Han official!

Chapter 20 Sang Hongyang

"Oh!"

Zhang Qian sat on the carriage rail, stepped on the whip, and held the reins tightly as he rushed into the barbarian's residence. He collided head-on with a screen, and the expensive screen turned into scattered pieces.

The valuable vermilion lacquer tables with scroll patterns on both sides were all knocked over, and the copper plates, silver cups, lacquer bowls and other precious utensils placed on the tables were scattered all over the floor.

The barbarian's house was ruthlessly ravaged by the carriage covered with white cloth.

The room was in a mess, as if it had really been robbed by thieves.

Wei Youqu no longer had the arrogance of a foreign Han Chinese. He looked at the precious utensils in the room being crushed again and again by the wheels of the cart, and felt a heart-wrenching pain.

They were all silver and lacquerware that he bought at high prices from the nine markets in Chang'an.

"Brother."

Zhang Qian, delighted at having ravaged the foreigner's residence, sat on the carriage with a beaming expression. "We found no thieves in the main house. The officers suspect they broke into the side rooms on the left and right. Should we go to the side rooms to check if the barbarian's residence is harboring thieves?"

"Guo Guotingzhang."

Wei Youqu held his aching crotch and stood up with the help of two guests. He said weakly, "What do you want to do? Please tell me. Don't mess with my house anymore."

The principal house had suffered heavy losses from being crushed by the cart, and the auxiliary house could not bear the ravages of the wheels any further.

As a prince of the dignified Wei Dynasty of Korea, he bowed to a minor official of the Han Dynasty. He felt humiliated, but he had no other choice.

You can only bow your head and surrender.

Who made Guo Jie a citizen of the Han Dynasty?

"I have taken up my post today and have inspected the various neighborhoods in Gaojie Duting."

Guo Jie said in a high-sounding manner, "We've discovered that there are fire hazards in various villages. To prevent fires, we plan to build several more wells in the capital. Since the government and temple won't provide money or grain, we're thinking of asking you to pay for it yourself. In other words, each barbarian residence should pay money and grain to this official to dig wells to prevent the barbarian residences from being burned down."

blackmail!

Blatant extortion!

Wei Youqu was furious. He was not only a prince of Wei's Korea, but also an envoy from a foreign country. Yet, he was extorted for money by a minor official of the Han Dynasty.

The envoys from foreign countries such as Qiongdu, Yelang, and Nanyue were also full of resentment. They stared at the evil official Guo Jie of the Han Dynasty, wishing they could tear him into pieces.

"Don't want to dig a well?"

Guo Jie laughed and said, "It seems you are not afraid of fire. If there is a fire in the Barbarian Residence one day and it burns down all the houses and kills the people living there, don't blame me for not being able to put out the fire in time."

Threat!

A naked threat!

Wei Youqu deeply understood that it was easy to talk to the community god but difficult to deal with the community ghost. It seemed that if he didn't pay Guo Jie for digging the well today, he would send people to burn down the barbarian's house at night.

The envoys from Wei Dynasty Korea were actually harassed by a social ghost.

hateful.

"boom!"

Wei Youqu slammed his fist against the doorpost and said through gritted teeth, "Here, this prince will give it to you. I'm afraid you can't hold the hot money. Don't burn your hands, or you'll end up being burned to death."

"I am thick-skinned."

Guo Jie signaled Zhang Qian to drive out with the chariot, and left Wei Guang to collect the money. "We won't ask for more money from you. Pay according to the amount of land occupied by the barbarian residence. Remember, this is not a donation for the well, but money for buying the well water from the official. It's also called water payment."

Wei Guang was very happy. He loved to do things that would show off. He held his head high and showed off his might. He took more than ten knights dressed in the white clothes of guards and started to ask for money for water from the barbarians' homes one by one.

Without water, there is no way to put out a fire.

Of course, they had to buy more well water from Guo Jie. However, the merchants in the Nine Markets were selling soup, boiled water.

