Chapter 127: Stealing a Job
At this time, he looked at Zhao Yingcai of Judengtang. Master Zhao said, "There's nothing particularly suspicious. But the night before last, when I was taking a nap at home, I heard a thief coming into the shop. When I got back, the clerk said no money was lost, just some blueprints were taken. However, the blueprint was of an eternal lamp, so I didn't take it too seriously."
At this time, Master Jiang said, "Now that you mention it, I remember that yesterday afternoon, when I went to a few merchants to discuss materials, a few people with strange movements followed me. I thought they were robbers at first, and nothing happened along the way. After I left, the shop assistants even said that maybe a rival was targeting me, and they would buy whatever I bought..."
"If all this is true, then the Persian delegation must have been scheming for a long time. They first stole the blueprints from Master Zhao's house, and then bought the exact same materials from us. They're clearly replicating our products. Putting aside the fact that their core craftsmanship was stolen, even the mechanical lamps in our small shops are passed down from our ancestors. If they were stolen, we'd be out of business. If they continue to deliberately lower the price, who knows how many other Turkic trading groups will still want our products in the future."
"Yes, Persian products are cheaper than ours. If they do this on purpose to steal our business, we won't be able to do anything. Then the people of Quanzhou City might lose their jobs."
All the masters went to Yu Huatang's side at the last minute, which made Zhou Xiang quite unhappy. He came from Fuzhou and also wanted to compete for the position of guild leader. But today he was the only one who said that there was no problem. If it was really found out that Bosi had ill intentions, they would probably accuse him of collaborating with the enemy and being bribed by foreign vassals.
Just as he was hesitating, Zhao Yan spoke up, "In that case, you should follow Miss Yu's instructions and record the reasons these people come to the shop. If you find any locals stealing secrets for them, report them all. Once verified, they will be immediately detained."
All the masters said in unison, "Yes."
Looking at them, Zhao Yan had some hidden dangers in his heart. He said, "They have been operating for so long, and it is possible that some of your skills have been stolen by them. I hope that all the masters will keep the ancestral skills safe and do not tell any of your closest relatives."
After hearing this, all the masters immediately became alert.
What Lord Zhao said was actually telling them that external enemies are difficult to guard against, but internal thieves would be even more difficult. If someone is so cruel as to take the opportunity to steal, it is not impossible to put the blame on Persia.
Everyone left with their own questions and worries, and Yu Huatang followed them.
Four days later, things suddenly went wrong. Master Ge, who had gone with them that day, died suddenly at home. His son Ge Fuying said that when he went in, he saw someone escaping from the window. The mechanism of the flying bird lantern, which was originally passed down orally, was stolen.
Who knew that Master Ge was afraid that he would not be able to remember it when he got old, so he wrote it down with pen and paper the night before, and he died the next day.
The news of Master Ge's sudden death and the theft of the family's heirloom bird lantern mechanism broke like thunder.
The entire Heyuan Street area was in a panic, as everyone was afraid that the thief would take a fancy to their craftsmanship.
"They're nothing short of jackals and tigers!" In the workshop, the veteran craftsman, Uncle Wang, slammed his chisel on the table, sending sawdust flying. "Master Ge's flying bird lantern has been passed down through three generations, and now it's gone! Who knows? We might be the next to suffer!" The other craftsmen's hands trembled slightly as they gripped their tools, their faces filled with fear. They whispered, "I heard Ge's son even saw someone jump out the window and run away."
"How come this person doesn't even let go of the orally passed down skills?"
Someone continued, "I heard that the governor summoned a number of masters to the government office because he discovered that someone was stealing their skills."
"It seems they also said it was a Persian delegation."
"Ah?!" Everyone was surprised and worried when they heard this. These envoys represented the relationship between the two countries. Without solid evidence, they absolutely could not instigate conflict. Otherwise, it might be the source of war between the two countries. Although the craftsmen were very indignant, they still believed that the government would investigate the matter and waited for the day when the truth would be revealed.
The servants in Changming Pavilion were also discussing it. After listening to it, Yu Huatang felt vaguely that something was wrong. She left through the side door and went to the government office alone.
Zhao Yan also heard about this and asked her, "Do you think something is wrong?"
Yu Huatang frowned. She turned to Zhao Yan and said, "Master Ge has always been a man of few words. I find it strange that he suddenly wrote down the secrets of the art of mechanical engineering on paper the night before the crime."
"Also, I went to Master Ge's house this morning. The crime scene looked a little strange. I remember when the He family girl was murdered last time, her wounds were also very horrific."
Zhao Yan was moved when she heard that she had been to the crime scene. He looked at her with concern and said, "Your guess is correct. The coroner came back today and said that Master Ge was murdered. But the strange thing is that Master Ge had already drunk poison beforehand. The killer's move was unnecessary."
"The Ge family's son's words are full of loopholes. I'm afraid there's something else going on."
Yu Huatang looked at him and said, "Since Your Excellency has noticed, I will wait patiently for Your Excellency to solve the mystery. Last time, Your Excellency mentioned the Persian merchant group. I recorded the time of their arrival and the questions they asked. Please take a look, Your Excellency."
Zhao Yan looked over. It was written in small, flowery calligraphy, which made people feel kind. Yu Huatang pointed it out to him and said, "These questions may not seem like much at first glance. But I found that they are all asking about what materials should be used to make the mechanism rotate automatically, or how to test it."
Zhao Yan took it and carefully read the questions she had recorded. Then he asked someone to invite all the previous masters over.
Unlike before, some of the masters this time were a little scared. They were worried that someone would kill people at will for their family's things.
Zhao Yan said, "The most urgent task is to find the murderer immediately. Besides that, we must find a way to expose the ambitions of the Persian delegation."
Master Zhao thought for a moment and said seriously, "How about saying someone wants to dismantle a mechanical device or discuss core skills? That way, the Persian envoys will definitely come, but they may not start the work that day. They may do it the day before or the day after."
Master Fang asked, "Then who should we send to the stage to speak?"
Everyone was silent at this time. If no better skills were developed after this was announced, both the business and the craft would be over.
No one was talking anymore. Zhao Yan looked at Yu Huatang. Yu Huatang said, "Then I'll do it. They lost to me this time. There's nothing more attractive than the Tiangong Lantern."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone looked over.
Zhao Yan asked, "Is anyone else willing?"
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