Han official!

Chapter 167 Zhao Wangsun

The winter of the third year of Jianyuan was exceptionally cold, but the mansion of Zhao Wangsun in the east of Chang'an was brightly lit.

Prince Zhao was reclining on a tiger-skin couch, the bronze wine jug in his hand reflecting the flickering candlelight.

The village head kneeling at the foot of the stairs was trembling with fear as he watched the wealthy man with a fortune of tens of millions carving a peach wood slip with a gold-inlaid knife. The jade inlaid on the handle of the knife was enough to buy several mansions.

"Did that bastard Wei Guang send another three carts of millet to Guo Jie?" Zhao Wangsun suddenly asked, the blade making a harsh sound as it scraped against the bamboo slips.

He was revising this year's "Foreign Donations" account book. In the lacquer box were twenty volumes of forged commodity value records, each of which had three hundred shi of millet missing.

The village head leaned his forehead against the brick and said, "They said it was for Guo Jie to spend the winter."

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Wangsun suddenly burst into laughter, shaking the jade disk on the table. "You can fool others, but you can't fool me. It's obvious that he is using it to buy a title to atone for his sins!"

The long gown with golden cloud pattern swept across the ground, revealing a half-open iron box in the secret compartment under the couch, with the words "Account Book of the Second Year of Jianyuan" faintly visible.

Three days later, the newly appointed Chang'an magistrate Zhao Yan paced back and forth in the back hall of Guanguan Temple.

As the nephew of Zhao Wangsun, he touched the Hetian jade belt hook given by his uncle around his waist and remembered his uncle's advice yesterday.

"Guo Jie, the accountant, has already discovered the salt and iron taxes on the west bank of the Zhang River. If he were to see the Shaofu's 'Loan Income and Out Book'."

The sandalwood box on the desk suddenly became hot.

The twenty volumes of forged land deeds were intended to provide evidence of Guo Jie's crime of privately occupying government land.

At this moment, Guo Jie was checking the city rent accounts at a tavern in the west of the city.

As a clerk in the county government, he had a bronze official seal issued by the county government hidden in his dark brown clothes, but the gold-inlaid bronze sword on his waist was an old item he had when he was a knight ten years ago.

When Wei Guang came over with the wine jar, he saw him using a dagger to slash and change the numbers on the wooden tablet: "Are you paying the county governor the tax again?"

"The Lord is not good at managing finances, so someone has to fill the responsibilities."

Without even raising his head, Guo Jie carved the small word "two hundred" next to "one thousand pieces of lacquerware" with the blade.

Suddenly, there was the sound of horse hooves outside the tavern, and twelve county soldiers lined up with spears in hand, startling the sparrows under the eaves so much that they fluttered and flew away.

When Zhao Yan stepped on the attendant's back to get off the car, half of the silk rope was exposed at the collar of his dark brown official uniform, and the ribbon that should have been tied with the bronze seal of Chang'an Order was now empty.

"Guo Jie, receive the order!" The silken cloth rustled in the cold wind. "I hereby report that you have hidden 1,200 mu of land. Accompany me immediately to the temple to verify the land deeds."

Wei Guang drew his sword and tried to stand up, but Guo Jie held his wrist with the bronze official seal.

Guo Jie took off his bronze sword and said with a smile, "Zhao Changli has arrived just in time. I was just about to report to King Zhao about the wealth of the Sun family."

He deliberately raised his voice so that everyone inside and outside the tavern could hear it clearly.

"Han Dynasty laws clearly state that salt and iron sales require taxes. Zhao has been selling salt and iron for many years, but the salt and iron taxes recorded in the account books are very low. Whose account should the official be charged for this difference?"

Zhao Yan's face suddenly changed, and the jade belt hook on his waist suddenly fell to the ground and shattered, revealing half a scroll of blood-stained silk book in the hollow.

Guo Jie caught a glimpse of the four words "Salt and Iron Certificate" on the corner of the silk, and knew for sure that Zhao Wangsun was indeed smuggling salt from the Hedong Pond.

smuggling.

No salt and iron taxes are required.

