Meng E returned, and did not see the tired marquis's wife and mother in the palace.

Mrs. Pingenhou exaggerated her ability, her so-called entry into the palace was just a routine, because the queen mother was sick, the women had to take turns to visit and wait in the palace to fulfill the responsibilities of courtiers, but that's all, the queen mother didn't really need these people, they stayed in the palace for one night, and they were sent out the next day.

Historians would take note of their wives' loyalty, regardless of what actually happened.

Han Ruzi had already guessed such a result, he looked at Meng E twice, and couldn't help but say, "Your appearance...... What a change. ”

Meng E has put on makeup, adding a bit of glamour, which is very different from her usual.

"Someone in the palace knows me, so I have to cover it up a little."

Han Ruzi smiled and didn't say anything, but Meng E turned around and left, as if she was a little angry.

From this afternoon onwards, Han Ruzi suddenly became busy, first attending a meeting of a poetry society in the city with Yang Feng, where he met many literati and scholars, including an official of the household department.

Speaking of opening warehouses and releasing grain, the official shook his head without hesitation, "Grain is the foundation of the country, the top priority, and we must not act rashly and think about big things and small ones?" It is impossible, there must be a holy decree before the household department can order the opening of positions in various places. ”

Han Ruzi put forward many assumptions, and the household officials ruthlessly vetoed them, "The county guard and the county commander do have a little power in their hands, they can ask the local rich to release grain, and the government can also give porridge, but these are all means in normal years, and now there are many displaced people, and the number reported in various places is more than 300,000, and the actual situation will only get worse. ”

"I have read in the history books that there have been officials who opened warehouses to release grain, and then reported to the imperial court afterwards to obtain permission."

The household official shook his head with a smile, "What the Tired Marquis said is the Qin Cha, and no one in the magistrate dares to do such a thing." But the Qincha itself has the right to be cheap and can open a position, even so, after returning to Beijing, he will be punished, and the demotion is the lightest, not to mention that the imperial court can't send the Qincha at all now. There is another problem, at most, Qincha opened a warehouse in a certain place, and now the displaced people are all over the world, and when they hear that the warehouse is opened and the grain is released, it will inevitably come in large quantities, and the consequences are unimaginable. ”

Things were indeed more complicated than Han Ruzi expected, and the household official advised: "The tired marquis's love for the people is understandable, but there is really no way, fortunately, spring is coming, and when the wild vegetables grow, the people will endure it and get through it." ”

Han Ruzi could only smile and nod, there was no argument, he had read in the book, spring is the most difficult season, hungry farmers will eat up the grain, in the spring there is no grain to plant, the number of displaced people will explode again, the so-called eating wild vegetables to survive the hunger, is just the imagination of the literati.

Han Ruzi did not give up hope, he wanted to meet with more officials, Qu Zixi and Guo Cong were there, willing to help, and even gave him ideas and made a list.

In the evening, the king of the East China Sea sent someone to invite Han Ruzi to the banquet, nominally for a banquet, but in fact to meet with the two torturers in the "Guanghua Tigers".

One of these two people is the head of a department of the Criminal Department, and the other is a judicial member of Jing Zhaoyin's army, and their grades are not qualified to participate in the election of the emperor, but they were once majestic, they can bypass their bosses and discuss directly with the Queen Mother, but for all things such as arrest, informing, torture, confession, etc., the original documents are handed over to the Queen Mother, and the copy is kept in the Yamen of the Ministry of Justice.

But the good days are over, they still go to Guanghua Pavilion to discuss matters, but they no longer dare to arrest people with great fanfare, they are all worried that if the Queen Mother loses power, they will be retaliated against.

"The charlatans inside and outside the capital are not just a few people who make public appearances." Lian Danchen, a veteran in his fifties, was a gentle, scholar, "According to the information I have received, there are at least 15 people who want to be angry, as well as other fortune tellers, storytellers, walkers, jugglers, etc., the total number of people is no less than 500, and more than 70% of them have come to the capital from other places in recent months. ”

Zhang Jing, the director of the Criminal Department, is relatively young, in his thirties, his eyes are smart, as if he is always figuring out the other party's thoughts, and Lian Danchen, the limit on "Jianghu Warlocks" is very broad, "There are tens of thousands of homeless people, some are taken away, and there are still two or three thousand people left, all of them are hidden, it is likely that there are Jiangyang thieves hidden inside, I have found a few strongholds, but I can't arrest people." ”

"Do you also need a holy decree to arrest people?" Han Ruzi became more and more interested in how the government operated.

The two torturers glanced at each other, and Lian Danchen said: "If you just arrest a few people, there is no problem, but it will startle the snake, and it will be ......."

The king of the East China Sea, who had been listening, continued for him, "The person who looks at the qi is now the red man next to the queen mother and the champion Hou, and when a word comes, the yamen will have to release people." ”

"No Divine Decree?"

"It's just a person, what kind of holy decree do you want?"

Zhang Jing added: "The prisoners in the prison of the Criminal Department can not be released easily, but they can report their death and secretly release them, not too much, and this person has to be incognito." ”

Even when everything was normal in the imperial court, the government at all levels had a way to bypass the emperor's permission and go about their own business.

The two torturers came to see the tired marquis, not to complain about the bitterness and lightness, Xu Danchen first said: "The tired marquis went to participate in the poetry club this afternoon?" ”

Han Ruzi nodded, with his identity, it was too difficult to keep it secret in the capital.

