Han official!

Chapter 8 Official Temple
The walls of the official temple in Chang'an are rectangular, and the county government office enclosed is called a temple.

The walls of the official temple are solid rammed earth walls, also known as Bai Sheng because they are coated with lime. The roof is covered with tubular tiles, and the eaves are small double eaves. The most eye-catching thing in front of the official temple is a pair of tall Han Dynasty ques.

Hanque is a pair of single que used in official temples. It is higher than the surrounding walls and decorated with imitation windows, window panes, brackets, and other reliefs. It is lower than the pair of double que used by princes and officials above the rank of 2,000 stones.

There were also changing rooms and drums outside the gate. Whenever there were summons, imperial edicts from government offices, or urgent military reports from the post, the clerks would take pawls and hit the drums in front of the gate.

Whenever officials or civilians had something to do, they would beat drums to indicate that something was wrong.

Zhang Tang brought Guo Jie and his two companions, along with four other officials, including the warehouse steward, to the gate of the county temple and instructed them, "Take Guo Jie and his two companions to the left academy. The warehouse steward, Yuan Qi, and the other four officials from the Gaojie Duting (Gaojie Duting) take them to the right academy."

The soldiers under the command of the Maoling Wei led two groups of people to the left and right sides of the county official temple respectively. There was a room on each side of the temple wall, called a school.

A school is a residence outside the gate.

The gate school was a changing room for officials and could also be used as a temporary residence.

Zhang Tang walked into the county official temple alone. After passing through the temple gate, he saw a fusi, also called a door screen or a folding screen. He walked around the fusi and came to the courtyard of the official temple. The most prominent main hall in front of him was where the Chang'an Ling handled paperwork and official business.

The main hall is where the county magistrate hears and handles cases, also known as the hearing hall.

Zhang Tang stood in the corridor of the court, hesitating and thinking for a moment. Instead of going directly into the court, he turned and sat in a room on both sides of the main hall.

The main hall is the place where cases are formally heard. Guo Jie's killing of the chief of the capital, Yuan Tu, could be a big or small matter, but the decision of the three top officials of the government, Chang'an Ling, Chang'an Wei, and Chang'an Cheng, would affect the struggle between the relatives of the emperor and the imperial power.

Protecting Guo Jie would be considered as targeting Dou Ying, Marquis of Weiqi.

Even the emperor had to go to the "Eastern Palace to report on affairs", and officials did not dare to provoke Empress Dowager Dou who was behind Dou Ying.

Guo Jie was sentenced to punishment and was recognized as a member of Dou Ying's party.

It's really tricky.

Zhang Tang was no ordinary county official. His family had been officials in Chang'an for generations. When he learned that Yuan Tu, the chief of Gaojie, had been murdered, he quickly realized that he was involved in a thorny political matter.

If the case of Guo Jie killing the tiger was dealt with in the main hall, everything would be laid out in the open, and there would be no room for easing the situation.

It would be best to go there and discuss and make a decision privately.

When the county magistrate encountered minor matters, he would usually go to the side rooms on both sides of the main hall to handle matters. The side rooms were called "bianzuo". The county clerks would handle trivial matters in the bianzuo, and the county magistrate would go to the main hall to handle matters every few days.

"Zhang Tang?"

Inside the chamber, a fair-skinned, slightly plump official wearing a Jinxian cap, a black Luoqi robe, and trousers and socks asked in surprise, "How did you appear in the Chang'an government office? There are unfinished bamboo slips in the chamber? You have already been promoted to the rank of Maoling Wei. You can just hand the bamboo slips over to the clerk."

This man was Shangqiu Cheng, the magistrate of Chang'an, one of the three chief officials of the imperial court.

Zhang Tang used to often deal with bamboo slips in the side room. When he revisited the old place, he was in a good mood. When he saw Shangqiu Cheng in the side room, he couldn't help frowning and was quite displeased with him, thinking he was a flatterer.

"Please go find the Chang'an Magistrate and the Chang'an Commander."

Zhang Tang stopped a senior official who was going to ask for the Chang'an magistrate, and then told him the truth: "Today, I was passing by the Gaojie Duting at the south gate of Chang'an, and I heard the sound of the crossbow being pulled by the yellow-shoulder crossbow."

He recounted the details of Guo Jie's killing of the tiger, knowing that this man was not a guest of a relative of the emperor's wife, and should be able to offer some insightful opinions.

Just as Zhang Tang was waiting to see how Shangqiu Cheng would deal with the incident of Guo Jie killing the tiger.

