Han official!

Chapter 117 Hair Woman

After some clouds and rain.

Scattered inside the carriage were military caps, jade hairpins, and two bronze belt hooks. The leather belt around the waist was tied together with the belt hooks. Guo Jie's black clothes were tied with bronze belt hooks with animal faces, and Wei Junru's Yuegui brocade skirt was tied with a pipa-shaped belt hook (unearthed from a Han tomb in Danyang).

Wei Junru's Yue-style brocade skirt had lost its hook, and her silk dress was half-undone. She nestled in Guo Jie's arms and said, "When will Mr. Guo send someone to Princess Pingyang's main room to introduce me? I don't want to be the matchmaker myself."

Self-mediation is the act of arranging marriages without a matchmaker. It is considered an ugly act and implies free love.

Free love in the Western Han Dynasty was a very shameful thing, similar to the elopement of Zhuo Wenjun and Sima Xiangru, which was despised by the world.

In the Western Han Dynasty, marriages between men and women were arranged by their parents. When they reached marriageable age, they would ask relatives and friends to act as matchmakers and go to the other party's home to propose marriage.

Although men and women cannot fall in love freely, there is also a very open side to the closed environment.

If a girl falls in love with a boy, her parents will send someone to the boy's house to propose marriage.

A matchmaker who comes to propose marriage is called a jie.

"Book of Han·Biography of Foreign Relatives·Empress Xu of Emperor Xiaoxuan" : Zhang He, who raised the emperor's great-grandson, heard that Xu Guanghan had a daughter named Guang and asked for his daughter for the emperor's great-grandson. Xu Guanghan agreed, but his wife was very dissatisfied. Guang ignored his wife's objection and ordered her to "act as an intermediary" again, and then she was married to the great-grandson.

Being an intermediary is a formal and solemn way of proposing marriage.

Even if the parents of the man and woman are very familiar friends and have already arranged their children's marriage privately, an introduction ceremony must be held to show formality and solemnity.

Wei Junru was not an ordinary maid. She was a close confidant of Princess Pingyang. Her status was no less than that of the household steward. She was the intermediary to the palace and her salary could not be less than two thousand stones, which was equivalent to that of a county governor or the prime minister of a vassal state.

Guo Jie understood that only a high-ranking official with a salary of two thousand stones was qualified to propose marriage to a princess.

He didn't know the county magistrate, but there were three suitable people he knew in the officialdom.

Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang were the top two leaders in the capital, and Sang Shizhong was the emperor's secretary and personal secretary, so he was qualified to go to Princess Pingyang's residence to propose marriage.

"a piece of cake."

Guo Jie's hand was not honest. He reached into Wei Junru's fine gauze inner garment and kept moving it around. "Tomorrow I will go to Lord Zhao's residence and invite Lord Zhao and Lord Zhang, and then call Minister Sang, to go to Princess Pingyang's main residence together."

"Mr. Guo."

Wei Junru bit her lip lightly, her body softened by Guo Jie's torment, and she took the initiative to rush over and press Guo Jie down.
The mulberry forest startled flocks of wild ducks, which kept flying away, quacking, frightened away by the loud sounds in the mulberry forest.

At several o'clock in the morning (5:15-6:00), a chariot returned to Hengmen and entered Huayang Street from the wide east gate. The middle gate was empty, while the common people walking and the powerful people in carriages in the west gate were leaving Hengmen for their hometowns.

Chang'an has twelve city gates, connected by three roads, which follow the traffic rules of exiting from the left west and entering from the right east.

In ancient times, the left was respected, which was different from the modern left-west and right-east. Usually, the left was east and the right was west, so Jiangdong was called Jiangzuo.

The Western Han Dynasty respected the right side, which is the same as the modern times. The left is west and the right is east. Hexi County (in Shaanxi Province) is located on the west side of the left side of the Yellow River, and opposite it is Hedong County (in Shanxi Province), which is located on the east side of the right side of the Yellow River.

