Chapter 737: Imperial Commissioner

It was just after snow, the sky beginning to clear, but the sunlight brought no warmth — instead the cold felt like a blade piercing to the bone.

On this smooth official road, a grand procession of banners and insignia was already not far from Xuanfu Garrison Town. Li Banghua, who had been resting with his eyes closed, slowly opened them and saw his attendants outside stamping their feet, shrinking their necks, all complaining endlessly against the cold wind. He could not help but sigh softly.

The scene in the court that day was still vivid before his eyes. His Majesty would not heed loyal counsel, and instead banished him, the Left Censor-in-Chief, to Xuanfu Garrison. At the time, had he not also harbored resentment?

Yet afterward he had jolted upright in alarm — as a subject, whether thunder and lightning or rain and dew, all is the sovereign's grace. How could one harbor resentment in the heart and bear a grudge against the sovereign? That is the conduct of a subject!

So Li Banghua obeyed the imperial will and resolutely came to this frontier military garrison.

He did not know what awaited him, but he had long since set life and death aside. At worst, it was merely death — what did he have to fear?

Along the journey, Li Banghua's heart had instead grown calm. He often encouraged himself with Yu Qian's verses: "A thousand hammerings, ten thousand chiselings, out from the deep mountain; the fierce fire burns as if it were nothing. Body ground to powder, bones shattered — all unafraid; only wishing to leave purity here in the world of men."

No matter what, he would not let fall the true character of a minister.

Along the way, he of course did not forget to carefully observe the local affairs of Xuanfu Garrison. The impressions left him were complex and hard to put into words.

There was good feeling, and even more, ill feeling.

By custom, when an official passed through, reception expenses and ceremonial gifts were always unavoidable. Given his status, it was generally around a thousand taels.

Li Banghua also considered this a corrupt practice. After leaving the capital, although the various officials and commanders along the way through Changping and Juyong Pass had all sent ceremonial gifts, he always politely declined, and requested that any official banquets be kept simple. Generally, reception expenses used only a dozen or so taels of silver.

Of course, he was inwardly satisfied with the "respect" shown by the various officials and commanders, which also from another angle set off his own quality of "emerging from the mud yet unstained." It was only after entering Xuanfu Garrison territory that...

As an Imperial Commissioner and the future Vice Protector of the Anbei Protectorate, Li Banghua naturally possessed an eminent status. He was also the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Chief Surveillance Bureau, of lofty virtue and high prestige, with students everywhere. The officials and commanders he ordinarily encountered all showed him three parts of reverence.

Those accompanying him on this journey were either attendants, family members, or some Embroidered Uniform Guard captains traveling along. But when they reached the great stone stele with "Imperial Ming Xuanfu Garrison Huailong Circuit Eastern Route" written in sweeping dragon-and-phoenix calligraphy, a checkpoint blocked the road. A junior officer in charge of the pass actually wanted to inspect their papers!

One must know that in this vast procession of banners and insignia, they were carrying placards densely inscribed with "Bestowed the Imperial Sword," "Left Censor-in-Chief of the Chief Surveillance Bureau," "Grand Secretary of the Eastern Hall," and the like.

The advance party had also gone ahead to inform the local authorities of their arrival.

For Wang Dou and the others not to come out to the garrison boundary to welcome them was one thing, but to also demand inspection... of papers?

Although Xuanfu Garrison's road checkpoint system was divided into two types depending on circumstances — one was to spend a few days in a shelter, be examined for epidemic diseases, and casually screened for spies; this was aimed at commoners, especially refugees.

The other type was to inspect and register papers, observe, and then release. This was aimed at officials and military officers.

After all, Xuanfu Garrison could be considered situated on a vital thoroughfare. Every day, officials traveling from the capital to places like Datong Garrison, or from Shanxi Garrison and Datong Garrison to the capital, came in an endless stream. If they too were shut into shelters, it would surely cause a great uproar.

Moreover, some officials and commanders had urgent business — how could they wait several days at a checkpoint before moving on?

So after registering their papers, each person was issued a travel permit and released, with a time limit on how many days they could stay within the garrison.

