Han official!

Chapter 113: Capture
Ramie cannot grow without soil. Every year, the top of the plant is pressed down with grass and manure, and the roots will grow taller with the soil.

The ramie in Shuqili is planted in the Huangma River, a tributary of the Bashui River that flows through the town. Every year, grass manure is pressed on the roots of the ramie. The roots grow along the pressed soil, and the Shuqili jute is harvested three times a year.

More than a dozen storage warehouses were built on both sides of the Huangma River in the northwest corner, storing a large amount of jute, all of which were high-quality cloth that sold well in the nine markets of Chang'an and were deeply loved by the common people.

The robbers and traffickers in Shuqi Village had been tied up with hemp ropes around their waists by the thief catcher and the prison clerk. They were waiting to be sent to the authorities for sentencing amidst the cries of regret.

According to the Han Dynasty law, if someone sells something privately that should not be sold, the seller will be tattooed and forced to work as a thief in the city.

This means that as long as human traffickers are involved in human trafficking, they will first be tattooed on their faces and then sentenced to life imprisonment.

Tattooing the face was the greatest punishment and insult for a prisoner. It was equivalent to leaving a criminal record in the file, which could only be seen when applying for a job. The laws of the Han Dynasty were even more harsh. The prisoners were directly tattooed on their faces, and they would be seen as soon as they went out.

I know that this person was once a criminal, suffered all kinds of contempt, and his wife, children and parents were implicated.

The Han Dynasty law of tattooing did not give criminals any leniency. Once they committed a crime, they would have no chance to reform in their lifetime.

The residents near the inner gate looked at the ammunition room, the inner wall, and the sentry shed, which were filled with ferocious-looking thieves and detectives, with iron bars in their hands and wooden mallets hanging from their waists. The residents, who were about to be turned into prisoners, had pain on their faces, as if they had seen themselves suffering all kinds of abuse when building the city wall.

The thief catchers and prison officers who came this time, including some thief catchers who were guarding the villagers, all stretched their necks and looked towards the storage warehouse in the northwest corner.

The thief catchers in Chang'an's eight streets, nine alleys, nine markets and twelve bridges need to suppress evil and punish criminals, handle lawsuits and suppress thieves, take care of the people and attend to current affairs, and collect taxes in autumn and winter. It is impossible for them to all go to Shuqili to catch looters and traffickers.

Every time they came to inspect the thieves in dozens of neighborhoods in Jieting, the prison clerks came in batches and it was impossible for all of them to come. As a result, there were no prison clerks to guard the prisoners in Chang'an Prison.

The thief catchers from Gao Street and Zhangtai Street came to help Guo Jie capture the criminals and took away a lot of pork, scallions, salt and vinegar. The thief catchers from Huayang Street finally snatched the official business of going to Shuqili from the thief catchers from the other eight streets, nine alleys, nine markets and twelve bridges.

These petty officials carried out the duties ordered by their superiors, such as prohibiting evil and punishing criminals, handling lawsuits and suppressing bandits, caring for the people and handling current affairs, and collecting taxes in autumn and winter.

All the official business of the superiors needs to be carried out by the clerks.

But no one cared about the life or death of the petty official.

Only Guo Jie cared about them, whether they had enough to eat and whether there was enough salt and vinegar in their home.

Below the county clerk, there are various kinds of subordinate officials, such as assistant historians, clerks, censors, officials, minor historians, etc. The regular subordinate officials number four to five hundred in a large county and up to seven to eight hundred in a county in the capital.

The thieves and thieves from Gao Street and Zhangtai Street followed Guo Jie to have meat to eat.

I envy the rest of the thieves and thieves in the eight streets, nine alleys, nine markets and twelve bridges.

The other thieves and detectives from the other streets and bridges also wanted to follow Guo Jie and eat meat.

The same goes for Prison History.

There are twenty-eight prisons in the Zhongdu official prison in Chang'an. In the first two chapters, all the prison clerks of Chang'an prison went there and followed Guo Jie to share the meat.

