Han official!

Chapter 163 Wealth Selection

Guo Jie inquired about the location of Huo Xianglao's house and went to Hongmen with Yi Zong. The main street running through the neighborhood was lined with two-story houses on both sides. The living conditions were much better than those in the countryside.

Malt is produced in spring and autumn.

September is a busy time in Dangli. Every household makes candy in the autumn, and the village officials also bring the villagers who are guarding the border back before September arrives.

Guo Jie walked in the alleys of Dangli and smelled the aroma of fermenting malt coming from the houses on both sides. From time to time, common people in plain clothes drove ox carts and brought a whole cart of malt.

People in the neighborhood were not allowed to ride horses or chariots.

When the common people saw Guo Jie in his white robe, they were terrified and stood there, not knowing what to do. They only breathed a sigh of relief after Guo Jie left and hurriedly transported the malt back to the house.

Guo Jie would not meddle in other people's affairs. Relying on the power he had, he did not allow the villagers of Dangli to drive their ox carts into the neighborhood.

Regulations are dead.

People are alive.

Common people always need to eat.

You have to survive.

On the way to Huo Xiang's old house, Guo Jie saw the common people at the bottom of society. Their fear of the officials in black robes was engraved in their bones. Whenever they saw a common person wearing a black robe and a black hat, they would freeze in place as if they were frozen in place.

After Guo Jie left, the common people resumed their activities and breathed deeply.

"Fortunately, the late emperor issued a decree to reduce the number of officials to official positions."

Guo Jie lamented, "The selection criteria were no longer limited to middle-class families with over 100,000 coins. They had suddenly dropped to 40,000 coins. Furthermore, the decree regarding the relocation of mausoleum towns also gave ordinary people the opportunity to be selected as officials."

The biggest purpose of the mausoleum-town system was land redistribution and wealth redistribution.

The powerful nobles who occupied large amounts of farmland moved to the emperor's mausoleum, and the farmland in the counties became vacant.

Can be redistributed.

After the common people with ordinary hats were registered, they had to pay land rent and taxes to the court, and participate in military service and corvee labor. However, many common people were still willing to register.

It lies in the benefits provided by the court.

One is free primary education.

The second is to grant land according to households, and the court allocates homesteads, arable land, and economic land.

The third reason is because of military service. Serving as a soldier in the Han Dynasty was the most important channel for common people to rise.

When common people were young, they received free primary education, learned to read and write, and met the financial requirements for being selected as officials.

After adults were divided into households, the court distributed land according to households. In addition, Emperor Jing of Han lowered the wealth standard for selection to 40,000 coins.

Common people with ordinary hats now had two channels for upward mobility.

One is to serve in the army, and the other is to be selected as an official based on wealth.

Whether it is joining the army or being selected based on wealth.

The most important thing for common people to stand out is to write better official script and know more characters.

Therefore, the village official and Tian Dian wanted to protect Huo Xianglao, and when they learned that he might have committed a crime, they even raised money to atone for his sins.

It is because Mr. Huo Xiang is good at teaching children.

Guo Jie came to the gate of Huo Xianglao's house. There was an elm tree there. The gate was dilapidated, but you could see the scene inside the yard.

This is a seven-room mansion of an official, 210 steps square. It is a relatively large mansion in Dangli, but it can be rented at a low market price.

It was because Mr. Huo Xiang taught children in his house, so it was better to say that it was a private school in Dangli than a house.

Under a tall tung tree in the yard, with golden leaves, a group of children wearing linen jackets and trousers were looking with eager eyes at Mr. Huo Xiang who was teaching him the official script.

These children knew very well that only by acquiring knowledge and serving in the military at the age of seventeen could they escape their lower-class status.

The children with long hair were extremely eager for knowledge. They knelt on the ground, holding branches, and practiced the official script taught by Professor Huo Xiang.

Next to her, a pregnant lady was washing clothes by the well. She looked at the children studying hard, touched her bulging belly, and a gentle smile appeared on her pretty face.

Xijun was holding the dirty robes and trousers of several children and hanging them on the clothesline at the door, when she saw two figures in white clothes at the door.

"ah!"

Xijun screamed, her wet futon fell to the ground, her feet slipped in her pointed-toe shoes, and she fell backwards.

"lady!"

Mr. Huo Xiang was shocked. He threw away the wooden tablet in his hand and wanted to run over to support Xijun.

