days than he should have. Even in prison, he is well-fed and cared for, never experiencing any hardship."Duan Jinchang trembled all over, gritting his teeth and saying, "But he's already dead!""She's...Chapter 410 Political Transactions

I didn't agree to Wang Tenghuan right away because Li Chen still had some things to consider.

The cabinet has made their position very clear, and Li Chen understands that in this political game there is no room for negotiation.

It's really like buying groceries at a market, you haggle over the price of a pound of cabbage, saying two copper coins and then settling for one.

We're all players in this game, and now the situation has come to a point where there are only two paths left.

Either Xu Changqing becomes a pawn, leaving the board, or Wang Tenghuan, that old dog, wants to return to the cabinet. That's just his daydream.

either Li Chen uses a cabinet position as a condition to bring Wang Teng Huan back, or re-employ Xu Changqing.

Everything boils down to interests. Li Chen's consideration is simply this: Is Xu Changqing worth the position of minister in the cabinet

On the surface, this deal is definitely a loss.

But many things at this level can't be settled openly.

The East Palace's foundation is shallow. Even with full support from Su Zhen-ting, it barely stands firm at the military level. This is all thanks to the prestige of the Su family. Without the Su family, the title of "East Palace Prince" holds little weight in the military. However, this requires time to cultivate gradually. Right now, by leveraging the Su family's influence, Li Chen has confidence that within the next three to five years, he can fully control the military.

The Su family would not refuse, nor dare to refuse.

Unless Su Zhen'ting chooses to be the next Zhao Xuanji, but currently, it seems unrealistic.

As for the bureaucratic group, the East Palace had even fewer cards to play. Right now, some of them have defected, most of whom were considered mediocre by the cabinet. Their abilities barely passed muster, and they couldn't be relied upon for important tasks. Besides Xu Changqing from the Ministry of Revenue and Guan Zhiwei from the Ministry of Works, there really wasn't anyone else who was capable.

It was precisely this situation that prevented Li Chen from resolutely rejecting Wang Teng's aggressive demands.

The East Palace needs unity, and more importantly, it needs to show those wavering moderates that if someone under the East Palace's banner gets into trouble, the Crown Prince will truly step forward to protect them.

Thus thinking, Li Chen called for Sanbao.

"Let's go out of the palace together."

Called up the three treasures, mainly for safety considerations. Having just gone through an assassination attempt, although the possibility of another one was extremely low, Li Chen wasn't in the habit of joking about his own life.

Next comes Sanbao, a man with rich experience and deep scheming. Sometimes he can really come up with some good ideas for Li Chen.

Without asking where they were going or hesitating, Sānbǎo immediately ordered his men to prepare for the trip and then respectfully led Li Chén onto the carriage.

Go to Xu Changqing's house.

Upon boarding the carriage, Li Chen told Sanbao their destination for this trip.

The three guards outside the carriage respectfully replied and personally guarded by the side of the carriage. The whole team, composed of top experts from the Dongchang, discreetly headed to Xu Changqing's mansion.

As for Xu Changqing's home, Li Chen had never been there, but the East Factory certainly had information on the residences of high-ranking officials like him, so it wouldn't be a problem to find out.

However, Li Chen didn't expect that Xu Changqing, despite being a legitimate official of the third rank from the imperial court and holding such a lucrative position as the left servant of the Ministry of Household Affairs, actually lived in the outer city of the capital.

Apart from the palace, Beijing was divided into two cities: the Inner City and the Outer City.

The inner city is basically inhabited by imperial relatives, high-ranking officials and nobles. To settle here with property, one needs not only money but also a legitimate official status, at the very least that of a jinshi scholar (passed the Imperial examinations). However, over the three hundred years since the founding of the Qin Dynasty, with the growth of the noble class, it has become impossible for ordinary people without real power and a high-ranking official position to live in the inner city.th such a formidable enemy, Li Chen found it difficult to sleep and eat."Go get him."After speaking, Li Chen flicked his sleeves and walked away.Sān Bǎo gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice, “Fr...