Sang Hongyang was building a forest garden and recruited a large number of prisoners to establish the Shanglin Prison, which was also one of the twenty-eight prisons under the Zhongdu government.

The prison clerk of Shanglin Prison decided the life and death of many prisoners. The villagers of Shuqili were sent to Shanglin Prison to build the forest garden. Whether they died in one day or one month was entirely decided by the prison clerk.

The labor of pounding rice in the city includes both heavy and lighter work. Who can live and who can die depends entirely on the arrangements of the prison clerk.

Shanglin Prison, one of the 28 prisons in Zhongdu, was able to seize the opportunity to capture looters and traffickers from Chang'an Prison. The prisoners stretched their necks and waited eagerly for Guo Jie, the only person who cared about the petty officials' food and clothing.

Give some food and drink to Yu Xiaoshi.

"Over a hundred pigs, twenty sheep, and all kinds of shallots, salt, and vinegar."

Although Yi Zong didn't know why his sister-in-law cared about the thief catchers, prison clerks and other minor officials, when he checked the house, he recorded the meat and vegetables such as pigs, sheep, onions, salt, vinegar, etc. separately on bamboo slips and handed them to Guo Jie.

"good."

Guo Jie, with a smile on his face, threw the bamboo slips directly to the thief Cao Zuo of Huayang Street and the prison assistant Shi of Shanglin Prison, who were the direct superiors of the thief catchers and the prison clerks, similar to the director of one of the many departments in the county bureau. Yin Qi and Wang Wenshu were the directors, and they were the leaders of the leaders.

The thief Cao Zuo and the prison Zuo Shi took the bamboo slips with a look of joy on their faces.

The thief catcher of Huayang Street and the warden of Shanglin Prison were even more ecstatic.

Parents, wife and children can finally eat meat.

Guo Jie glanced at Yin Qi and Wang Wenshu. The two men had no fear at all. Instead, they were confused by Guo Jie's behavior of using a lot of meat and leeks to bribe some insignificant officials.

He knew it.

Not to mention Yin Qi and Wang Wenshu.

Even Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang didn't understand.

Because only Guo Jie understood one thing deeply.

Power comes not only from the top down, but also from the bottom up.

It is easy to understand from top to bottom. When you become a high-ranking official, you have power and the power to order your subordinates at will.

Bottom-up refers to the manifestation of a high-ranking official's power, which requires someone to execute it, such as the lieutenant ordering the prison clerk of Sihu Prison to capture Guo Jie and torture him.

If there was no prison clerk to carry out the execution, Guo Jie would have been served with delicious food and drinks.

If no one carries out the orders of high-ranking officials, their power will be useless.

Amidst the anticipation of the numerous thief-catching officers and prison clerks, Guo Jie clapped his hands and smiled, saying, "Divide the pork, scallions, salt, and vinegar equally. Everyone can take as much meat and scallions as the previous two times, and perhaps even more. Just don't forget to leave a portion for the brothers staying in Huayang Street and Shanglin Prison."

There were still several minor officials left in Huayang Street and Shanglin Prison.

The thief catcher and the prison clerk were both overjoyed and grateful. Life at the bottom of society was too hard, and Guo Jie was the only official who cared about their having enough food and clothing.

Each of them felt as if something was stuck in their throat, their eyes slightly red, and they bowed solemnly.

"I will never forget Mr. Guo's kindness in this life!"

"Father and mother didn't have many days left to live. Before they died, their greatest wish was to have a meal of meat. I, an unfilial son, have finally been able to fulfill their dying wish."

"As a father, my life is all about living for my children. My son has never eaten meat and is often laughed at by the kids in the neighborhood. As a father, I can finally help him put this shame behind him."

The lives of thief catchers and prison clerks were very hard. Many of them were so moved that they cried when they saw the piles of meat and scallions.

I feel a sense of gratitude towards Guo Jie that I can never repay for my entire life.