The Four Hexi Counties, namely the Hexi Corridor (Gansu), were also named because they were located on the west side of the Yellow River.

Hexi County and the Four Hexi Counties sound similar, but they are actually very far apart. The Four Hexi Counties are on the left channel of the Yellow River in the shape of the Chinese character "几", and Hexi County is on the right channel of the Yellow River in the shape of the Chinese character "几".

Guo Jie sat in the chariot, looking at Wei Junru who was driving the chariot from behind. He looked at her delicate and graceful figure, which was flawless and graceful, and was still recalling the scene of being pressed underneath her last night.

I have to say, it’s a wonderful experience.

He only needs to lie down and enjoy the wonderful feeling brought by the 1.8-meter-long legs without exerting any physical energy.

"Mr. Guo is here."

The chariot stopped at the Hanque Gate of the Chang'an Guansi Temple. Guo Jie and Wei Junru said goodbye reluctantly, and the chariot disappeared at the end of the road beside the open ditch, and Wei Junru was no longer visible.

Guo Jie straightened his military cap, adjusted his belt hook, and arranged his cap and belt. He walked along the corridor to the Lingshe behind the official temple and went all the way to the gate.

The boudoir is the small door of the house.

Lingxia saw that the person coming was Guo Jie and led him in directly: "Mr. Guo has arrived at a good time. Minister Sang is drinking in the guest room. It is said that he has come to ask Lord Zhao for some things from the official temple in Chang'an again."

Guo Jie looked surprised.

The money and silk he had confiscated from Shuqi had already been taken back to Linyuan by Sang Hongyang, so why would he come to ask for them again?

"Half. I only want to supervise half of the prisoners."

"How dare you ask that? Chang'an needs a lot of laborers to repair the post stations, roads, bridges, walls, and flag pavilions. If the labor supervisors ask for half of the labor, how can I govern Chang'an?"

"I am helpless. Building the forest garden not only requires money, but also laborers."

Guo Jie walked to the door of the guest room and knew the reason why Sang Hongyang came. He not only had his eyes on the storage treasury of the Chang'an official temple, but also on the executioners of the labor prison.

"Guo Jie?"

Sang Hongyang saw Guo Jie at the door and, before he could even salute, said with a delighted look, "You've arrived just in time. I'm going to the Chang'an government office today and have something to tell you. Confiscate the property of the powerful and send the criminals from the village to the forest gardens. Every thousand people will be exchanged for 500 mu of land."

Two prisoners in exchange for one acre of prime farmland.

This deal is a huge profit.

Just think of it as waste utilization.

The Western Han Dynasty was not like later generations, where criminals were kept for nothing and anyone who broke the law was tortured to death.

Guo Jie clapped his hands and smiled: "Don't worry, Minister Sang, the officials will not let any prisoner go. We will enforce the law impartially and arrest all the powerful people who violate the Han laws."

Guo Jie, who came from the lower class, brought with him a group of common people such as riding slaves and knights.

From the beginning to the end, it only targeted the wealthy and powerful people in the upper class.

For the sake of some petty profits, the villagers were willing to serve as running dogs for the rich and oppress the common people at the bottom. No wonder Guo Jie arrested the running dogs as well.

When Zhao Yu heard that Guo Jie only arrested the powerful and would not profit from the land acquired by prisoners, but would not make things difficult for the common people who were easier to capture, he looked very satisfied.

Only by eliminating the powerful rentiers and redistributing the occupied land to the common people can the Han Dynasty be stabilized.

When Zhang Tang heard the words "enforce the law impartially", a rare smile appeared on his solemn face.

"Minister Sang, Lord Zhao, Lord Zhang."

Guo Jie bowed and said, "I have a humble request. Last night, I and Wei Junru secretly agreed to be married. I hope the three of you can help me act as matchmakers and go to Princess Pingyang's residence to act as intermediaries."

Wei Junru???
!!!

When Sang Hongyang, Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang heard Wei Junru's name, they were all stunned and shocked by Guo Jie's words.