The two of them were quite far apart, and it was too late.

His face was filled with grief as he could only watch his wife fall to the ground and lose the baby in her belly.

Just then, a dark shadow rushed in.

Guo Jie was quick-witted and quick-handed, grabbing Xijun's wrist in time to prevent her from falling to the ground.

"Thank you, sir."

Xijun hurriedly saluted, then hid behind Mr. Huo Xiang, looking at the two clerks in black robes with fear.

Huo Xianglao hurried over, bowed solemnly, said thank you, and looked at the two officials in black clothes who suddenly broke into the house.

Guo Jie was also looking at him.

Huo Xianglao was about seven feet tall and wore a yellowed jacket and trousers. The surface of the jacket and trousers had turned yellow after years of starching. The cuffs were stained with a lot of dirt, and there were calluses on his thumb and middle finger, which meant that he had been holding a pen all year round.

On the ground not far away, there were some official script characters written by him holding a tree branch. The font looked quite good.

Guo Jie said directly, "I am Guo Jie, the chief accountant of the Right Secretary of the Interior. I came to Dangli today to ask you about the letter from Waiguo Pavilion that was opened without permission."

Huo Xiang was stunned at first, then he gave a wry smile and said, "I am exactly the person the superior is looking for. Let me say a few words to my wife, and then I will follow the superior. Don't worry, superior, I, Huo Zhongru, will not take this opportunity to escape."

Huo Zhongru?
When Guo Jie heard the name of Master Xiang, he was stunned.

I've been looking for him for almost a year and still haven't found him, so I'm about to give up.

Who would have thought that Huo Zhongru was right in the neighborhood of Chang'an, right under their noses.

"There are still thirty pounds of corn in the kitchen."

Huo Zhongru walked over and held Xijun's hand. "Don't save food when I'm not home. If you don't eat, the baby in your belly will also need to eat. Also, don't stop the children from reading and learning to write. I've already left some homework for them to practice calligraphy. Just supervise them every day. That way, you'll be useful, and the villagers will take better care of you."

Before he left, he placed his hand on Xijun's bulging belly and smiled.

Guo Jie's attention was also attracted by Xijun's belly.

Last year, champion Hou Huo Qubing was born.

In this way, the child in Xijun's belly is another Huo Qubing in domestic affairs.

Huo Guang.

Born earlier than in history.

Inside the bomb room, Yan Yi, Chong Huangrou and others were already waiting inside. The village official could only take Tian Dian to guard outside the door to prevent anyone from breaking in.

Fortunately, Huo Zhongru was only questioned in the bullet room and was not taken to the Internal Affairs Office, which made the local officials feel a lot more at ease.

Li Li and Tian Dian stood at the door of the bullet room and had already started discussing how to raise money to atone for their sins.

Before interrogating Huo Zhongru.

Guo Jie expressed a question in his heart: "I remember that you were a county official in Pingyang County. You had an affair with a maidservant of Princess Pingyang and gave birth to a son. You later returned to Pingyang County. How did you end up in Dangli, Chang'an?"

As early as last year, Guo Jie sent many wanderers from Chen County to Pingyang County to inquire about Huo Zhongru's news.

As a result, Huo Zhongru seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth and was never found.

Guo Jie had given up all hope of finding the father of Huo Qubing and Huo Guang.

Unexpectedly, Huo Zhongru was found again in Dangli.

“No one wants to leave their homeland.”

Huo Zhongru sighed and said, "Last year, a group of strange knights appeared in Pingyang County, asking around for information about me. After a familiar pavilion chief informed me of this, he suspected that my affair with Wei Shao'er had been discovered. Princess Pingyang sent guests to arrest me, so I fled with my maid and hid in Dangli."

It is easy to develop feelings when hiding in a precarious situation.

He and the maid fell in love with each other over time.

The eldest maid was pregnant with Huo Zhongru's child.

Yi Zong, Mang Tong, and Chong Huangrou turned to look at Guo Jie.

The person who inquired about Huo Zhongru's news was not the guest sent by Princess Pingyang, but the knight sent by Guo Jie.

Guo Jie felt a little embarrassed, but remained silent on the surface.

"Mr. Guo went to the clerk to ask who was trading white horses with the Xiongnu?"