After Guo Jie bribed the thief catcher in Huayang Street and the warden in Shanglin Prison, he looked at Yin Qi and Wang Wenshu, pointed at the storehouse, and said, "The jute in Shuqi is quite famous. This storehouse is a gift to you two. Take it back and let your wives and daughters weave cloth."

In the Western Han Dynasty, cloth coins and copper coins were used together.

Cloth is money.

Giving money directly is a bribe.

Giving jute is like giving acid-free paper and color-changing ink for making money.

It's not illegal, and it's not bribery.

Acid-free paper can be used to make banknotes, and can also be used as archival paper. Who can say that acid-free paper is only used to make banknotes?

False accusation!

Yin Qi was a little unsure: "Jute is used to weave linen cloth, and cloth is money. If I and Wang Wenshu take the jute, people will inevitably accuse us of taking bribes."

“Who dares to say that?!”

Guo Jie said with a righteous look on his face: "Who says that jute must be used to weave linen? Hemp rope is also made of jute, and horse baskets can also be made of jute. Who can say that hemp rope must be used to weave linen?"

His face suddenly turned stern: "It's obviously a false accusation."

False accusation? Yin Qi and Wang Wenshu were speechless.

There is only one thought in my mind.

Does this work too?
Yin Qi and Wang Wenshu soon looked happy again. Although they did not have high material desires, they still had to consider their parents, wives and children.

Yin Qi was cruel again.

Wang Wenshu is no longer human.

It's all about treating outsiders.

He is a filial son, a loving husband and a father to his parents, wife, children and other family members.

As Guo Jie expected, Yin Qi and Wang Wenshu accepted the entire warehouse of jute he sent, and each took away half of the warehouse's jute, enough to weave hundreds of pieces of linen.

What made Yin Qi and Wang Wenshu even happier was that they received hundreds of pieces of linen, but it was not considered a bribe.

It's really unbelievable.

Everything is reasonable.

This was the first time Yin Qi and Wang Wenshu had seen such a thing.

The two were newly promoted cruel officials in Chang'an. As the tiger's den was dug, Yin Qi became even more famous than Wang Wenshu.

Yin Qi and Wang Wenshu were known for their strict self-discipline and never accepted any bribes.

Wei Junru stood by and watched Guo Jie persuade two cruel officials to accept a large amount of jute with just a few words. Her beautiful eyes were shining, and her eyes were almost tearing when she looked at Guo Jie.

"Brother."

Wei Guang, beaming, hurried over from the warehouse. "Shuqili is really making a lot of money with his jute business. There are 15,000 dan of millet stored in the warehouse. Also, we found a lot of piggy banks filled with gold cakes inside the walls of the county elders' houses, more than 200 gold coins."

When Guo Jie heard Wei Guang recount his plunder, he smiled, but couldn't help but sigh, "The powerful are truly wealthy! No wonder every time an emperor ascends the throne, the powerful are relocated from the prefectures and counties to the mausoleums. These powerful individuals, possessing vast tracts of land and property, will sooner or later squeeze the common people to the point of destitution."

If most common people in the world cannot survive.

They will rebel.

This is also the reason why successive dynasties have fallen into dynastic cycles.

Death due to land annexation.

Only 1% of the upper class occupy more than 100% of the resources.

The 100% extra part is the debt that the bottom 99% of people still have to bear.

It must be said that the mausoleum town system implemented by Emperor Gaozu of Han was a unique and effective way to curb land annexation.

"A total of more than 400 gold?"

Chong Huangrou, a nobleman from the Chuding Eighteen Marquises, was also astonished. "With only forty-odd households' worth of property, it's no wonder that upon ascending the throne, the emperors often relocated the nobles and powerful who held sway in the local areas to the mausoleums. Land is limited, and so is the amount of money a county can generate. If this continues, the common people will sooner or later be squeezed out by the nobles and powerful, leaving them with no way to survive."

Guo Jie looked strange.

Chong Huangrou is also a member of the nobles and powerful people. To put it bluntly, he is a vested interest group, but he stands in opposition to his own class.