This item was also extremely important. Without it, one could not even stay at an inn within the garrison. No innkeeper would dare take in such a person — being fined into bankruptcy was the least of it; in serious cases, they would be seized and sent to the mines for hard labor.

In truth, the Great Ming's control over identity was extremely strict. Commoners had household registrations, travelers had travel permits, soldiers had military household tallies, and officials had appointment certificates, allowing each person's identity to be verified to the greatest extent.

Of course, that was only in the early period. Now, with refugees flooding the realm, who still checked travel permits and household registrations? The screening of officials went without saying — historically, there had even been cases of impostor officials appearing.

Wang Dou's strict implementation of this policy naturally provoked a great reaction. Those on good terms with Xuanfu Garrison grumbled a few words in private, praising Xuanfu Garrison's security as so rigorous it ranked first in the Great Ming — no wonder spies from all sides could not hide themselves in Xuanfu Garrison.

Those unfriendly to Wang Dou, envious, jealous, and resentful, could not help but curse this act as a true disgrace to refinement, especially damaging to official dignity and decorum. Some even muttered darkly that this act was tantamount to rebellion! But curse as they might, they had no recourse. Unless they detoured around Xuanfu Garrison, they had no choice but to obediently register. Over time, they had grown accustomed to it.

But for Li Banghua and his party, this act could be called an immense insult! They were Imperial Commissioners, bearing His Majesty's command to deliver an edict. Yet upon arriving at this frontier garrison, they were to be registered one by one? This was truly intolerable — if this could be borne, what could not?

In the several hundred years of the Great Ming, even looking back several thousand years, no one had ever heard of Imperial Commissioners being required to register.

Li Banghua thought further: "This is a state within a state. Wang Dou has no one in his eyes, his audacity reaching the extreme! Is this still the soil of the Great Ming? Does Wang Dou have any regard for His Majesty?"

The accompanying family members and attendants were choked with indignation. They stepped forward and shouted curses: "Outrageous! This is His Excellency Li, Left Censor-in-Chief of the Chief Surveillance Bureau, and moreover an Imperial Commissioner delivering an edict..."

But the men at the checkpoint only watched them in silence. The officer in charge said flatly: "When the Grand General enters or leaves Xuanfu Garrison, he personally registers as well. Are you lot nobler than the Grand General?"

Hearing this, the attendants grew even more inflamed with righteous fury. They shrieked in rage: "Truly, truly outrageous! His Excellency Li is an Imperial Commissioner! Do you people have any regard for the imperial court? Any regard for the Imperial Commissioner?"

That officer sneered: "Have you people heard of the matter of Xiliu Camp? When the Son of Heaven arrived, his edict could not enter."

A eunuch in the retinue, with an aggressive swagger, led several Embroidered Uniform Guards and junior eunuchs forward. By their thinking, although the Depot and Guard were not as fearsome as before, their tiger's majesty still remained, still enough to stop children's night-crying. These petty checkpoint officers surely would not dare make trouble for them.

They had not expected that the officer managing the checkpoint would turn cold of expression. He barked: "You gelded wretches, do you intend to cause trouble? According to Xuanfu Garrison law, any who dare assault a checkpoint shall all be executed!"

With a wave of his hand, a squad of Jingbian Army soldiers came forward, the dark muzzles of their guns aimed straight at them. On the spot, the eunuch and the several Embroidered Uniform Guards were scared out of their wits, each scrambling backward in panic. And even many days after the incident, whenever that eunuch recalled the scene, he still trembled all over in terror, cold sweat breaking out ceaselessly.

In the end, Li Banghua decided that forbearance was best, lest they not even be able to enter Xuanfu Garrison. He registered at the checkpoint and received a travel permit.

"Li Banghua, courtesy name Meng'an, born in the fifth month of the second year of the Wanli reign, a native of Pangu Village, Jishui County, Jiangxi. Height six chi five cun, square face, broad forehead, complexion slightly ruddy, with three strands of long beard... Note: a spot on the right cheek. Current post: Left Censor-in-Chief of the Great Ming Chief Surveillance Bureau. Purpose of visit: official business. Number of attendants..."

