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

Chapter 383

Zhou Yuan did not rush into the palace as usual, but walked slowly, as if strolling in the garden. It took more than half an hour to walk into the Ziwei Palace.

Empress Zhaojing, who had been waiting impatiently, frowned, seemed a little annoyed and irritated, and complained: "There have been many ups and downs along the way. The Great Jin is in tatters everywhere, with festering in the east and sores in the west. Has the junior brother lost confidence and is unwilling to help me anymore?"

There was a hint of regret and emotion in his tone.

Zhou Yuan was slightly stunned, but he did not expect that the senior sister would suddenly say this. It seems that she is so sharp that she has already noticed the subtle changes in my emotions.

In the eyes of a king with political wisdom, the change in mentality of these days is obvious.

The road ahead is difficult. It is indeed not easy to persist with only one person's determination.

Determination and will always affect each other.

So Zhou Yuan shook his head and said, "I was a little depressed a few days ago, but I am fine now. Lord Liu sent a piece of good news to Shenjing overnight, and I have the confidence to save the situation."

Empress Zhao Jing said, "Don't think I don't know. You came to the palace slowly. Such a big thing happened in Jizhou. Aren't you anxious?"

Zhou Yuan said, "It's not that I'm not anxious, but the time for the invasion of the Eastern Tartars has not come yet. Looting Jizhou is the limit of what they can do."

"What do you mean?"

Empress Zhao Jing was a little confused.

Zhou Yuan said calmly: "We have internal conflicts, don't they have any? Nurhaci unified the eight tribes and established the powerful Manchuria Dynasty. He once sent troops to the Jin Dynasty from the east of Liaodong to Shenzhou, which was a huge force."

"However, after annexing Shenzhou, the Jurchen civilization was also impacted by the Jin civilization. The fusion of culture and lifestyle caused differences among them about development."

"Among the largest tribes of the Jurchens, the Hunhe tribe where Nurhaci is located is obviously the largest tribe with absolute leadership, while the Zhechen tribe, Wanyan tribe, and Zhusheli tribe also have the right to participate in politics. There are a large number of troops under the tribe, which can hinder the Wanyan tribe."

"Due to the uneven distribution of spoils, there are different opinions on the direction of development, and at the same time, there are major Nurhaci has been coordinating internal relations over the years to achieve the unity of the general purpose, and it has been quite effective. "

"But they have not reached the objective conditions to directly take Jizhou and attack Xuanfu, Jinmen and Shenjing. At least for now, they still need at least two years to integrate internal contradictions. "

Speaking of this, Zhou Yuan smiled and said: "This surprise attack on Jizhou is nothing more than a tentative attack, trying to plunder a batch of supplies. Of course, peace talks are also what they need, which can create huge wealth for them, and wealth is conducive to easing internal contradictions. "

In these aspects, Zhou Yuan knows very well, because the biggest enemy of the Jin Dynasty is the Donglu Jurchen, and the others are minor illnesses. Only the Jurchen is a cancer that cannot be ignored.

After hearing this, Empress Zhaojing's eyes lit up, and she said softly: "It turns out that Junior Brother knows the world without leaving home, and has long known the Eastern Tartars. No wonder he is full of confidence and attacks slowly."

Zhou Yuan smiled bitterly and said: "Senior Sister, please don't flatter me. In the end, we still have no way to deal with the Eastern Tartars."

Empress Zhaojing sighed and said: "So Junior Brother, the final result this time is just peace talks, right?"

Zhou Yuan said: "Yes, maybe within a few days, the Eastern Tartars' peace talks will be delivered to Shenjing."

"The requirements are nothing more than those, including but not limited to ceding land, compensation, annual tribute, etc. Their attitude will be very tough, and our attitude cannot be strong or weak."

Empress Zhaojing frowned and said: "If we are strong, it will be easy for the Eastern Tartars to rebound and arouse the desire for a decisive battle. If we are weak, it will be easy for the Eastern Tartars to think that we are easy to bully, and then the lion He even asked for the cession of Jizhou. "

Zhou Yuan smiled and said, "Big sister is wise."

