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

Chapter 792

In all honesty, Zhou Yuan thought that he had not done the right thing.

At the beginning, he asked Huang Zuoyu to call on the major Chaozhou merchants to take over all the silk, tea and porcelain in Fujian and Guangdong provinces, which cost the Chaozhou merchants a huge price.

On the one hand, Huang Zuoyu wanted to find a way to survive, after all, he had offended Zhou Yuan. On the other hand, the Chaozhou merchants did want to establish a relationship with the court so that they could export legitimately in the future.

However, the situation changed suddenly in the past two years, especially the attack of the Eastern Tartars on Shanhaiguan, which slowed down Zhou Yuan's salt inspection schedule and delayed the construction of the Fuzhou Treasure Shipyard to a large extent. At the same time, McPherson launched an armed seizure of power and drove Kolodia out of Haojing.

The sudden political change led to the delay in the sales channels promised to the Chaozhou merchants, and export became the biggest dilemma.

The internal affairs of the Great Jin Dynasty were in ruins and the digestion capacity was insufficient, so the Chaozhou merchants could only hoard their goods.

This meant that they had to advance a huge amount of funds, and the loss could not be small.

Fortunately, the silk, tea and porcelain did not deteriorate, otherwise the Chaozhou merchants would suffer even greater losses.

"Help! Your Majesty! The Chaozhou merchants can't survive!"

Huang Zuoyu couldn't help crying when he talked about his grievances.

To be honest, if Zhou Yuan's status was not high enough, he would have cursed him a long time ago. Damn, he was cheated so badly.

Zhou Yuan also understood this truth, so he sighed: "In the past two years, Chaozhou merchants have indeed suffered and suffered great losses."

"I understand your difficulties, and now I am also planning to find a way to open the door to exports."

"Look at this treasure shipyard, it is the biggest foundation of our exports. Only when we regain the control of the sea can you export with confidence, and my Great Jin can truly formulate a major policy to open the sea."

"Chairman Huang, it was me who asked you to purchase tea, silk and porcelain. I will take this responsibility. There will definitely be a chance to recover your losses in the future. Don't be too anxious."

Huang Zuoyu cried, "I have to be anxious. I don't have money. Our daily expenses are tens of thousands of taels of silver, but now we really can't come up with money. We are just short of selling our ancestral home."

Damn, do you think I have money? Fuzhou Treasure Shipyard is a gold-eating beast. After fighting so many big battles, the money of 60 to 70 million from the Jiangnan Salt Tour was gone.

Ten warships and the Portuguese cannons cost a total of 24 million taels of silver, as well as 6,000 flintlock guns, countless shells and bullets. The entire Fuzhou Treasure Shipyard spent 35 million taels of silver in a year.

The remaining money was also spent on the war.

Zhou Yuan was worried about where to find money, after all, the autumn tax was still four or five months away.

He scratched his head and said, "Don't worry, I'm also thinking of a way. After a few days of negotiations with McPherson, there will be a result."

"You go back and wait for news. I will give you a reply in a few days."

Huang Zuoyu said, "That... Prince, I won't go back. I will stay here and wait for news from the prince."

Hey? You still... come to collect debts and don't leave, right!

Zhou Yuan really didn't have the face to get angry at this moment, so he could only wave his hand and said, "Whatever you say!"

Huang Zuoyu hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, the dumping of goods is not only related to the life and death of Chaozhou merchants, but also to the survival of countless craftsmen, the food and clothing of countless coolies, and tea farmers, kiln workers... countless people, all rely on this to make a living!"

"Please, Your Majesty, make the decision!"

Zhou Yuan could only scratch his head.

He knew it, but now that it has come to this point, he can only take it step by step.

First put the navy in! Really arm the battleships and cruisers!

...

After noon, the four generals of the Guangdong Navy had arrived. They were the direct superiors of the captains. With them in charge, Zhou Yuan could better subdue these people.

Six battleships and four cruisers, equipped with 80 guns and 40 guns respectively.

"This means that each battleship has a staff of 300 people, and each cruiser has a staff of 150 people."