He walked towards the prisoner's carriage on the snow, and as he passed Zhao Yan, he whispered, "Hiding the land tax is a small matter, but Zhao Wangsun evading the salt tax is a big deal."

In the prison of the Chief Justice, Guo Jie stroked the cold official seal.

Wei Guang walked along the outer wall of Zhao Wangsun's residence, and the foul-smelling mud and water were pouring into his collar through the gaps in his leather armor.

Three days ago, Guo Jie's words about the "Salt and Iron Certificate" echoed in his ears, like a hook tearing at his nerves.

He suddenly stopped.

A few locust tree leaves were floating at the corner of the ditch ahead, with crystal-clear particles between the veins.

He dipped his fingertips in it and tasted it carefully, and the salty and bitter taste instantly exploded on the tip of his tongue.

"It's Hedong Pond Salt!" Wei Guang's pupils contracted.

These tribute salts, which were supposed to be transported by official salt carts, actually appeared in the drainage ditch of Zhao Wangsun's residence.

He followed the direction of the water flow and felt his way to the iron gate of the culvert. He used the dagger given by Guo Jie to pry open the rusty lock. The fishy and salty draft, wrapped in the unique musty smell of the cellar, blew in his face.

The faint blue phosphorescent lights danced on both sides of the corridor, reflecting the mountains of salt bags.

Each package of linen was stamped with a cinnabar seal of "Hedong Salt Official".

When Wei Guang touched the third package, his fingertips touched the plain silk in the middle layer.

This is the "silk" specially provided by the Shaofu, and only the royal family can use it.

He cut open the sack and found a jade salt spoon engraved with the words "For use in Weiyang Palace" mixed with the salt grains.

“No wonder the salt tax can’t be found.”

The fire starter Wei Guang was holding between his teeth almost fell.

Zhao Wangsun actually mixed tribute salt with private salt and sold it.

The market price of tribute salt is higher than that of private salt, and the difference goes into the pockets of the rich.

Make huge profits.

He took out the "four-pillar account book" shorthand method taught by Guo Jie, and wrote the number of salt bags on the lining of his lapel, but he heard the clang of a ring-handled sword being unsheathed above his head.

"How dare you steal from Lord Zhao's salt warehouse!"

Two guards rushed down the stone steps holding torches.

Wei Guang threw the dagger with his backhand, accurately piercing the leader's throat. The hot blood sprayed onto the salt pile, giving it a strange green color.

The tribute salt of the Western Han Dynasty had to be mixed with gold flakes to distinguish it.

Zhao Wangsun used bronze powder to impersonate it, but it would oxidize and turn green when it came into contact with blood.

The matter of using private salt to impersonate tribute salt.

The evidence is irrefutable!
Seeing this, another person wanted to sound the alarm, but Wei Guang stabbed the vital point behind his ear with a salt spoon.

The iron box at the deepest part of the cellar was locked with an iron lock. Wei Guang took out the key he had stolen from Zhao Yan and pressed it into the keyhole.

A series of "clicking" sounds rang out, and the bamboo slips piled on the gold cakes in the box made him breathe hard.

It turned out to be the "Yin Yang Contract" between Zhao Wangsun and the Hedong Salt Official.

The original deed recorded that "annual tribute of 200 dan of salt was required".

However, the supplementary deed stated that "the actual amount of privately-owned salt delivered was 200 dan."

Suddenly, a half-roll of dusty cloth at the bottom of the box caught his attention.

It was a private salt transport route marked "Bashui Secret Passage", and the post stations along the way were all painted with Zhao's unique markings.

Officials who benefited from an entire smuggling route.

In the middle of the night, Wei Guang kicked open the side window of the Tingwei Prison and fell in front of Guo Jie with salt crystals all over his body.

He shook open his brine-soaked shirt, revealing a map of his salt smuggling operation: "The Hedong salt officials secretly transport an additional 1,800 dan of salt every year, using a secret passage along the Ba River to reach the Zhao family salt depot."

