Han official!

Chapter 23 Chang'an Night Walk
At 23 p.m., the city of Chang'an was completely silent, with only the cries of people from the neighborhood carried by the cold wind.

The overhanging eaves of the Feichang House were covered with a thick layer of snow. As the cold wind blew, the snow slid down from time to time and landed in the courtyard of the Gaojie Duting. The pavilion guard curled up on the couch and fell into a deep sleep under the warmth of the horseshoe stove.

There was no one in the silent Chang'an neighborhood, and Tian Dian, who was carrying the doorbell (yue key) of the neighborhood entrance and exit, was already fast asleep.

Four figures appeared at the Five Hyogo Gate on the east wall of the courtyard.

The Duting was equipped with five weapons: bows and crossbows, halberds, shields, swords, and armor, which were used to train the guards, arrest thieves, and maintain the stability of Gao Street.

According to the information Wei Guang had gathered, there were more than 20 members of the Yuan clan living in Yuan Tu's house. They were all knights who practiced fencing and were equipped with several bows and crossbows. They were probably also skilled archers.

Guo Jie called the cook to open the five armories and decided to equip each man with a set of armor. Wearing armor and not wearing armor in battle are two completely different situations.

When an unarmored soldier strikes an armored soldier, only sparks fly after a dozen strikes, but when an armored soldier strikes an unarmored soldier, only one strike is needed to kill him.

Armored soldiers often crush unarmored soldiers.

Guo Jie was neatly dressed in a set of red-ribboned fish-scale armor, and he now understood why possessing armor was a capital crime punishable by treason.

The fish scale armor on his body is composed of several parts, including the body armor, shoulder pads, and basin collar. There is also a hanging edge under the armor. The entire set of fish scale armor has an astonishing 2,800 pieces of armor, woven together with red ropes. The surface of the fish scale armor is painted with black paint, showing a red and black color.

The process is cumbersome and the production is complicated.

The two-foot sword that Guo Jie used for self-defense broke at the tiger's mouth. He picked up a sharp ring-handled knife and held it in his hand. After thinking for a while, he picked up another ring-handled knife and hung it around his waist to prevent the blade from curling due to excessive chopping on the bones.

Zhang Qian held a ring-handled sword in his right hand and a red-painted double-arc shield in his left hand, attacking while also defending.

Since they were engaging in close combat after sneaking into the courtyard, he was filled with regret that he could not ride a horse and wanted Guo Jie to see his cavalry combat skills.

People who come from the Langguan family can ride horses. Their daily training focuses on cavalry combat, and they have relatively good riding and archery skills.

Wei Guang, who was born a cavalry slave, chose a weapon that was slightly ornate. He held an iron halberd with the word "卜" in its hand. It had a straight spike extending forward and a horizontal branch extending to the side. In order to strengthen the iron halberd, a bronze shaft cap was added, a kind of halberd used by cavalrymen in horse battles. A two-foot sword was hung around his waist, which looked very impressive.

What makes it even more gorgeous is that the hilt of the two-foot sword is inlaid with gold and silver. He said that it was the long sword awarded to his brother by Princess Pingyang, and he borrowed it for temporary use.

It is unknown whether it was borrowed or taken away secretly.

The cook was carrying a bow and holding a sword, dressed like a normal guard.

“The yard is quite narrow.”

Guo Jie, stepping on the snow on Gao Street, turned around and asked, "You have a long halberd for horse fighting. Can you use it in the courtyard? Don't let the length of your weapon kill you at the hands of the knight-errant."

Wei Guang swore, "Don't worry, the Yuan clan's little idiots can't hurt me. Then I'll let my brother look up to me and know that I can kill a tiger by myself."

Ever since Guo Jie's reputation of fighting a tiger with his bare hands gradually spread in Chang'an, he has been secretly regretting that he should have fought the tiger alone so that the people of Chang'an would look up to him.

Zhang Qian secretly regretted not having fought the tiger alone. If he had killed the tiger alone, his name might have been recorded in unofficial history. Each of them, with their own thoughts, followed Guo Jie, nimbly moving through the neighborhood like tigers and leopards hunting at night.

Mang Tong and Gan Fu, who had been waiting in the bullet room, opened the front and back gates of the neighborhood respectively. Dozens of knights in crimson robes filed in and walked towards the grand gate of the neighborhood together.

In addition to the front and back gates, there is also a Hongmen, or alley gate, inside the lvli.

The interior of the village is arranged in the shape of a Chinese character "王", with a wide road in the middle.

There are lanes on both sides of the road, and there is a Hongmen at the entrance of the lane. At night, the Hongmen will be closed along with the Lumen.

The Yuan family of Yangdi lived in the same lane, so once the Hongmen was closed, it would be a foolproof way to close the door and beat the dog.

Guo Jie arranged several knights in crimson robes to guard the Hong Gate and propped it up with large wooden stakes from the outside. All the rest of the people rushed into the houses where the Yang Di Yuan family lived.

"Mang Tong, Gan's father."

Guo Jie pointed to the houses on either side and said, "Go and capture the knights brought by Yuan Ying and Jia Ziguang's knights. Remember, capture them, not kill them. Try to keep them alive. These strong knights will be excellent laborers for building the forest garden. Afterwards, they will be given to Zhang Tang."

He knew very well that it was taboo in officialdom to bypass the level of authority. Anyway, he was the one who caught the knight, so the credit would not go to him. He might as well do a favor to the two superior officials, Zhang Tang and Zhao Yu.

In the future, you will need the care of Chang'an Ling and Chang'an Wei.

It can also avoid the taboo of bypassing levels of officialdom.

Mang Tong and Gan Fu bowed in succession, and each took a group of knights in crimson robes to the agreed house, captured the sleeping knight, locked him up in a pavilion, and then handed him over to the officials of the Chang'an government.

Guo Jie, Zhang Qian, Wei Guang and the others went to the house where Yuan Tu, the former head of the capital, lived.

The house where the chief officer Yuan Tu lived was a relatively large courtyard. He abused his power for personal gain and cooperated with the Chang'an Wei to arrest a merchant, and then forcibly occupied the house left behind by the merchant.

The house is divided into two parts, the left and right parts. The right side is where people live on weekdays, with the main house, entrance hall, toilet and other buildings. There are two courtyards in the front and back, surrounded by corridors, and there is a house with a width of three rooms in the back yard.

On the left side are also two courtyards, front and back, with granaries, kitchens, stables, and houses for servants and concubines. They are also surrounded by corridors, and there is a tall building at the back.

A dog pen and a chicken coop were built in the northwest corner of the house. Dogs were not kept for guarding the house. As one of the six domestic animals, dogs were mostly used for meat, which was an indispensable kind of meat for banquets.

After a tiring journey to Chang'an, Yuan's knights had been drinking and eating meat. They had eaten all the dogs in the kennel, but there were still many laying hens left in the chicken coop. The slightest noise they made would wake up the pheasants.

"This is the location of the chicken coop, right?"

Guo Jie asked, "Take a closer look and pinpoint the exact location of the chicken coop. The Yuan clan's knights have bows and crossbows. Only by sneaking in quietly and sniping them one by one can we escape unscathed. Otherwise, many of us will die here."

The cook said solemnly, "No mistake. I've often come to the captain's house to cook for him, to help him entertain officials from the government and temple, and to slaughter dogs and chickens. I know the location of the dog pen and the chicken coop is correct. Mr. Guo can throw out the pork and rice he has prepared."

(End of this chapter)