Han official!

Chapter 121 Public Transportation
Qili was the neighborhood that Emperor Gaozu renamed after he married Lady Shi. It was also considered a prestigious and noble neighborhood in Chang'an. The powerful people in Chang'an who did not have corresponding official positions and titles could not live in large or small mansions no matter how much money they had.

Qili became the best choice for the wealthy to buy houses and land, and those who lived in Qili were at least middle-class families.

During the Han Dynasty, the title of Gongcheng (公程) or the official position of Houzhang (侯长) was worth 30,000 yuan for two slaves, 20,000 yuan for one maidservant, 10,000 yuan for two carriages, 20,000 yuan for five horses, 4,000 yuan for two oxcarts, 6,000 yuan for two oxen, a house, 10,000 yuan for five hectares of land, 50,000 yuan for five acres, and 150,000 yuan for any piece of land. (Han Dynasty Bamboo Slips: Li Zhong Jian)

Gongcheng is the eighth level of military nobility, and the rank of Houchang is equivalent to two hundred stones. The rank of Liecao in large counties is also two hundred stones.

In other words, only middle-class families with the lowest official rank of director of the capital and a total property value of more than 150,000 coins can live in the Qili.

Du Junao was very cautious in his actions and never took risks easily. He just sent a servant to deliver a message, saying that he had prepared wine and meat at his house and invited Chong Huangrou to go to Qili to feast the marquis.

"Qili."

Guo Jie nodded gently. "That's fine. Qi Li is close to the main and secondary chambers. We can ask my wife's brother Yi Zong to take the thief catcher to stay in the shooting room. If a fight breaks out, he can bring the thief catcher over at any time."

The thief catcher is a police officer with law enforcement power, and he comes here for only one purpose.

Take sides.

In addition, Qili is relatively close to the county residence and the chief official's temple. Two military officials on leave and twenty armored officers were directly transferred to Qili under the pretext of inspecting the county residence. They stayed near Lumen temporarily and could rush to provide assistance at any time.

At the entrance of the alley, a group of people wearing cloth robes worth 1,400 coins were already waiting. The leader was Du Junao, who was wearing a black linen robe worth 2,500 coins. He was looking forward to seeing the beautiful Chong Huangrou.

"It is truly an honor for the Du family to have you visit my humble home. Please come and have a feast for me, Lord Chong. I have killed a deer and will treat you to a feast."

Du Junao was not very old, about thirty years old. He wore a thin gauze scarf on his head and a black linen robe. He was followed by many knights with two-foot swords on their waists.

However, the four guests behind Chong Huangrou, Guo Jie, Wei Guang, Mang Tong, and An Guo Shao Ji, were more capable and skilled than the knights of the Du family, and looked like guests kept in the inner chambers of a marquis.

Especially An Guo Shao Ji, who is not only handsome but also tall, even standing out from the crowd, a head taller than Youxiaer. No wonder he is favored by the lady.

Du Jun'ao was puzzled and asked, "Why are the guests behind the Insect Lord covering their faces with sackcloth? Could they be fugitives who have violated Han laws and are hiding in the chamber of Marquis Qucheng, seeking the protection of the Insect Lord?"

Chong Huangrou's heart trembled, and she immediately said impatiently: "I came here today, first, to attend the banquet, and second, to discuss the sale of hemp paper. I bought a large piece of land near Baqiao and want to build a hemp paper workshop."

This was the excuse Guo Jie and Chong Huangrou had agreed upon on the way here, and it was also the only way to get to the Du family hemp paper workshop.

Qu Chenghou's eldest son, Chong Huangrou, coveted the profits from hemp paper and wanted to get a piece of the pie, so he built a hemp paper workshop.

Du Junao's tense nerves relaxed a lot. No wonder Chong Huangrou suddenly appeared in the final shooting workshop.

It turned out that he was just coveting the profits made by hemp paper.

Wasn't he sent by Princess Pingyang to investigate the rumor about hemp paper?

"I'm sorry, Bug-kun."

Du Junao bowed and said, "I caught a cold yesterday and couldn't leave Qili and be outside in the wind. Besides, the workshop is a dirty and messy one, not a place to entertain a distinguished guest like Chongjun. I can only invite Chongjun to Qili."

There are many nobles and powerful people in Qili, and it is considered the neighborhood with the most expensive land in Chang'an.

A house in a border county can be sold for ten thousand coins, let alone Chang'an, the capital county, where Qili is one of the neighborhoods with the most expensive land.

The cheapest house costs 100,000 yuan.

Du Junao, whose family had a house worth 100,000 coins, actually owned a house with two courtyards on the left and right sides shaped like a sun. It can be seen that the hemp paper business was very profitable.

Guo Jie opened his mouth with a vulgar and greedy mouth: "I heard that the daughter of Du Jun'ao of Ba Ling has reached marriageable age. I wonder how much dowry your daughter will need to marry her, and how much dowry she can bring to her husband's family."

Many knights looked at Guo Jie with disdain. "Are you planning to marry Du Jun'ao's daughter?" It was clear that he was after Du Jun'ao's money.

