even though there had been so many bombings, including the royal gunpowder factory's warehouse.

"Do you remember the explosion at Wanggongchang in the second year of Jingyang?" Hong Tao didn't answer the question directly, but instead used a question to replace the answer.

"Ah! Could it be a man-made disaster?" Sometimes questions can be more enlightening than answers. Wang Chengen certainly knew about the Wanggongchang explosion. The Cuju team was involved in the whole process back then, and he was the captain of the Cuju team!

"It's too early to draw conclusions about whether it was man-made, but we can investigate." Despite many doubts, Hong Tao still couldn't conclude that it was man-made; even a small probability of coincidence could exist.

Moreover, there is currently no plausible explanation for why someone would risk such a huge amount of money to blow up an ammunition depot that was of no importance to the Ming army, and then murder the court officials who came to investigate.

"Should we send someone from the General Staff, or should the Embroidered Uniform Guard handle it?"

The Emperor said an investigation was necessary, and Wang Chengen agreed. He believed the truth would become clear once the investigation was complete, and there was no need for such intense curiosity. However, the Emperor needed to clearly specify who should conduct the investigation, as different departments represented different attitudes, which was crucial. "The Ministry of War, the Ministry of Industry, the General Staff, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard—each go their own way! But don't tell them it's my order. You can make up the details yourself, but make sure it's plausible. Then, have the Cuju (ancient Chinese football) team also mobilized, monitoring their every move and reporting back immediately."

With battles raging on all four fronts and the situation still unclear, Hong Tao found himself trapped in the Forbidden City, much like writing a memoir. He could only see battle reports from over a month ago, unable to display his command talents or give orders. He was also buried in piles of official documents every day, leading an extremely boring life.

This is why he likes to personally lead troops into battle; whether he wins or loses, he can at least see the process, instead of spending all day anxiously guessing. The feeling of waiting is never pleasant.

What's even more infuriating is that the domestic situation is also excellent, with praise and adulation everywhere from the court to the common people, and it's hard to hear any dissenting voices. He's a weirdo who likes to criticize others but even more so to criticize himself, and he can't even find a reason to vent his frustrations anymore. He can't exactly go to the Royal Academy every day to make fun of the students!

Now we finally have something to do, even if it's just hearsay, we have to treat it as a major case. We'll bring out all the departments we can and give them a go, just like a real-world exercise, so that we don't let our comfortable lives wear down our spirits.

"You, Wang Jiazhen, have really stirred up a hornet's nest this time! And rightly so, all you've been arguing about over the smallest things all day long, now nobody's having an easy time. If we can't find the problem, fine, but if anyone gets caught in the crossfire, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

After receiving the secret decree and leaving the palace, Wang Chengen hurried towards the outer court while pondering to himself. The emperor's arrangement was undeniably meticulous, with multiple departments conducting independent investigations without knowing each other's identities; the purpose was clearly not just a simple investigation into the bombing.

However, he, as the Grand Eunuch of the Inner Court and the Chief of Royal Intelligence, was well aware of what it meant to use the Cuju team and the gecko for all-round surveillance.

These two intelligence agencies were entirely for monitoring officials, which means that the emperor was not very confident in the investigation results of the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of War, the General Staff, and even the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and wanted to use a "mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind" tactic.

Based on past experience, it seems that as long as the emperor puts his mind to it, he can always catch those who dare to misbehave. Which department will get the quota this time is up to fate.

However, the instigator of this matter must be named Wang Jiazhen, the Minister of War. The reason why the emperor learned of this matter and took such a big action was all thanks to his memorial. Therefore, the first person he wanted to visit was him!
In the operations room on the second floor of the General Staff Headquarters, Tan Buming paced back and forth beside the sand table, his hands behind his back, looking from the northernmost theater of operations all the way to the southernmost. That wasn't enough; he wanted to walk from one end to the other, also taking a look at the American theater.

How long can the Pearl Harbor base's reserves last? Will the Spanish launch a major counterattack against the Viceroyalty of Peru? Will the recent weather in various sea areas affect the speed and safety of supplying the front lines? These are all things the General Staff needs to anticipate in advance and prepare redundancies.

"Zhang, Wang, Zhao... and... sigh..."

While his brain was racing, he suddenly felt thirsty and blurted out a name. But he froze instantly, turned to look at the room full of staff officers who were also in a daze, sighed deeply, and his face darkened.

(End of this chapter)