田信 / Tian Xin (Western Han)

Overview

田信 / Tian Xin enters the wiki as the merchant whom 朱买臣 selects as the bridge for accusing 张汤 of leaking state information and enabling commercial profit.

Current Profile

Hanji 339-1 describes Tian as a commercially agile figure who profits around state controls and has a friendly relationship with Zhang Tang. Zhu infers that such profit requires protection by a senior official and decides Zhang must be that protector. He then begins framing Tian’s gains as evidence of policy leakage, official-commercial collusion, and private benefit.

Key Characteristics

• Western Han merchant in the episode’s accusation narrative.
• Described as exploiting openings around state economic controls.
• Presented as friendly with Zhang Tang.
• Selected by Zhu Maichen as the evidentiary bridge in the counterattack.
• Alleged to benefit from leaked policy information and official protection.

Evidence

Commercial and political role:

• Hanji 339-1 describes Tian’s state-adjacent profit and friendship with Zhang, then says Zhu builds his accusation around that relationship.

Evidentiary boundary:

• Hanji 339-1 explicitly presents Zhu’s identification of Zhang as Tian’s protector as an inference rather than demonstrated fact.

Qualifications

The supplied transcript ends before the allegation is fully stated. It does not independently establish Tian’s business methods, source of information, profits, payments, relationship with Zhang, or adjudicated guilt. This page records Tian’s role in the accusation rather than treating the accusation as a verified commercial history.

What Changed

• Created the entity as the source-scoped merchant bridge in Zhu Maichen’s accusation.

Relationships

• 朱买臣 / Zhu Maichen (Western Han) - accuser who selects Tian as the route for attacking Zhang.
• 张汤 / Zhang Tang (Western Han) - official alleged to be Tian’s friend, informer, and protector.
• 庄青翟 / Zhuang Qingdi (Western Han) - threatened chancellor whose coalition uses the Tian allegation in its counterattack.
• 政治案件证据怀疑 / Political Case Evidence Skepticism - evidentiary discipline relevant to separating Zhu’s inference from proved collusion.