Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

"No, then why are they kowtowing?"

Upon hearing this, Li Aoli looked at Li Ji with a look of horror.

It wasn't because the question was too tricky, but because the words Master Zikun had people teach him included this answer.

It was as if Master Zikun had foreseen days ago that this Han Chinese named Zhang Zhao would ask such a question, which made Li Aoli blurt out instinctively.

"The Japanese are demonstrating with their actions what will happen to you if their lord attacks."

This almost unhesitating answer made Zhang Zhao frown slightly.

Judging from the expressions of those Japanese people, this answer was obviously not quite right, but Li Aoli's unthinking speed of answering didn't seem like a temporary fabrication of lies.

As soon as these words came out, the faces of the military generals who were sitting in the hall watching the monkey show almost all sank, and pairs of sharp eyes scraped over Li Aoli and the Japanese people.

Especially Zhang Fei, whose temper was the most violent, directly snapped the chopsticks in his hand, and his tiger eyes were firmly locked on Li Aoli.

The almost substantial power frightened Li Aoli's body to tremble instinctively.

"Are you lying?" Zhang Zhao asked.

"Little… Little man dares not!" Li Aoli asked stutteringly.

"Humph, then you should ask these three Japanese people why they think their lord is qualified to ask for someone from my Great Han," Zhang Zhao asked with scrutiny.

Li Aoli nodded quickly, then turned his head and spoke in Japanese.

[The adults of Great Han do not like people who are humble and submissive. The more backbone you show, the more steadfast and unyielding you appear, the more the adults of Great Han will appreciate you, and the more likely they are to let you go.]

Suddenly, the three Japanese people stopped their kowtowing, looked at each other, as if they had grasped a life-saving straw.

Immediately, the three Japanese people hurriedly raised their heads and chests, tightened their expressions, widened their eyes, and raised their heads. At the same time, their tone became firm and they asked Li Aoli one after another.

[Sir, do you think this is the way?]

[Is this spirited enough… ]

[Please, sir, be sure to say a few good words for me.]

The three Japanese people's seemingly suddenly hardened reaction stunned Zhang Zhao.

As for Li Aoli, at this moment, he was terrified of Li Ji, as if everything had been arranged in advance, whether it was Zhang Zhao's questioning or the reaction of the three Japanese people, they were completely consistent with what Li Aoli had firmly remembered in his heart.

Immediately, Li Aoli said the answer he had remembered.

"Reporting to your lord, the Japanese said that their lord is blessed by the gods, is invincible, and even the weapons are made of gold, which are extremely sharp."

At the beginning, Li Aoli's mention of the protection of the gods naturally made everyone present scoff, only feeling that the Japanese were ignorant.

The Great Han's version has already evolved to Huang Tian Dangli, and the mere protection of the gods is obviously not enough, and even Zhang Jiao, who represents Huang Tian, is already dead, how can he scare the Han people?

However, when they heard the second half.

In the main hall, whether it was Zhang Zhao or Zhang Fei, their original contemptuous expressions slowly subsided, and their eyes faintly began to glow green.

'Even the weapons are made of gold?'

This sentence kept echoing in everyone's minds.

At this moment, Zhang Zhao, who was a little out of control with shock, asked back in a hurried tone.

"How is it possible? When the Japanese country sent envoys to pay homage to the late Emperor Guangwu, the gifts they brought were only pottery and some linen cloth. If the Japanese country is really full of gold, and even rich enough to make weapons with gold, how dare they offer those things to the court?"

Upon hearing this, Li Aoli turned to the three Japanese people behind him and translated.

[The adults of the Han people said that they appreciate the backbone you have shown, and ask if you have anything of value on you to exchange for your lives?]

When the three Japanese people heard this, they were overjoyed. Their firm and backbone-like expressions became even more outstanding. They looked at each other, shook their heads, and replied.

[The things on my body were searched clean on that ship.]

[As long as you can let me go back, I will definitely find something that will satisfy the adults of the Han people.]

[Sir, if we show more backbone, will we be released without giving anything?]

Li Aoli nodded, indicating that he understood, and then respectfully replied to Zhang Zhao, who had already revealed a bit of eagerness.

"They don't know the affairs of that national lord very well, but they said that weapons made of gold are just commonplace. Some lord adults even use gold to make armor, and one of them once supervised the gold mine mining and saw countless gold being dug out every day and sent to the national lord."

Armor made of gold…

Gold mine mining…

Countless gold was dug out…

Zhang Zhao, who has always prided himself on being a celebrity, couldn't help but breathe faster, his eyes staring straight at the three Japanese people.

If Li Aoli babbled a lot about why the Japanese country didn't send gold to Emperor Guangwu back then, then Zhang Zhao would almost immediately understand that Li Aoli was lying.

Not to mention that it was nearly two hundred years ago, and this kind of major event should never be known by ordinary Japanese people.

More importantly, Zhang Zhao had already been dazed by the four "gold" characters that Li Aoli had mixed into his words.

Great Han lacks gold, and also lacks silver!

Even the Son of Heaven has reached the point of selling official titles and爵位, and Boss Cao in the original trajectory even created the Mojin Xiaowei to earn gold, which shows how much the current Great Han lacks those vulgar things.