Unexpectedly, Shangqiu Cheng was overjoyed and said, "This man can actually fight a tiger with his bare hands. Hurry and call him over. Let's go to the Lion Circle with me and present him to the Emperor."

If Guo Jie heard this, he would definitely break out in a cold sweat and think that Shangqiu Cheng had done him a great harm.

Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, was surrounded by men of good families with clean backgrounds, the so-called "Six Commanderies of Good Families." If he were to be offered to Liu Che, his blood debts would soon be exposed. Zhang Tang frowned, looking at the delighted Shangqiu Cheng, feeling that he had wasted his words.

Shangqiu Cheng actually wanted to use Guo Jie's bravery in fighting a tiger to present him to the emperor as a plaything. If the emperor was surrounded by such treacherous ministers, he would sooner or later become like Duke Yi of Wei in the Spring and Autumn Period and lose his ambition due to playing with such treacherous ministers.

Ah!
Zhang Tang shook the sleeves of his linen jacket and ignored Shangqiu Cheng, who was thinking of presenting Guo Jie to the emperor as a plaything, and waited for the arrival of the Chang'an order.

"Guo Jie killed the tiger?"

Zhao Yu, the governor of Chang'an, had his hair tied up with an iron hairpin, a mustache on his mouth, and wore a black shirt with a crimson collar and collar underneath. His attire was much more elegant than that of Zhang Tang and Shangqiu Cheng.

Although Zhao Yu looked plain in appearance, he was a cruel official well-known during the time of the previous emperor. He arranged many subordinates to inform on others, set up many criminal justice systems, invented various torture instruments, and fabricated charges to kill people.

When he walked in and sat down, Zhang Tang on the couch immediately sat up straight, and even Shangqiu Cheng stopped trying to please him.

Zhao Yu looked at Shangqiu Cheng, who was hurriedly straightening his clothes, and asked casually, "What does the Chancellor of Chang'an think should be done?"

The Chang'an Wei is Dou Ying's guest and will most likely inform Dou Ying of today's decision.

Shangqiu Cheng stretched his neck to glance outside the door. He didn't see the Chang'an Wei, so he didn't dare to offend Dou Ying. He could only repeat the same thing: "There's no small matter in Chang'an. You and I govern the capital where the emperor resides, and it's filled with a large number of powerful people such as relatives, dukes, and royal family members. To put it bluntly, if you throw a cooking pot and hit three people, at least one of them is a powerful person. It's not easy to be an official in the capital."

He complained a lot, but none of it was useful, and he didn't make any decisions.

Neither side is to blame.

Zhao Yu seemed dissatisfied and snorted coldly, which immediately frightened Shangqiu Cheng so much that he broke out in a cold sweat. He chuckled twice, shrank his body and stopped talking.

"What do you think?"

Zhao Yu had worked with Zhang Tang for quite some time and was quite familiar with him. Knowing Zhang Tang to be a talented man, he deliberately posed the question to an unrelated officer, the Maoling Commandery officer: "The Chang'an Commandery officer is not at the temple, so there's no need to wait for him to come. If you were the Chang'an Commandery officer, how would you deal with Guo Jie for killing the tiger?"

How to deal with Guo Jie.

It doesn't matter whether Guo Jie broke the law.

It all depends on how the chief officer Zhao Yu wants to judge the case.

If the superior official says Guo Jie is not guilty, then he is not guilty.

The superior official said that Guo Jie was guilty, but whether he was innocent or not, he must be guilty.

Zhang Tang was not a worm in the stomach of Chang'an Ling Zhao Yu, and he could not guess what this cruel official was thinking, but he did not want to let a righteous man who was eliminating harm for the people die at the hands of a treacherous relative of the emperor.

He claims that he is not a good person and his hands are stained with a lot of blood, but he always strives to be fair in doing things.

There will never be any selfish motives involved.

Moreover, the reputation of the heroic hero Guo Jie for his loyalty and trustworthiness spread from Henei County in Guandong to Chang'an City in Guannei.

I think Guo Jie must be a true hero.

Zhang Tang bowed solemnly and said in a deep voice, "I believe this case involves a captain under the Chang'an Wei. There must be no favoritism or abuse of power. The Han laws must be followed and the punishment must be meted out!"

"Ha ha!"

Zhao Yu suddenly laughed out loud, looked meaningfully at Zhang Tang who bowed solemnly, and made the final decision.

"Of course."

(End of this chapter)