A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 740 Imperial Envoy
It was just the beginning of sunshine after the snow, but the sunshine did not bring warmth, but the chill felt like a knife piercing through the bones.
On this smooth official road, a row of magnificent flags and honor guards was not far from the town of Xuanfu. Li Banghua, who closed his eyes and meditated, slowly opened his eyes to see the stomping feet of the entourage outside, shrinking their necks, and greeted them. Facing the cold wind, everyone complained non-stop, and couldn't help sighing softly.
I can still vividly remember the situation in the court that day, the Holy Majesty did not listen to the loyal advice, but dispatched himself as the censor of Zuodu to Xuanfu Town, how could there be no complaints at that time?
But then I was shocked, as a subject, thunder, rain and dew are all the grace of the king, so how could he harbor resentment, especially the king?This is what the ministers did!
So Li Banghua obeyed the holy will and resolutely came to Border Army Town here.
He didn't know what was waiting for him, but he had already put life and death aside, at worst, he would die, so why should he be afraid of it?
Along the way, Li Banghua's heart calmed down, and he often encouraged himself with Yu Qian's poems: "Thousands of hammers and thousands of hammers have carved out a deep mountain, and the fire is burning like nothing. Don't be afraid of breaking your body and bones, and stay innocent in the world."
In any case, he will not fall into the true qualities of a minister.
Along the way, he certainly never forgot to carefully observe the local affairs in Xuanfu Town, which left him with complicated and unspeakable feelings.
There is a good feeling, less bad feeling.
According to the rules, when an official passes through the border, there is always a reception fee and a gift fee. According to his status, it is usually around a thousand taels.
Li Banghua also thinks this is a bad habit. After he came out of the capital, all the officials in Changping and Juyongguan sent gifts, but he always refused politely. Use more than ten taels of silver.
Of course, he is still satisfied with the "respect" of the officials and generals, and he also sets off his "out of the mud without staining" from another aspect, but after entering Xuanfu Town...
As an imperial envoy and the future deputy governor of the Anbei Metropolitan Government, Li Banghua naturally has a proud status. He is also the Zuodu Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
Those who followed on this trip were not entourages, but family members, and some Jinyiwei captains accompanied them, but when they arrived at the huge stone tablet with the words "Huailong Road East Road, Xuanfu Town, Huangming", a checkpoint was blocked at the intersection. A small school member in Guan actually wanted to check their IDs!
You must know that in this huge procession of flags and ceremonies, there are many flags such as "Giving Shangfang the Sword", "Zuodu Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate", "Dongge University Scholar" and so on.
The vanguard team also went ahead to inform the officials ahead of their arrival.
It's fine if Wang Dou doesn't meet him at the town boundary, but he also needs to check... his documents?
Although the road post system in Xuanfu Town is also divided into two types depending on the situation, one is to stay in the shelter for a few days, check whether there is an epidemic, and conduct random investigations. This is aimed at civilians, especially refugees.
The other is to check the registration documents and release them after observation. This is for officials and generals.
After all, Xuanfu Town is also considered to be on an important road. Every day, officials from the capital to Datong Town, or Shanxi Town, Datong Town, etc. pass the capital in an endless stream. Caused an uproar.
Moreover, some officials will have important matters, so how can they stay at the checkpoint for a few days before leaving?
Therefore, after registering the certificates, each person will be issued a pass to let them go, with a time limit and a limited number of days, and how many days they can stay in the town.
This thing is also very important, without this thing, it would be impossible to live in a hotel in the town, and no innkeeper would dare to take in such a person, and he would be fined to lose his fortune just for nothing.
In fact, Ming Dynasty had very strict control over identities. Civilians had household allowances, guides for travel, soldiers had military status, and officials had to report to the public.
Of course, this is only the early days. Now that there are refugees all over the world, who will check the road guide posts?Not to mention the investigation of officials, there have even been fake officials in history.
Wang Dou's strict implementation of this policy naturally caused great reactions. He made good friends with Xuanfu Town and complained a few words in private. Fuzhen sneaked in.
Those who are not friendly with Wang Dou, those who envy and hate, can't help but curse that this move is really humiliating, especially detrimental to official authority and decency, especially some people secretly cursed that this move is like treason!But they can't do anything about scolding, unless they take a detour to Xuanfu Town, otherwise they have to register obediently, and after a long time, they get used to it.
But for Li Banghua and others, this move can be described as a great insult!They were imperial envoys, and they went to announce the decree under the order of the Holy Majesty, but when they arrived at the local border town, they had to be registered one by one?It is really intolerable!
In the hundreds of years of the Ming Dynasty, or even thousands of years, I have never heard of an imperial envoy being registered.
Li Banghua thought even more: "This is a country within a country, Wang Dou has no one in his eyes, and he is so daring to the extreme! Is this still the land of Ming Dynasty? Did Wang Dou take the Holy Majesty seriously?"
The family and entourage were so angry that they couldn't speak, they stepped forward and yelled: "Presumptuous, this is Mr. Li, the censor of the Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and even an imperial envoy..."
