Han official!

Chapter 134: Uncle Jun
"This is money, and you're throwing it away!"

Guo Jie's attack was quick, but not as quick as Chong Huang Rou's. Seeing Chong Huang Rou holding Wei Guang, he withdrew his hand to avoid touching Chong Huang Rou's slender, white and tender fingers.

Guo Jie scolded him, "You are a cavalry officer patrolling Chang'an. You should know the consequences of refusing money and silk."

"This"

Wei Guang was immediately frightened and his heart trembled. He remembered the punishment for refusing to accept money and silk in Han law. He was thankful that he was stopped in time by Guo Jie and Chong Huangrou.

The Han Dynasty laws had very strict regulations: merchants in the market and officials in government offices were not allowed to choose between money and cloth, and could not refuse to accept money and cloth. It even stipulated that if someone encountered such behavior but did not report it, or if the officials did not conduct strict inspections, they would be guilty.

As long as Wei Guang threw the linen back, the shop owner and people in nearby shops who saw it had to report it, otherwise he would have violated the Han law and be punished.

There were many pedestrians coming and going on the city trains on both sides of the tunnel. Many people saw Wei Guang raise his hand and throw out the cloth. It was impossible to stop everyone from talking, and he would only be reported.

Once Wei Guang became a criminal, he could no longer serve as a military officer in the army. He could only do hard labor and become a slave soldier, thus ruining his own future.

"Take the cloth back."

Guo Jie reached out, took the linen, took a look at it, frowned, and found out the reason why Wei Guang threw the money back.

The Han Dynasty law had corresponding regulations for the circulating cloth money. The length of cloth was eight feet and the width was two feet and five inches. Cloth that did not meet the standard length and width could not be circulated as cloth money.

The length and width of this piece of linen meet the standards for the circulation of cloth money.

However, the quality is too poor.

Obviously a bad cloth.

The Han Dynasty laws stipulated that the cloth money that could be circulated had strict standards for length and width, as well as quality requirements.

Poor quality cloth cannot be circulated.

There are two types of linen.

One is linen woven from ramie, which has fine fibers, a soft texture, and is light yellow or white.

Ramie is also called fine linen.

It is also the fine linen money in normal circulation.

The other type is linen woven from qing hemp, which has coarse fibers, a harder texture, and is gray-brown or brown in color.

Ramie is called flax.

Coarse linen cloth that cannot be circulated as cloth money.

The evil cloth in Guo Jie's hand was a light brown color, close to the light yellow of cloth money. It was obviously the color of coarse linen that had been specially processed to look like the color of cloth money.

"Arrests."

Guo Jie said in a deep voice, "Take this man back to the Chang'an official temple for interrogation. No, take him directly to the flag pavilion in Gao City."

He turned around, glanced at Zhao Tingzhang at the tunnel entrance, and looked towards the market curiously.

Guo Jie instructed, "Go and fetch Yin Qi and drive away the guards from the Banner Pavilion. Temporarily let the bandit catcher take control of the Banner Pavilion. Once I have fully investigated the origins of the evil cloth, I will return the Banner Pavilion to Chief Zhao."

Bad cloth is counterfeit money.

Guo Jie had a vague sense of foreboding in his heart.

I'm afraid that a few inconspicuous pieces of cloth may lead to a major case!
Inside the market building of the flag pavilion, in the guest room on the second floor, there were several cattail mats with green cloth edges, and Guo Jie and others were sitting on the cattail mats.

Wei Guang, Mang Tong, Chong Huangrou, and An Guo Shaoji all looked solemn as they looked at the pieces of cloth lying in the middle of the floor and the master kneeling on the ground.

Yin Qi knelt in a corner and looked at Guo Jie with interest, wanting to see how he would interrogate the origin of the evil cloth.

"Go ahead."

Guo Jie questioned him, "How could you possibly have thought of using the bad cloth as rent and handing it over to the flag chief who was collecting the rent? According to the monthly records, you've been running this shop in Gaoshi for three to five years. You must be aware that bad cloth cannot be used as payment."

Take out counterfeit currency to pay taxes in public.

Or he blatantly handed it over to the clerk in charge of debt collection.

There was no collusion between the two parties.

No one would believe it.

"Little People"

The host said with a sad face: "I am innocent. I was too anxious and took the wrong money for the cloth. I wanted to take the money for the linen, but I gave the coarse linen to the official. I immediately went back to exchange it for the fine linen."

Got the wrong one?
Wei Guang was furious. He slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "These pieces of linen are cut to the width of money cloth and dyed a light brown close to light yellow. How dare you say you took the wrong one? Who would believe that?"

The length and width of linen can be long or short, and there are no corresponding regulations among the people.

Only cloth money has strict regulations on the length and width of linen.

and quality requirements.