Huo Zhongru smiled bitterly and said, "You little official are meddling too much. You didn't cherish the peaceful days and got involved in the transactions between the guards and the Xiongnu. You deserve to be caught by Lord Guo. This matter all started on the day of the茭 cutting."

On the day of the rice harvest, a minor official, worried about his pregnant wife, borrowed a stable horse from a village official, hoping to return to Dangli before nightfall. He stumbled upon a guard talking with a Xiongnu-speaking man, and gave him a hundred coins to deliver a letter.

"The minor official had just returned from the border and had witnessed the horrific scene of the Xiongnu plundering the villages. He hated the Xiongnu, but also felt a desire to gain merit. He rode back and found the village official. They dined together at the pavilion outside the city wall. He found an excuse to go to the toilet and ran to Pu's house. He secretly opened the letter and read its contents."

Huo Zhongru knew more details. When he learned that the fight involved the position of the ritual administrator, he was overjoyed and felt that he had found an opportunity to make merit and atone for his sins.

Later, the border guards of Dangli stayed in a nearby village.

Huo Zhongru sneaked out and waited at the place where the letter was to be delivered, which was in a mulberry forest two or three miles north of Waiguo Pavilion.

Until dawn (6:00-6:45), when the sky was dim, a commoner in a plain cap holding a plow appeared near the mulberry forest. However, this commoner was fat and broad-shouldered, and did not look like the commoner in a plain cap who was skinny as a stick due to hunger.

"Who is this person?"

Yan Yi was the first to ask questions.

As a gentleman of his age, he should remain calm in the face of adversity. However, when it comes to the money for building the village order, Yan Yi is even more anxious than the others.

They were eager to get the tens of thousands of dollars in rewards from the government and temple so that they could build more houses and provide them for the children of poor common people.

"The flag bearer of the East City!"

Huo Zhongru said solemnly, "During the years I've been in Princess Pingyang's residence, I've often gone to the East Market to buy gold, silver, and bronze. I've become acquainted with the East Market's Pavilion Chief Cao. He knows I'm an official in Princess Pingyang's residence, and he's been inviting me to the Banner Pavilion for drinks many times."

"I can't be mistaken! Even if Tingzhang Cao deliberately changed his clothes, I can't mistake his appearance. It's Tingzhang Cao from the Flag Pavilion in the East Market."

The head of a mere flag pavilion did not have more than one million yuan to buy hundreds of white horses.

This is based on the price of border trade, a white horse costs more than 10,000 yuan.

Converted to the market price inside the pass, a white horse costs at least 20,000 coins.

Cao Tingzhang was just a middle-class family with a fortune of about 300,000 yuan. Even if he sold all his property, he still could not afford to buy a hundred white horses.

There are others behind him.

"We can't alarm Captain Cao."

Guo Jie said cautiously, "It would be best to arrest him at night. Sneak into the East Market and capture Chief Cao under cover of darkness. We'll interrogate him about who he was helping to deliver the message and where the Xiongnu's one hundred white horses were hidden."

The Xiongnu asked the guard Pu to deliver the message, which must have confirmed that they had brought all the white horses.

The daily food and drink for one hundred border guards is a considerable amount, not to mention hundreds of horses.

Still a conspicuous white horse.

Without any announcement, one hundred white horses suddenly appeared at the post stations in the Chang'an area.

Apparently the Huns found a safe place in the mountains and swamps and hid all the white horses.

"Mountains and swamps."

Huo Zhongru expressed his suspicions: "The petty official borrowed the stable horse from the village official, claiming to be practicing archery and charioteering, but in fact he was running off to the village's mountains and swamps in search of the white horse."

Everyone looked at Huo Zhongru with sharp eyes.

I'm eager to know if the white horse is hiding in the mountains or swamps.

"What a shame!" Huo Zhongru shook his head. "I've searched all over Chang'an County, even the mountains and swamps of several nearby counties, but I haven't found any trace of the white horse. Not even horse manure. It's really strange. It's hard to hide a hundred people without leaving any trace, but I can't find a trace of a hundred white horses."

Everyone felt the same wonder.

The white horses are very conspicuous, and there are hundreds of them.

I just can't find it.

"It's not useless."

Guo Jie laughed and said, "We have eliminated one hiding place. The Xiongnu didn't hide the white horses in the mountains or swamps, and there are more than just one or two of them. The last place left can hide hundreds of white horses."

Everyone had the same idea as Guo Jie.