From the perspective of the common people.

Really weird.

"Ah."

Guo Jie chuckled and shook his head, realizing he was also among those being relocated. He clutched the bamboo slips Wei Guang had sent him and said happily, "Let's go and take the money the Du families of the Western Road have exploited from the common people and send it to the government offices in Chang'an."

In exchange for the land he wanted most.

As Zhang Qian began to explore the Western Regions, Guo Jie's need for land certificates became more urgent.

No one can go against the trend.

Guo Jie only hoped to complete his own plan before the great trend came and gain the most benefits from the coming trend.

One after another, ox carts left Shuqili, carrying large amounts of money, silk, and food, and lined up in a long line in the gullies of Balingyuan, attracting many bandits.

However, a large group of bandits were lying on the loess slope. When they saw the people driving the carriage were wearing black clothes and the leader was wearing an iron crown and black clothes, they were shocked and did not dare to rush down to rob.

Stealing merchants' property and stealing officials are two completely different things.

What's more, he is a jailer.

Many bandits have been imprisoned in the county prison. The jailers in the county government temple know the details of these bandits. If they anger the jailers, they will not go to every ravine to capture the bandits.

He went straight to the village where the bandits' parents, wives and children lived.

Many of the bandits in Balingyuan are usually local residents. When they encounter merchants' open carts, they will become bandits and collude with each other to rob.

The bandits could only watch helplessly as the large amount of money and food was carried away. They dared not rob, let alone show up.

Many shrewd bandits rushed into Shuqili, wanting to plunder the remaining wealth and goods.

Unexpectedly, Guo Jie had already found several local officials from nearby villages and sold Shu Qili out.

Although jute was worthless in ordinary villages, Shuqili planted jute that was harvested three times a year and sold for a sky-high price of one hundred gold coins, which was enough food to feed the people of Jinchengli for a year.

Hundreds of wives were sent to Jinchenglu, and there was no need to worry about the corn to feed an extra hundred people.

The amount of money Guo Jie used to buy the title and atone for his sins reached a staggering 400 gold. The extra money was divided among several brothers, with each of them receiving nearly 10 gold.

Zhao Yu, the magistrate of Chang'an, was in the process of repairing a bridge and a post station. He was accompanied by more than a hundred soldiers, accompanied by labor supervisors, construction officials, and road and bridge officials. He stood beside a mulberry forest on the west bank of the Ba River and personally supervised the repair of the post station.

Yesterday, the magistrate of Maoling held a banquet in exchange for the money and grain that Zhao Yu had confiscated from the local tyrants. After being repeatedly humiliated, he immediately rushed to the post office repaired by Zhao Yu.

Get back your face!

The powerful people did not give him a large amount of millet for nothing. When the Maoling Ling served as the Right Internal History, he would need to give up the official position of a county Cao and two miscellaneous officials.

For some people in the county who have high moral character, upright aspirations, or outstanding talents but are unwilling to hold specific official positions, they are kept in the county government as scattered officials and treated as teachers and friends.

The Maoling Magistrate looked at Baqiao nearby, not at Zhao Yu, his face filled with contempt. "You've wasted so much energy confiscating the wealth of the powerful, haha, that's only made them support me even more. I've already received money and grain equivalent to the confiscations, and the position of Right Internal History is still within my grasp."

Zhao Yu's face looked ugly.

The land rent collected in Maoling was several thousand dan more than that in Chang'an, and it was only necessary to raise money and grain equivalent to fines.

The Magistrate of Maoling is the first one to make plans.

It is impossible to create a pile of corn out of thin air when collecting land rent.

The powerful also hated the cruel official Zhao Yu.

Could it be that the Right Secretary of the Interior really has to hand over his position to someone else?

Just then, a number of ox carts drove over from Baqiao.

"Hmm? Lord Zhao?"

Guo Jie turned around and drove his ox cart to the bank of the Ba River. He said happily, "Lord Zhao, this humble official has brought tens of thousands of dan of millet and grain."

(End of this chapter)