Guo Jie was selling cold water from the well. When the cold water was poured into the burning house, it would quickly turn into hot water, which was also soup.

"Brother."

Wei Guang returned to the Gaojie Duting with a cartload of gold and said excitedly, "The barbarian family is truly wealthy. Just buying water cost them sixty gold coins. I've been a mounted slave for many years, and I've never seen so much gold."

One gold and ten thousand coins.

They looted 600,000 yuan from the foreign embassy.

The chief of the beacon towers at the frontier fortresses, the minor official in charge of the beacon towers, received a monthly salary of no more than nine hundred coins.

Guo Jiefang put down the copper cup he was holding, the one he used to drink from, and thought, "Leave ten gold coins to divide among the brothers in the capital. Zhang Qian and Wei Guang, take fifty gold coins and follow me to the official temple."

A carriage covered with white cloth drove out of Gaojie Duting and headed along Gaojie Avenue towards Chang'an Guansi.

At the same time, a green-covered carriage pulled by three horses left the neighborhood of Gao Street and went directly to the Prime Minister's Mansion to seek justice.

On the way, the carriage with a green canopy met Sang Hongyang, the attendant who had been reading to Emperor Liu Che for many years, and several guests of Wei Youqu. They wept and told the story of how the Han officials had acted arbitrarily and harmed the envoys of foreign countries.

Destroy the relationship between the Han Dynasty and foreign countries.

Unforgivable crimes.

Should be executed immediately.

Sang Hongyang wore a jun bird-shaped cap on his head, with a red-black sable tail at the back, inserted on his left side. He wore a black robe with a crimson edge and carried an official seal in a pan bag at his waist.

He was about to go to the official temple in Chang'an to inquire whether the money and grain stored in the temple were sufficient when he heard that the foreign envoy was bullied by a minor official. He did two things at once and went to find the Chang'an magistrate Zhao Yu to find out the truth.

"Money and food?"

Zhao Yu was confused and asked, "Why would the emperor suddenly ask about this? Could it be that he wants to start a massive construction project and build a garden right after ascending the throne?"

"Ugh."

Sang Hongyang visited various mausoleums near Chang'an, intent on finding money. His mind was preoccupied with finding more money for the emperor. "The emperor is not building these gardens for pleasure. They are simply training troops for a future attack on the Xiongnu."

Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang remained silent, knowing that what Sang Hongyang, the emperor's purse, said was the truth.

The Huns have always been the Han Dynasty's number one enemy.

Emperor Gaodi Liu Bang spent his whole life in military service. He fought against the Qin Dynasty for three years and defeated Xiang Yu for four years. After the world was settled, he went to conquer the Huns, but was trapped on Mount Baideng for seven days and seven nights, ending his campaign in disgrace.

During the reign of Empress Lü of Han, the Xiongnu Chanyu wrote a letter of insult. The Empress Dowager of Han had no choice but to swallow her anger and even sent Han women to seek stability.

During the reign of Emperor Wen, the Huns almost broke into Chang'an.

During the reign of Emperor Jing, temporary stability could only be achieved through humiliating marriages.

No matter how angry the imperial court was towards the Huns, it could only express its anger by refusing to marry the princess to the emperor.

Since the emperor ascended the throne, his first ambition has been to sweep away the Huns in the north and end the humiliating marriage.

Sang Hongyang was only interested in making money and collecting enough money from Emperor Liu Che to wipe out the Huns. Money was the only thing in his eyes, and everything else had to give way to money.

"I heard there's a pavilion chief in Chang'an named Guo Jie."

Sang Hongyang frowned and said, "The Chang'an magistrate should stop focusing on fabricating charges and pay more attention to the administration of officials. Guo Jie has been reported to me for defrauding numerous foreign envoys of their money. Go summon Guo Jie and punish him severely, and rectify the administration of Chang'an."

Wei Youqu stood aside, sneering to himself, "I've told you long ago that it's hard to take my money. Let's see how you can dodge it. The one who wants to punish you severely is Sang Hongyang, a close minister to the emperor."

(End of this chapter)