Han official!

Chapter 114 Reward
Thousands of stones.

Several officials beside the mulberry forest looked incredulous, but when they turned around and saw the long line of open carts behind Guo Jie, they had to believe it.

just
Tens of thousands of dan of money and grain were truly unbelievable.

For a commoner family of five, at least two of the male members would be drafted into military service every year. The family only had one hundred mu of cultivated land. They plowed in spring, weeded in summer, harvested in autumn, and stored in winter. The annual harvest from the hundreds of mu of land was no more than one hundred dan.

All year round, they did not avoid wind and rain, nor fear cold or heat, and had no time to rest. Every day they were busy farming, chopping wood, and serving in the army. They paid grain tax according to the thirty-first rate of land rent, and the land rent alone was as high as more than three stones.

In addition, there was the fodder tax and the head tax, which made life very hard for the common people.

The tens of thousands of shi of grain brought by Guo Jie were equivalent to the land rent collected by Zhao Yu and the warehouse and grain collection departments from more than a dozen villages. Because the powerful people hid their fields and concealed the true amount of land in order to avoid taxes, the actual number of villages from which tens of thousands of shi of land rent was collected was even greater.

Chang'an had 88,000 households and 246,200 people.

Tens of thousands of dan of money and grain required the collection of land rent from tens of thousands of households. Guo Jie confiscated the property of the Du families in the Western Road, which resulted in annual land rent from tens of thousands of households. The amount of money and grain was truly astonishing.

It is equivalent to the land rent of Shuqili for more than ten years.

The wealthy and powerful have accumulated a lot of wealth.

"What a timely rain."

Zhao Yu's face was filled with joy. He turned his head, which was bound with an iron hairpin, and looked at the Magistrate of Maoling. He stretched out his fingers and stroked his mustache. He said with great joy, "I remember that you once said that the Du people of the Western Road gave you a lot of millet. That's very kind. The local tyrants whom I have arranged for Guo Jie to confiscate the grain are precisely those Du people of the Western Road."

He sighed in his heart that the powerful people really had rich background and abundant money and grain.

The taxes and grain collected by the Du families in the Western Road were equivalent to one-eighth of the annual land rent in Chang'an.

The powerful people who dominated the neighborhoods and villages of Chang'an.

They all deserve to be killed!

"you!"

The Maoling Magistrate didn't vent his anger on Guo Jie. He stared at Zhao Yu, his body trembling with rage even under his leopard-embroidered robe. "What a cruel official! The Du clan of the Western Roads were established in Chang'an during the Qin Dynasty. They were the third rank of the twenty ranks of nobility awarded through military merit. They have survived for nearly a hundred years, yet you have wiped out their entire clan with just one sentence. Your methods are far too cruel."

The Maoling Magistrate would not care about the calcium knife used to kill people. Guo Jie was just a knife in Zhao Yu's hand.

How could the chief official of Maoling County be angry with him?

Little did they know that Maoling Ling was also deceived by the vest that Guo Jie put on him. Only the first vest, Zhao Yu, was enough to block Maoling Ling, and he didn't even use the second vest, Zhang Tang.

The Magistrate of Maoling came to save his face and wanted to use the support of the nobles and powerful people to anger Zhao Yu who had humiliated him many times.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Yu was not angry, but Maoling Ling was furious.

"It's just tens of thousands of dan of millet."

The Maoling Magistrate's face turned grim, and he forced himself to speak, "How could the nobles and powerful men behind me be only the Du clans of the Western Circuit? Fine, you confiscate the Du clans of the Western Circuit, and I'll go find Du Jun'ao of Ba Ling, also surnamed Du, and borrow tens of thousands of dan of millet from him, so I can win first place in this year's Shangji competition."

The magistrate of Maoling said he didn't care, but his heart was bleeding and he wanted to cut off Zhao Yu's nose.

Ba Ling Du Junao would not lend tens of thousands of stones of millet to Mao Ling Ling for nothing. It almost emptied the money of a powerful family, so he needed to take out the county Cao of You Nei Shi.