The host was so frightened that he trembled all over and said tremblingly, "I really just took the wrong one. The length and width of the cloth are exactly the same as the cloth money. It's just a coincidence."

"Brother-in-law."

At this time, a jailer in black clothes and an iron cap walked in. Yi Zong walked in carrying a box, his face serious: "I have brought the Qin Dynasty torture instruments. Who are you interrogating? Is it him?"

A torture instrument used in the Qin Dynasty.

The host's heart trembled, and his body, which was wearing a thin gauze jacket and trousers, shook violently.

This person should be Yi Zong, the cruel official who has become famous recently.

He was highly valued by Zhang Tang.

Yi Zong took the box and placed it next to the host. He began to pull out instruments of torture: "This is for hammering your head, to crack your head open. This is for pulling your ribs out, to pull them out one by one."

"I'll tell you everything!"

The host's body went limp, and he nearly collapsed to the ground, his face filled with fear. "These linen cloths were exchanged from the storehouse guarded by Su Qiudao. Before paying the city rent, we would go to the storehouse in the flag pavilion, find Su Qiudao, and exchange the money for the fine linen cloth for the coarse cloth. This way, we could pay a few bolts less each time."

The flag pavilion is responsible for collecting the city rent.

The landlord found a flag pavilion to exchange the inferior cloth, which not only enabled him to pay the market rent on time but also save on the cost of a few pieces of cloth.

Driven by interests, taxes can be paid on time.

Of course, the host was willing to exchange the real money in his hand for the counterfeit money in Su Qiudao's hand.

"It's unjust."

The host knew the consequences of counterfeiting money and cried out, "I only exchanged the bad cloth from Su Qiudao and never wove bad cloth. I beg the officials to investigate."

According to the laws of the Han Dynasty, all the masterminds and accomplices in the production of counterfeit currency were beheaded and thrown into the streets.

Guo Jie was startled and ordered the thief catcher to take the host back to Chang'an prison and fine him or ransom him according to Han law.

He led everyone to the storehouse at the flag pavilion in Gao City in a hurry.

"Boom!"

With the iron hammer in his hand, Mang Tong smashed open the door of the warehouse. As the door opened, sunlight shone in, revealing the large amount of linen piled inside.

Guo Jie, Wei Guang, Chong Huangrou and everyone else gasped.

A whole warehouse of counterfeit money!
Su Qiu, the thief, lived in Qingliuli. Guo Jie immediately led a large number of black-robed thieves to Qingliuli near Gaoshi. Yi Zong led people to bring Zhao Tingchang and Zhao Shiyuan to the Gongcao under his command and sat them down.

Zhao Tingzhang and Zhao Shiyuan were clerks of the Chang'an government, and one of them was even a clerk in the rank of Cao. Before they were convicted, they could only be temporarily placed under double supervision like the Discipline Inspection Commission.

That is to say, within the specified time, people are controlled at the specified location.

Guo Jie and the thief catchers jointly investigated the case. When they arrived at Qingliuli, it was already dusk and the gate had been closed on time.

The twenty personnel officers and two military clerks of the County Chief Official's Temple had long been secretly arranged by Guo Jie to be the village clerks and field officials in the Chang'an neighborhood. It just so happened that Tian Dian from Qingliu was one of the personnel officers.

Tian Dian found an excuse to send the local official away, took out his flute, and opened the gate of Qingliuli.

"Mr. Guo."

Tian Dian, a knight-errant from Chen County, bowed solemnly to Guo Jie and said, "The thief surnamed Su lives in the alley behind the second Hongmen on the left. I will lead the way, and Mr. Guo, please follow me."

Guo Jie nodded slightly, patted Tian Dian on the shoulder, and left a few thieves to guard the gate.

He passed by Hongmen and left a few thieves to guard Hongmen.

Su Qiudao's house is a typical middle-class house. It is a one-character house with one hall and two interiors, which is worth tens of thousands of coins in the market. In Chang'an, tens of thousands of coins can only buy a one-character house with three tiled rooms. In other small counties, tens of thousands of coins can buy a large house with two entrances in the shape of a sun.

Guo Jie pushed open the half-open door and walked in. There was a chicken coop built in the yard and a lot of straw piled up. The yard, which was not big to begin with, seemed even more cramped.

He frowned. It didn't look like a residential compound where people were making counterfeit coins, but more like an ordinary middle-class family in Chang'an.

There were no carriages, horses or cows in the yard, only a little slave who was feeding chickens next to the chicken coop.

Xiaonu is a young girl who has not yet reached the age of marriage. A girl is called a "doukou" at the age of thirteen and reaches marriage at the age of fifteen. She is still two years away from adulthood.

The young slave girl was wearing a hemp skirt. The fabric was old and had been worn for several years. It was starched and washed very clean. She was a very diligent little slave. She grabbed a handful of sunflower roots and threw them into the chicken coop.