"Every three people are responsible for a gun, and there are also captains, deputy captains, cooks, musketeers, rescue teams, etc. The staff of 300 people is reasonable and in line with the tonnage of our battleships. The same is true for cruisers."

One of the generals was named He Qiang, who was talking to Zhou Yuan about the situation. He obviously knew more about battleships and cruisers, and had rich experience in naval battles. Even if such experience is outdated compared to today's era, it is better than no experience.

"Do you like fishing?"

Zhou Yuan asked subconsciously.

"Commander-in-chief... I..."

"No problem, just asking."

Zhou Yuan said, and then said: "Let them all get off the ship, I want to say something."

A total of more than 2,000 people gathered in the largest fishing ground in the core area of ​​Fuzhou Baochuan Factory.On the flat ground.

Zhou Yuan walked up to the high platform, facing a series of blazing eyes.

He was well-known and had long been the authority and banner of the army. Even the navy soldiers were in awe of him.

Seeing this scene, Zhou Yuan couldn't help but sigh that he was indeed not the loyal and martial earl who ran for his life.

At the beginning, he was worried about how to revitalize the navy, and let Guanlu continue to infiltrate.

Now that the iron-clad identity and record are here, the prestige is there, and there is no need for too many means to win people's hearts.

Zhou Yuan looked at everyone and said loudly: "In the tenth year of Zhaojing, that is, the summer of the year before last, when I was in the Central Plains to suppress bandits, the Battle of Yuehai took place."

"We had more ships, more people, and our soldiers were brave enough, but we were defeated miserably."

"This led to the killing of people along our coast and the signing of the Treaty of Yuehai."

"Everyone, now I want to read some files to you, I want to let you know something."

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Zhou Yuan took out the files given by Guan Lu and began to read aloud.

"On October 8, the tenth year of Zhaojing, a family surnamed Yang in Zhangzhou was killed by four Portuguese, and the wife and daughter of the Yang family were raped."

"On October 21, the tenth year of Zhaojing, Guo Laosan of Quanzhou went fishing with his wife and daughter, and encountered six Portuguese. His wife and daughter were raped and killed. Guo Laosan reported the case to the government and finally compensated the foreigners with eight taels of silver."

"On November 2, the tenth year of Zhaojing..."

"On November 4, the tenth year of Zhaojing..."

Zhou Yuan read the file in detail, without avoiding any details, because every line of words was a bloody case and a shame.

The young soldier below heard it with red eyes, blue veins on his forehead, and clenched his fists.

Zhou Yuan continued to read until - "On the afternoon of the tenth day of the sixth month of the twelfth year of Zhaojing, which was yesterday afternoon. The daughter of the Kang family in Fuzhou Prefecture was imprisoned for the fifteenth day. Her brother Kang Youzhi returned home from Shenjing and learned that his sister was imprisoned. He went to the Western merchant shop to ask for her. The six Portuguese were angry and hanged the brother and sister on the tree in the backyard."

Some of the soldiers below couldn't help crying. They were here but they didn't know about the bloody cases.

Zhou Yuan said: "Yesterday's case had a different result because I went there in person."

"I killed people! I hung the six murderers on that tree and beat them to death."

Countless people were silent, but there was only anger in their eyes.

Zhou Yuan suddenly raised his voice and shouted: "It's all because of the defeat! It's all because of the "Yuehai Treaty"! It's all because our navy is incompetent! Because we can't beat the other side!"

"So they are arrogant! They are unscrupulous! They can abuse our people at will!"

"The officers and soldiers are incompetent! The people are suffering!"

More than 2,000 naval soldiers lowered their heads and gritted their teeth.

Zhou Yuan said: "Now I am the admiral of the Yuehai Navy, and I am also a part of the navy."

"We have ships and cannons."

"I will not allow us to continue to be bullied! Those victims may be your fellow villagers, relatives, or even loved ones!"

"You should all stand up, and you should all risk your life to get back your lost dignity!"

He looked at everyone and said slowly: "If you don't understand, study hard, if you don't know, ask more, master the new naval knowledge... Go for revenge! To win future wars!"

"We... must protect our compatriots! Take back the sea!"