Now that the Du officials of the Western Road were gone, the county officials and scattered officials that the Maoling Magistrate had promised earlier would not be regained. He still had to find other powerful people and promise to exchange the county officials for millet.

There are only a limited number of county clerks in a county. I don’t know how many county clerks and officials are needed this time to exchange for tens of thousands of stones of millet.

As the county officials made promises one after another, the Maoling Magistrate would eventually be sidelined by the powerful and become a pawn in the government office, helping the powerful to block the wind, and in the end all the benefits would fall into the hands of the powerful.

No matter how unwilling the Maoling magistrate was, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and go to the powerful to borrow corn.

"Haha."

Zhao Yu watched the Maoling Lingling Commander leave with a sullen face, and his mood brightened. "Let's go to the forest garden that Minister Sang is building to discuss how to deal with the tens of thousands of dan of money and grain."

It was not about dealing with money and grain, but about helping Guo Jie get the certificates for the land.

The forest garden built by Sang Hongyang was used by the emperor to train his troops and to train his troops to attack the Huns in the north. Since it was used to train cavalry, it occupied a large area and was located at the foot of the Qinling Mountains in the southernmost part of Chang'an.

The Qinling Mountains refer to the area of Three Qins. The name Qinling Mountains appeared as early as in the local chronicles of the Han Dynasty, and people in Chang'an commonly called it Nanshan.

The forest garden spanned Chang'an, Xianyang, Lantian and other counties, and flowed through eight rivers including Wei, Jing, Feng, Lao, Fu, He, Chan and Ba, requiring the conscription of a large number of civilians and prisoners.

Zhao Yu personally repaired the post station, Zhang Tang conscripted a group of prisoners and sent them to the forest garden, and the two officials were busy with their own affairs.

Guo Jie sent tens of thousands of dan of money and grain, and also the plunderers from Shuqili, who were all delivered to Linyuan.

Repairing the post office became a trivial matter, and it was originally a trivial matter. Zhao Yu personally supervised the repair, but he just told his subordinates that the Chang'an magistrate should inspect the post offices in various villages in Chang'an at any time.

Who dares to borrow money to repair the post office?

Zhao Yu also implicated the entire family of the official.

When the group returned to the official temple in Chang'an, they were about to go and look for Zhang Tang, the Chang'an Wei, but they saw him wearing an iron crown and black clothes, with an anxious look on his face, hurriedly walking out of the official temple with dozens of thieves and detectives.

The two groups met at Hanque at the gate of the official temple.

"What are you"

Zhao Yu knelt on the silk-covered carriage, looking at Zhang Tang, who looked anxious, and said in confusion, "Today is the day for conscription. Some of the prisoners from the prison are being sent to the forest garden. Why did you rashly leave the government temple and delay the escort of the prisoners? The government temple will definitely punish you."

Those who miss the deadline should be beheaded.

Although the laws of the Han court were not as harsh as those of the Qin Dynasty, the Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system and only removed some cruel punishments. The laws of the Han Dynasty were still relatively harsh.

Zhang Tang failed to deliver the prisoner to the Linyuan within the stipulated time. He would not be beheaded according to the Qin Dynasty's law of failing to deliver the prisoner within the stipulated time, but he would still be punished by the government.

"The county lieutenant Cao Zheng has transferred the prisoners from the labor camp."

Zhang Tang said with a displeased expression, "Lord Zhao led his staff to repair a post station near the Ba River. I went to the prison to collect prisoners for the forest garden. Unexpectedly, the county lieutenant Cao, using an official document conscripting prisoners to build Maoling, took the prisoners away directly."

The Dou family, the foreign relative, is now targeting us.

Last time, Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang killed Dou Pengzu in front of Princess Guantao, which offended the Dou family, their in-laws. They would not let the two off easily.

In order to please Princess Guantao and Prime Minister Dou Ying, the guests of the Dou family, the relatives of the emperor's wife, kept a close eye on the two senior officials in the Chang'an government. As soon as they got a chance, they would immediately accuse them of a crime.

