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

"Pei Ju, watch your words!"

Ban Dingyuan lowered his voice and shouted, stopping Pei Ju from continuing.

"War is a last resort, not the norm. Have you forgotten the principal's teachings?"

Military strength is the foundation of diplomacy and can serve as a deterrent, but it should never be used indiscriminately for intimidation or coercion.

Pei Ju looked unconvinced: "But the principal also said that if diplomacy cannot resolve conflicts between countries, the fastest way is to resolve them through violence."

The Chief of Staff should have already discerned Wu Zhaoguo's attitude: they consider trading with our Great Chu a favor, a show of mercy from superiors to their subordinates.

Instead of standing on equal footing and showing mutual respect, frankly speaking, Wu Zhao's behavior is an insult to the dignity of our Great Chu state and has reached the point where war can be waged.

Ban Dingyuan shook his head: "The matter is not yet clear, we must not act rashly. We should wait until we arrive in Shengjing and see Li Hong's attitude before making a decision."

Pei Ju: "Chief of Staff, how about I make a bet with you?"

Ban Dingyuan narrowed his eyes: "What are we betting on?"

"I'll bet on whether Li Hong will agree to trade cooperation with my Great Chu after I go to the capital this time. I'll bet it will be full of twists and turns and ultimately come to nothing."

"You're really pessimistic. Tell me, what's your bargaining chip?"

"After we return to Jinling, you will have to personally teach me the strategy for the Level 4 Staff Officer assessment. I really don't want to have to retake the exam."

"hehe."

Ban Dingyuan smiled but did not give him a clear answer.

But Pei Ju had already assumed that Ban Dingyuan had agreed...

The ship continued northward, and ten days later, after a series of close calls, finally arrived at Wuzhao Peijing—Zhongdu.

"Gentlemen, I wish you a successful audience with the Emperor. I have other important matters to attend to and must report to the River Conservancy Office now. Take care on your journey."

"Lord Ding, take care on your journey."

At the Zhongdu Wharf, Ding Shizhen and Ban Dingyuan bowed and said goodbye.

Ban Dingyuan did not dislike Ding Shizhen. Although some of Ding Shizhen's ideas were very different from his own, he could sense that Ding Shizhen genuinely wanted him to enter the capital smoothly.

Moreover, during the time Ding Shizhen accompanied him, apart from asking him for five cans of food to take back to his family to try, he didn't charge him a single tael of silver.

This has already made Ban Dingyuan, who is living in Haizhou and whose resources are being exploited to the point of exhaustion, somewhat uncomfortable.

After bidding farewell to Ding Shizhen, Ban Dingyuan and his entourage began their journey to their residence under the arrangement of the river officials.

They were greeted by a young official, riding a horse with composure and elegance, named Xue Dutu, a nobleman of the Di people.

Xue Dutu didn't seem to talk much. When he saw Ban Dingyuan and his group, he just smiled and led them directly to the courtyard.

Throughout the journey, Xue Dutu and Ban Dingyuan remained silent until they reached the gate of the imperial residence. At that moment, Ban Dingyuan asked, "Lord Xue, may we take a stroll around the capital and experience the customs and culture of this great celestial nation?"

Xue Dutu: "Of course it is possible. The glorious reign of our Wuzhao Dynasty is not just a name. His Majesty is wise and powerful, and he is inclusive of all friendly nations that come to our dynasty to pay tribute."

Upon hearing this, Pei Ju felt a wave of nausea wash over him.

Disgusting, absolutely disgusting.

"Lord Xue, what I mean is, could we go for a walk in the outer city?" Ban Dingyuan asked tentatively.

"What's there to see in the outer city?" Xue Dutu asked, puzzled. "The inner city is bustling and prosperous, where you can walk around with high-ranking officials and nobles. The outer city is just a bunch of peasants; there's nothing to see there."

Ban Dingyuan sighed: "To be honest, I am currently compiling a book called 'Record of Ten Thousand People,' which specifically records the customs and traditions of various countries."

Now that I've finally arrived in the Kingdom of Wu Zhao, I'm really eager to see it for myself and write everything down in my books.

As he spoke, he took out a wooden box from his suitcase, quietly pushed it open, and found a string of black pearls inside.

Xue Dutu's eyes widened when he saw it.

He hurriedly pressed down on the wooden box and shook his head: "This won't do. The Emperor has decreed that foreign envoys are not allowed to leave the inner city even a step."

However, since the foreign envoy is here to write a book, which has certainly impressed me, I will make an exception this time.”

As he spoke, he handed the waist token for entering the inner city to Ban Dingyuan.

"You only have one day. I will come to collect your return token tomorrow night."

Before Ban Dingyuan could respond, Xue Dutu had already picked up the box containing the black pearl and left without looking back.

After watching Xue Dutu leave, Ban Dingyuan shook his head. He was genuinely disappointed with the officialdom of Wuzhao.

……

The next morning, in the outer city of Zhongdu, which was a residential area for commoners.

Compared to the inner city's residential area for high-ranking officials and nobles, this place is a completely different scene.

Ban Dingyuan and Pei Ju walked together through the streets, and what they saw made it seem like they had entered a slum.

Not far away, next to a mud wall, a man was openly taking off his pants to relieve himself, which was really indecent.

But soon, another man ran up to the man who was relieving himself and squatted down to defecate.

The two glanced at each other, then simultaneously turned their faces away and cursed, "What bad luck!"

Ban Dingyuan frowned, then turned his head to look elsewhere.

Suddenly, the door of a closed house opened, and a woman carrying a basin of water for washing feet immediately splashed the water onto the street.

The splashed water landed on a peddler carrying a shoulder pole, which provoked him to hurl a string of foul insults.

The woman simply closed the door, remaining indifferent to his insults.

"Sigh, let's go look somewhere else."

Pei Ju shook his head and offered his suggestion to Ban Dingyuan.

Just as the two were passing through a lane, a window on the second floor of a house suddenly opened, making a jarring sound of a wooden axle turning.

Pei Ju subconsciously looked up, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he quickly pulled Ban Dingyuan back a few steps.

wow-

The next moment, a bucket of urine was slapped directly onto the yellow earth, emitting a foul stench.

"What's going on with you guys?!"

Pei Ju became furious and immediately shouted at the second-floor window, questioning them loudly.

Soon, a man's head popped out of the second-floor window. After glancing at the two of them, he immediately started cursing: "Don't you have eyes? What are you yelling for? Are you mourning your mother? Why didn't you get splashed to death!"

After finishing his tirade, he closed the window without waiting for Ban Dingyuan and Pei Ju to react.

"Who is this..."

Pei Ju was trembling with anger; it was the first time he had ever witnessed such a terrible scene.

"Forget it, calm down, it's not worth it."

Ban Dingyuan reassured Pei Ju and continued walking forward.

Beyond the alleyways and streets lies a river.

However, the river was murky and covered with all kinds of garbage, and it also emitted a faint stench.

At this moment, a group of women and children were washing clothes by the riverbank steps.

Pei Ju couldn't imagine how they could stay in this murky river with its strange smell.

Just then, a donkey cart passed by and stopped on the riverbank.

The driver jumped off the carriage and began urinating directly into the river, completely disregarding whether there were women and children nearby.

The women and children seemed to have gotten used to it and continued washing their clothes.

However, after the driver finished relieving himself, he simply took the basket of garbage off the donkey cart and brazenly dumped it all into the river...