With the help of Du Junao's daughter Du Ji who took away dozens of baskets of dowry, he made a fortune and transformed himself from a fugitive into a wealthy family with land, houses and slaves.

A knight who had an affair with Du Ji was angry because he thought Guo Jie might be a fugitive.

How dare he covet the beautiful Du Ji.

Don't even take a piss and look at yourself.

"Ah."

Gong Cheng sneered and said, "Du Ji often comes in and out of the main chamber, and she is also the concubine of Princess Pingyang. A few days ago, she even accompanied Princess Pingyang on a hunting trip. How could she marry a fugitive?"

Guo Jie deliberately angered the knight-errant raised by Du Shi of Ba Ling in order to find out who Du Shi's wife or concubine was.

A few days ago, did you follow Princess Pingyang to Nanshan for hunting?

The Western Han Dynasty valued martial arts, and many dukes and marquises personally fought with lions in the lion circle.

Princess Pingyang was fond of hunting. A few days ago, she took a group of nobles and powerful women to Nanshan. The driver of the carriage was the riding slave Wei Qing.

After hunting in Nanshan, Princess Pingyang returned to Chang'an. Just a few days later, a piece of hemp paper appeared, spreading rumors that Princess Pingyang and Wei Qing had an affair.

Even if Du Junao's daughter Du Ji was not the rumormonger, she knew the inside story. Who on earth would dare to spread the rumor that a princess had an affair with a riding slave?

Guo Jie suspected that the mastermind behind the incident was Princess Guantao, or one of Dong Yan's close associates.

He was just a small county governor and could not capture Princess Guantao, but he just wanted to catch the person who spread the rumors.

It is also a sufficiently generous betrothal gift.

Gongcheng was enraged and said that Du Ji had followed him to Nanshan.

It seems that Du Ji knows who is behind the rumors.

Guo Jie only needs to find Du Ji to find the rumormonger.

"How dare you disrespect the Insect King!"

Guo Jie calmly thought about his strategy, then deliberately became furious: "I want to fight you. Go and call Du Ji to teach her who the true hero is."

Disrespectful?

Gongcheng was stunned.

He just said that a prisoner was not worthy of marrying Du Ji, how did it become a contempt for Chonghuang Rou?

"Insect Lord."

Guo Jie bowed to Chong Huang Rou and said, "If I don't cut off one of this ranger's arms today, I will fail to uphold the prestige of the Insect King. Only one of us has both arms."

"Sword fighting?"

Chong Huangrou's eyes lit up and a charming smile appeared on her face. She had long wanted to see Bianhu Guo Jie's fighting and sword-fighting skills.

Since he met Guo Jie, he challenged him to a fight several times, but was rejected every time.

Huainan's number one swordsman, Lei Bei, is hiding somewhere again.

Chong Huangrou couldn't even find an opponent of equal strength. It was impossible for him to run to the Northern Army or the Southern Army and fight with the generals in the army.

Guo Jie's initiative to fight was a good opportunity to see his sword fighting skills. "Du Junao."

Chong Huangrou glanced at him coldly, and when she saw Du Junao immersed in a charming smile, her expression turned even colder: "Go and call your daughter Du Ji. Let's see who will be the winner between the ranger you raised in your family and my guest."

"Please forgive me, my daughter is not at home."

When Du Junao heard that his daughter Du Ji was being called to the Qili, he expressed his resistance: "My daughter is currently managing the family business in Baling Town, so it's not convenient for her to come to the Qili. I will definitely call her over some other day to accompany Lord Chong to watch the guests' sword fighting."

He said solemnly, "This Gongcheng Xi is a leading knight of the Ba Ling Du clan. Not only is he a member of the powerful Xi clan, but he also climbed the ranks of the eighth-rank Gongcheng through military merit. His instinct for fighting with a sword is not something that ordinary people can resist."

An eighth-rank military officer?

If it were someone else, they would have been too scared to even mention the word fight.

Guo Jie frowned, thinking that Du Junao's repeated resistance to calling Du Ji over made him more and more certain that Du Ji was involved in spreading rumors.

As for Gongcheng, he climbed to the eighth level of Gongcheng by virtue of his military merits.

Guo Jie didn't take it seriously. Fighting for his life would only help him survive.

The most important thing at the moment is how to find Du Junao's daughter Du Ji.

Finding Du Ji is like finding the thread that makes linen, and only then can we figure out the cause of everything.

The current thread leader is Du Ji.

Guo Jie glanced at An Guo Shao Ji, who was handsome but also a bit shifty, and sighed in his heart.

It’s a pity that Du Ji is less than 20 years old. If she was over 40, it would be easy for him to seduce Du Ji.

"If you have the courage, follow me to Ba Ling Yi to find Du Ji."

Guo Jie persisted, saying, "Today I will show Du Ji my bravery. The knights kept by the Du family of Ba Ling are nothing but a bunch of comedians and prostitutes, a bunch of scum."

Actors, dwarfs, and lechers are all lowly people who entertain the nobles and the powerful.

