From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 795

After the negotiation, Zhou Yuan turned his back to the sun and strode out of the enemy's artillery fire area, and McPherson also boarded the warship.

Neither of them looked back, they were just analyzing the information obtained from this negotiation, but it was obvious that neither Zhou Yuan nor McPherson was optimistic.

Officials of all sizes had gathered around him. Zhou Yuan needed some quiet time, so he waved his hand and said, "There is no harvest at the moment. Let's all go. I will contact you if there is any news."

He walked forward quickly. Li Yu'an followed him and whispered, "I see you guys are talking very well, and you have also agreed to release people in Xiangzhou and ship goods in Fuzhou. How can there be no harvest?"

Zhou Yuan was silent for a moment before saying, "McPherson doesn't care about these 1,000 people. I feel his emotional indifference. Although we have reached a verbal agreement, it is obvious that such an agreement is not trustworthy."

"This old fox, he is only afraid that these people will affect his political status in his country, and he doesn't care about anything else."

"Two days, we only have two days at most. Within two days, McPherson will deal with the Dutch."

Li Yu'an asked in confusion, "What do you mean? Are you saying that McPherson will persuade the Dutch not to participate in this dispute?"

Zhou Yuan said, "It's mainly because they don't accept messages. Things here can't be passed on to Portugal. Then these 1,000 people McPherson will be able to deal with the Dutch." "Ferson can give up at any time and put the blame on us, and bring the gold and silver back to Portugal, and the merits and demerits can be offset. "

Li Yu'an frowned and said, "What should we do next? We have six battleships and four cruisers. Don't we dare to export them?"

"What I mean is that with three battleships cruising to protect the big ship, McPherson can't come up and fight directly."

Zhou Yuan thought for a moment before saying, "You can try, but the effect may not be too good."

"Now it seems that my more than a thousand prisoners The captives, McPherson could not compromise, he valued interests more, gold and silver more. "

"Get ready, I want to test his inner scale of this matter."

"Where is Huang Zuoyu? Did he follow?"

Li Yu'an smiled and said: "He is now your follower, wherever you go, he will follow, crying every day, begging you for help."

Zhou Yuan said: "Chao merchants really can't hold on, don't blame him, let him come to Fujian Governor's Office to see me."

Li Yu'an responded and walked away slowly.

Sitting in the side hall of the Governor's Office, Zhou Yuan looked at the sunshine outside and fell into deep thought.

McPherson... knows too little about him, only knowing that this person's work style is very calm, his mind is very hidden, and he is a good guy on the surface, and you can't tell whether he is happy or angry.

Is he radical or cautious in combat? Is he conservative or aggressive in the current situation?

Judging from the matter of supporting Huang Taiji, he tends to be aggressive in the overall situation, eager to take the initiative and slowly build up advantages.

But today he was very conservative, which was the biggest factor Zhou Yuan was worried about. He was worried that McPherson was holding back a big move.

"Prince! Prince!"

Huang Zuoyu hurried in, fluttered and knelt down again, and shouted: "Help, Prince, have you thought of a way!"

Zhou Yuan frowned and said: "Stand up and talk, what's the point of crying."

Huang Zuoyu said: "I can't eat enough, I can't stand up!"

Damn, this guy really lost his face and started to play tricks.

Zhou Yuan smiled faintly and said, "If we can't get up, how can we load the cargo?"

"Bang!"

Huang Zuoyu was ejected directly and said in surprise, "Your Highness! It's done? Can we load the cargo and go out to sea?"

"I will prepare now! Load the cargo overnight! We have hundreds of coolies working all night, and it will be no problem to fill three large ships!"

Zhou Yuan said slowly, "Don't worry, just load two ships, don't fill them too full, and maintain the speed and maneuverability of the large ships, because this time, we are just testing."

"Test?"

Huang Zuoyu's face suddenly fell, and he said bitterly, " How can we test this..."

Zhou Yuan said: "We are not sure about McPherson's attitude now. When Xiangzhou handed over the people, we dragged them out. The big ship here went directly to the sea and headed east to the island pirate country."

"But we may be blocked by McPherson or the Dutch on Dongfan Island. Everything is uncertain, so we must be cautious."

Huang Zuoyu was helpless and could only sigh softly and said: "I understand. I... I will go down and make preparations. Everything is up to the prince."

In this situation, he also knew that Zhou Yuan was trying his best.

Zhou Yuan pondered for a moment, then shouted: "Guan Lu, come in."

Guan Lu, who was waiting outside the door, walked in with a solemn face.

Zhou Yuan said: "How many people are detained in Xiangzhou?"

Guan Lu thought about it, and thenHe said in a deep voice: "Over 200."

Zhou Yuan said: "Escort the people to Xiangzhou Wharf, but do not enter the area covered by artillery fire, let the Portuguese get off the boat to receive them."

"If they refuse to get off the boat, just hold on and try to delay the time and wait for news from our side."

"You should do this yourself. I am worried that Luo Yunhe will not be able to grasp the scale."

Guan Lu narrowed his eyes slightly and said grimly: "Do you want to organize the officers and soldiers of the palace to ambush in Xiangzhou City and wait for the Portuguese to get off the boat and then surround and kill them?"

Zhou Yuan shook his head and smiled: "McPherson is very smart. Even if he gets off the boat, there will be at most 30 to 50 people. It is meaningless."

"But... people cannot be given, do you understand?"

Guan Lu was stunned, then laughed and nodded: "I understand."

This negotiation was not without gain. At least in the conversation with McPherson, Zhou Yuan gradually figured out his plan.

He began to make some plans and adjustments around exports, hostages and agreements, trying to find a breakthrough.

"The coastline blockade must be in place!"

Zhou Yuan instructed: "Tell Zhang Tao and Zou Xueqing that no one is allowed to approach the coast, even fishermen who fish by the sea."

"During this period, I must cut off McPherson's contact with the land and make sure he doesn't know the number of our battleships and cruisers."

"People from Fuzhou Baochuan Factory are also prohibited from going out and keep this secret."

At this point, he narrowed his eyes slightly and said: "At the same time, arrange experienced personnel to secretly spread the number of battleships and cruisers, four battleships, two cruisers."

"This is the number I hope McPherson will believe."

Guan Lu frowned and said: "That's not right, sir, McPherson is a veteran, and he has such a large network of resources. He must be very clear about the construction period of battleships and cruisers, and should be able to calculate our How many ships. "

Zhou Yuan said: "But what he doesn't know is that we have countless hard workers. We build all night long. The number of people involved in our construction is several times that of Portugal. We are more efficient and make faster progress. "

"So four battleships and two cruisers are in line with McPherson's estimate. He didn't expect us to have so many. "

"When the time comes, the remaining two battleships and four cruisers will have a miraculous effect. "

Guan Lu said: "Then I will go to Xiangzhou immediately and try to get there as soon as possible."

Zhou Yuan said in a deep voice: "Don't take a carriage, just ride a horse, transfer at the post station along the way, and gallop at night. I will give you six days."

"Six days later, that is, at noon on June 20th, you have to start the handover of hostages."

Guan Lu showed bitterness. From Fuzhou to Xiangzhou, the official road is two thousand miles, and only six days are given. This is exhausting.

But he has long been accustomed to this busy life and gave it a try.