Chapter 31: Full of Justice
Qingji and Sun Wu were strolling in the market, one in front and one behind, chatting as they walked.
At this moment, a loud shouting suddenly came from the front!
"stop!"
"Don't leave! Stop him!"
There was a commotion, and many stalls and passers-by were knocked down.
Qingji looked up and saw a group of burly men chasing a ragged and thin man!
The man was quite agile and he just relied on the gaps in the crowd to avoid being chased by the group behind him.
But with Qingji's keen eyesight, he naturally knew that the man would sooner or later run out of strength and be caught by those big men!
what happened?
Qingji was quite surprised.
But in line with the principle of helping the weak and punishing the strong, when the thin man was about to be caught, he suddenly stretched out a foot and tripped a big man to the ground.
"ah!"
The big man was caught off guard and was knocked down by Qingji's kick. He fell straight to the ground with his four limbs facing the air.
Afterwards, Qingji took a step forward and blocked the group of people's way.
In just a short while, the thin man disappeared into the crowd and escaped.
Seeing this, the group of big men became furious. They stepped forward to surround Qingji and glared at him!
"How dare you stop us from arresting people? We must not let this go easily!"
All the Han people glared at Qingji angrily, as if they were going to beat Qingji up if they had a disagreement.
However, Qingji was not afraid at all. He glanced at the group of big men in front of him and said, "In broad daylight, how can I tolerate you committing crimes and arresting people in the street and doing whatever you want?"
Hearing this, the group of big men became even more angry.
However, looking at the luxurious clothes worn by Qingji, his heroic and noble appearance, they had to consider whether they could afford to provoke the man in front of them!
"May I ask your name? Which family are you from?"
The big man in the lead was not blinded by anger after all. He stepped forward and asked Qingji with his hands lowered.
Qingji naturally couldn't reveal his identity, so he asked, "The son of the Grand Marshal, the Senior Official Sun Wu, do you know who he is?"
"Ah! It's General Sun! I was rude just now and I apologize for the offense. Please forgive me, General Sun!"
The big man was startled and quickly bowed to Qingji.
Sun Wu, who was standing aside, had a very strange expression on his face!
Unexpectedly, Qingji actually revealed his own name.
As popular figures in front of the current king and the most sought-after new nobles of the Wu State, the father and son Sun Ping and Sun Wu are naturally household names in the capital of Wu.
At least, their names have been circulating among the people in the market in recent times!
How could a few big guys not know?
"No problem."
Qingji waved his hand magnanimously and did not deny it.
"Why did you chase that person just now?"
"General, you don't know. The one who just escaped was a slave my master bought in the market! We were careless for a moment, and he took advantage of the opportunity to escape!"
The big man complained to himself: "If I don't catch him, how can I report to my master?"
Hearing this, Qingji realized that he was a bit abrupt.
But, at this point, Qingji did not regret what he had just done!
"How much did your master spend on the slave just now? I will make up for it for you."
"Thank you, General!"
Upon hearing this, the big man couldn't help but burst into tears of gratitude.
After chasing the slave away, they will definitely be punished when they return!
It would be best if Qingji could pay out of his own pocket and buy the escaped slave.
"If the general wants to buy the slave just now, he only needs 100 cloth coins."
so cheap?
Qingji knew that the big man in front of him wanted more than a hundred coins, but he still let his follower Sun Wu pay.
Wu inherited the Zhou system, so in the Wu State, apart from gold, there were roughly only two types of common currency, namely cloth coins and ant nose coins!
The currency of the Spring and Autumn Period was divided into four types based on its shape and distribution: cloth coins, knife coins, round coins and ant nose coins (ghost face coins).
The cloth coin was mainly circulated in the Three Jins and the two Zhou regions; the knife coin was mainly circulated in the eastern Qi, Yan and other places, and later developed to Qin, Zhongshan and other countries where it coexisted with the cloth coin.
Yuanqian was the only currency circulated in the later Qin State and finally unified by Qin Shihuang!
As for the Yi Nose Coin, it was the currency circulated in the Chu State in the Yangtze and Huaihe River Basin.
The State of Wu was adjacent to the State of Chu and there were constant trade exchanges between the two countries. Therefore, when merchants from the two countries traded, the currency they used was often Yibi money.
But in the Wu State, the official currency was cloth!
The Bu coin is a shovel-shaped currency that appeared in the early Spring and Autumn Period and was minted and circulated until the late Warring States Period.
"布" is a homophone of "镈", which was commonly used in ancient times!
The cloth coin evolved from the bronze farm tool hammer and was mainly circulated in the Three Jins and the Western Zhou regions.
According to the shape of cloth coins, they can be divided into two categories: empty-headed cloth and flat-headed cloth.
The earliest cloth coins retained their appearance as tools, with a socket for a handle. They were primitive and heavy, so they were called empty-headed cloth coins.
Later, it gradually became lighter, thinner and smaller, and the coin body became completely sheet-like, called flat-shou cloth.
The flat-headed cloth usually has place names or words recording weight cast on it.
Later, Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty also minted cloth coins!
But Wang Mang ultimately went against the grain, and the cloth currency ceased to exist and completely disappeared in the long river of history.
After the group of big men left, Sun Wu, who was standing aside, couldn't help but look at Qingji with resentment.
Why should I pay for the king when I don't even receive any salary?
"I didn't expect that you, my Lord, would be so hateful of evil. If you hadn't helped me just now, that slave would have been caught and taken back, and I'm afraid he would have died or been skinned alive!"
"Haha, Changqing, are you trying to accuse me of meddling in other people's business?"
Qingji smiled and shook his head, saying, "Seeing injustice and drawing one's sword to help is what a hero does. I did something wrong when I blocked these people who were chasing the escaped slaves without authorization, for no reason at all!"
"This is my fault."
Qingji admitted his mistake very frankly!
He is not the kind of person with a strong sense of justice!
Having just seen a group of strong men chasing a thin man, Qingji was indeed a little hesitant.
Because the person who escaped might be a petty thief or a "savage" who was about to be captured and enslaved!
Qingji's helping hand was just a casual act and not worth mentioning.
"Come on, Changqing, let's go to the dental clinic and take a look!"
"Dentist?"
Sun Wu was a little confused, but seeing Qingji already walking in front of him, he had no choice but to follow.
The Yahang was the slave trading market in ancient times!
Like most cities in the world, the capital of Wu had a market dedicated to the sale of slaves. People who engaged in this trade were called human traffickers!