Gather here.

That is the neighborhood in the countryside.

Or it could be the township government office.

Only in these two places can a hundred white horses be hidden quietly.

"We've found a clue."

Guo Jie stood up and said, "Tonight we will go to the East Market and quietly capture Chief Cao for interrogation. We must not only find out who is colluding with the Xiongnu, but also take away a hundred white horses and give them to the Lord."

Go to the East Market to arrest Cao Tingzhang?
Huo Zhongru was stunned and asked, "Just the few people in the chamber?"

He hurriedly advised, "Captain Cao, be cautious. The guards at the Flag Pavilion are always in armor and armed with spears and crossbows. If you make any noise, the guards from the East Market will attack you. Don't be impulsive."

Guo Jie laughed.

"If it were somewhere else, it would be difficult to capture the flag chief, but it's different in the East City. Of course, we won't be the only ones there."

Huo Zhongru looked confused and didn't understand what Guo Jie meant.

Everyone laughed and said nothing.

It was midnight (23:15-0:00), and the night was deep. The lights in the prosperous East Market shops gradually went out. The shops next to the city tunnel and the city train gradually became quiet, and everyone fell into a deep sleep.

Only a few lights were on in the market tower of the flag pavilion. The night watchman was yawning and sleeping in the corner.

The East Market is located inside the city of Chang'an, so there won't be any thieves. The guards at the pavilion are on duty only to prevent fires.

The gate of the East Market had been closed long ago.

In the middle of the night, there was a sudden creaking sound and the door slowly opened.

Guo Jie and his men stood on the side road at the gate, waiting for it to open. The lieutenant who was in charge of patrolling nearby happened to be patrolling there and did not see the group of people appearing at the gate of the East Market.

Joint case handling has always been a difficult problem.

With the rank of Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang, it was impossible for them to influence the military, let alone the lieutenant army.

There was no way to get Lieutenant Jun to join the investigation.

Guo Jie had no choice but to avoid the lieutenant's army.

In the face of Huo Zhongru's astonishment, Guo Jie not only came and went freely in Chang'an in the middle of the night, but also had the gate of the East Market opened.

"Mr. Guo."

Several jailers from the East Market Prison stood at the door, bowed to Guo Jie, and opened the door a crack.

Guo Jie immediately squeezed in through the crack in the door.

"Thank you for your hard work, brothers."

Guo Jie took out a string of three-zhu coins and threw them over: "This money is for treating my brothers to a drink."

Yu Xiaoshi became anxious and quickly stuffed the money back.

"We haven't finished eating the pork Mr. Guo gave us last time. How can we ask Mr. Guo for money again? Wouldn't that make us ungrateful?"

An even more astonishing scene appeared.

The prison official in East City doesn't even ask for money.

It was the first time he saw someone pushing money out.

Incredible.

Quite rare.

What shocked Huo Zhongru was yet to come.

It was a sleepy late night with a dim moon and sparse stars. The night guard had fallen into a deep sleep, and the tightly closed gate of the flag pavilion slowly opened.

Several more prison officers opened the door.

These jailers in the East Market secretly colluded with outsiders and harmed the flag chief of the East Market.

There was no guilt at all, but rather a look of excitement.

Just like Guo Jie is the chief of the flag pavilion in the East Market.

It's like entering a deserted place.

Guo Jie walked straight towards the house where Tingzhang Cao lived without encountering any obstruction. Every time he came to a door, someone would open it.

Until he stood at the door of Cao Tingchang's house.

Waiting for An Guo Shao Ji to pry open the door lock.

"Mr. Guo."

Huo Zhongru had a lot to say, and he couldn't help but say, "How did you manage to earn the respect of the East Market jailer? To say they're obedient to you wouldn't be an exaggeration."

Guo Jie smiled indifferently.

"Just some worthless pork."

pork?

When Huo Zhongru heard this, he became even more confused. He couldn't understand what kind of pork could make all the jailers in the East Market obey his orders.

"Click——"

An Guo Shao Ji was indeed an old hand at stealing people. He opened the door easily and quietly without disturbing anyone.

"Mr. Guo, the door is open."

Guo Jie nodded slightly, led everyone in, and glanced at the palace where Cao Tingzhang lived.

Two people were lying on a couch, one was Cao Tingzhang and the other was his beautiful concubine. Beside the couch was a chest with two doors and two bronze music and dance lamps placed on a lacquered wooden table.

