The Child Emperor

The next morning, Meng E returned to the palace alone and brought the exact news that Mrs. Juan Hou was indeed left in the palace. The people who stayed in the palace were the mother of the King of the East Sea, Cui Taifei, and the son of the champion Hou -- a couple of two. three-year-old child.

Unexpectedly, Han Ruzi's mother Wang Meiren was not taken as a "hostage", but stayed by the Queen Mother's side.

The fisherman who Han Ruzi had met by the river personally came forward and assured the three parties that no matter what the outcome of the fight for the throne was, their relatives would be free to leave the palace. To be clear: In order to practice an unprecedented method of electing a king, everyone must be guaranteed to play by the rules.

The hopeful person obviously knew Meng E's true identity and treated her very seriously. Throughout the night, she had no chance to leave the emperor to see anyone.

Han Ruzi felt angry and remorseful and sent Meng E away, leaving only him and Yang Feng, he said: "Do those who hope for qi really think that this will make everyone abide by the so-called rules? If the losers in the race really want to resist , do you care how many hostages there are in the palace?"

"The intention of the hopeful has not been fully revealed, and the tricks are definitely not only these, guessing is useless, let's think about how to play this game first."

"This is a game." Han Ruzi looked at the books piled up on the desk, "Has this kind of thing been recorded in the history books?"

"There is no public record, the Chu Dynasty certainly did not." Yang Feng got up, quickly found a book from the bookshelf, and sent it to Han Ruzi, "If you go back a little longer, you can still see some clues, ancient times. In the era, the succession of emperors has changed from renunciation to hereditary, but the support of ministers is very important, and many things have happened to drive out the old and welcome the new, especially those wise kings, who always need the support of the ministers before they can use their fists.”

Han Ruzi picked up the book, turned two pages, and didn't read it right away, "Don't you really want to be retro?"

"Don't worry about the real purpose of the watchers, it is necessary to win over ministers in any dynasty. Marquis Juan returned to Beijing from Shenxiongguan, and he must have a plan in his heart."

"When Xiao Sheng, the censor of Zuocha, went to Shenxiongguan, I guessed that the champion Hou and Mrs. Cui were likely to join forces again, so they arranged for some people to encourage the Northern Army to return to Beijing in the name of champion Hou. Once the news came, it might arouse the conflict between them. Suspicion turned against each other again. The northern and southern armies were at a stalemate outside, and the capital was empty. I originally wanted to... organize a force to rush into the palace, seize the treasure seal, and force the queen mother to make me emperor. If the champion marquis and the northern army get into trouble, I will I hope that the Northern Army can support me more firmly as a foreign aid. And my wife, she sent me two letters to return to Beijing. I think she always has some preparations, but I don’t know what it is yet.”

"I asked my wife to send a letter to Juan Hou. Her plan is my plan."

"You?" Han Ruzi was surprised. When he was in the frontier, Yang Feng should have been "loyal" assisting the champion.

"I said that I will assist the person most likely to become the emperor."

"Well, I remember."

"Please allow me to tell the truth, even now, even if the Northern Army returns to Beijing and confronts the Southern Army, there are not many chances for Hou Juan to become emperor again, but I want to revise what I said before. The people I assist should not only become Emperor, you have to be able to listen to my words and accept my advice."

Yang Feng's words have never been very patient, but they are very true. Han Ruzi dispelled the last doubt in his heart and said with a smile: "What is Yang Gong's suggestion?"

"It is always useful to act on the orders of the hopeful first, and to enlist the support of the minister."

"What should I do? When I abdicated... no minister stood up to support me."

"When Hou Wan was in power, did someone ever stand up against you?"

"Well... No, the rebellious King Qi is one, but he is mainly against the Queen Mother."

"Therefore, it is not easy to classify ministers with insistence and opposition. Marquis Juan should regard the ministers as an irrelevant group of people. Only after real contact can they make judgments on each person. It's no good, but it will make Wanhou lose some potential supporters."

Han Ruzi smiled and said, "I have no preconceptions, and I am willing to win the support of any minister." He thought for a while, and then said: "Yang Gong won the support of Prime Minister Yin for the champion Hou, just to strengthen his preconceived ideas. see' huh?"

Yang Feng raised his head slightly, "I have made other suggestions, but the champion is unwilling to accept it. Prime Minister Yin Wuxian used to be the master of Prince Ju. When Prince Ju was killed, he complained in front of Emperor Wu. Support, in the eyes of outsiders, is reasonable, but there are two problems in this, I reminded the champion Hou, he did not care."

"What's the problem?" Han Ruzi suddenly lost his mind. The bookmark left by Mrs. Cui Xiaojun showed a little bit, which touched his mind. He hurriedly looked away and listened carefully to Yang Feng's words.

"First, Yin Wuxian is an extremely noble official. He is old and has no room for advancement. No matter how much credit he has made, he can only leave it to his children and grandchildren. His public support for the champion is more out of favor."

"This is indeed a problem." After reading so much national history, Han Ruzi understood a truth: human feelings are very useful, but at the critical moment when interests are competing, human feelings are also the most vulnerable.

"Second, the ministers who convicted the two princes are still there. Today, the sage has no real power and has not taken any revenge. Unlike the champion, after he ascends the throne, he must have power, and he does not reconcile with his former enemies first. It will make these ministers panic all day long.”

