Princess Tan of Donghai was two years older than her husband, a little taller, beautiful as a flower, and decent manners. After entering the house, he saluted Juanhou, calling him "My concubine Tan" and treating Juanhou as the king. (?(?

King Donghai stood aside with a blushing face, feeling that he was not familiar with Han Ruzi enough to let his wife show up, but he didn't dare to say anything. When he thought that he had been seen through his beating, he felt even more ashamed.

Han Ruzi was very curious about this fierce daughter of the Tan family who dared to beat King Donghai. After seeing her, she felt a little embarrassed and didn't know what to say.

"I was inspired to hear Juehou talking to the King of Donghai by chance. However, I had not finished my intentions and took the liberty to seek a look, so I offered a few simple views. I hope Juehou forgives his crimes and does not act rudely as my husband."

"It's enough to have me here." Donghai Wang said stiffly, and immediately added: "If it's related to the Tan family, it's up to you to say."

Han Ruzi bowed and said, "Please give me advice."

King Donghai looked left and right alertly, trying to capture the subtle changes in their expressions.

Tan did not care about his husband's supervision and said, "Mr. Juanhou said that the officials of the ministry were the foundation of the court. Yes, it was also true that the officials of the Donghai King said that the minor officials were unfaithful. From this, it was concluded that the criminal officials were not worthy of relying on, but there was a little mistake."

"Where is the mistake?" asked the King of Donghai, cooperating just right.

Han Ruzi also nodded to express interest.

"Does all the children of the royal family want to be emperors?" asked Tan.

"Not many." Donghai King rushed to answer, "In fact, only our brothers and champion Hou are not counted as King Ying. He is a child who is being used."

"Are all the nobles greedy for comfort and not enterprising?"

"In the Broken Iron City, many noble children and ordinary soldiers stood on the city walls together, fighting bravely, I saw it with my own eyes." said King Donghai.

Tan bowed slightly to Juanhou, believing that he had expressed it clearly: everyone has their own character and cannot be generalized.

Han Ruzi certainly understood and asked, "Why can the Tan family win over the 'Guanghua Tigers'?"

The King of Donghai once said that the Tan family had a close relationship with the criminals in the capital, but this alone could not convince Han Ruzi.

"By personal friendship." Tan's answer was similar to that of King Donghai. After a brief pause, she gave a more detailed explanation, "Although Lian Danchen is a criminal, he is very honest and never accepts bribes from relatives of the prisoner. He offended many people for this reason. Only the Tan family respected him and kept exonerating him. He has helped Lian Danchen and his family for at least twenty years."

King Donghai interjected: "It was a secret help. Lian Danchen only learned about it a few years ago. I am grateful...you continue."

King Donghai called Tan "you", and a hint of awe showed in his stiffness.

"Zhang Jing was born in a poor family. When he was thirteen years old, he had no way to ask for advice. It was the Tan family who supported him for seven years until he received his salary when he was 20 years old. The Tan family helped not only these two prisoners, but seven of the "Guanghua Qunhu" had received the favor from my family."

"I believe that these criminals have also returned to the Tan family?" Han Ruzi asked.

Tan smiled and said, "I have helped some small favors, but the Tan family does not ask for the favors of the past. Every time I ask them for help, there will be rewards. Even this time, the Tan family did not make any requests. Lian Danchen and others came to the door on their own initiative, hoping to serve Juanhou."

"Me?" Han Ruzi felt incredible. Before that, he did not know any criminals at all.

"The Empress Dowager once praised Juehou," said Tan.

"The Queen Mother praised him?" King Donghai felt even more incredible, "Why haven't I heard you talk about it?"

Tan ignored her husband and continued: "That was last year when Juenhou followed the army to serve the border. Once, the Empress Dowager talked about the difficulty of governing in Guanghua Pavilion, and lamented that the royal family was in decline and no one was available, but Juenhou could support him."

"The Empress Dowager...only talk about Juehou?" asked the King of Donghai.

Tan glanced at Donghai King sternly, "Of course, how could the Queen Mother look at you?"

"Just ask." Donghai King murmured in a low voice, and asked again: "The Queen Mother values ​​Han Ruzi so much, why don't he let him continue to be the emperor?"

Tan looked at his husband more severely, and the King of Donghai blushed, "What the Empress Dowager wants to continue to take power is a puppet, not a real emperor."

Tan said to Juanhou: "'Guanghua Qunhu' is the Empress Dowager's confidant minister and respects the Empress Dowager very much. Although the Empress Dowager only praised him, they always kept it in their hearts. If they had not fought for the throne this time and elected the emperor, they would not have done anything, but once they had the chance, they felt that the Empress Dowager's vision would not be wrong."

Han Ruzi remained silent and half-believed and half-doubted about Tan's words. After a long time, he said, "Why did the Tan family participate? It is said that the Tan family is unwilling to be an official."

King Tokai wanted to speak, so he opened his mouth and closed it, asking his wife to answer.

"The Tan family was also forced to do nothing. No one in the Tan family was an official. The original intention was to stay away from the court to avoid giving people a sect to form cliques. However, the Tan family has helped too many people over the years, some of which have become officials or high-ranking officials. The struggle between court officials will inevitably affect the Tan family. Especially in recent years, the struggle between court officials has become more and more serious. Some people have already spoken out to follow the precedent of Emperor Wu's eradication of heroes and eliminate the Tan family."

"Crime fighting with whom?" Han Ruzi thought the ministers were all very united.