The surrounding walls are painted with lime, and the white walls look much better than the gray earth walls.

Su Jia brought a table and placed it behind Guo Jie, then lit the music and dance lamps in the room one by one.

Guo Jie sat in the room with a majestic figure.

Without using any knives or guns, he appeared directly in Chief Cao's room.

"Wow—"

Su Jia picked up the wine cup next to the couch and poured the wine onto the couch. The wine in the cup splashed onto Cao Tingzhang's face.

"what!"

Cao Tingzhang woke up in shock and looked towards the door of the room with a look of fear on his face.

I saw a man sitting at the door with a fierce face. Behind him stood several men holding swords, looking quite fierce.

These people suddenly appeared in the palace, staring at the couch with a fierce look.

"what--"

The concubine screamed and shrank behind Chief Cao, trembling all over, not daring to look at the door of the palace.

"Guo Guo Jie?"

When Cao Tingzhang saw the appearance of the man at the door, he was stunned and even more frightened. Many powerful and wealthy people had died at his hands.

"I am only a middle-class official, with assets of less than a million yuan, and I have never offended my superiors. Why did you suddenly come tonight? If your superiors have business, they can wait until tomorrow. There is no need to come here in the middle of the night. I am not prepared and cannot entertain your superiors."

He reached out and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Cao Tingzhang was filled with fear.

He couldn't understand how Guo Jie opened the gate of the East Market and the gate of the Flag Pavilion one after another, and sat quietly at the gate of the Forbidden City.

It's so scary.

Even Cao Tingzhang, the head of the pavilion, could not do it quietly.

Forehead.
Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang are no match for him either.

Guo Jie simply has the power of ghosts and gods!

"Snapped!"

Guo Jie threw the letter in his hand and said, "This is a letter given by the Xiongnu to the guard Pu, asking him to deliver it to the mulberry forest near the outer Guo Pavilion. Tell me, who are you delivering the message for? How are you colluding with the Xiongnu to sell white horses?"

Huns!
Cao Tingzhang's heart trembled, but he managed to say: "I don't know what you are talking about. I don't know the Xiongnu people, and I won't pass on the message to others for him. Selling a hundred white horses."

"How dare you lie!"

Guo Jie shouted, "When did I say a hundred white horses?"

Cao Tingzhang's face turned pale.

He spilled the beans.

Guo Jie only mentioned selling white horses, and he himself gave the exact number.

One hundred white horses.

"Little Official"

Cao Tingzhang's forehead was covered with cold sweat, and he kept reaching out his sleeve to wipe it away. "I just guessed that there might be a hundred white horses, so I said a hundred."

"Ah."

Guo Jie was too lazy to talk nonsense and sneered, "Yi Zong, you go and interrogate him yourself. If he refuses to tell the truth, you can only let this Cao Tingzhang have a taste of your tricks."

Yi Zong's face lit up with joy, and he walked over carrying a bamboo box filled with various Qin Dynasty torture instruments.

The bamboo box was dragged on the ground, and the torture instruments collided with each other, making a "ding-dang-dang" sound like copper and iron hitting each other.

It hits deep into Cao Tingzhang's heart.

Just when Yi Zong approached the couch.

"I said!"

Cao Tingzhang's psychological defenses completely collapsed: "I'll tell you everything! This was my sister-in-law's son-in-law Di Shan's idea. He wanted to take advantage of the autumn harvest to offer a hundred white horses to Shang Yuze in order to become the ceremonial officer."

Doctor Dishan?

Guo Jie laughed. The old score of the Di family’s clansmen trespassing into the Jincheng River Valley without permission had not yet been settled.

Finally, we found an opportunity to capture the Dishan clan.

"Send him to East Market Prison."

Guo Jie said in a deep voice, "First, lock up Captain Cao. Don't let the news leak out, or the Xiongnu will take away the hundred white horses."

Several prison clerks rushed in and, ignoring Captain Cao's angry scolding of them as traitors, tied them up tightly with hemp ropes.

"Don't worry, Mr. Guo. Even if Zhang Tang comes to report, no one will reveal that Chief Cao is imprisoned in the East Market Prison."

Guo Jie nodded in satisfaction, with a smile on his face.

"Tomorrow, we will patrol Xingze Township!"

(End of this chapter)