"Bang--"

At this moment, the sound of leather armor and scales colliding echoed in the prison corridor, and hundreds of county soldiers entered one after another, the ring-handled swords in their hands reflecting the salt crystals and emitting green light.

"Does Guo Shangji recognize this thing?"

Zhao Yan held up the barbed "Tiger-Bite Shackle," a torture device used by the Imperial Court to punish knights. "I heard that thirty prisoners on death row in Luoyang Prison had their throats crushed by this iron shackle."

He slammed the iron shackle at Wei Guang, but Guo Jie caught him with an iron chain and threw him towards the salt pile.

Wei Guang took the opportunity to throw the salt spoon hidden under his tongue, hitting the crossbow-wielding soldier's eye socket.

Amidst screams, Guo Jie tore off his shackles and threw his hidden dagger into the gap in the leather armor of the nearest county soldier.

He grabbed the ring-handled knife and split the salt bag, and the salt mist in the air immediately blurred the distinction between friend and foe.

"Form a formation!" Zhao Yan roared and retreated.

The county soldiers immediately formed an army formation of five soldiers each, which was created by the Grand Marshal Zhou Yafu when he suppressed the Rebellion of the Seven States.

When Zhao Yan's ring-handled sword split open the prison door, Guo Jie was wrapping his hands tightly with iron chains.

The salt grains reflected a pale light under the torches, illuminating the thirty iron-clad wooden shields pouring out of the corridor.

This is a unique siege formation used by the county soldiers. The cowhide covering the shield has been soaked in tung oil and can resist rockets.

"Team One, Hook-and-Cut Charge!"

Zhao Yan roared and retreated behind the shield formation.

Ten heavily armored soldiers immediately thrust their iron halberds through the gaps in their shields, and the chains with barbed hooks on the halberd heads rattled.

Guo Jie suddenly pulled his shackles and kicked the red-hot charcoal basin into the air. The red-hot charcoal rained down on the shield formation.

The oil-soaked cowhide caught fire, and the shield-wielding soldiers screamed in confusion.

Wei Guang took the opportunity to slip out from behind the salt pile, and stabbed the ring-handled knife accurately into the gap under the armpit of the armor.

He twisted his wrist quickly, and the sword blade made a loud noise as it twisted between bones, causing five armored soldiers to kneel down one after another.

But the second team of crossbowmen had already occupied the high ground of the corridor, and the squeaking sound of twenty crossbows being drawn simultaneously was tooth-grinding.

“Get down!”

Guo Jie shouted, broke the iron chain, wrapped it around Wei Guang's waist and pulled it hard.

The triangular arrowhead brushed against the tip of the hair and was nailed into the salt brick. The whistling arrowhead at the tail of the arrow made a thunderous echo in the closed prison.

Wei Guang threw the arrow stuck in the ground with his backhand, and the bronze spoon spun and cut off the throats of the two crossbowmen.

Zhao Yan suddenly waved the red flag, and the third team of death warriors rushed into the battle group with their upper bodies naked.

These people were the "salt smugglers" privately raised by Zhao Wangsun. They were armed with poisoned harpoons and covered with whale blubber to protect them from arrows.

Guo Jie grabbed the burning shield on the ground and slammed it towards the salt pile. In the exploding salt mist, he saw Wei Guang being forced into a corner by three harpoons.

"Move to the Xun position!" Guo Jie warned using the knight's jargon.

Wei Guang immediately rolled sideways to the northeast, where there was a cypress pillar supporting the roof.

The harpoon pierced deeply into the salt brick. Wei Guang used the pillar to gain leverage and jumped into the air, wrapping his legs around the neck of the nearest salt smuggler.

The sound of bones cracking and the poisonous needles shot out from Yan Xiao's sleeves rang out at the same time.

Wei Guang used his body to block seven poisonous needles, but was still hit by one on the shoulder.

Guo Jie snatched the harpoon and threw it at the oil lamp. The burning oil poured onto the salt bricks, and a two-meter-high blue and white wall of fire rose up.

He ripped open his clothes to reveal a row of daggers, which gleamed coldly in the firelight.

