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

Chapter 337

The Jin Dynasty's court, on the Golden Palace.

Xu Shigong, the Minister of Personnel and Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, handed over a memorial and said in a deep voice: "The King of Xunnan has been stationed in his fiefdom for nine months, but in these nine months, he was robbed six times by the Portuguese in Haojing, who stole countless wealth and captured our people as slaves. This is a great shame and humiliation. Your Majesty, you can't tolerate it anymore!"

Yang Guozhong also said: "The people of a small country are vicious and can't be fed. They must be beaten so that they know what the Celestial Empire is."

"Your Majesty, I request your permission to order Jiang Hao, the admiral of the Yuezhou Navy, to lead the army to fight and wipe out the Portuguese bandits!"

The Chu Party and the Zhejiang Party couldn't help it, and the ministers below understood and naturally agreed.

"I second the motion!"

"I second the motion!"

"Your Majesty, please issue an order!"

Empress Zhaojing also frowned, thought for a moment, and finally said in a deep voice: "The Yuezhou navy has 40,000 people, eight warships, and dozens of small boats. It sounds good, but it may not be able to overturn the three iron boats of the Portuguese."

Xu Shigong said: "Your Majesty, the Yuezhou navy has been well-trained in recent years, and it may not be impossible to fight with it. Besides, our Great Jin Dynasty really needs a victory to enhance the national prestige!"

"The night before yesterday, the court report came, Zhou Yuan acted on his own will and without any plan, leading 60,000 troops to attack Yancheng, trying to die together with the defenders of Yancheng. "

"No priorities, no strategy, only blind recklessness, I am afraid that a great defeat is imminent."

"If there is no battle in Yuehai to boost morale, I am afraid that the blatant wave will be despised!"

Everyone also knew the court report, and they didn't understand what Zhou Yuan was doing at all. It seemed like he was seeking death. He gathered all his strength in one place to fight to the death, and he didn't distinguish between priorities. He also traveled a long distance to fight against fatigue... He committed all the taboos of military strategists.

Deng Bochi said in a deep voice: "I also second the proposal. Please ask your Majesty to issue an order to order Jiang Hao, the admiral of the Yuezhou Navy, to eliminate the bandits in Haojing to strengthen the national prestige."

"At the same time, please issue an order to take back Zhou Yuan's position as the Grand Marshal of the Bandit Suppression and the Grand Commander of the Central Plains, and send another imperial envoy to handle the affairs of the Central Plains to prevent Zhou Yuan from losing all the five military camps."

Empress Zhaojing subconsciously pressed her nose. She was too tired and too annoyed. These things happened every day, and they could never be solved.

Is it difficult for the junior brother? Of course it is difficult!

Zhang Bailong has become a force, almost occupying the entire Central Plains, with billions of fertile fields and millions of farmers and soldiers.

The junior brother has only 60,000 people, and he went with 2 million taels of silver, which is almost like hitting a rock with an egg.

No matter how difficult it is for her to be an official Miaoshan, she can't blame the junior brother for being useless!

But the pressure from these court officials is too great, and they can find excuses everywhere. In order to replace the junior brother, they even don't hesitate to bring up Yuehai.

The Central Plains is at war, the Nine Borders are on defense, the rebellion in the two rivers has been quelled for less than a year, and now they want to fight in the Guangdong Sea again.

These court officials only have factions in their minds, not the country!

The Chu Party, the Zhejiang Party, and the Qi Party all want to attack my junior brother now. How can I stop them? How can I suppress them!

"Fight!"

Empress Zhaojing took a deep breath, and finally gritted her teeth and said: "The cabinet drafted an order to order Jiang Hao, the admiral of the Guangdong Navy, to be the general of coastal defense, to lead the army to attack Haojing and wipe out the Portuguese pirates."

She knew that this battle was likely to be lost again. If she could win, the Guangdong Navy would have taken action long ago. How could she get such a great achievement today?

But she had to buy time for her junior brother!

Xu Shigong said: "Your Majesty, going to war is a big deal. It is not enough to have only a naval commander. The Governor of Fujian and Guangdong, Qi Changshi, is on the way. The Governor can be in charge."

Empress Zhaojing gritted her teeth and said: "Approved!"

Xu Shigong said: "Naval warfare is very expensive. Please ask your Majesty to ask the Ministry of Revenue to allocate 2 million taels of silver..."