"Holding this permit, one may travel and lodge within Xuanfu Garrison. Valid for one month. Note: This permit must be carried on one's person at all times and must not be lost. If lost, it must be reissued within three days, with a processing fee of one copper coin, or five he of grain tickets..."

Looking at this permit, Li Banghua did not know what feeling was in his heart. The people beside him wore similarly mournful faces.

The accompanying eunuch looked at the permit in his own hand, then at Li Banghua's, and then at those of the subordinate Embroidered Uniform Guards. They all looked at each other in dismay. No matter how they looked, every permit was the same — high officials thus, common soldiers thus. They thought in unison: "Where is the distinction of rank in this? Where is the preservation of dignity?"

In the end, they passed through the checkpoint, but by then every one of them was drained of spirit. The gongs and drums were beaten in chaotic disarray, the banners and placards held askew. Although the placards clearing the way were inscribed with characters like "Silence" and "Stand Aside," which of the pedestrians walking on the official road paid them any heed?

They still walked their own ways, occasionally stopping to gaze, or discussing and pointing. To expect them to kneel in welcome, or cower and prostrate themselves in fear, was mere fantasy.

There were also small children led by their parents, shouting with glee, laughing and frolicking, running back and forth through the banner procession, making the soldiers holding the placards feel as if they were monkey-trainers.

Some even looked subconsciously — what they were holding were placards, not dragon heads, nor were they dancing the dragon lantern for the Lantern Festival. What were these children making a ruckus about?

Moreover, after passing the checkpoint, the quality of the official road was excellent. Coming and going carts and horses flowed in an endless stream, extraordinarily prosperous — a stark contrast to the desolation everywhere and the potholed official roads before leaving the capital.

But what was the matter with these carts and horses, going left and right, each keeping to one side? Their procession walking in the middle of the official road was instead obstructing the flow of traffic and causing chaos?

When an Imperial Commissioner arrived, the imagined treatment — yellow earth spread on the road, clean water sprinkled on the streets, the myriad people kneeling in submission, even guards posted every three steps and sentries every five — was nowhere to be seen. All along the way, they left behind only a trail of merciless cursing.

"Where did these bumpkins come from, not even knowing to obey the traffic rules..."

Hearing these words, Li Banghua's face turned so blue it was pale.

What infuriated the party was not just this. The post stations of Xuanfu Garrison were indeed very complete, but when resting along the way, any expenses all had to be paid out of their own pockets. The post stations no longer provided free food and drink.

The various post officials were also full of righteous conviction: the Grand General had ordered that now Xuanfu Garrison's post stations only served for relay horses carrying dispatches and transmitting official documents. The function of accommodating traveling envoys was abolished. Anyone wishing to eat or sleep at a post station had to pay out of their own pocket — Imperial Commissioners were no exception.

Faced with everyone's reproaches, they were self-assured and confident: "Even the Marquis of Yongning handles matters this way, paying out of his own pocket just the same. Are your statuses nobler than his venerable self?"

Some even spoke with cold sarcasm: "In the early days of the dynasty, the post stations ran smoothly precisely because traveling envoys were few. Who could have expected that when the upper beam is crooked the lower beams go awry, and every Tom, Dick, and Harry came running in to eat and drink, until in the end the post stations could barely sustain themselves, and even produced a Chuang bandit... It's a good thing we have the Marquis now, and we have our rice bowls again. Do you think it was easy for us in Xuanfu Garrison's post stations to reach this point? The Marquis himself sets the example — what can you not do? You still want to eat and drink for free, make us shut down and close shop again, and then produce a few more Li Zichengs?"

These sarcastic remarks, when they reached Li Banghua's ears, made him so angry his nose nearly twisted askew.

The whole retinue of attendants wore similarly mournful faces. They had originally thought accompanying an Imperial Commissioner on assignment was a fine errand — they never imagined they would get no gravy, and even have to pay out of their own pockets to eat and sleep at the post stations. Truly a great hemorrhage, a great loss.