Han official!

Chapter 149 Five Houses
"boom!"

Su Jia punched Yao Luren on the chest, knocking him to the ground on the spot. With his eyes red, he gripped the dagger tightly and stabbed at Yao Luren's throat.

"No!"

Yao Luren no longer had the arrogance to raise the price temporarily. He was panicked and had a layer of cold sweat on his back. He wet his underpants on the spot and a large stain of water flowed out of his crotch.

He was terrified. He could never have imagined that Su Jia would dare to hit someone on such a happy day.

Or beat Yao Ji's cousin.

"boom!"

Su Jia's dagger did not pierce Yao Luren's throat, but hit his head hard, causing a large pool of blood to flow out.

"Pooh!"

Su Jia spat at Yao Luren who was lying on the ground and said angrily, "I can't let you die so easily. Even if I don't get married today, I will send you to the tiger's den that Yin Qi dug in the county prison."

Not long after Yin Qi followed the Right Internal History Zhao Yu as the county magistrate, he dug a tiger's den in the county prison.

A tiger's den that the whole Chang'an is afraid of.

appearing again.

The tiger's den occupies a larger area.

When Yao Lu Ren heard the words "tiger's den", his face, covered in blood under his black cap, immediately showed despair. As a junior official in the government, he knew better than anyone that entering the tiger's den would be more painful than killing him.

Even death.

Yao Luren also didn't want to enter the den of torture that even the tyrannical Qin Dynasty didn't have.

"you you."

Yao Luren's face was filled with fear. "This little official is the son of the head of the Yao clan in the Northern Dao. Although he is only the youngest son, he is also the legitimate son of the queen, not the illegitimate son of a concubine. If you dare to send this little official into the tiger's den, forget about marrying Yao Ji. From today on, you will be the enemy of the Yao clan in the Northern Dao, and there will be no hope of marrying Yao Ji in this life!"

Everyone in Chang'an knew that Su Jia's mentor Guo Jie was very courageous.

If it were someone else, they might not dare to send the legitimate son of the Yao family in Beidao into the tiger's den. However, Guo Jie certainly had the courage. He was not afraid of offending powerful officials and dared to send Yao Luren into the tiger's den to suffer torture worse than death.

"you are wrong."

Guo Jie walked over and stepped on Yao Luren's head with his white leather shoes: "I'm not sending you into the tiger's den alone, I'm sending all the Yao clan members blocking the door into the tiger's den. Not a single one will be able to escape!"

good!
An Guo Shao Ji, Su Jian, Su Jia and others felt very happy.

Very popular!

We must severely punish the person passing by Yao Lu who temporarily raised the price.

just
Su Jia's marriage would probably fall through, and he wouldn't be able to marry Yao Ji, his ideal match.

Guo Jie reached out and rubbed Su Jia's black cap. Looking at the unwilling Su Jia, he smiled and said, "That's alright. Not only did your teacher find a way to get you to marry Yao Ji, but the Yao family from Beidao offered it to you willingly. Ha, they've taken advantage of the situation, added extra money, and won't let the Yao family off easily. It seems they've forgotten that Jia'er's mentor was the Accountant of the Right Internal History!"

"Teacher."

Su Jia said solemnly: "Disciple will not marry."

He looked determined.

He would rather not marry than put his mentor Guo Jie in a difficult position.

"hehe."

Guo Jie chuckled and said, "The increase in the population is also an important issue for the Lord of the Prefecture. I can use this as a warning to the officials and people of the twenty-seven counties. No matter if they are powerful or common people, as long as I serve as an accountant for one day, I will not ask for huge dowries when my daughters get married."

The dowry for men's marriage was also a big problem in the Western Han Dynasty.

Because the bride price asked for was too high, many men were unable to get married.

In some border counties, there are tens of thousands of people, and a large number of people of marriageable age cannot get married due to lack of betrothal money.

The prefect and the county magistrates gave out part of their salaries as aid, and more than 2,000 people were married off, which alleviated the situation.

The impact of economic factors even affected some lower-level officials.

Some junior officials, because their salaries were too low, were still unmarried until they were fifty years old. They could only barely scrape together the betrothal money with the help of their superiors and colleagues.

If the common people could not afford the betrothal gifts to get married, there would not be a significant increase in the population of the twenty-seven counties.

Asking for huge dowries has long become a vulgar custom.

The government and temples have repeatedly banned it but it continues.

An Guo Shao Ji, Su Jia and others looked at each other, wondering how Guo Jie could deal with the huge betrothal gift.

Seeing their confusion, Guo Jie mentioned a law: "Don't forget, my friends, in the sixth year of Emperor Hui's reign, an imperial decree was issued that if a girl didn't marry by the age of fifteen, she would be charged five times the tax."

In the sixth year of Emperor Hui of Han (189 BC), an imperial decree stated: If a girl is between fifteen and thirty and does not marry, she will be fined five years.

This decree imposed severe financial penalties on girls who were over the age of fifteen and had not yet married.