These bastards!

Empress Zhaojing wanted to kill all of them!

She said sternly: "The Ministry of Revenue is short of silver, the treasury is empty, and there is no money for the time being. Let's postpone the war in Yuezhou."

Yang Guozhong stood up and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the country's major events cannot be delayed. We ask Your Majesty to issue an order!"

The whole court knelt down.

Deng Bochi even said: "If your Majesty does not issue an order, we can only kneel for a long time."

This group of ministers almost control the affairs of the entire Jin Dynasty. If they kneel down, who will do the work? Within two days, there will be chaos everywhere.

Empress Zhaojing was cornered, she really had no other choice.

She only hated her shallow foundation and insufficient resources, otherwise why would she have to look at their faces!

At this moment, a female guard hurried into the hall, shouting: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Urgent news from the Central Plains! Good news! It's good news!"

Empress Zhaojing woke up as if from a dream, raised her head suddenly, and said anxiously: "Read!"

The female guard shouted: "On April 11, the five army camps had 50,000 troops and 10,000 troops in the joint training group, a total of 60,000, besieged Yancheng."

"That night, Shi Yi and WangXiong, etc., each led 2,000 troops, ambushed 20,000 reinforcements from Chenzhou and Yingcheng on the official roads of Ye County and the permanent official roads, and used the night as a guerrilla force to annihilate a total of more than 37,000 enemy troops in the movement. "

"On the morning of April 12, the Five Army Camp tricked Zhao Yunhu, the defender of Yancheng, to open the city gate and rushed into the city."

"At noon, the Five Army Camp captured Yancheng, killed 54,000 enemies, and Zhao Yunhu fled in panic."

"As of noon on April 12, the Five Army Camp had annihilated more than 90,000 enemies, sacrificed 1,647 people, and recovered Yancheng."

A series of words made the officials change color one after another.

Empress Zhao Jing stood up slowly, her eyes widened, and then roared: "Read! Read it again! Louder! ”

So the female guard read it again.

Empress Zhaojing held the dragon table with her hands, her body almost trembling.

Finally, she slapped the dragon table and said loudly: "Good! Good! With less than two thousand casualties, we annihilated more than 90,000 enemies and recovered Yancheng within one day!"

"Who dares to say that Zhou Yuan is not good at fighting? Who dares to say that he wants to change the general on the battlefield!"

"Who can win such a great victory! Such a great victory!"

It's been too long, too long, too long.

Empress Zhaojing was really happy, as if she had returned to the time when she just succeeded to the throne.

She looked at the officials and shouted: "Who is saying that Zhou Yuan is stupid? Yang Guozhong! What do you think!"

Yang Guozhong took a deep breath and saluted: "Your Majesty, Zhongwu Bo defeated the strong with the weak, created great achievements at a very small cost, and fought for the prestige of the Great Jin and the dignity of the court!"

"Congratulations to Your Majesty! Congratulations to the Great Jin!"

At the end, he knelt down slowly.

So, all the officials knelt down one after another and said in unison: "Your Majesty, we congratulate you! Congratulations to the Great Jin!"

"Huh..."

Empress Zhaojing let out a long breath, feeling only happy.

Extremely happy!

"The Battle of Yancheng has demonstrated the prestige of the country. The Battle of Yuehai is temporarily put on hold. The court is adjourned!"

She was the first to leave the hall and return to Ziwei Palace.

As soon as she entered the bedroom, she covered her mouth, tears already welled up in her eyes.

Xiaozhuang followed in and chuckled: "Your Majesty, congratulations to your Majesty, congratulations to your Majesty, Zhou Yuan did not disappoint your Majesty. "

Empress Zhaojing opened her mouth, but tears still flowed out. She covered her face and cried softly.

Xiaozhuang didn't dare to speak. She had followed His Majesty for more than ten years, but she had never seen His Majesty cry!

Such a strong saint king actually had tears.

"Xiaozhuang... Xiaozhuang..."

Empress Zhaojing choked and said, "I... I have helpers. I am no longer alone."

Xiaozhuang sighed deeply. She knew that this battle had completely established Zhou Yuan's position in His Majesty's heart.

If His Majesty had only favored him and expected him before, now he was relying on him.

Her Majesty had never cried before because it was meaningless. She had to hold on alone.

Now His Majesty cried because there was someone to rely on.