Cao, the county lieutenant of You Nei Shi, did not mobilize the prisoners early or late, but suddenly when Zhang Tang was escorting the prisoners to Linyuan, he conscripted the prisoners from Chang'an who were in labor prison to go to Maoling.

It was to frame Zhang Tang for missing a deadline.

Guo Jie, the instigator of all this, was at ease with his imperial carriage. Under the envious eyes of several directors in the capital, he personally drove the car for the mayor of the capital and became the mayor's confidant when he went to the countryside.

"Zhang Tang!"

At this time, a censor from the Right Internal Affairs Department came up with several of his subordinates and scolded them, "Why are you still in the Chang'an government office? Hurry and take the prisoners from Chang'an to the Forest Garden. There are more than 20 counties and towns under the Right Internal Affairs Department, but Chang'an is the only one that hasn't yet recruited prisoners. Do you want to be charged with late delivery?"

Among the many county clerks in a county, there are three with the highest status and the greatest power.

One is Gongcao, which is equivalent to the Organization Department in charge of personnel transfers of officials.

One is a Wuguanyuan, which is equivalent to a secretariat.

A Duyou (Inspector) was equivalent to an inspection team. He served as the eyes and ears of the prefect, distinguishing good from evil and supervising county administration. A prefecture was divided into two, three, four, or five departments, each with an Inspector to oversee it. The inspected official was the most powerful official in the county.

He supervised the good and bad behavior of county officials, as well as whether they were competent, and reported to the county governor for reward and punishment, and even had the power to arrest criminal officials.

When Zhang Tang saw the Inspector coming with several officials, he accused him of being late without any investigation.

This Inspector, like the County Lieutenant Cao, was a guest of the Dou family, the foreign relative.

Zhang Tang was furious. Although he knew that he was framed by Dou's guests and strictly abided by the laws of the Han Dynasty, he was indeed suspected of missing the deadline.

No matter how angry and furious he was, he did not refute it. After all, he was the one who violated the Han law.

No matter what the reason was, as long as it violated the Han law, even if Zhang Tang was framed, he would first bear the punishment he should bear, and then think about clearing his name.

The Inspector seemed certain that Zhang Tang could not be sent to Nanshan to build the forest garden as conscripted prisoners. He stared at him with contempt, thinking that the cruel official Zhang Tang was no better than this.

With just a little trick, I fell into his hands.

The Inspector said in a deep voice, "I am waiting for you at the gate of the temple. I will see when you can deliver the prisoner to the forest garden. If you fail to do so, I will not let you off easily."

It was dusk (15:45-16:30), and the red afterglow of dusk shone on the Hanque at the gate of the official temple, coating it with a layer of red light. There was little time left before the conscripted prisoners were sent to the Linyuan.

Only a few moments remain.

Zhang Tang gritted his teeth, glanced at the setting sun in the distant sky, and his heart became increasingly heavy.

Could it be that he is going to fall into the trap of a villain?

"Jun Zhang."

Guo Jie sat on the screen of the silk-covered carriage, let go of the reins, and bowed, saying, "This time we are heading to Shuqi Village to apprehend the looters. All the villagers were involved in the looting of Xijun from Chang'an. The minor officials, Yin Qi, and Wang Wenshu have already apprehended all those involved in the looting, over a thousand miles away, and brought them all to Chang'an."

"Good! Good! Good!"

Zhang Tang was stunned at first, but then he clapped his hands and burst into laughter. "Haha, thousands of civilians! This time, we're conscripting only 800 prisoners. The Right Secretary of the Interior has sent hundreds of prisoners from each county to the Forest Garden. A thousand civilians are more than enough, maybe even 200 more."

The urgency in his heart was instantly swept away.

Feeling relaxed all over.

Zhang Tang sneered and stared at the Inspector of the Right Internal Affairs Office to see if he had anything else to say.

The Inspector's face looked grim. He glanced at Guo Jie and saw that he was just a minor official in charge of the imperial carriage. He was furious and thought that Zhao Yu must have secretly taught him to say these words.