The age of first marriage for women in the Western Han Dynasty was between 13 and 16 years old.

The age of men's first marriage is between 14 and 20 years old.

The Suanfu was a head tax levied on both men and women starting at the age of fifteen. Each person had to pay 120 coins per year, and both men and women had to pay Suanfu to the court.

Five times the money.

The Western Han Dynasty stipulated that if a woman did not marry by the age of fifteen, she would be required to pay a tax of five hundred and six hundred coins per year. Whether she was a commoner or a powerful person, five hundred coins was a heavy burden.

Su Jian understood, his expression relaxed, and finally a smile appeared on his face: "The marriage has been decided. The Yao family of Beidao is not in a hurry to marry off their daughter, and the Su family is even less anxious to find a wife. For every year of delay, the Yao family of Beidao will have to pay an additional 600 coins."

Guo Jie was filled with emotion. Ancient laws had their merits. Take the Five Counts for example. If a woman in a certain province did not marry after the age of 22, she would be taxed 10,000 or 20,000 yuan a year, and there would not be sky-high bride prices of 400,000 or 500,000 yuan.

Just drag it on.

See who can outlast whom.

Guo Jie did not take Yao Ji back with him. Instead, he took Yao Luren and several others back to the tiger's den in the county prison and threw them directly in.

He personally went to find the relatives and guests who were waiting for the banquet in the ancestral temple and explained the reason why the wedding would not take place tonight.

The officials in the government office were all cursing Yao from the North Road for being short-sighted and having offended the chief accountant Guo Jie. They said they would never have a peaceful life in the future.

The next day, the accounting clerks sat down, and all the officials of the accounting department sat on several tables.

Mang Tong, An Guo Shao Ji, Su Jian, Su Jia, Chong Huang Rou and Yi Zong, all the people who had a say came.

Discuss how to take revenge on the Yao family in Beidao of Huaili County.

Guo Jie was not the kind of person who would wait ten years for revenge.

Quite the opposite.

Guo Jie always had a simple way of taking revenge.

From morning to night.

“Start with the five calculations.”

Guo Jie revealed his plan this time and decided to use it to find out how many concubines over the age of fifteen in the Yao family in Beidao had who had not paid the five-count tax penalty.

"In order to pay less head tax, it has long become common for powerful people to hide their household registration. They conceal the household registration of many people so that they don't have to pay the tax. The Yao family in Beidao also concealed the age of their daughter in the clan in order to avoid the five taxes." Everyone nodded in agreement, thinking that the five taxes mentioned by Guo Jie was a good excuse.

Guo Jie had even better news: "I have already reported the matter of the Five Counties to the Lord, and Lord Zhao has personally spoken. If the unhealthy practice of demanding large betrothal gifts in the twenty-seven counties is curbed, he will reward you with five mansions!"

"Five Houses?!"

When everyone heard this, they were all moved, and there was a bit more passion in their eyes.

In the Qin Dynasty's farming and warfare system, a house was a courtyard awarded according to the size of the military rank. One house was thirty steps square.

The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system and abolished some of the Qin Dynasty's cruel punishments such as chopping off hands and feet and cutting off noses, but it also inherited some of the excellent systems of the Qin Empire that swept across the six kingdoms. The military nobility of the farming and warfare system was inherited by the Western Han Dynasty.

According to the regulations on granting houses to military nobility in the Western Han Dynasty, the first-level public servants were rewarded with one and a half houses, the second-level officials were rewarded with two houses, the third-level officials were rewarded with three houses, the fourth-level officials were rewarded with four houses, the fifth-level officials were rewarded with five houses, and the sixth-level officials were rewarded with a significantly increased amount of houses.

The sixth-level official was rewarded with seven houses, and the ninth-level official was rewarded with twenty-five houses.

The house that Zhao Yu, the right internal historian, mentioned was not a small county, nor the capital county of a prefecture, but a 150-square-meter house in the neighborhood of Chang'an. In Chang'an, where every inch of land was valuable, this was a great temptation for any official.

Even the Zhongdu officials (Beijing officials) of the Nine Ministers' Mansions could not contain their excitement when they heard about the reward of five houses. They wanted to find all the wives of the Yao family in Beidao who were over fifteen years old right away.

When Guo Jie heard about the five houses he was given, he couldn't help but be tempted. Whoever could give out a 150-square-meter apartment in the capital as a reward, there would be many people willing to go to jail and take the blame, let alone go to check the accounts.

The person who was most jealous among the crowd was Su Jian.

"Mr. Guo, does Lord Zhao mean to reward everyone with five houses, or just one person?"

Su Jian looked at Guo Jie nervously. Although he knew that Zhao Yu was the Right Secretary of the Interior with an official salary of 2,000 stones, it was impossible for him to give out seven or eight five-story houses as a reward.

He still held on to a glimmer of hope.