But everyone at the checkpoint just looked at them silently, and the leading officer said indifferently: "The general enters and exits Xuanfu Town, all of them register in person, are you more noble than the general?"
The attendants were even more annoyed when they heard this, and they screamed: "You are really presumptuous, Mr. Li is an imperial envoy, do you take the imperial court seriously? Do you take the imperial envoys seriously?"
The officer sneered: "Have you heard about Xiliu camp? Son of Heaven, no one is allowed to enter without orders."
An eunuch accompanied them, and aggressively led a few Jinyi guards and young eunuchs forward. According to them, although the factory guards are not as majestic as before, but the presence of a tiger can still stop children from crying at night. Small schools at these checkpoints must not Dare to embarrass them.
Unexpectedly, the officer in charge of the checkpoint looked cold, and he shouted: "You eunuchs, are you going to make trouble? According to the law of the Xuanfu, anyone who dares to attack the checkpoint will be punished!"
With a wave of his hand, even a group of Jingbian soldiers came up, the muzzles of the black holes were only pointed at them, and the eunuch and several Jinyi guards were so frightened on the spot that they all retreated in a hurry.What's more, after many days, the eunuch was still trembling with fright when he thought of the situation at that time, and kept breaking out in cold sweat.
In the end, Li Banghua decided to bear it first, so as not to be able to enter Xuanfu Town, he registered at the checkpoint and got a pass.
"Li Banghua, courtesy name Meng An, born in May of the second year of Wanli, was born in Panguli, Jishui County, Jiangxi Province. He is six feet five inches tall, has a square face, broad forehead, reddish complexion, and long beards... Note: on the right cheek There is a spot. Current position: Daming Metropolitan Procuratorate Zuodu Censor, purpose of visit: official business. The number of entourage..."
"Holding this card can pass and stay in Xuanfu Town. It is valid for one month. Note: This card must be carried with you and must not be lost. If it is lost, it must be reissued within three days, and a fee of one copper yuan or food will be charged. Five tickets for..."
Looking at this document, Li Banghua didn't know what it was like, and everyone around him also had a mournful face.
The accompanying eunuch looked at the certificates in his hand, then at Li Banghua's, and at the Jinyiwei who followed him, all of them looked at each other in blank dismay, looking at them, every certificate was the same, whether it was the same for senior officials or ordinary soldiers, they all thought in unison: " Where is the dignity and inferiority of this move? Where is the dignity?"
In the end they passed the checkpoint, but they were all exhausted, the gongs and drums were beating in a mess, and the flags were crooked. deal with them?
They still walk their own way, stop and watch from time to time, or discuss and point out, thinking that they kneel down to greet them, or crawl in fear, it is just a dream.
There are also children led by their parents, shouting and laughing, running around in the flag team, making the soldiers holding the flag feel like monkeys.
Some people subconsciously looked at it, and what they were holding was a flag, not a dragon head, and it was not a dragon lantern dance during the Lantern Festival. What are these ignorant children doing?
In addition, after passing the checkpoint, the quality of the official road is very good, and there is an endless stream of vehicles and horses, which is very prosperous. It is in stark contrast to the depression before the capital came, and the official road was full of potholes.
It's just that what's the matter with the carriages and horses, they go left and right, and they go on their own side. They walk in the middle of the official road with guards of honor, which hinders the passage of carriages and horses, causing chaos?
When the imperial envoy came, imagined paving the road with loess, pouring clean water on the street, all the people knelt down, and even three steps, one post, five steps, one sentry. There was no treatment.
"Where did you come from, you don't even know how to obey the traffic rules..."
Hearing these words, Li Banghua's face turned pale.
……
This is not the only thing that makes the group angry, the post station in Xuanfu Town is very complete, just rest along the way, any expenses need to be paid by themselves, and the post station no longer provides free food and drink.
The post officials are also plausible. The general ordered that now the post station in Xuanfu Town is only used to fly to the pond and deliver official documents. The function of delivering envoys is gone. Anyone who wants to eat and sleep at the post station has to pay for it himself. , the imperial envoy is no exception.
Facing the people's questioning, they were confident and confident: "Even the Marquis of Yongning handles it like this and pays for it himself. Are you more noble than his old man?"
Some people even said sarcastically: "At the beginning of the country, the post stations were unobstructed, but there were few customers. However, the upper beam was not straight and the lower beam was crooked. All cats and dogs ran in to eat and drink. In the end, the post stations were unsustainable, and there was a burglar... Fortunately, there were some people. After the Marquis, I will have a job again. Is it easy for me to get to this point at the post stations in Xuanfu Town? The Marquis has set an example, so why not wait? You still want to eat and drink for free, let me wait until I close the business, and then How many more Li Zichengs will come out?"
Li Banghua was so angry that his nose turned crooked after hearing the gossip.
Everyone in the entourage also had mournful faces. They thought it was a good job to come out with the imperial envoy. Unexpectedly, they didn't get any oil and water. They had to pay for food and sleep at the post station. It was a hemorrhage and a big loss.

(End of this chapter)