"you"

Sang Hongyang kept looking Guo Jie up and down, as if he had just met him for the first time. "Wei Junru is the most beautiful maid in the Dadi Palace. Countless nobles and marquises' sons covet Wei Junru's beauty. Her appearance is no less than that of the empress. It even attracted the princes of the Liu family to bring thousands of gold coins to the Dadi Palace to buy Wei Junru. Who would have thought that she would be captured by you?"

Zhao Yu couldn't help but sigh: "Fortunately, Wei Junru is the maidservant of the eldest princess and also her private servant. If it were any other princess, only the eldest princess could protect Wei Junru, otherwise, she would have become the wife of a prince." Princess Pingyang is the eldest princess. Except for the eldest princess, Princess Guantao, no one in Chang'an cares about anyone's expression.

Sang Hongyang, Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang were different. Their highest salary was no more than 1,000 dan, which was far less than that of a county magistrate with a salary of 2,000 dan.

In front of the dukes, ministers, marquises and princes of the Liu clan, not to mention Sang Hongyang and the other two, even the county magistrate had to be careful and not dare to offend the real powerful people of the Han Dynasty.

"I agree."

Zhang Tang had the lowest salary, yet he was the first to speak out, unafraid of power: "I will protect you in this matter. If the nobles, dukes, and princes of the Liu clan have any complaints, you can come to me."

As a superior, he once again took the blame for his subordinates.

Guo Jie felt sad. In his two lifetimes as an official, he had only met one leader who took the blame for his subordinates. A leader like Zhang Tang was extremely rare, and was the kind of leader that all subordinates dreamed of.

Do not be greedy for the credit of your subordinates, reward them when they have made contributions, and even help your subordinates take the blame.

"good."

"Of course."

Sang Hongyang and Zhao Yu nodded in succession. In the whole Chang'an, there was only one close minister of the emperor and two cruel officials. They were not afraid of offending the top dignitaries of the Han Dynasty at all.

Zhang Tang pondered for a moment and said, "Minister Sang has already agreed. Why don't you go to Princess Pingyang's main residence and buy Wei Junru's concubine certificate? Then, give it to Guo Jie and claim it as a reward to a lowly official."

The slave contract was a contract to sell one's body. Wei Qing, Wei Guang, Wei Junru and Wei Zifu were all slaves.

When Guo Jie married Wei Junru, he first helped her redeem herself. When it came to Princess Pingyang, redemption was not a matter of money.

How could the emperor's sister be short of money?

What Princess Pingyang needed was favor. The princes with the surname Liu would not redeem the smuggled relatives, but Sang Hongyang had the face to do so.

Sang Hongyang pondered for a moment and understood what Zhang Tang meant. In order to stop the dissatisfaction of the dukes, marquises and princes of the Liu clan, he awarded Wei Junru to Guo Jie. No one cared about a low-ranking official and only took out their resentment on Sang Hongyang.

"Today I will go to Princess Pingyang's main chamber."

Sang Hongyang rarely spoke his mind: "An ordinary minor official is not worthy of me bearing so much resentment from the powerful. But Guo Jie is different. I have become almost inseparable from him."

Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang nodded in agreement.

Guo Jie was delighted. It seemed that his way of being an official had begun to show results. He no longer fawned over the leader, but became an indispensable subordinate of the leader, a subordinate who could bring benefits to the leader.

"The clerk wants to take a few days off."

Guo Jie bowed and said, "This has taken quite some time. I, a humble official, would like to take advantage of these few days to go to Hezuo and find Madam Yishuo to clarify the matter of Wei Junru."

Han Dynasty laws stipulated that officials, eunuchs, and their attendants were to be given sixty days' notice each year. Officials who were to be away from home for more than two thousand miles were to return home once every two years, with eighty days' notice.

This means that officials are allowed to take 60 days of leave a year, and officials who are more than 2,000 miles away from their hometown can take 80 days of leave.

