Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Upon learning that someone had come from Shengjing, Ban Dingyuan immediately bid farewell to Jiang Yang and returned to his own inn as quickly as possible.

At this moment, inside the guesthouse, Foreign Minister Xi Dawu was sitting casually in the main hall, drinking tea, with two guards holding swords respectfully waiting beside him.

"Lord Xi!"

"Envoy Ban, you've really made me look for you! Why aren't you staying at your own post station? What are you doing running around like this?"

"I had nothing to do, so I just wandered around. I didn't know that Lord Xi was visiting today. Please forgive me for not welcoming you properly."

"That's true. Our Wu Zhao Heavenly Dynasty is vast and rich in resources. Even barbarians like you from foreign lands can't help but feel longing upon seeing it."

"You should travel more and see more of the world; this is something your small country can't offer."

Xi Dawu, his face full of arrogance, glanced at Ban Dingyuan before standing up and saying to himself, "I have some good news to tell you today. The Emperor has granted you permission to enter the capital to meet him. Prepare to depart."

Ban Dingyuan was taken aback, thinking to himself that he had finally gotten his chance after waiting for two years.

So he stepped forward and said to Xi Dawu, "Thank you, Lord Xi, but I wonder when I should travel north to Shengjing to meet the Emperor?"

As he spoke, he gave a wink to one of his trusted confidants behind him.

The trusted confidant understood and immediately went into the inner room. Before long, he returned to the main hall carrying a wooden box.

Ban Dingyuan took the box from his confidant and carefully placed it on Xi Dawu's desk: "I hope Lord Xi will take good care of me so that I won't embarrass myself in front of the Emperor."

Xi Dawu opened the box and glanced at it. His pupils widened slightly as he was immediately drawn to the dazzling jewels inside.

He then closed the wooden box again, a hint of joy on his face, and said gently, "Of course, of course. Since this is your first time visiting my Wu Zhao Kingdom..."

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs, it is my duty to explain to you the rules for traveling to the capital to meet the Emperor. Therefore, I will have one of my trusted confidants explain it to you in detail at your residence later.

Actually, there aren't many rules. After all, you are foreigners. As long as you show even a tenth of the proper etiquette before His Majesty, he will surely be delighted.

With money paving the way, the rest of the problems become much easier.

Ban Dingyuan continued, "But I don't know how to get to the capital to meet the Emperor?"

"You don't need to worry about that. I will arrange for people to accompany you to the capital. Make your preparations; tomorrow at Chenshi (7-9 AM)..."

"When you head north to Beijing, just stay here and wait patiently. Someone will come looking for you tomorrow."

After saying that, Xi Dawu gestured with his lip, and a burly warrior beside him immediately picked up the wooden box and left the inn with Xi Dawu.

"Please take care, Lord Xi."

As soon as the others left, Ban Dingyuan's face instantly turned extremely gloomy.

Corruption is a persistent problem, not just in ancient feudal dynasties, but also in civilized societies. Whether it's the hereditary system in North Korea, America which prides itself on being a beacon of civilization, or even the simple and honest African continent, this bad habit cannot be eradicated. In fact, people have even come up with new ways to combat it than the ancients.

However, it is extremely rare for a group of officials, from minor clerks to high-ranking officials of the third rank or above, to engage in collective corruption like Wu Zhaoguo.

When Ban Dingyuan first arrived in this land, he almost had a military conflict with the patrolling Wu Zhao navy.

It was only because the merchant ship he was on was so huge that it had to dock in the open sea, and then he had to take a small boat to get inside.

However, after Ban Dingyuan gave each of the patrolling sailors one tael of silver, their attitude immediately changed. They enthusiastically guided him into the inner sea and selected a suitable anchorage for him.

I thought that once I paid the money, the matter would be over, but I later realized that this was just the beginning.

Upon entering the port, the soldiers guarding the port blocked his way and openly demanded bribes.

After an unsuccessful argument, Ban Dingyuan had no choice but to pay the guards another five taels of silver before letting them pass.

Upon arriving at the post station, he gave the postmaster ten taels of silver, which finally earned him the treatment due to a foreign envoy and arranged a suitable accommodation.

For a period of time afterward, whenever Ban Dingyuan needed to deal with government officials, he had to pay silver. Without money, it was impossible to move an inch, and he would even be deliberately harassed.

In just two years here, he spent more than 50,000 taels of silver bribing local officials, yet he still had no idea when he would be able to go to the capital.

However, although he spent a lot of money, Ban Dingyuan still realized that "money is a universal benefit" and can buy all the information about Wu Zhao Kingdom.

Foreign envoys are not allowed to leave the Haizhou commercial district or have contact with local residents. This is a strict rule that no official dares to break. If discovered, they will either lose their official position or be beheaded.

However, it is easy to obtain relevant information from those officials and clerks by spending a little money.

Therefore, during his two years in Wuzhao Kingdom, although Ban Dingyuan never left Haizhou, he still managed to gain a rough understanding of the general situation of Wuzhao Kingdom.

In particular, regarding the deployment and situation of the Wuzhao Navy, Ban Dingyuan only bribed the deputy commander of the Haizhou Navy with three hundred taels of silver to tell him the whole story of the Wuzhao Navy's current predicament.

Furthermore, Ban Dingyuan could easily obtain and record information about local customs, past news from the Wu Zhao court, the current war with the Dongyi Kingdom, and even the rebellion within Wu Zhao territory through sweet talk.

The fact that officials were collectively corrupt and willing to sell out national interests for money made Ban Dingyuan realize that Wu Zhaoguo was rotten to the core.

The longing for Wu Zhao Kingdom that Ban Dingyuan had previously held, collapsed in his heart after he glimpsed a sliver of the truth about it.

Through the patrolling officers and soldiers, it was learned that the implementation of the imperial examination system had created a fervent atmosphere throughout the Wu Zhao Kingdom where "all other professions are inferior, only studying is superior."

Some people, even in their seventies or eighties, still persisted on the path of the imperial examinations, determined to pass and bring honor to their ancestors.

Some people even failed the exam year after year, and their expressions became crazy and demonic.

The worship of official power among the common people of Wuzhao reached an incomprehensible level, which made Ban Dingyuan somewhat apprehensive.

At the same time, we are also glad that the Duke of Zhenguo was so wise and insightful that he had already seen through the huge drawbacks of the imperial examination system, thus preventing the Great Chu from falling into an abyss where it was impossible to see the truth.

In addition, although Ban Dingyuan could not judge the full picture of the living conditions of the common people in Wuzhao during the prosperous era, he could infer from some cases he knew that they were definitely not living very well.

After all, why would a dynasty in its golden age be so afraid of contact with any foreign people or things?

In addition, Ban Dingyuan astutely discovered that all the merchant ships in the entire Haizhou port came from foreign countries, and not a single one belonged to Wuzhao's local trade vessels.

Now that he was about to head north to see Li Hong, Ban Dingyuan decided to take this opportunity to learn about the Wu Zhao Kingdom along the way and see if it was as prosperous in commerce as Haizhou.