Empress Zhao Jing said, "Generally speaking, peace talks are the work of civil officials. According to the rules, it is likely that Zeng Cheng, Deng Bochi or Xu Shigong will go, but I don't trust them. I think they don't understand the Jurchens as deeply as you do, and it is not easy to grasp the scale."

"At the same time... the civil officials of this dynasty are too weak, and it is difficult to handle major events in diplomacy."

Zhou Yuan was silent for a moment before saying, "I think so too, but the cabinet will probably regard this diplomatic envoy as power. If you want to invade their power, it will inevitably cause a strong backlash from them. I'm afraid there will be another quarrel in the Golden Palace."

Empress Zhao Jing smiled and said, "So the morning court the day after tomorrow, you have to work harder, little brother. I can't be openly partial in the Golden Palace, but I can stand on the side with sufficient reasons."

Zhou Yuan said: "Okay, leave this to me. I will make the senior sister go to the side of 'reason'."

Speaking of this, Zhou Yuan suddenly changed the subject and said: "Senior sister, that... now sweet potato has been a great success. At the beginning, you said that the matter was not done and you could not pay the full amount..."

"Now it's done... isn't it time to... pay?"

Empress Zhao Jing raised her eyebrows and looked at Zhou Yuan suddenly with her eyes wide open.

Zhou Yuan hurriedly said: "Senior sister is a golden mouth and jade word, and her words are as good as gold!"

Empress Zhao Jing snorted, then giggled and said: "Junior brother, it's right to be young and energetic, but you can't indulge in women. Haven't you enjoyed enough these days?"

Zhou Yuan pretended to be stupid: "Ah? I don't know, I only know that the senior sister is a golden mouth and jade word, it depends on whether you admit it or not."

Empress Zhao Jing narrowed her eyes slightly, then chuckled: "Greedy little junior brother..."

She pretended to be relaxed, but her face was red.

Pretending to be a big boss, she gently lifted Zhou Yuan's chin with her fingers and squinted her eyes and said, "I am not a king who breaks his promise."

She slowly approached, her delicate face kept getting bigger, but she still couldn't see any flaws.

Zhou Yuan had already felt the breath of the senior sister, and the rich and fragrant fragrance made people intoxicated.

He couldn't help but stretch out his hand and hold the slender waist of the senior sister.

Empress Zhaojing trembled slightly, and her ears were red, but she still mustered up the courage and slowly approached Zhou Yuan.

At the moment when her lips were about to touch, a voice suddenly came from outside: "Your Majesty! Minister of Works Wang Lun wants to see you!"

Empress Zhaojing took several steps back, gasped, and said in a deep voice: "Announce!"

Zhou Yuan was stunned.

It was almost done, why did it suddenly overturn again?

Damn Wang Lun, you usually keep quiet, but you ruin my good things at the critical moment. It turns out that you are the most disgusting one in the cabinet!

Zhou Yuan was so angry that he almost exploded. He said quickly, "Big sister, it will take time for him to come over!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhuang Xuansu had already walked into the hall. With a serious face, he saluted and said, "Your Majesty, my sister is not here. I will protect your majesty today."

Empress Zhaojing nodded and said, "Okay."

Zhou Yuan felt a pang of pain in his heart. Zhuang Xuansu, Master Zhuang, you... we are friends who have lived together for life. Why do you treat me like this?

Zhuang Xuansu noticed his gaze, frowned slightly, and asked in confusion, "Master Zhou, it's been a long time since we last met. What's wrong with you?"

Zhou Yuan gritted his teeth and said, "It's been a long time since we last met. From March to now, it's almost five months!"

Five months, you can show up at any time, why now!

Conspiracy! Damn!

There must be a conspiracy!

Zhou Yuan was furious!

Zhuang Xuansu said, "Then I will visit you another day to congratulate Lord Zhou."

Zhou Yuan clenched his fists and gritted his teeth and said, "Okay... Let's reminisce about the past then..."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and left.

Zhuang Xuansu was puzzled, scratched his head subconsciously, and whispered, "Your Majesty, Lord Zhou is..."

Empress Zhaojing smiled and said, "It's okay, he is just angry out of shame."