"Don't Juehou know? The ministers in the court are divided into several schools, and the most important ones are two schools. One is a civil servant who was born in a Jinshi, with Prime Minister Yin Wuhei, and the other is a descendant of aristocratic families, with the Grand Governor Han Xing. The two schools have been fighting for many years, and there is no victory or defeat. Emperor Wu suppressed the aristocratic families to support the civil servants. Emperor Huan did the opposite, but he did not have time to implement it. Since the empress dowager listened to the government, he treated the two schools equally and promoted a large number of criminal officials who did not pay attention to both schools. After the rebellion of the King of Qi, everyone realized that the empress dowager was on the side of the civil servants, and the criminals arrested the rebels were mostly ministers of the aristocratic families."

Donghai King added: "So, on the list of ministers above the fifth rank we have obtained, the Jinshi faction accounts for more than half, and there are only more than 100 royal family members and nobles."

Someone had long said to Han Ruzi that the Empress Dowager was pleased by the ministers, but he was still confused, "Tao Tuan Cui is also a nobleman, but many civil officials supported him."

"Of course, the so-called assignment is just a general saying. Civil officials and civil officials have struggles, and aristocratic families also have conflicts. For example, the two censors were both Jinshi, but they didn't like each other, and at the same time they were disagreeable with the prime minister. They usually found a backer and married aristocratic families. However, when the civil officials and aristocratic families fought to the death, these three were on the side of the civil officials."

Han Ruzi was a little confused, "As you said, the criminals attacked the aristocratic families and safeguarded the interests of civil officials, but now the civil officials support the champion Hou. Why are the criminals afraid that the champion Hou will be called emperor?"

"Because most of the criminals do not have the reputation of Jinshi, they are just the minions of the empress dowager. Although the civil officials are protected, they also lose a lot of power. The 'Guanghua Qunhu' has passed the boss and submitted memorials directly to the empress dowager, which made the ministers very dissatisfied. Moreover, the Marquis of Champion and the Empress dowager have a rift. The first thing they do after becoming emperor is to get rid of these minions."

Donghai Wang smiled and said, "I knew there was a reason for my mother to let me marry the Tan family. How did you know so much?"

Tan said coldly: "The Tan family does not want to fight for power, but in order to protect themselves, they have to participate in the court dispute. Before taking action, they must first find out the situation of their opponents."

Donghai King laughed.

Han Ruzi didn't laugh, the complexity of the court was far beyond his imagination. He understood a little why his father Emperor Huan complained about the unreliability of his ministers, and why his grandfather Emperor Wu murmured to himself on the throne, "I am a lonely man."

"The Tan family has a lot of industries, right?" Han Ruzi asked.

Tan was slightly stunned, "Some are not small."

“It’s very wide distribution, right?”

"The Tan family's industries are mainly in the capital and northern Xinjiang, but they have contacts with merchants from all over the world. Does Juenhou need money?"

King Donghai guessed Han Ruzi's purpose and said loudly to his wife: "Don't be fooled, he wants the Tan family to open a warehouse and release grain to help refugees!"

Tan was stunned again, "The Tan family has been serving porridge. As long as Juehou speaks, even if he loses everything, he is fine. He is afraid that the Tan family's property will not be that much and cannot save all the refugees in the world."

Han Ruzi smiled and said, "Of course, the Tan family cannot be allowed to take care of all the refugees' food and clothing. I just thought, if the government is willing to open a warehouse and release grain, will the Tan family be willing to cooperate?"

"I have no choice but to do so, and I will in the name of Juehou..."

"No, don't mention my name, and there is no hurry. You have to let local governments open warehouses and release grain first."

"Okay, I will discuss with my father and ask the Tan family to settle the score first to see how much food can be used in various places, and then just wait for the words of Juehou."

"I'm so grateful." Han Ruzi bowed and bowed.

Tan returned the ceremony, "The heart of a benevolent is the heart of an emperor, and the heart of a tired marquis is in love with the world, and the throne is the king."

Han Ruzi was not polite anymore, "Then we will proceed as planned. The Tan family contacted the criminals and I provided a group of dead soldiers. I just waited for changes in the palace to take action as soon as possible to capture the hopeless person and the champion Hou."

The King of Donghai realized that he was neglected and hurriedly said: "The key is Shangguan Sheng, whoever gets the Eighth Camp of the Guard will be able to control the capital."

Han Ruzi said goodbye and admired Tan very much.

King Donghai also admired his wife, but was a little dissatisfied with her appearance today. "You have said too much to Han Ruzi, is it necessary?" King Donghai asked when only the couple were left.

"It is necessary to gain the trust of Juenhou, which is more important than anything else." Tan said coldly.

"Is the Empress Dowager's words to praise Han Ruzi true?"

Tan nodded, and the expression of Donghai King suddenly became gloomy, "Do we really want to help him be emperor honestly?"

Tan looked at his husband, looked at him for a moment, and said, "When Concubine Cui asked the Tan family for marriage, she promised me that the Queen of Great Chu, not Princess of Donghai. Now that I have married you, what are you worried about?"

Donghai King smiled.

When Han Ruzi returned to the mansion, it was already very late, so he ordered his servant to invite Yang Feng.

Yang Feng didn't sleep and soon arrived at the study.

Han Ruzi explained in detail his experience in the Donghai Prince's Mansion and finally asked: "Why have you never told me about these factions and struggles in the court?"

Yang Feng listened quietly, "Don't Juehou remember? I told you that too much news is worse than no news. Now you know that there is open and secret struggle between ministers. Is this good for you?"

Han Ruzi was speechless. Indeed, this information did not directly help him fight for the throne at the moment. At the same time, he also realized that Tan had said so many secret matters in the court, but he did not mention the matter of the Tan family.

"I thought of a way that might allow all government officials in various places to open warehouses and release grain." Han Ruzi changed the topic. He still gained something this day, and he gained a lot. (To be continued.)8
Chapter completed!