Su Jian had two sons. After his eldest son Su Jia got married, it was impossible for them to continue living together, so he decided to give the house to Su Jia. He, his wife, his youngest son Su Wu, and the little slave all moved out together.

Renting a house all the time is not a long-term solution.

The youngest son Su Wu will grow up one day, and he can get married when he is twelve or thirteen years old.

Su Jian needed to prepare a house for his youngest son Su Wu.

The market price of houses in Chang'an is too high.

Su Jian only relied on his salary and could not afford to buy a house in Chang'an. Suddenly, he heard Zhao Gong say that he would give him five houses.

How can I not be jealous?

Guo Jie saw Su Jian's thoughts and shook his head, saying, "Land in Chang'an is extremely valuable. This is the capital. It's already quite remarkable that Lord Zhao can offer five mansions as a reward. Five mansions per person? Even if Lord Zhao is a ruthless and reckless official, he can't possibly offer so many mansions."

Su Jian looked disappointed, but soon cheered up.

"Teacher."

Su Jia was even more eager to try: "When we go to Pingshan Township of the Yao family in the north, I will not only bring Yao Ji back, but also achieve the first merit and obtain the five mansions awarded by Zhao Gong. Then, father will not have to give up the mansion. Yao Ji and I will move into the five mansions, and the mansion where father lives will be left for my younger brother Su Wu to use when he gets married in the future."

Mention the word "first merit".

Chonghuangrou, Mangtong and Anguo Shaoji were also eager to try and did not want to fall behind.

Especially the beautiful eyes of the Insect Emperor Rou, which were as sharp as a two-foot sword.

Chong Huangrou, who always strives to be the best in everything, doesn't care about the Five Mansions. How can a marquis who comes from a wealthy family care about the Five Mansions?

What Chong Huangrou values is the first merit, and not lying under the protection of his ancestors, like his great-grandfather Chong Da, who was just a wanderer, followed Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang and earned the title of Qucheng Hou, one of the eighteen marquises.

Chong Huang Rou also wants to earn land, houses, and servants through his own fighting and swordplay, and doesn't want to be a parasite forever.

"only."

Su Jian had been sorting through the Right Internal History's account books. Knowing how tedious they were, he said with a worried look, "The numbers involved are extremely complex. It would take several months to sort through the Pingshan Township account books. Furthermore, we have to compare Yao Xijun's true age with the account books sent in by the pavilions and villages of Huaili County and Pingshan Township."

He just thought about it for a moment and couldn't help but feel a headache.

It would be impossible to sort out the situation in Pingshan Township from the large and complicated account books without more than half a year.

Say this sentence.

The atmosphere in the toilet became a little depressing.

"I have an idea."

Mang Tong, who had been silent until then, suddenly spoke up, "The previous accountant should know something about the situation. He doesn't need to tell us much. As long as he reveals a Yao family mistress who concealed her age, we can prove the crime of being a hidden householder and not paying the full amount of the five taxes. Once we find the previous accountant and inquire about it, we can take advantage of Chong Huangrou's visit to the Yao family in Beidao to trick them into opening the gate. Once we find the hidden householder, we can directly arrest all the members of the Yao family in Beidao."

"good!"

"color!"

"How wonderful!"

No one expected that the taciturn Mang Tong could come up with such a good idea. The way they looked at him was different. He seemed to be a reckless man who only knew how to kill people, but unexpectedly, he had a good brain.

Guo Jie gave Su Jia a look, indicating that he should go find someone to ask who the previous accountant was.

Everyone knelt on the sitting table, waiting anxiously for Su Jia's arrival.

"Teacher."

Su Jia walked in with a guilty look on his face: "I have asked several officials, but they all said they don't know. They haven't been able to find out who the accountant is."

It’s not that I don’t know.

Most likely he looked down on Su Jia's minor criminal history.

Don't want to tell him.

Who knows what Guo Jie wants to do with Shangjili? If he wants to cause trouble for Shangjili, the clan members behind Shangjili will not let the informer off easily.

"What a bunch of corrupt officials!"

Su Jian's calm personality could no longer be calm.

The Five Houses involve Su Wu's house.

Su Jian felt a little annoyed. "He didn't teach the official a lesson. It seems he doesn't know who Mr. Guo is and who values him. He actually helped the previous accountant instead of Mr. Guo."

Guo Jie took a look at Su Jian and knew that he was an honest man.

He usually looks honest.

When an honest person gets angry, he is more cruel than anyone else.

"a piece of cake."

Chong Huangrou stood up and walked out to sit down. "Wait here for a moment. It will take at most a moment to find out who the accountant is. I guess this accountant is not a simple person. Otherwise, it is impossible for the official to know that Su Jia is Guo Jie's disciple and still hide it and refuse to reveal the accountant's name."

Not long after, Chonghuang Rou came back, in less than a quarter of a second, not even half a quarter.

He has already found out the identity of the accountant.

Chong Huangrou's expression turned a little strange.

"The accountant turned out to be Yan Yi."

(End of this chapter)