Han Ruzi's eyes lit up, "Are these ministers the ones I want to fight for?"

Yang Feng shook his head, "Not yet, they are too scared to support you, and they may even run to inform the champion to ensure safety, only when you have established a force and can stand up to the champion and the East Sea King, will they Maybe on your side."

"The hardest part is getting started."

"That's right, but I have arrangements, I just need Hou Juan to do it myself."

"I've had enough rest." Of course Han Ruzi wouldn't sit in the Hou Mansion and wait.

"Wanhou still remember that he was studying in Guozijian, right?"

"Remember, Yang Gong wanted me to go to Taixue, but Zongzheng's mansion only agreed to allow me to go to Guozijian, where I only ordered Mao and didn't really read books."

"It doesn't matter. After all, Hou Juan's name is listed there. There are many classmates, and they are the first group of people that Hou Juan wants to win over."

"They are all students, they don't even have official positions, right?"

"Students from Guozijian have to endure for many years if they want to become officials."

"How can they help me now?" Han Ruzi didn't quite understand the intention of Yang Feng's move.

"It's more complicated to explain. In two days, I will visit my classmates with Juan Hou. Let's talk about it later."

Han Ruzi nodded, there was a difficulty in front of him, and he was really not in a hurry to think about things too far, "Those who are looking forward to qi have formulated new rules, requiring that those who contend for the position must be nominated by a minister of the first rank, which seems to be specially aimed at me: the champion Hou Youyin, the prime minister. "The King of the East Sea has Taifu Cui, and I don't even have the support of ordinary ministers."

"Well, there are only a dozen first-rank ministers in the DPRK. If you want those who are looking for qi to not find faults, they can only find first-rank ministers. The number is even smaller, there are only five. Prime Minister Yin and Taifu Cui are their masters, and there are three remaining..."

"Master Cui will support the East Sea King?" Han Ruzi asked. When it comes to human affection, Mrs. Cui proves that he is the uncle of the King of the East Sea, but once he finds a more valuable target, he immediately abandons his nephew.

"Yes, even if he hesitates now, when he knows the news of the Bei Army returning to Beijing, he will support the East Sea King."

Han Ruzi inadvertently helped Donghai King a big favor.

"Then there are only three first-rank ministers left. Who are Taishi and Taibao? I don't think I have seen them before."

"Tai Shi Wang Ji and Tai Bao Deng Zhu are both veterans of Emperor Wu's time. They have served for many years. One is in Jiangnan and the other in Yandi. They are far away and have not participated in the government for a long time."

"Then only Han Xing, the commander-in-chief of soldiers and horses, is left."

Yang Feng nodded, "Han Xing is leading the troops, and he cannot return to Beijing without an imperial decree. He is currently stationed at Hangu Pass, commanding the Chu army to pacify the riots in various counties and counties. He seems to appreciate Marquis Juan very much."

Han Ruzi thought back for a moment, "At least he didn't feel sorry for me, and he accepted all my requests. It was because of his appointment that I was able to defend Shenxiongguan and Iron Broken City."

"Tomorrow we will go to Hangu Pass."

Although he has not yet obtained the support of any ministers, Han Ruzi feels a lot of peace of mind. "After all, it is rare to compete for the throne. It is difficult to say whether we can stick to it. Do we need other plans? I believe that the champion Hou and Donghai Wang have both."

"Of course, the King of the East Sea may reconcile with Taifu Cui, relying on the Southern Army to protect himself. If the champion is smart enough, he will reconcile with the Northern Army or win over the Suwei Army. Now that the Suwei Eighth Battalion has been greatly increased, Zhonglang General Shangguansheng is the nephew of the Queen Mother, and he is very worried about the future fate of the Shangguan family. I have contacted him on behalf of Champion Hou, and Shangguan Sheng is willing to support Champion Hou, but his words cannot be fully believed."

"So, the foundation of the East Sea King is the most stable? I talked to him, and he will definitely reconcile with Mrs. Cui."

"So the final opponent of Marquis Juan must be the King of the East Sea, and now the opponent is Marquis Champion. I was very worried about the Northern Army, so when Marquis Champion urged the Northern Army to attack the Huns to vent his anger, I did not particularly object. Even better, if Marquis Juan can really draw the Northern Army together, then there will be no worries. At the very least, the Northern Army must be split, and he cannot concentrate on supporting the Champion Hou. As for Suwei Eighth Battalion and Shangguansheng, leave it to me. There's no guarantee they'll support Juan Hou, or at least keep them out of the way."

"The King of the East Sea... The King of the East Sea..." Han Ruzi remembered that he had a chance to kill this opponent, and then he shook his head with a smile. Outside the Great Wall is where he draws people's hearts. He can't easily kill people, especially his own. Brother, he has nothing to regret.

While analyzing the general trend, the two made plans, and they became more and more aware of it. They didn't even eat lunch at noon. Shortly after the afternoon, a guest interrupted the conversation between the two.

The second son of the Cui family, Cui Teng, came. He had been ordered to ask his father for an appointment, but he never returned to Shenxiongguan. It turned out that he followed his father back to Beijing.

As soon as he entered the room, he shouted: "Brother-in-law, you are so powerful that you actually brought the Northern Army back, run away with me, someone will come to catch you later!"