In the entire Chang'an government, the Inspector-General only had a few senior officials that he cared about. He would not take a small clerk in charge of the imperial carriage seriously.

The Inspector was once again misled by Guo Jie's disguise.

Put the hatred on Zhao Yu.

The Inspector was unwilling to let Zhang Tang off so easily. He glanced at the crimson sun and made a decision: "Chang'an is quite far from Nanshan. We set out for Nanshan this morning with the prisoner, and we should have just arrived at Nanshan by dusk (15:45 PM - 16:30 PM). I want to see how you manage to get the prisoner there."

Even if there were eight hundred prisoners, there would only be a few moments left before they could be escorted.

It was not even enough for Zhang Tang to take the prisoners away from Chang'an.

Still missed the deadline!
"Guo Jie!"

A Hexi horse galloped over, and Sang Hongyang ran straight to the carriage covered with black silk, his face full of joy: "I heard that you confiscated the property of the powerful and brought back tens of thousands of dan of money and grain. Give it to me quickly and I will use it to build the forest and garden."

The clerk of Shanglin Prison brought back pork, leeks, salt, vinegar and other meat and vegetables to Linyuan, which aroused the envy of many low-level officials. Looking at the things that the clerk gave to the clerk who stayed behind in the prison, they kept swallowing their saliva.

As the construction of the forest garden became larger and larger, Sang Hongyang's financial gap became larger and larger, and he was almost going crazy for money.

When Sang Hongyang learned that the prison clerk had brought back a large amount of meat and leeks, he immediately rode a Hexi horse and went to the official temple in Chang'an with several officials.

Just for one thing.

They found Guo Jie and took away tens of thousands of stones of money and grain.

Guo Jie glanced at the Inspector and said with a smile, "The money and grain are on the open carts, and there are also 800 prisoners who need to be escorted to the forest garden."

"Haha."

Sang Hongyang clapped his hands and laughed: "Let's take them all with us, so that Zhang Tang doesn't have to go to Linyuan again."

"Wait a minute."

The Inspector's face turned grim. He stepped forward to stop them, saying, "The conscripted prisoners can only be escorted there by Zhang Tang himself. Ah!"

"Snapped!"

Sang Hongyang slapped the Inspector directly and said contemptuously, "Look, your official position should be the Inspector of the Right Internal Affairs. What a mere Inspector! Even if the Right Internal Affairs came, he wouldn't dare to act so presumptuously in front of this Minister. How dare you obstruct my official duties? Zhang Tang! I'll hand this man over to you for interrogation. I suspect he's a Xiongnu idler!"

"Minor official."

The Inspector was terrified. Falling into the hands of the cruel official Zhang Tang, he had no chance of survival. He hurriedly defended himself, saying, "You are only an attendant to the emperor. Ah!"

Guo Jie punched the Inspector in the face and kicked him in the stomach: "Minister Sang, the Inspector has been captured."

The officials in Chang'an had no power to arrest the Inspector, but the Palace Attendants around the Emperor could.

The Inspector is an inspection team sent by the Right Secretary, that is, the province.

The Shizhong was the emperor's secretary.

"hehe."

Sang Hongyang was very pleased with Guo Jie's decisive action and left two letters: "This is the certificate for 500 acres of good farmland. In addition, I have informed the government that a beacon tower will be built in Jinchenglu. You will choose the commander and the location of the beacon tower."

Beacon!

Guo Jie finally began to take control of the military power.

And the right to wear armor, that is, the right to carry a gun.

Zhao Yu also took out a letter. Zhang Tang hesitated for a moment and also wrote a letter and handed it to Guo Jie.

The three letters represent 1,500 acres of land.

The high-quality farmland in Jinchenglu reaches 3,000 acres!

Before Zhang Tang entered the official temple, he said with a smile, "Bring it here. I'm sure there will be quite a few love books this time."

Guo Jie's face lit up with joy, and he immediately took out eight love letters and handed them over.

Fifty gold coins can buy a title to atone for one life, and four hundred gold coins can atone for eight lives.

The progress of buying a title to atone for sins has reached 25%.

(End of this chapter)