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

Chapter 465

Zhou Yuan strode out of the hall, and Li Yu'an followed closely behind, ready to protect Zhou Yuan's safety at any time.

Princess Qinshui also stood up, in a good mood, and chuckled: "Lord Qi, compared to that, it is still easier to get along with me, right? After all, I just scolded and lost my temper, but Zhou Yuan wanted to give you a real fight."

"To be honest, if I hadn't scolded you first and killed you to kill your prestige, maybe the situation would be worse than it is now."

"I still say that, don't provoke him. He killed hundreds of thousands of people on the battlefield in the Central Plains without any mercy. Who are you? I will kill him, and the emperor will scold him at most."

"What is a favorite minister, haven't you figured it out yet?"

After speaking, she stepped forward and followed him out with a smile.

Qi Changshi's face was livid. He thought Zhou Yuan was in a difficult situation now and was too young, so he could easily calm him down. He didn't expect that the other party was so tough and even controlled the palace soldiers of the Xunnan Palace.

He took a deep breath and gritted his teeth and said, "Have someone lift Jiang Hao up to see a doctor. Let's go!"

He must be present to exchange prisoners!

Zhang Tao's face was covered with sweat. Looking at Jiang Hao's bent legs, he felt a little scared. Zhou Yuan was too cruel. Fortunately, he didn't offend him too much in Guangzhou Prefecture, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.

Luo Yunhe also swallowed his saliva and hurriedly said: "Come on! Carry Lord Jiang to the clinic, we can't delay!"

...

"Zhou Yuan, you were so handsome just now!"

Princess Qinshui took his arm and said excitedly: "That Jiang Hao dared to interrupt and was beaten to pieces."

Zhou Yuan smiled and said: "What's so handsome about it? If I were a little weak today, they would be the ones who exchanged the prisoners and I would be the one who signed the contract."

"Then it will be recorded that Zhou Yuan made the decision privately and signed an unequal treaty with the Portuguese, and I will be the one who took the blame."

"These civil servants are just bullying the weak and fearing the strong."

Princess Qinshui curled her lips and said: "They are so shameless, no wonder the emperor sister always says that these civil servants are selfish."

Zhou Yuan said: "Don't think about it, let's go to the dock!"

When they rushed to the dock, Guan Lu and the thousands of palace soldiers of the Southern King also escorted the prisoners to the dock.

The three Portuguese battleships were already in place, with their guns pointed at Xiangzhou City. This was a time to show off their muscles and put more pressure on the Jin Dynasty.

Of course, the place where the prisoners were exchanged was far beyond the range of the guns.

Under the escort of the Portuguese soldiers, nearly three hundred Han prisoners had disembarked. McPherson and Kolodia watched all this with expressionless faces.

When Zhou Yuan arrived here, Qi Changshi and others followed behind him. The people who made the decisions on both sides were basically all there.

The negotiation table was in the square in front, facing the sun and the sea breeze, and a red cloth was spread on the table.

Then, Zhou Yuan and Qi Changshi strode over, and Li Yu'an followed Zhou Yuan ten feet behind.

Her eyes scanned the surroundings. No matter who pulled out a gun, she was confident that she would block it for Zhou Yuan at the first time.

McPherson and Kolodia also came over.

The two sides sat at the negotiation table, and the atmosphere was very depressing.

McPherson smiled and said, "Lord Qi, we meet again. Imagine that you challenged me on the warship. The scene is still vivid in my mind, as if it were yesterday."

"How do you feel sitting here now?"

Qi Changshi said coldly, "The villain is only rampant for a while, and the holy way will last forever."

McPherson said, "In fact, if it weren't for the ruthless means of Zhongwu Bo, you wouldn't have been able to get back these nearly 300 hard laborers."

Zhou Yuan said lightly, "Don't talk nonsense. I'm not in the mood to be polite with you. According to the previous agreement, the two sides will exchange prisoners."

McPherson tapped the table lightly, was silent for a moment, and then smiled and said, "Of course, according to the agreement, exchange prisoners."

He waved his hand, and the Han prisoners on the dock were released, and they strode over.

At the same time, Guan Lu ordered the release of the prisoners, and dozens of Portuguese soldiers also ran towards the dock.

At this moment, a familiar voice sounded in Zhou Yuan's mind: "Zhou Yuan, now I am 100% sure to kill McPherson, do you want to do it?"

Zhou Yuan was startled, his face remained unchanged, but he shook his head.