Vulgar, too vulgar!

The first thought that sprouted in Zhang Zhao's mind at this moment was that these gold and silver things were too vulgar, and the Japanese country couldn't grasp them.

As for the rest of the civil and military generals present, they were also fascinated by what they heard.

Especially Mi Zhu, who was in charge of finance, even unconsciously moved his buttocks away from the seat a little, and his body leaned slightly towards Li Aoli and the three Japanese people.

"There is a problem!"

In the next moment, Zhang Zhao's face sank, and his already old-looking facial features trembled slightly. He turned around and bowed to Liu Bei.

"Lord, in my humble opinion, there is a big problem here!"

However, just as Li Ji's eyebrows raised slightly, Zhang Zhao, with a serious face, changed his tone and spoke as if he had a sense of righteousness.

"Firstly, the country that was affiliated to my Great Han back then was the Japanese country, not the Yamatai country that these three people claimed to be; secondly, since Yingzhou contains gold and silver minerals, why didn't the Japanese country offer them to the late Emperor back then; thirdly, as recorded in history books, the Japanese country only offered pottery and linen cloth back then, or that the Japanese country is indeed a remnant of the violent Qin Dynasty, so it is still unknown whether they secretly insulted my Great Han by this method."

"As the saying goes: the ruler is humiliated and the minister dies! Regardless of whether the Japanese country still exists, I, Zhang Zhao, as a subject of the Great Han, will never tolerate such a thing from happening. We should quickly send people to Yingzhou to thoroughly investigate the cause and effect of this matter, to see whether the Japanese country is related to the remnants of the violent Qin Dynasty, and to investigate whether Yingzhou has gold and silver everywhere but presents pottery and linen cloth to insult my Great Han."

I have to say, when it comes to changing faces, you have to look at my Great Han literati.

Li Ji looked at Zhang Zhao, who had always shown a solemn and steady demeanor, and said these words with a righteous face, and almost couldn't help but clap his hands and praise him.

Look at Zhang Zhao's words, how righteous and logical they are.

The Great Han is not plotting Yingzhou's gold and silver minerals, but is going to confirm whether the Great Han's affiliated country, Japan, has been destroyed by the so-called Yamatai country, and then incidentally confirm whether the Japanese country was related to the remnants of the violent Qin Dynasty, so it offered pottery and linen cloth to the court in secret insult to the Great Han in the situation where gold and silver were everywhere.

But as long as it is confirmed that Yingzhou really contains a large number of gold and silver minerals, then for Yingzhou, it is really yellow mud falling into the crotch, it is shit even if it is not shit.

First of all, the crime of the Japanese country insulting the Great Han and the late Emperor back then is a certainty, and then with some ironclad evidence of the remnants of the violent Qin Dynasty, even if the Great Han destroys the Japanese country, they will not be allowed to shout injustice under the Nine Springs.

Following Zhang Zhao, a group of civil and military generals also reacted, and they all agreed.

"Lord, Zibu is right, that Japanese country has many problems. Whether it is to maintain the affiliated country, or to thoroughly investigate whether the Japanese country deliberately insulted my Great Han back then, it is appropriate to send people to investigate this matter."

"That's right, big brother, at least we have to find out whether there are gold and silver mountains in that Yingzhou!"

"General Yide, you misspoke, we have to find out whether the Japanese country is a remnant of the violent Qin Dynasty, so it harbors evil intentions and insulted my Great Han with pottery and linen cloth back then."

…

Seeing the civil and military generals in the hall surging with enthusiasm, Liu Bei stretched out his hand and pressed down, first letting the hall quiet down, and then turned to look at Li Ji and asked.

"In Zikun's opinion, what should we do?"

Li Ji pondered slightly, seemingly temporarily weighing the pros and cons, and then cupped his hands and said.

"Since we are Han subjects, we cannot turn a blind eye to this matter. We should quickly investigate and then report to the court to correct the hearing and make the surrounding affiliated countries dare not despise my strong Han."

Liu Bei nodded, first waved his hand at Li Aoli and the three Japanese people who were still raising their heads and chests, letting the soldiers take the four of them down, and then said.

"Since this is the case, I also agree that this matter should be investigated quickly and reported to the court, but Yingzhou is far overseas, so this investigation should be carefully considered."

Liu Bei's words almost completely set the tone for this argument and completely put this matter on the table.

After the rest of the civil and military generals left one by one, Liu Bei and Li Ji stood up at the same time and went to the area blocked by a screen in the corner of the main hall.

Behind this screen, Zheng Xuan, Lu Zhi, and Cai Yong, three great Confucians of the world, were kneeling.

The reason these three great scholars were present was because the matter involved the people of a tributary state. Handling it improperly could easily cause controversy. Therefore, Li Ji suggested that Liu Bei invite these three great scholars to listen and bear witness on the sidelines.

In the Great Han Dynasty, which revered Confucianism, great scholars were a group renowned for their virtue, talent, and immense reputation.

In the current situation where the imperial court's prestige was declining rapidly, great scholars were, in a sense, synonymous with authority.

(End of Chapter)