The level of his low status is no different from that of a son-in-law or a city dweller.

City residents refer to merchants, who are also considered lowly and cannot serve as officials. If they are among the seven categories of exiles, even if they join the army, they can only do hard labor or be slave soldiers. They are not given any dishes for meals, and when attacking a city, they need to brave the sharp arrows and carry soil to fill the trenches.

Guo Jie noticed Gongcheng's irritability and compared him to a comedian who entertained people with his sex appeal.

This immediately angered Gongcheng and many other knights in the mansion.

"How brave!"

Gongcheng was furious: "Do you know why I am not a guard at the border? I killed a lunatic like you. How dare you despise a Gongcheng? Today I will let you know the sharpness of my two-foot sword."

Many of the knights also had angry expressions on their faces. They were very excited and shouted loudly at Guo Jie.

"Gongcheng must chop off his arm to teach him the great reputation of the knight-errant raised by the Du family of Ba Ling in Ba Ling."

"Not only is he famous in Baling, he is also a leader in Chang'an."

"Oh, last year in my little room, a guest of a famous two thousand stone prefect provoked Gongcheng, and he severed his tendons with a sword. Now here comes another lunatic who wants to die."

Guo Jie nodded secretly, taking advantage of Gongcheng's irritability and indeed aroused the public indignation of the Du family's wandering knights.

He was usually calm in his actions, but he seemed to be irritated by Gongcheng and said something about fighting.

In fact, Guo Jie was very calm inside, he just pretended to be very angry to irritate all the knights.

Chong Huangrou and the others looked at each other with contempt, thinking that they were a bunch of idiots who directly dragged Du Junao, who didn't want to expose his daughter Du Ji, into the water.

"This issue."

Du Junao was anxious, sweat dripping from his head beneath the thin gauze scarf. "We can fight at our relatives' house. There's no need to go to Gushuli in Baling. The governor of Hedong County has bought several carts of hemp paper, and my daughter is supervising its production in the village. We can't delay sending the paper."

The Du family of Baling lived in Gushuli, east of Baqiao and north of Baling Town, close to the Wei River, with convenient water transportation. Hemp paper could sail south along the Wei River and then north into the Fen River, thus transporting large quantities of goods to Hedong County.

Du Jun'ao was cautious in his actions and ordered his daughter Du Ji to live in Gushuli, not in the city of Balingyi, nor in the Qili of Chang'an.

They were afraid that Du Ji would be involved in the rumor-mongering case and bring trouble upon herself. Then she could escape directly into Hedong County through the convenient water transportation of Wei River and Fen River and hide in the northern part of Hedong County, which was full of mountain passes.

"No."

Du Junao could only bring up the Hedong County Governor as an excuse to prevaricate: "The Hedong Governor's document cannot be delayed. If you two must decide who is the winner, then you can fight with swords at the entrance of the guest room. Chongjun and I saw you fighting with swords, and you are far more powerful than a mere Xijun."

Guo Jie frowned, and seeing Du Junao's repeated refusal, he was completely certain that Du Ji was involved in the rumor-mongering case.

However, Du Junao stopped Du Ji from coming forward, which was a difficult problem to solve.

"no!"

Before Guo Jie could object, Gongcheng jumped out, his face filled with rage. "Today's incident not only involves the reputation of all the Du clan's knights, but also the reputation of the Ba Ling Du clan. How can we be humiliated by a mere prisoner and guest? Let's go to the granary and chop off this man's arm in front of Du Ji."

Although Gongcheng looked angry, he was actually very happy in his heart and couldn't help laughing secretly.

He was worrying about not having the chance to marry Du Ji, when Chong Huangrou's guests brought him a good opportunity.

Hey.

Everyone in the house was deceived by him.

I didn't see his little thoughts.

Du Junao had no sons, only a few children, and Du Ji was the eldest daughter.

Whoever can marry Du Ji home will be able to inherit most of the family wealth of the Ba Ling Du family.

Chong Huang Rou is the eldest son of Qu Chenghou, one of the eighteen marquises. Defeating Qu Chenghou's guests will make Gong Cheng famous.

At that time, Gongcheng could find someone to act as an intermediary and win the beauty, and also inherit most of the family wealth of the Du family of Ba Ling.

Whenever Gongcheng thought of the grain piled up in the granary of the Du family in Baling, his heart would be filled with excitement. He stared at Guo Jie and rubbed his hands with anticipation. He was even more eager than Guo Jie to go to Gushuli and see Du Ji.

Du's knights started shouting again.

"Good! I must humiliate him in front of Du Ji."

"Look at him, he's obsessed with beauty. Ha, only defeating him in front of Du Ji would be the greatest humiliation."

"Being defeated in front of Du Ji, whom he admired, would make him feel extremely miserable."

Du Junao was in a dilemma. Looking at the angry faces of the many rangers, he could only agree to go to the grain tree.

He looked helpless: "The fight is taking place at the inner gate of Gushuli. The production of hemp paper involves the secrets of the Du family of Ba Ling. Outsiders are not allowed to enter."

(End of this chapter)