The decapitation plan is only applicable to a few times, not at this moment.

McPherson is alive, and the Portuguese can only fulfill the contract after he is under his control.

If he dies, with the current prestige of Kolodia, it is far from enough to control Haojing, and the situation after that will be difficult to predict.

If it is difficult to predict, it will be difficult to implement the plan, which is not conducive to Zhou Yuan's long-term planning.

Soon, the prisoners of both sides have returned, and the handover procedure has been successfully completed.

Zhou Yuan stood up and slowlyHuan said: "The next thing is your business, it has nothing to do with me."

He was about to leave, but McPherson said: "Signing the contract is also related to Zhou Zhongwubo."

Zhou Yuan said: "Governor, I am just a wanted criminal, and I can't sign the contract."

McPherson said: "But I only recognize you. If you are not negotiating with me on behalf of the Jin Dynasty, I would rather not sign this treaty."

Zhou Yuan smiled and said: "That's your business, it has nothing to do with me, I don't care at all."

McPherson frowned and said: "But even if I sign a contract with Lord Qi, if you don't recognize it and insist on attacking me, what should I do? Excuse me, Zhongwubo, you don't seem to be a rule-abiding person."

Zhou Yuan narrowed his eyes and said: "Yes, I am not a rule-abiding person. I can fight your people if I want to, and I don't want to fight if I don't want to, it all depends on my mood."

"But, what can you do?"

After speaking, he stopped pestering and turned away.

At the same time, Guan Lu also came up and said in a low voice: "Sir, the latest intelligence is that the Eastern Tartars have taken action."

"Nurhaci led the Eight Banners Beile and 140,000 troops to personally lead the expedition and has arrived outside Jizhou City."

"Tianjin Governor Qu Shaogeng led 30,000 troops to support, Beijing Camp Jiedushi Qiu Huan led 3,000 camps with a total of 40,000 troops to support, and Xuanfu Jiedushi Xue Changyue sent a deputy general with 30,000 troops to support."

"Jizhou is an important city, and 200,000 troops have been gathered. The bloody battles every day have consumed a lot."

"It is said that Prince Fu forced Liu Jing to almost hang himself this time, and he squeezed out 3 million taels from his teeth."

"The day before yesterday, Liu Jing asked for his bones in the morning court, but was rejected by Prince Fu."

Zhou Yuan stopped and looked back at the vast sea.

He did not speak, but just looked at the long negotiation table, the strong ships and powerful guns, and the bleak autumn wind, which raised the surging waves.

Guan Lu continued, "The commander this time is Jizhou Jiedushi Di Xianyong, Qu Shaogeng is the deputy general, and Zeng Cheng from the cabinet is the ambassador. I'm afraid they are also planning to seek peace."

Zhou Yuan said coldly, "Seeking peace? They came with the whole country, and it's clear that they want to fight to the death. Is it possible to seek peace? What's the use other than affecting the morale of the army? Is Prince Fu's brain pushed by a pig!"

Guan Lu lowered his head and whispered, "Seeking the war in the northeast, the Mongolian tribes are moving south, and they seem to want to take advantage of the chaos to harass the three borders and plunder supplies for the winter."

Zhou Yuan said, "Where is the chieftain?"

Guan Lu said: "There is no movement for the time being. Their news is not as fast as ours. It's just that the island pirates in Zhejiang are getting more rampant. At first, there were only dozens or hundreds of people robbing, but now there are thousands of people."

Zhou Yuan took a deep breath, looked forward, and sighed: "The people are living in poverty, the country is about to fall, and these thousands of Portuguese people also want us to kneel down and honor them."

"Guan Lu, this world has not much time left for us."

Princess Qinshui, Guan Caixi and Prince Xunnan also strode over, each with an anxious look.

"My dear nephew! It is said that something happened in the north! Do you have any good ideas?"

"The Eastern Tartars are coming fiercely, Nurhaci is personally leading the expedition, and Jizhou may not be able to stop them!"

Prince Xunnan was worried, and he didn't know how long he, the happy and happy prince, could last.

Zhou Yuan couldn't answer this question because he really had no way.

He just sighed and said: "Even Wu Hou couldn't restore the Han Dynasty, so what can Zhou Yuan do?"

"Forget it, let's all go back. What's the point of blocking here?"

He shook his head, sighed, and walked slowly back to his manor with heavy steps.

Along the way, the people sang and danced, celebrating the success of the prisoner exchange, and congratulating Zhongwu Hou.