A group of warm yellow chicks that had just hatched, with cute fluffy feathers, gathered together and pecked at vegetable roots.

"One, two, three."

The little slave patiently counted the number of chicks over and over again. At the end, he let out a "cluck" laugh, with curved eyes and a round face, looking very cute.

At this time, the gate of the house was pushed open, waking up the little slave who was counting the number of chicks on his fingers.

The little slave was startled and sat down on the ground with her buttocks squatting. Her hemp skirt was covered with a lot of dust.

She was so distressed that she almost cried.

The hemp cloth skirt needs to be washed again. I am not afraid of washing clothes, but washing them one more time will increase the possibility of damage to the clothes.

When the little slave saw the man who broke in was carrying a ring-handled sword, he shouted towards the inner palace.

"Uncle Jun. Uncle Jun"

Your uncle?

The name a daughter-in-law uses to address her father-in-law.

Guo Jie understood in his heart that this young slave girl was the one bought by Su Qiudao as a child bride.

Su Qiudao heard the urgent shouts outside and hurried out of the palace. He was of medium build, wearing a white shirt that had been washed so much that it looked starched. His face was thin, and he was holding a scroll of wood in his hand and had a two-foot sword on his waist.

He looks like a civil official, and also like a military official, but he doesn't look like a villain who makes counterfeit money.

Counterfeiting money, like the salt and iron trades, is extremely profitable and usually leads to a wealthy life. People will definitely not live in such a tight spot like Su Qiudao.

Not even an accomplice.

Guo Jie frowned and asked, "Are you the thief who guards the storehouse at the flag pavilion in Gao City?"

Su Qiudao waved his hand, signaling the young slave to go into the room first, and said cautiously: "I am Qiudao. I wonder what this young official wants to do?"

Guo Jie, standing in the yard, was carrying a sword and a knife, and his white clothes were made of silk. He did not look like a low-level official.

Most likely he was a high-ranking official, or came from a powerful family.

Guo Jie revealed his identity: "I am Guo Jie, the new Gongcao of the Chang'an Temple. I have come to you to ask you something."

Guo Jie?

Guo Jie of Bianhu!
He was also a subordinate official that the senior officials Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang relied on very much.

Originally he was just a Dutingchang, but now he has become the Gongcao of the Five Caos under the Ministry of Personnel. How come?

This is the Gongcao of Chang'an.

The speed of promotion is too fast.

Su Qiudao bowed hastily and said, "My humble servant greets you, Lord Guo Jie. I wonder what you wish to learn from me. I will tell you everything I know."

Guo Jie's face grew grave. He stared at Su Qiudao and said, "The warehouse at the flag pavilion in Gaoshi has a large amount of coarse linen stored. Do you know where this bad cloth came from?"

Stockpiling of bad cloth
Su Qiudao's face paled, he took a deep breath, and said with a wry smile, "What is coming will eventually come. You can't hide from it. Could you please wait for a moment, sir? I will pack up some things and follow you to the official temple."

The house was surrounded by thieves and police, and no one could escape. All the escape routes had been blocked.

Guo Jie nodded and signaled Su Qiudao to go pack up.

Su Qiudao walked out of the palace, took out a few wooden scrolls and handed them to the cute little slave who poked his head out of the door. In order to avoid suspicion, he did not go into the room, but just stood at the door of the room where a small vegetable patch was set up.

"This is the deed to the house. Sell it and go back to find a good family to marry into."

Su Qiudao placed the scrolls at the door, avoiding pressing them into the hands of the young slave girl to avoid touching her palms. He then turned and walked over to Guo Jie: "Shang Li, let's go. Tell me everything about the flag pavilion in Gao City."

"Woo."

Tears streamed down the round, tender face of the young slave: "Uncle Jun, don't you want me anymore? Uncle Jun, tell me what I did wrong, and I will correct it in the future. Don't abandon me like my father and mother did, okay, wuwu."

Guo Jie sighed lightly and could only take Su Qiudao away. As an accomplice in counterfeiting currency, even if he did not profit from it, he would still not escape the fate of being beheaded and thrown into the market.

Given Su Qiudao's family background, even if he sold his house and everything in the house, he still couldn't raise enough 50 gold coins, and there was no way he could buy a title to atone for his sins.

There is not enough money to atone for the sin.

He was only sent to the East Market to be beheaded.

"Guo Jie, the official."

Su Qiu stole the two-foot-long sword from his waist and handed it over with both hands: "I am willing to tell you who wove the evil cloth. I only hope that the superior officer can rescue my son Su Wu and hand him over to me. I deserve no pity for my death, but my wife and my family are innocent."

Su Wu?

Su Qiudao's surname is Su.

Guo Jie was stunned for a moment and asked in surprise, "Are you Su Jian? Your son Su Wu was just born this year?"

(End of this chapter)