Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Chapter 1318 Lu Botang Punches the Japanese Envoy

Ōtomo Maro was forced to retreat step by step by Rin Ai and the others.

Lu Botang laughed heartily: "You Japanese scoundrel, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll teach you another proverb from the Great Zhou Dynasty."

Ōtomo no Maro had time to reply; instead, he laughed even harder: "Do you know what 'refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a penalty shot' means? The penalty shot of my Great Zhou... is much stronger than a toast!"

At this moment, Ōtomo no Maro cared about any toasts or penalties; all he knew was, "Minister of the Ministry of War, Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, please stop your actions immediately! You are violating diplomatic protocol and declaring war on our country!"

"Do you think my Great Zhou is afraid of you?!" Lu Botang not only didn't feel threatened, but became even more excited: "Come on! Fight! I can pierce ten dwarfs like you with one spear!"

General Lin murmured, "The guns aren't long enough; ten is still too many..."

Lu Botang pondered for a moment: "I'll use one stick in my left hand and one in my right, and poke five holes in each!"

General Lin: "That makes sense."

Ōtomo Maro instinctively clutched his stomach: "You can't do this! You...you don't want the method to eliminate the locusts?!"

He understood the principle of "capture the king first to catch the thief."

So he stopped retreating and knelt directly before the emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, please don't do this!"

The emperor lowered his eyes and chuckled softly: "I wonder what exactly the method for eradicating locusts the envoy spoke of is?"

Seeing the smile on his face, Ōtomo no Maro understood everything.

In the words of the Great Zhou Dynasty, today's court assembly is a trap!

"You can't hurt us!" His jaw clenched slightly as he forced himself to calm down.

When he spoke again, there was a hint of threat in his tone: "Only I and another messenger know the way to eliminate the locusts. If you harm me, you will never be able to solve the locust plague! The locusts will only multiply and devour all your food!"

"Insolence!" Lu Botang roared in fury. "You Japanese scoundrels, how dare you disrespect His Majesty!"

Having said that, he knelt down and saluted the emperor: "Your Majesty! I request permission to personally escort the Japanese envoy to the Honglu Temple!"

He wanted to see if these Japanese pirates would still dare to cause trouble once they fell into his hands!

The emperor raised his hand, about to grant permission, when Ōtomo no Maro wailed even louder: "You can't do this! You'll be punished by the locusts! Only we can wipe them out! I urge you not to be so wicked!"

"You despicable man, how dare you speak ill of us?!" Ji Benchang cursed, spitting everywhere. "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking! You've probably been coveting my Great Zhou for a long time! If you get the high-yield rice seeds, it won't be long before you turn your backs on us!"

The eldest companion, Maro, was secretly shocked.

How could the Minister of Revenue possibly guess what they were thinking?!

He immediately retorted, "We didn't! We've always been good friends, haven't we? Minister, don't you feel any pity for those people suffering from the disaster? Just because you're stingy, all their crops have been wiped out! You're a sinner! A sinner!"

Ji Benchang's head suddenly went blank, and he temporarily stopped thinking.

sinner?

Am I... a sinner of the Great Zhou?

Because of stinginess, tens of thousands of people have been harmed?

Is this statement valid?

He thought that perhaps it was feasible.

Regardless of what he thinks, regardless of what the officials and His Majesty think.

If the fact that the imperial court did not exchange rice seeds for locust control methods with the Japanese were to reach the ears of the disaster-stricken people, then he would be a sinner.

The people will curse him, despise him, and say that he is unworthy to manage the national treasury and unworthy to be a public official.

Can......

So what?

His crime was only for a moment!

He would rather be the sinner than easily hand over the foundation of the nation to a foreign power that is eyeing the Great Zhou!

Despite convincing himself, the thought of tens of thousands of people suffering from the locust plague made his throat tighten, preventing him from uttering a single word of rebuttal.

Seeing his silence, Ōtomo no Maro thought he had seized the opportunity and pressed his advantage: "Think it over carefully! Do you want to save your people, or let them starve and die of disease!"

Ji Benchang's heart suddenly clenched.

My right leg seems to hurt more.

He was in great pain, and couldn't help but think that if he could go back two months... no, one month ago.

If that were the case, he would definitely risk his old life to protect the rice paddies of Liuyang Prefecture.

For the Great Zhou Dynasty today, Liuyang Prefecture is its very lifeline.

But as the Minister of Revenue, he couldn't even protect his own manhood.

How ridiculous...

Suddenly, he felt a darkness before his eyes and vaguely saw Chen Shengshen's expression change drastically as he strode towards him.

The emperor's shout came from near and far: "Summon the imperial physician! Immediately!"

"boom--"

Ōtomo Maro took a punch to the left eye from Lü Botang.

Just as I raised my hand to cover it, I got punched in the right eye again.

Immediately afterwards, he felt his feet leave the ground.

Lu Botang lifted him up with just one hand.

"If anything happens to Lao Ji, I'll make you pay with your life!" Lu Botang's expression was not exaggerated at all. "At that time, none of you Japanese pirates will leave the Great Zhou alive! Not a single one of you!"

The other Japanese envoys were so frightened that their legs went weak and they all retreated.

Lu Botang tossed Ōtomo no Maro aside as if he were throwing a rag doll, and then every Japanese envoy was caught in his fist.

He clenched his left fist and said, "You've got some nerve threatening us!"

He clenched his right fist and said, "Do you really think I'm made of clay? If I hadn't held back, one punch would have made your eyeballs pop out, believe it or not!"

"boom--"

"boom--"

"boom--"

The Japanese envoy tried to escape, but he couldn't.

The officials were shocked and cried out in alarm, "General Lu, this is unacceptable! This is unacceptable!"

He shouted it eight hundred times, but no one stepped forward to stop Lu Botang.

The only one who stepped forward to "mediate" was Eunuch Hong.

"Oh dear, General Lu, we can't fight anymore!"

Eunuch Hong secretly kicked the Japanese envoy.

"Oh dear, General Lu, this is improper of etiquette!"

Eunuch Hong secretly pinched the Japanese envoy.

"Oh dear, General Lu, please heed my advice! We must not resort to violence in the imperial palace!"

Eunuch Hong twisted the soft flesh around the Japanese envoy's waist and wouldn't let go.

The emperor sat high on his throne, calmly watching this one-sided "fight" without uttering a word.

until......

"Report—"

The arrival of the messenger saved the Japanese envoy.

Reluctantly, Eunuch Hong withdrew his hand and looked at the Emperor.

The emperor nodded in acknowledgment, then quickly approached the messenger and asked in a low voice, "Is this news of the locust plague?"

The messenger handed over the urgent report with both hands, his voice filled with joy: "Eunuch Hong, the messenger says it's good news."

good news!

Hong Gonggong was startled and immediately took the urgent report, running all the way to the emperor's side.

"Your Majesty, good news!"

The emperor was also taken aback.

Is it what he thinks?

Ōtomo no Maro was still wailing, "Your Majesty, you will regret what you did today!"

In the Emperor's eyes, only urgent reports remained.