He shot out with a dagger in his hand like a fairy scattering flowers from heaven, and blood spurted out of the eye sockets of the seven salt smugglers.

Wei Guang endured the dizziness and threw the ring-handled knife. The sword pierced through the three salt smugglers and finally nailed them three inches in front of Zhao Yan's feet.

The fourth wave of attacks followed.

Twenty lightly armored soldiers, holding two-meter-long spears, advanced in a spear formation like a forest.

Guo Jie broke off the two spear heads with his bare hands, plunged his backhand into the salt pile to gain momentum and leaped up, then the iron chain hooked onto the crossbeam and swung to the rear of the formation.

Wei Guang seized the opportunity to roll beneath the spear array, his ring-handled sword aimed at the knee pit, causing the spear array to fall into chaos amid screams. Zhao Yan finally took action himself, sweeping his iron whip towards Guo Jie's face.

This weapon was originally used to hit horses, and the whip head was embedded with a barbed horseshoe.

Guo Jie took three quick steps back, and the iron whip shattered the salt bricks. The flying salt grains cut bloody marks on his face.

He suddenly grabbed the whip and pulled it hard, and Zhao Yan staggered forward.

Half a pottery bowl slipped out of Guo Jie's sleeve.

It was the broken bowl used to deliver food yesterday, and the sharp notch was precisely rubbing against the throat.

"Clang!"

The sound of metal clashing made the eardrums hurt.

The heroic guard that Zhao Yan hired at a high price saved his life and blocked the broken bowl with a long sword.

Guo Jie's knuckles were cracked by the recoil.

Five heavily armored soldiers took the opportunity to rush forward and stabbed with their spears.

Wei Guang roared and pushed the two men away.

“Attack with fire!”

Zhao Yan's howling was already filled with tears.

The last ten county soldiers raised the oil cans, but saw Guo Jie snatch the salt smuggler's whale blubber barrel and pour the smelly oil all over his body.

Blubber is fireproof.

"Records of the Grand Historian" records that the Han Dynasty navy often used whale blubber to process leather armor.

"Come!" He rushed towards the fire, instantly turned into a fire man and rushed into the enemy camp.

The salt grains exploded in the high temperature, blue-white flames flowed along the grease, and the prison turned into a salt and fire hell.

Wei Guang swung the ring-handled knife in his hand, targeting the tendons of the soldiers. The fallen soldiers were quickly engulfed by salt fire.

Zhao Yan retreated to the gate and tried to escape, but his ankle was entangled by the iron chain thrown by Guo Jie.

"what!"

The iron chain had already burned red, and the sound of burning flesh mixed with screams echoed throughout the prison.

When the last county soldier was nailed to the salt brick by Wei Guang, Guo Jie extinguished the remaining fire on his clothes, revealing his charred chest.

Salt grains were embedded in the burned flesh, rising and falling like stars with each breath.

Wei Guang used his sword to support himself on the ground to catch his breath, and found that the ring-handled sword had broken into three pieces.

The ground was covered with brine and blood foam, and forty corpses gradually stiffened in the salt crystals.

Zhao Yan's soapy official uniform was soaked in blood salt.

It has become a corpse.

However, King Zhao's grandson would not let Guo Jie off easily.

The sound of dense footsteps was heard again on the prison steps.

Zhao Wangsun's dark black robe appeared in the firelight.

Behind him, three hundred county soldiers were lined up with spears in hand, and the salt crystals on their leather armor shone green under the torches.

"How dare you, a brat, destroy the foundation laid by several generations of my people!" Zhao Wangsun swung the gold-inlaid bronze sword, and the fire reflected from the sword's spine swept across Guo Jie's blood-stained white clothes.

Twelve heavily armored soldiers immediately raised their iron-clad wooden shields. The rhinoceros hide covering the shields had been soaked in tung oil and shone dark red in the salt mist.

Wei Guang grabbed the salt on the ground and sprinkled it into the brazier. The exploding salt mist instantly obscured his vision.

"Charge the formation!" Zhao Wangsun pointed his sword at the salt pile.