Jinchenglili was only three days' journey from Chang'an. Guo Jie wanted to take ten days' leave to spend more time with Yishuo and decide on the location for building the beacon tower.

“No need to ask for leave.”

Zhao Yu was capricious, cruel when angry but especially gracious when pleased. He was clearly pleased with Guo Jie: "You are the head of the county residence, and it is your job to inspect the county residences. Longxi County, a county in the northwest, also has a county residence in Chang'an. Go to the county residence and find a report from the county residence. Then, on behalf of the Longxi County residence, I believe the officials in the county residence will not refuse your favor."

Dibao, also known as Dichao and Chaobao, is an important official business of the county residence (Beijing office). It copies the decrees issued by the court and various intelligence and sends them to the official temples in various counties in a timely manner. Dibao first appeared in the early Western Han Dynasty.

Guo Jie burst out laughing. He didn't expect that his leader's leader would take the initiative to help him find a loophole.

Under the pretext of delivering court reports, he could stay in Jinchenglu for a year without asking for leave.

Guo Jie glanced at Zhang Tang and saw that he had a serious face and did not say any words of rebuttal.

Also.

Taking advantage of loopholes does not violate Han law.

Zhang Tang wouldn't care.

"Thank you, Mr. Zhao."

Guo Jie invited Sang Hongyang to act as an intermediary, secretly breathed a sigh of relief, bowed, left the official's residence, and prepared to lead his men to Jinchengluli in Hezuo.

The river runs through the valley of Jincheng. The left side of the river is the west side, which belongs to the grassland of the Huns. The neighborhood of Jincheng is on the east side of the right side of the river, using the wide river to block the iron hooves of the Huns.

However, every time Guo Jie mentioned Jinchengluli, he still insisted that it was Hezuo, not Heyou.

This led the officials in Chang'an to believe that Guo Jie had established a Han neighborhood in the Xiongnu pasture.

"Brother-in-law."

Yi Zong hurried into the county mansion's chief official's temple, his expression overjoyed: "As expected of a heroic Bianhu, he has even conquered Wei Junru, the most beautiful maid in the mansion's chambers. This humble official truly admires him."

At the gate of the county mansion's Changguan Temple, more than ten sewing machines were parked next to the Hanque. Hundreds of concubines had completely solved their worries and were ready to be registered in Jinchengli.

This time, Guo Jie brought back hundreds of concubines, intending to give women to his brothers and settle down in Jinchenglu.

"Forehead"

Seeing Yi Zong's delighted face, Guo Jie was surprised and said, "I've married another wife. Doesn't my brother-in-law resent me?"

resentment?

Yi Zong was confused and didn't understand what Guo Jie said.

He was surprised and said, "Giving birth is very dangerous for women. Even the emperor's wives and concubines cannot guarantee the survival of their children. They often die in childbirth. If my sister-in-law marries another wife, my sister will have fewer children and no longer have to worry about dying in childbirth."

Guo Jie suddenly understood.

He has a fixed mindset.

Childbirth in ancient times was different from that in modern times. Modern times have all kinds of advanced medical care, and it is difficult to die. But childbirth in ancient times was a life-and-death struggle for women.

The survival rate of children in ancient times was not high, and many princes did not reach adulthood, not to mention the children of common people.

In ancient times, women had to give birth to more children in order to ensure that their offspring would survive to adulthood. Every time they gave birth, there was an increased possibility of death.

The wife of the principal wife would even personally help her husband choose a concubine and give birth to a son. Anyway, the son would only call the wife of the principal wife "mother", and the concubine would be called "jia mother", which means concubine.

Yi Zong, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. "My sister has been pregnant for several months, but my brother-in-law still hasn't married a concubine. I've been so anxious that I almost used my salary to buy a concubine for my brother-in-law. Fortunately, my brother-in-law is planning to marry Wei Junru, and I feel a little relieved."

Guo Jie felt relieved, smiled widely, and waved his hand vigorously.

"Let's go to Jinchengluli and give women to the brothers!"

(End of this chapter)