I, Emperor Chongzhen, have extended the life of the Ming Dynasty by five hundred years.

The group set off in the early morning and arrived in the evening.

When entering the city, if you encounter guards who stop you, they will check your travel permit.

The Ming Dynasty had a household registration system. Traveling long distances required a travel permit issued by the government; otherwise, one could be treated as a vagrant.

However, with the constant natural and man-made disasters, the number of displaced people has become commonplace, and many places have simply stopped caring about them.

In the thirtieth year of the Wanli reign, the imperial court simply issued an edict to abolish the issuance of travel permits.

Some remote areas are still subject to inspections, but Dingxing County is located in the heart of the Ming Dynasty and is so close to the capital, so why hasn't it been shut down yet?

Li Ruolian, walking at the front, asked, "The imperial court has long since banned the practice of issuing tickets by roadside, why are you still investigating?"

"It's my choice, what's it to you?"

The speaker was about forty years old, and judging from his attire, he was a head constable in the county government.

Dingxing County was not an important town and had no garrison. The responsibility of guarding the city gates naturally fell to the county government.

The county government office had three squad leaders, who were in charge of the militia, the fast patrol, and the bailiffs, respectively.

The Zhuangban were mainly responsible for standing guard in the court, and also collected land taxes and summoned defendants. The Kuaiban were mainly responsible for apprehending thieves and patrolling. The Zaoban were mainly responsible for ceremonial guards and guarding the city gates.

This man, named Xu Asheng, noticed that the other party was a stranger and dressed smartly. He secretly thought that the other party was either a merchant or a wealthy family from Henan who had fled from the war.

The so-called inspection is just a pretext to embezzle some money.

If they knew what was good for them, they would offer up the silver and enter the city early.

Unexpectedly, these people were completely unyielding and even questioned him to his face!

Is there any king law?Are there any laws?

"Can't I even ask?"

Li Ruolian remained calm, after all, this was Baoding Prefecture.

If anyone's in a hurry, it's He Fu; I'm not in a hurry.

Xu Asheng became even more enraged and drew his sword: "How dare you defy the imperial decree! I suspect you've come from illegitimate sources; could you be rebels?"

Li Ruolian smiled slightly and said, "We are not rebels, but we also do not have travel permits."

"You think it's not true just because you say so?"

Xu Asheng waved his hand and ordered, "Men, take these people back and search them thoroughly!"

"Wait!"

Li Ruolian turned her head, glanced at Zhu Youjian, and gave him an inquiring look.

Zhu Youjian neither spoke nor gave any instructions, meaning, "You decide what to do!"

He Fu, standing to the side, was already covered in sweat. What was going on in Dingxing County?

Xu Asheng became even more enraged and said, "Without official travel permits and refusing to cooperate with inspections, I think you are traitors!"

Before he finished speaking, the others surrounded him, and it seemed they weren't going to let the matter rest.

He Fuqi felt a pain in his chest and was about to step forward when he saw a caravan of more than a dozen horse-drawn carriages entering the city in single file.

They ignored the constables completely and just walked past them.

"Why were they allowed to pass? Why wasn't it investigated?"

Xu Asheng stared at He Fu for a moment and asked, "And who are you? Is it any of your business?"

He Fu was furious. He immediately got off the carriage and stepped forward to ask, "Is your request to check our travel permits a regulation of the county government or the imperial court?"

"The regulations of the imperial court are also the regulations of the county government!"

"The imperial court abolished the travel permit system as early as the 30th year of the Wanli reign. Is Dingxing County not under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Why do you talk so much nonsense?"

Seeing that these people weren't cooperating, Xu Asheng bluntly stated, "If you don't want to be inspected, you'll have to pay a city entry fee!"

"There's a fee to enter the city?"

"Of course! No travel permit, and no money? That's illogical!"

He Fu suppressed his anger and asked again, "The city entrance fee, right? How much do you want?"

"One, two, three, four... There are quite a lot of people. Never mind, I'm too lazy to count. Just pay five taels in total."

Snapped!

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Xu Asheng had five finger marks on his face.

"You, you... how dare you..."

Snapped!

He raised his hand and delivered another slap, clean and swift.

"Fine, you've gone too far!"

Just as Xu Asheng was about to lash out, a cold glint flashed before his eyes, and he felt a chill on his neck.

Li Ruolian's knife was already at his neck, and what was even more terrifying was the murderous intent flashing in her eyes, sending chills down one's spine.

Those who have truly fought on the battlefield possess a certain killing intent.