Xu Danchen hesitated, and the King of the East China Sea encouraged: "Lord Xu doesn't need to shy away, just say whatever you want." ”

"The tired marquis and the king of the East China Sea have to speed up, the champion marquis has been feasting the ministers one after another these days, and it is said that they are ready to launch a reincarnation, just waiting for the death of the current saint, and ask the queen mother to immediately elect a new emperor."

Champion Hou didn't want to wait six months, especially when the chance of victory was in hand, he was even more anxious.

"The emperor in the palace may die at any time." The King of the East China Sea lowered his voice slightly, "Lin Kunshan once accidentally leaked it to me, saying that the Qi Seeker can decide when the emperor ......"

The King of the East China Sea made a gesture, Lin Kunshan didn't say it so bluntly at the time, but the King of the East Sea felt that this was the case.

So far, Han Ruzi and the King of the East China Sea have not received the public support of a minister, and even Cui Taifu and the general Han Xing are also the first rats, and they do not forget to communicate with the champion Hou Dark.

"Don't worry, I'm not slower than Champion Hou at all." Han Ruzi said calmly.

The two torturers showed joy, and the king of the East China Sea also nodded with satisfaction, he invited Han Ruzi in order to build confidence in the "Guanghua Tigers", and this purpose seems to have been achieved.

Han Ruzi asked, "How is the King of England?" ”

The King of the East China Sea was stunned, "King Ying? Who cares about him? ”

"The King of England is the contender chosen by the Queen Mother, and he should not be underestimated." Han Ruzi cares about this little competitor very much.

Lian Danchen said: "The Tired Marquis is right, there is indeed no move on the side of the King of England, neither wooing the ministers nor making friends with the nobles, but I heard that the choice of the King of England to participate in the competition for the throne is the idea of the hopeful, so that in case of emergency, the champion Hou can still have a competitor." ”

"What if? What in case? Don't...... Is there anyone else trying to kill both of us? The East Sea King said nervously.

Lian Danchen shook his head, "That's not going to happen, the Queen Mother once personally ordered that the Eighth Battalion of the Suwei Guards maintain the stability of the capital, and let us secretly protect the four people of the Tired Hou, the King of the East China Sea, the King of England, and the Champion Hou, if there is anything abnormal, be sure to investigate it to the end, please rest assured that the people who protect you are not one thousand but eight hundred, and there will be no problems." ”

Zhang Jing added: "The so-called in case means that someone leaves the capital and loses the qualification to compete for the position. ”

"Who would be so stupid?" The King of the East China Sea smiled, glanced at Han Ruzi, and put away his smile.

Han Ruzi said: "We will take precautions, and we will also ask the two adults to help us a lot, and say to the Guanghua Pavilion Qunying on our behalf: The foundation of Dachu is the officials of the ministry and the department rather than the officials of the imperial examination, the number of officials is small, and the promotion and decline are uncertain, the officials in charge often change every three or five years, but the officials of the ministry and department only do one thing for life, and they are promoted and promoted, and they do not leave the yamen." Both of them have always been torturers, right? ”

Lian Danchen and Zhang Jing nodded frequently, and the words of the tired marquis simply reached their hearts.

"The Queen Mother and the Hopeful only allow ministers above the fifth grade to elect the emperor, which means that they are shallow in their eyes, and they only see the grass and trees on the ground, but not the foundation of the ground. I and the king of the East China Sea promised that if we succeeded, we would reuse the officials of the world to ensure the peace and stability of the great Chu country. ”

The two torturers left their chairs and knelt down in front of the tired marquis, kowtowing like pounding garlic.

This was only the first meeting, and before it was time to make a detailed plan, the King of the East China Sea sent someone to send Lian Danchen and Zhang Jing away, and smiled at Han Ruzi: "When did you become so sharp-toothed?" When the two guys left, they were so excited that tears were about to flow out. ”

"Read more books." Han Ruzi said.

"Why don't I remember a book that says officials are more important than officials? I've only read more books than you, not less. ”

"It's in the history of the country: Taizu Dingding, the world has been restored to stability in two or three years, what does it depend on? It is certainly not those generals under the command of Taizu, they will fight, they will not govern the country, and they are not the ministers of the previous dynasty, they have little left, they are either killed, or reduced to the people, let alone the officials of the imperial examination, it is not until twenty or thirty years later that the imperial examination will be popular, and the elected officials will fill the court. It is a small official left over from the previous dynasty, and they are like the previous dynasty, assisting the emperor and officials of Dachu to govern the world, diligently and diligently, and they have not changed so far. ”

The King of the East Sea opened his mouth and stammered for a while, "Hey, your way of reading books is different from mine." However, this also shows that the officials are disloyal and don't care who is the emperor, anyway, everyone needs them in the end. ”

"That's right."

The King of the East Sea was stunned for a moment, "What do you mean...... Can't rely on the 'Guanghua Tigers'? ”

"Well, the 'Guanghua Tigers' know too many things and have too much power, there is no reason why the champion Hou should not win them over, and there is no reason for them to have to be the enemy of the champion Hou."

"But the ministers don't like the 'Guanghua Tigers', there is hatred between them......"

"Hatred can be dissolved, not to mention that the minister's hatred will only be directed against a few people, not against all the torturers."

The king of the East China Sea was very happy, but he was greatly disappointed by Han Ruzi's words, sighed, and was about to speak, when there was a knock on the door outside, and a maid said, "Your Highness, the princess asks to see you." ”

The wife of the king of the East China Sea has not yet been canonized, but the palace has called her "princess". The King of the East China Sea was stunned at first, then his face was red, and he whispered, "What is she doing here?" This one...... This one...... How could she see other men? ”

"Other men" were also surprised, but they really wanted to see how fierce this daughter of the Tan family was. (To be continued.) )