The thirty county soldiers in the front row suddenly squatted down, and sixty long spears in the back row pierced out from the gaps in their shields. This was exactly the "stacked spear formation" used by General Zhou Yafu when he suppressed the rebellion.

Guo Jie quickly retreated three steps, and his long spear pierced the salt brick while wiping the white clothes on his chest.

Wei Guang threw the broken blade with his backhand, and the blade edge got stuck in the hinge of the shield formation.

Zhao Wangsun sneered and waved his flag, and the second group of crossbowmen appeared from the top of the corridor.

Twenty crossbows fired simultaneously, and the triangular arrows pierced through the salt mist and went straight for the two men.

Guo Jie used the burning salt cart as a shield, and the arrows pierced the cart board, sparking sparks. The smuggled salt in the cart exploded in the fire, and the flying salt particles embedded in the eye sockets of the county soldiers.

"Hook-and-embellish team, move forward!" Zhao Wangsun slammed his sword sheath against the stone wall.

Fifty lightly armored soldiers rushed forward with iron halberds in their hands, and the hooks and chains on the halberds rattled.

This is the "Tiger Tooth Halberd" specially made by the Supreme Court to capture serious criminals.

Guo Jie swept his long spear across the halberd formation, but saw that the chain was entangled with the spear shaft, and ten armored soldiers pulled it back with force.

Wei Guang roared and jumped up, cutting three chains with his ring-handled sword, but his leather armor was cut open by the halberd head that came from the side.

The blood splashed onto the salt bricks and was immediately absorbed into dark brown salt scabs.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Wangsun waved his command flag, and the third group of assassins rushed out with their upper bodies naked, holding harpoons tempered with dark blue poison.

Guo Jie threw the remaining wood from the salt cart with his backhand, and the wood broke into sharp spikes in the air.

The three assassins fell backwards as if they had been shot in the throat, but the soldiers behind them were aroused to ferocity.

The harpoon pierced into the salt pile and pried it open, and salt particles mixed with poisonous powder flew towards him.

"Hold your breath!" Guo Jie tore off his black clothes and dipped them into the pool of blood. The moment he covered his mouth and nose with the wet cloth, seven harpoons had already pierced his chest.

He moved sideways to block with the iron chain, and the chain twisted the fork pole and spun violently, fracturing the wrists of the three assassins.

Wei Guang took the opportunity to grab the harpoon and threw it at the crossbow formation. The fork pierced through the two crossbowmen and nailed them to the stone wall.

Zhao Wangsun suddenly clapped his hands three times, and twenty small salt carts with one wheel rushed in from the corridor.

There is a flame-breathing copper pipe hidden under each car, and the green flames that ignite when they come into contact with salt will instantly block the retreat route.

Guo Jie pulled the corpse of the county soldier in front of him to block it, and the leather armor curled up into a charred shell in the flames.

"Fire Bull Formation!" Zhao Wangsun pointed his sword at the wall of fire.

The burning salt cart was driven forward by the assassins, and the bronze spearheads stuck upside down on the shafts reflected the firelight.

Guo Jie quickly retreated behind the supporting pillar, wrapped an iron chain around the pillar and used the force to fly into the air, and his long spear pierced the chest of the driver like a meteor.

The out-of-control salt cart crashed into the shield formation, and the shield-bearing county soldiers turned into charred bones in the green flames.

Wei Guang suddenly groaned and fell to his knees, the poisonous wound on his shoulder flaring up.

Seeing this, the three county soldiers thrust their halberds forward, the bronze spikes on the halberd heads flashing with a cold light.

Guo Jie roared and threw out his ring-handled sword. The blade rotated and cut off two halberd shafts. The third halberd head pierced his left shoulder, and salt crystals mixed with blood splattered.

Zhao Wangsun took advantage of the situation and swung his sword, but Guo Jie used an iron chain to wrap the sword around him and pulled back, and the two men crashed into the salt pile while wrestling.

Salt grains seeped into the wound, and Guo Jie suddenly exerted force to press the sword towards Zhao Wangsun's throat.

Seeing this, the county soldiers rushed to rescue, but Wei Guang used his broken halberd to sweep across the ground, breaking the shins of five armored soldiers.

