Entering the County Town

This time entering the city, Tran Mac also brought a portion of the family's savings, prepared for any situation.

Phuc Trach Village was ten li from the county town. Goose-feather snow was still blowing fiercely in the sky. Tran Mac clutched the clothes on his body tightly, using the tail of his garment to cover the wood-chopping knife tied at his waist.

Before long, Tran Mac arrived at Binh Dinh County town. The city walls weren't high, appearing less than two zhang, built from yellow earth and stones.

Not many people were entering the city.

At the city gate entrance, four yamen runners in grey clothes were on guard. Seeing Tran Mac arrive, the leader expressionlessly extended his hand: "Pass token."

Pass token, was the Da Song Dynasty's proof of identity.

If one couldn't produce a pass token, they were a black household (unregistered). Once the government officials found out, the light punishment was a fine or conscription; the heavy was being thrown into prison, to serve as a scapegoat for some case.

Before leaving, Tran Mac had naturally brought it.

"Phuc Trach Village..."

Tran Mac keenly sensed a smile appear on the yamen runner's face, who then said, "City entrance fee, eight wen."

"Entering the city still requires paying money?" Tran Mac was stunned. He hadn't heard Han An Nuong or Tong Dien mention it, and even the original owner's memories had nothing related to this.

"Are you entering or not?" Hearing Tran Mac's question, the yamen runner immediately became a little impatient, fundamentally not intending to explain to Tran Mac.

"Entering." Since he had already come, Tran Mac couldn't possibly turn around and leave now. He silently paid the money. The yamen runner completed the registration.

Tran Mac even personally saw the yamen runner record what time he entered the city.

"Remember, be sure to leave the city before the Hour of You (5-7 PM). If you delay the hour, you'll have to wait until tomorrow. At that time, to leave the city, you'll also have to pay ten wen as an overnight fee."

As if feeling Tran Mac paid readily, the leading yamen runner reminded him once more.

Tran Mac: "..."

After entering the city, he didn't rush off, but observed the people entering the city from within.

He found some people paid money, some didn't.

After they entered the city, Tran Mac quickly went forward to inquire.

Some people were fundamentally unwilling to answer Tran Mac.

Being refused, Tran Mac also wasn't annoyed, turning to others to continue asking.

After asking several people consecutively, someone finally enlightened him.

Originally, anyone not a resident of Binh Dinh County town had to pay an entrance fee.

And they had to leave the city that same day. If one wanted to stay in the county town, they had to spend money to purchase housing within the county town. This way, the government would issue a city resident's identification proof. If not, for every day staying in the county town, one had to pay ten wen as an overnight fee.

Of course, this ten wen didn't include your lodging costs, only represented that you could stay in the county town.

This decree was implemented a month ago; Han An Nuong and Tong Dien naturally didn't know.

At this, Tran Mac discovered a very large loophole.

If a person, after entering the city, just hid, didn't go out at night, and came out during the day, with so many people in the city, you couldn't possibly question them one by one, and also avoid the yamen runners. Wouldn't this be equivalent to being able to stay in the county town forever?

However, when Tran Mac saw people leaving the city, and the yamen runners also checking their pass tokens, and at the same time comparing it with a registration booklet, he no longer thought so.

You indeed could rely on this loophole to stay in the city all along, but you'd have to pray you're never discovered. Once discovered, the pile of unpaid overnight fees you'd have to pay would be an astronomical figure.

...

Tran Mac walked on the streets of Binh Dinh County, his eyes also scanning the surroundings. The first thing that surprised him was that there wasn't much accumulated snow on the streets; clear signs of sweeping were visible.

The city was also relatively bustling. Hawkers on both sides of the street were setting up their stalls, hands tucked into their sleeves, dressed rather bulkily, stamping their feet and shouting.

The "city appearance" was not bad, relatively clean, no beggars or refugees visible.

As for public order, just by looking at the laughing children on the street, one could tell a thing or two.

Inside the city and outside, were completely two different worlds.

Suddenly, Tran Mac's expression flickered slightly. He saw a robust, square-jawed burly man standing guard at a shop entrance, and on his forehead, there were two red numbers "31".

Beside him hung a cudgel.

Today's grain prices: rice thirty wen per jin.

Corn twenty-five wen per jin...

"What are these numbers?"

Tran Mac's gaze again swept towards the people on the street; their foreheads had no numbers.

Tran Mac rubbed his eyes, looked again at that robust burly man; those numbers "31" were still there.

What is this?

That robust burly man noticed someone was looking at him, his gaze immediately sweeping over coldly.

Tran Mac hurriedly averted his gaze, continued walking forward. On the way, when passing several more grain shops, their entrances also had a burly man standing guard, but these burly men had no numbers on their foreheads.

Just then, he saw a group of yamen runners approaching, official sabers at their waists, presumably on patrol.

And the leader of that group had a "55+6" red number on his forehead.

Hawkers beside them fawningly greeted.

"Master Banh!"

"Good day, Master Banh!"

"Master Banh, freshly steamed Dabaibao (large white buns), please have a taste!"

"..."

Through the discussions of the hawkers beside, Tran Mac learned that this person called Master Banh was the chief constable in the yamen.

At this time, Tran Mac seemed to understand something.

These people with characters on their foreheads should be initiated martial artists; those numbers were their strength.

Among that group of constables just now, only Master Banh had characters on his forehead.

Tran Mac didn't stare at Master Banh, walked away, arrived before a relatively luxuriously decorated "Li Family Cloth Shop," and went in.

Stepping inside, Tran Mac smelled a faint fragrance. There weren't many people inside, mostly women.

A man blocked him, asking, "What for?"

Tran Mac saw he had a red "36" on his forehead, and said, "Do you buy animal skins?"

The man looked Tran Mac up and down: "We buy all. What do you want to sell? Where's the item?"

"It's a wild boar skin. I came to ask about the price. If you buy, I'll bring it over to sell."

That man glanced at Tran Mac, as if knowing what he was planning, smiled and said, "Go out and ask around. When it comes to buying and selling furs, no one offers a higher price than our Li Family Cloth Shop. If your wild boar skin is of good quality, I can offer two guan of money or more. Specifically how much depends on the fur's quality..."

Tran Mac nodded lightly. After leaving the Li Family Cloth Shop, he went to other cloth shops, even merchant associations to inquire. He learned the prices were not as high as Li Family Cloth Shop's.

Tran Mac returned to the Li Family Cloth Shop again.

That man seemed to know Tran Mac would return, smiled and said, "Inquired clearly?"

Tran Mac also didn't explain, just took off his outer garment; inside, tied up, was the rolled wild boar skin.

"Please take a look." Tran Mac gave the wild boar skin to the man.

"The fur isn't bad, but the processing skill is lacking, it's damaged, and the tanning isn't good either..." The man was an expert. He picked it up, looked a few times, and pointed out the pros and cons.

Tran Mac didn't comment.

Tanning leather was extremely troublesome, with over a dozen large and small steps. Such a large wild boar skin would take at least several months to be fully tanned. How long had Han An Nuong been tanning it?

Tran Mac nodded lightly: "How much will you offer?"..