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

Chapter 492

Zhou Yuan drank happily during this drinking session.

It was not until late at night that he finally left the table with Xiong Kuohai and others. After sending the guests away, Xue Ningyue helped Zhou Yuan into the bedroom again.

She whispered: "Brother Zhou, don't drink so much next time. It's harmful to your health. I'll make you a bowl of ginger soup, okay?"

Zhou Yuan opened his eyes and shook his head: "No, Ningyue, you should rest early. I'm not drunk."

He stood up, tidied his clothes, and then said: "Rest early. I can't accompany you tonight."

Xue Ningyue was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "So Brother Zhou lied to me. I was so drunk that I couldn't stand up."

Zhou Yuan pinched her little face and said: "Don't tell anyone. I have to go to the study to do something."

"Okay."

Ningyue nodded obediently.

Zhou Yuan came to the study and saw Guan Lu had been waiting for a long time, concentrating on looking at the map.

He sat down and asked, "Have you eaten?"

Guan Lu smiled and said, "Yes, I ate a lot in the kitchen. The food in the mansion is still delicious."

Zhou Yuan said, "When did you go to Beijing?"

"Half a month ago."

Guan Lu said in a deep voice, "I calculated the time when the adults would come back, so I went to Beijing after arranging things in the south."

"The situation over there is clear. Our intelligence system has finally been built and is spreading to various fields. We have already invaded the important sectors marked by the adults in advance."

Zhou Yuan nodded and said, "What's the situation in Kolodiya?"

Guan Lu said, "The cruiser is being repaired. It is expected to take another two months to be repaired. By then, it can go to sea at any time."

Zhou Yuan took a deep breath and said, "The situation is quite tense now "Guan Lu, you are going to arrange a group of confidants to start invading Shenjing, mainly focusing on... Wucheng Bingmasi and Jinyiwei. "

Guan Lu suddenly looked up and asked in confusion: "Jinyiwei?"

"Yes, Jinyiwei."

Guan Lu said: "The current Jinyiwei commander is Lord Xiong."

Zhou Yuan nodded and said: "He is very likely... already your Majesty's man."

"What!"

Guan Lu suddenly changed color and said in surprise: "This... How can this be seen? If this is true, our situation is extremely bad."

Zhou Yuan smiled and sighed: "I didn't expect it either. Who would have thought that friends from Yunzhou and Lin'an Prefecture would eventually take different paths."

"I know him. He is a person who takes the initiative in affairs and is silent in politics."

"But today, he actually took the initiative to ask about my political attitude and test my opinion of Her Majesty the Queen."

"I don't want to doubt him, but his words are too suspicious."

Guan Lu took a deep breath and said solemnly: "Sir, if Lord Xiong is really bribed by His Majesty, then this not only means Lord Xiong's political attitude, but also His Majesty's political attitude."

"Your Majesty, she is beginning to guard against us. She realizes that our power is growing."

"This is an extremely dangerous signal. For His Majesty, guarding against a person is the beginning of eliminating a person, especially such a shrewd His Majesty. For us, this is really bad news."

Zhou Yuan waved his hand and said, "Don't worry too much, just follow our own steps slowly. His Majesty still needs me now, and Want to win me over."

"She is just testing. If she gets the answer she wants, she will stop."

Guan Lu was under great pressure. He wiped the sweat from his face and nodded, saying, "Then we should follow the previous steps. We are collecting intelligence and information about Shanhaiguan. We should be able to make a detailed report on the way to the expedition."

Zhou Yuan said, "Give the task to Zhang Fei. He is almost ready. It's time to conduct large-scale infiltration of the three sides."

Guan Lu hesitated for a moment before smiling bitterly, "But... there is not enough money."

"Ah?"

Zhou Yuan glared and said, "How much did more than 200 pieces of enamel sell for?"

Guan Lu said, "12 million taels, which exceeded expectations. But 10 million taels of it must be used on the cutting edge, and I dare not touch it."

"The remaining 2 million taels, spend a little here and there, and there will be only about 400,000 taels left."

"We can't wait until all the money is spent before trying to raise money. "

Zhou Yuan nodded and said with a wry smile: "It will take at least two months for Kolodiya, and trade will also take time, which means we will need at least four months to ease the economy."

"Calculate how much money we will need in these four months?"

Guan Lu said: "I have calculated that the infiltration of the three sides and the deep infiltration of the Fujian and Guangdong naval forces, plus the construction of various systems, will require about 1.8 million taels."

Zhou Yuan thought for a while, then said: "There is no way, I can't findIf you can't get the money, go find Qu Ling and ask her to collect 1.8 million taels of silver. "

"It's time for the Qu family to help me."

Guan Lu whispered, "Sir, we can't ask the Qu family to help at this moment. The time is not ripe."

After this awakening, Zhou Yuan was shocked and said, "The Qu family won't move for the time being. I'll find a way."

At this point, he slowly looked out the door and whispered, "Is the Virgin Sister here?"

Li Yu'an pushed the door open and walked in.

She looked very unhappy, but she still said, "The Wusheng Sect has a total of 38 properties, almost all of which are brothels. If they can be sold in one month, they can collect about 1.2 million taels of silver."

"This is all my belongings and my dowry."

"If you take it away, it means I have nothing."

At this point, she shook her head and sighed, saying, "Forget it, give it to you. Anyway... I have no other way to go. "

"No!"

Guan Lu hurriedly said: "Sir, we can't sell those brothels. This is an important support for our intelligence system, more important than money."

Fuck!

Zhou Yuan waved his hand and said: "Forget it, I'll find a way from other places. Alas... I finally understand the hardship of Lord Liu Jing."

He thought for a long time before he said in a deep voice: "I'll write a letter by hand. Guan Lu, you immediately send someone to Yangzhou to hand it over to my father-in-law in person."

"As a son-in-law, I can only ask my elders for money."

Guan Lu nodded and said: "This is OK. As long as the salt inspector wants to get money, there will be countless money."

Zhou Yuan had no choice but to smile bitterly. His father-in-law was his last resort, and he often didn't want to think about this.

But the situation is difficult, and money has to be spent everywhere!

Guan Lu said: "Does Miss Li have an identity certificate or other tokens? We want to quickly spread the intelligence network through the brothel industry of the Wusheng Sect. "

Li Yu'an picked up the brush and drew a symbol on the paper. She whispered: "Mother Wusheng, Zhenkong Hometown, this is our fairy talisman. As long as it is shown, people will recognize it naturally."

"They will cooperate with you unconditionally, but... I can no longer be sure of the loyalty of these people. I even suspect that there are undercover agents from the inner court among them."

Guan Lu smiled confidently: "Miss Li, don't worry. We have a set of professional techniques that are enough to screen out who is trustworthy."

He clasped his fists and bowed, and walked away slowly.

Until this time, Li Yu'an looked at Zhou Yuan and said: "You have fallen into the empress's tender and treacherous scheme, why are you still doing these little tricks."

Zhou Yuan was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "It seems that you must have misunderstood something."

"Her Majesty's tender scheme has never determined my fate, but her own fate."

Li Yu'an frowned and said: "What do you mean?"

Zhou Yuan said: "Try carefully and you will get the answer. ”

“Sister Virgin, you are a man of the underworld, and you value revenge and vengeance.”

“But politics is not the underworld, and politics cannot be about revenge and vengeance.”

“Politics is about positions and interests, compromise and management, and it is not subject to human will.”

“To put it simply, will is will, and contradiction is contradiction. The underworld focuses on the former, while politics only focuses on the latter.”

Li Yu’an thought for a while, and finally shook her head and said, “Let’s talk about reproducing offspring for the Li family.”