At the beginning, his wife came to him, and he became rich by selling kidney treasures.

Previously, disciples led by Zhao Ping'an had repeatedly reported Ren Hao to the court, openly defying the emperor's authority by opening a school and privately raising retainers in an attempt to rebel.

But Wen Yan suppressed it many times, as he knew clearly what these ministers were thinking.

This so-called open challenge to the majesty of heaven was mainly because Ren Hao's opening of a school affected the interests of these ministers and nobles, and they wished that Ren Hao would be beheaded as soon as possible.

As for the private retainers who tried to rebel, there were only a few retainers in Ren Hao's mansion, and they were just there to guard the house.

The more the court ministers and Zhao Ping'an criticized Ren Hao, the more Wen Yan wanted to protect Ren Hao and even wanted to bring Ren Hao into the court.

This is not only because she admires Ren Hao's abilities, but also because she hopes that Ren Hao can become her confidant and help her regain power in the court.

Wen Yan thought about it and then shouted, "Minister of Revenue."

"The old minister is here." An old minister in his sixties stepped out.

"Go and check the identities of these three people. If they haven't committed any serious crimes, I will personally select them to go to the war." Wen Yan announced.

"I will send someone to check it now." The Minister of Revenue received the order and left the hall to go to the Ministry of Revenue to check the household registration.

However, the efficiency of this Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in checking household registration was so slow that the waiting ministers secretly cursed him for being as slow as a turtle.

What's more, Zhao Ping'an even came out to criticize the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, saying that he was too old and too inefficient in his work, and that he should be replaced.

"It's indeed time to change people." Wen Yan nodded in agreement.

In fact, she had long wanted to retire this veteran who had served in the Ministry of Revenue for two dynasties, and she herself had approached Wen Yan many times to retire and return home.

But Ren Hao was slow to come to the palace to report on his work, so Wen Yan had no choice but to let this veteran work hard for a while.

"I have someone to recommend me." Seeing that the emperor intended to replace someone, Zhao Ping'an immediately seized the opportunity to recommend his disciple.

Wen Yan sneered inwardly and asked the most direct question: "Can this Minister Chen you recommended replenish the national treasury within half a year? Can he help me recruit soldiers?"

"This..." Zhao Ping'an and Minister Chen were both speechless for a moment.

"If you don't have the ability, don't recommend you to me. I already have a candidate in mind." Wen Yan waved her hand.

Her words that a candidate had been chosen immediately made all the ministers begin to wonder who would be the next candidate.

Wen Yan listened to their whispers but didn't take it to heart. After all, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't imagine that this person was Ren Hao.

After talking for a while, all the ministers shut up. After all, the more they talked, the hungrier they became.

It was almost noon, the Minister of Revenue had not returned yet, and the Emperor showed no intention of adjourning the court.

The old eunuch who served the emperor was quite considerate. Seeing that the Minister of Revenue had not returned for a long time, he notified the kitchen to make a bowl of Tremella soup for the emperor.

Now all the ministers and officials watched the emperor drinking Tremella soup, while they were so hungry that they could only swallow their saliva.

The old eunuch looked at the ministers who were starving and immediately asked Wen Yan, "Your Majesty, shall I prepare soup for you?"

"They won't die if they go hungry for a meal, so just consider it as a way to scrape out the fat in their intestines." Wen Yan put down the bowl in his hand and glanced at the ministers below.

All of them are fat and big-eared or well-fed with a rosy face, and they all eat a lot of meat and fish.

Just when the ministers were almost starving to death, the Minister of Revenue finally arrived.

As soon as he entered the palace, he knelt on the ground and pleaded guilty: "I am late, please...please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"No thanks, get up." Wen Yan waved her hand.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue slowly got up and took out three household registrations from his sleeve.

He has verified the identities of Chen Fei, Zhang Kuai, and Wu Chu, as well as the identities of their ancestors.

Chen Fei and Zhang Kuai were both natives of Beijing, and both were descendants of generals from the previous dynasty.

Before Chen Fei joined Ren Hao's mansion, he was a wine and date seller, and Zhang Kuai was a butcher who also sold wine.

Chen Fei had no criminal record, but Zhang Kuai had been beaten with dozens of sticks for injuring people while drunk many times, and was also exiled outside Beijing for a year.

When Xu Tianyin heard that the two were remnants of the previous dynasty, he immediately stood up to oppose them from going to the war.

There are two reasons.

Firstly, sending two remnants of the previous dynasty to take up their official positions and go to war was simply a disgrace to the country, let alone promoting the prestige of the Han Dynasty. Was there no capable people in ancient Han that the remnants of the previous dynasty were sent to take up their positions?

Secondly, both of them are descendants of remnants of generals from the previous dynasty, and there is a fear that they may have the intention of rebellion.

Xu Tianyin's words were well-reasoned and many ministers agreed with him.

"It has been a long time since the change of dynasties. What should have passed is over. Moreover, they are now my subjects. As for Zhang Kuai's drunken injury, they are just minor crimes." Wen Yan waved his hand without taking it to heart and let the Minister of Revenue continue.

"As for the remaining Wu Chu, they are not from the capital. They are from Xujia Village in Mincheng. Their ancestors were all craftsmen and farmers."

"But what puzzles me is that the household register clearly states that Wu Chu died in the battlefield. Why is he suddenly a guest in Ren's house?" The Minister of Revenue expressed his doubts, and all the ministers were furious and began to take the opportunity to report Ren Hao harshly. Even Zhao Ping'an turned around and reported Ren Hao harshly, saying that he had defied Han law and dared to accept fugitives from the border as guests in his house, and that he should be executed according to Han law.

If we could use this opportunity to get rid of Ren Hao, that would be the best.

But Wen Yan was determined to favor Ren Hao. She just frowned and finally put all the responsibility on the Ministry of Household Affairs.

The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue is already an old fox at an old age. How could he not understand the Emperor's thoughts?

"This may be a mistake made by my subordinates. Maybe Wu Chu did not desert the army, but retired due to injury to recuperate." The Minister of Revenue directly put the blame on his subordinates. He had many subordinates anyway, and as long as he did not mention any names, the matter would become more obvious in the end.

"It seems that you are really old." Wen Yan said meaningfully.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to retire and return to my hometown to enjoy my remaining years." The Minister of Revenue took the opportunity to make a request.

"I will agree, but not now." Wen Yan promised.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The Minister of Revenue stepped back and returned to his position.

Wen Yan then asked the old eunuch next to him to draft an imperial decree, and immediately summoned Chen Fei, Zhang Kuai, and Wu Chu to the palace to meet the emperor.

At this time, Zhao Ping'an in the audience was already laughing secretly: "Ren Hao, Ren Hao, without them guarding the house, I wonder how you can still jump around. If you fight me, you will die without knowing how you died!!!"

……

Ren Hao, who was in the Maozi Restaurant at this time, had no idea that he had escaped death several times in the palace, and he was about to lose three of his trusted guests.

In order to build momentum for Maozi, he not only asked Chen Fei, Zhang Kuai, and Wu Chu to sit outside the door and drink Maozi, but also asked the recruited Hong Chen Yanzhi to solicit customers nearby and give one or two Maozi for free to every passerby who passed by.