The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 214

In the end, Cui Wenku compromised.

"Lord Zhou, what are your requirements?"

Zhou Chu was not surprised to hear this. Since Cui Wenkui had already agreed to provide 100,000 mu of land, he wouldn't mind agreeing to one more condition.

"Lord Cui, please issue me an official document, allowing me to lead the Embroidered Uniform Guard to survey the land of Suzhou Prefecture."

Zhou Chu stated his requirements.

Zhou Chu did not intend to take too big a step at the beginning. He would start by trying it out in Suzhou Prefecture and see how everyone reacted.

If it can be successfully implemented in Suzhou Prefecture, then it can be extended to the entire Jiangnan region.

Upon hearing this, Cui Wenkui's face turned extremely ugly; this request was like putting him on the hot seat.

When the time comes, Zhou Chu will take his official documents and post notices everywhere. The officials in Suzhou Prefecture will know that these must have been done by Zhou Chu, but what about the gentry and those outside Suzhou Prefecture?

Who would believe that a mere commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard could accomplish such a feat? Who would believe that a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard wielded such immense power?

Those gentry would only think that only a governor like him had such power and ability. If Cui Wenku agreed to Zhou Chu's request, then it would be a mess, and there would be no way to explain it.

Although he was the governor of Jiangnan Province and could be considered to have absolute power before Zhou Chu came to Suzhou Prefecture, that was only because he represented the interests of the Jiangnan gentry, which is why he could have absolute power.

If he were to become the enemy of the gentry, his position as governor would become a castle in the air, losing its source of power.

Indeed, most of his power as the governor of Jiangnan Province never came from the emperor or the imperial court, but from these Jiangnan gentry.

Cui Wenku wanted to refuse, but seeing the threatening look in Zhou Chu's eyes, he couldn't bring himself to say it.

He knew very well that if he refused, his older brother and niece would be finished.

This is easy to handle. In such cold weather, it's understandable that the two people could freeze to death or die of illness while imprisoned in the Jinyiwei. Zhou Chu wouldn't even need to bear any responsibility or consequences for this.

After all, the reasons given by the Embroidered Uniform Guard for arresting Cui Wenshan and Cui Tingting were completely reasonable and legal. Even if the location of their detention was not in accordance with the law, there were plenty of reasons to justify it.

Zhou Chu's move to undermine Cui Wenkui's position was undeniably ruthless. On one hand, it allowed Cui Wenkui to take the fall for him, and on the other hand, it significantly reduced Cui Wenkui's prestige and power in Jiangnan.

"Lord Zhou, would you allow me some time to consider this?"

Cui Wenkui was in a state of confusion and couldn't make up his mind. He wondered if he could postpone it and give Zhou Chu an answer after he had thought it through.

But Zhou Chu wouldn't give him time to consider. As the saying goes, a swift action is better than a futile one. The longer he considers it, the greater the variables will become. Even if Cui Wenkui wanted to agree, the people around him would probably prevent him from doing so once they found out.

"Since Lord Cui is not sincere, then let it be."

Zhou Chu's expression changed.

"Lord Zhou, it's not that I don't want to agree, but this matter is of great importance. Without the Emperor's decree, how dare I make a decision rashly?"

Seeing that Zhou Chu was about to leave, Cui Wenkui panicked and shifted the blame to the emperor.

As if he had anticipated Cui Wenkui's words, Zhou Chu smiled slowly upon hearing them.

"Shen Lian, bring me His Majesty's imperial edict."

Zhou Chu had mentioned the land survey in his previous secret memorials, and he emphasized it even more when he impeached Cui Wenkui. Now that Jiajing saw that Zhou Chu was about to gain military power, he naturally had no reason to refuse.

This imperial edict and the edict appointing Wang Yangming to take over military power in Jiangnan arrived one after the other.

Cui Wenkui hadn't expected Zhou Chu to be so well-prepared, and for a moment, he couldn't think of any reason to refuse.

While Zhou Chu and Cui Wenkui were pulling back and forth, on the coast of Annam, at the mouth of the Mekong River, Yun Jin's Xuanwu fleet was confronting sixty or seventy pirate ships.

These dozens of pirate ships came from several relatively large pirate groups in the surrounding seas.

These pirate groups all share a common characteristic: they are all supported by people in Jiangnan and serve the Jiangnan smuggling groups entirely.

During this period, the smuggling ships of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce were repeatedly hijacked. They were seen going out to sea, but not returning. Naturally, the people of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce would not sit idly by and wait for their doom.

After several discussions, Li Xian, the president of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce, decided to mobilize all of their pirate groups at sea to besiege the recently rising Xuanwu Pirate Group.

The Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce maintains more than a dozen large pirate groups at sea, each with at least seven or eight hundred people.

In total, there were sixty or seventy ships and tens of thousands of pirates.

In Li Xian's opinion, using so many people to besiege a Xuanwu pirate group was a bit of a waste of talent. However, the Xuanwu pirate group was too arrogant and completely disregarded the rules, which angered everyone in the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce.

Except for Chu Huizu.

Chu Huizu immediately relayed the news to Zhou Chu, who then sent it by waterway to Yun Jin, who was still in Annam at the time.

When Yun Jin received the news, these pirate groups had not yet received the message from the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce.

Upon receiving the news, Yun Jin immediately mobilized his troops and prepared for battle. As for Annam, Yun Jin had already instructed Li Chun to disband the army that originally belonged to the Li Dynasty.

Furthermore, having witnessed the terrifying combat power of the Xuanwu Legion firsthand, Li Chun completely lost the will to resist. In any case, he could still become a Duke and enjoy a life of wealth and honor, which was much better than being oppressed by Mo Dengyong every day before.

Although Yun Jin's Xuanwu Army had fewer ships and far fewer men than all the pirate groups combined, its individual combat strength and the chain-link cannons on its ships were enough to allow the Xuanwu Army to crush these pirate groups.

These pirate groups are pirate groups at sea, but once they enter the territory of the Ming Dynasty, they are called Japanese pirates, and a small portion of them are Japanese.

They relied entirely on their swords; they had no artillery, not even armor, just some homemade rattan armor with very low defense.

This group of pirates was led by the Lion Pirates, whose leader was a Fujianese man named Wang Xiong. He spent many years at sea, thinking that once he had accumulated enough wealth, his sons and grandsons could go ashore and live a clean life.

As for indentures? Someone will naturally take care of that for them.

Zhang Ziyi's grandfather was like that.

He was initially dissatisfied with the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce for gathering these pirate groups together in such a grand manner, feeling that the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce was making a mountain out of a molehill. However, when he saw the size of the treasure ship leading the way across from him, as well as the sets of reflective armor on board and the dark cannon muzzles on the ship, Wang Xiong's expression changed drastically.

"Wait, is this a pirate crew?"