Perhaps he didn't realize it himself, but Xu Asheng was so frightened that his back was covered in cold sweat and he dared not move.

The others drew their knives and watched from a distance, not daring to approach.

Xu Asheng said cautiously, "I'm warning you, this is Dingxing, don't cause any trouble!"

"You still remember it's Dingxing!"

He grabbed the other person's hair with one hand and slapped him repeatedly with the other.

Poor Xu Asheng, with a knife to his neck, could only endure the beating and dared not move an inch.

He Fu was furious. If this happened normally, the perpetrator would be found and the matter would be handled by following the normal procedures.

But today is different!

His Majesty was watching right there; I, the prefect, have completely lost face!

"Stop! Who's causing trouble here?"

Just then, a voice suddenly came from afar.

Xu Asheng immediately shouted, "Clerk Zhang, come quickly and save me! These people have no travel permits, refuse to be inspected, and are utterly lawless. They even assaulted me; they must be traitors!"

The man who arrived looked hurried, with a long knife hanging at his waist; he was Zhang Zian, a clerk in the county government.

Hearing that there was trouble at the city gate, he rushed to the scene and saw Xu Asheng being slapped by someone while being grabbed by the hair among a group of people.

To beat up a county yamen runner in broad daylight is simply outrageous.

"What are you... people... people..."

As he approached, he saw the person opposite Xu Asheng and immediately froze.

"Your humble servant Zhang Zi'an pays his respects to Prefect He!"

The people around fell silent and cast curious glances their way.

Zhang Zian thought to himself, "How did Xu Asheng offend the prefect and cause such a commotion?"

Xu Asheng was dumbfounded. What prefect? ​​Where did this prefect come from?

In the county government office, the chief official was the county magistrate, the deputy county magistrate was the assistant county clerk, and then there were the registrar and the clerk.

These four individuals were of the seventh, eighth, and ninth ranks, respectively. Although their ranks were not high, they were all legitimate officials appointed by the imperial court.

As for the headman Xu Asheng, he was a clerk, without rank or grade.

There is no direct link between clerks and officials; a clerk can remain a clerk for life and can never be promoted to an official.

Officials need official titles and positions, and they have connections with each other, knowing everyone from the bottom up.

Xu Asheng was just a gatekeeper; he had never seen the prefect before!

Zhang Zian bowed and said, "This humble official is Zhang Zian, a clerk in Dingxing County. I was unaware that Prefect He was visiting my county and was unable to greet him properly, which caused a misunderstanding and frightened you!"

"Misunderstand?"

He Fu was still angry, but seeing Zhang Zian's respectful attitude, he calmed down a little.

He first snorted coldly, then said, "Zhang, the clerk, ask this man how he performs his duties. The imperial court has long since abolished travel permits, yet he uses this as an excuse to extort money and even claims we are rebels! Is this the law of your Dingxing County?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zi'an's expression changed. He turned to Xu Asheng and angrily rebuked him, "Chief Xu, how dare you act so recklessly? Who gave you the audacity?"

"I, I... I didn't..."

Xu Asheng tried to argue, but Zhang Zian kicked him to the ground.

"You worthless wretch, go and apologize to Prefect He right now!"

"Yes, yes... This humble servant was blind and did not recognize your greatness, Prefect. Please forgive me!"

Xu Asheng lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to say another word, and could only kowtow repeatedly to apologize.

Zhang Zian turned around again and said, "What happened today was due to my lax discipline, and I apologize for making you, Prefect, laugh at me. Please rest assured, I will investigate this matter thoroughly and give you an explanation."

Remembering that he still had important matters to attend to, He Fu nodded and said, "This matter concerns the laws of the court, and must be handled fairly without favoritism."

"I understand, and I will certainly uphold justice and show no leniency."

Zhang Zian nodded repeatedly, then looked at the constables and said with displeasure, "What are you all standing there for? Get out of the way!"

The crowd retreated hastily, and those with good judgment turned around and ran towards the county government office.

He Fu straightened his clothes and said, "I'll leave this matter to Zhang Dianli. I have other important matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."

"Is Prefect He on official business at the county government office? I will show you the way."

"Thank you for your trouble!"

After He Fu finished speaking, he turned and got into the carriage.

Zhang Zian sighed inwardly, thankful that he had arrived just in time to prevent a major disaster.

The carriage slowly entered Dingxing County, and soon a group of people came to greet it.

"Your humble servant, Xie Jinrong, the magistrate of Dingxing County, respectfully welcomes Prefect He."