"Raise the signal!" Zhao Wangsun roared.

The personal guards lit a special salt smoke, and the poisonous mist mixed with sulfur filled the prison.

Guo Jie tore off his burning leather armor and threw it towards the source of the smoke, and the flames swirled back and burned the person who released the smoke.

Screaming.

Zhao Wangsun suddenly drew the golden knife from his waist and stabbed Guo Jie in the waist and abdomen.

Sparks flew when the iron chain and the wrong sword collided, and Guo Jie took advantage of the situation to grab Zhao Wangsun's right wrist.

Before the sound of bones cracking had subsided, a poisoned dagger slipped out of Zhao Wangsun's left sleeve.

Wei Guangfei pounced on Guo Jie and pushed him away. The dagger slashed across his back, and the poisonous blood instantly corroded his black clothes.

"How dare you!" Zhao Wangsun swung his sword in anger, but Guo Jie suddenly opened the secret compartment of the salt cart.

Bundles of "Hedong Salt Coupons" bamboo slips fell like rain, and the county soldiers subconsciously reached out to catch them.

These valuable credentials have now become a fatal flaw.
The ring-handled sword flashed coldly, and twelve county soldiers fell to the ground with their hands covering their throats.

Guo Jie jumped up on the bamboo slips, and his long spear came out of the cave like a poisonous dragon and pierced Zhao Wangsun's face.

At the moment when the long sword blocked, Wei Guang's broken halberd had already pierced Zhao Wangsun's right leg.

By this point, more than half of the 300 county soldiers had been killed or wounded, and the rest formed a circle with wooden shields to protect their leader.

Guo Jie snatched the salt smuggler's salt carrying pole, wrapped the iron chain around the salt bag on the pole and swung it hard.

The hundred-jin salt bag smashed the shield formation, and the flying salt particles embedded in the gaps of the armor. The county soldiers wailed in severe pain.

Zhao Wangsun suddenly blew the bone flute, and the tiles on the top of the prison burst open.

Fifty officers and soldiers descended along the ropes, their crossbows loaded with armor-piercing arrows.

Guo Jie pulled over two corpses of county soldiers and stacked them into a human shield. The iron arrow pierced through three layers of leather armor and stopped just in front of the sternum.

“Let go!” Zhao Wangsun’s face was distorted.

When the second wave of arrows came, Guo Jie suddenly overturned the salt cart.

The bronze salt bucket hidden under the cart overturned, and the salt paste that solidified when it came into contact with blood stuck to the soles of the crossbowman's feet.

Wei Guang took the opportunity to throw out the torch, the salt paste ignited white flames, and the soldiers rolled in the fire.

Zhao Wangsun drew his sword to kill Wei Guang, but Guo Jie's iron chain had already wrapped around his neck.

The county soldiers came to rescue with their spears raised, but were blocked by the burning salt carts.

The chain dug deeply into the sable cloak, Zhao Wangsun's eyes bulged out, and his long sword fell to the ground with a clang.

"what!"

"Run!"

"Hurry and find the Hedong County Magistrate."

Seeing this, the remaining one hundred county soldiers fled in panic and rushed to the corridor.

Guo Jie grabbed the crossbow and fired seven arrows in quick succession, each of which pierced the deserter's knee.

Wei Guang used his broken halberd to prop himself up and thrust Zhao Wangsun's gold-inlaid sword into the salt brick.

The prison was once again silent, save for the crackling of salt fire.

Three hundred county soldiers lay dead in a pile of salt, their blood coagulating into scarlet salt crystals in the cracks between the bricks. Guo Jie tore off half of his black robe to wrap around the halberd wound on his shoulder, picked up the county government's bronze seal and pressed it on the forehead of Zhao Wangsun's corpse.

As the east grew brighter, the first rays of morning light shone through the prison, illuminating the broken halberds and charred shields scattered all over the ground.

The salt tax books curled up in the ashes, mixed with human blood and formed the heaviest volume of accounting records during the Jianyuan period.

(End of this chapter)