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

Chapter 228

For the past two weeks, Yan Song has rarely been in the government office, spending most of his time inspecting the dikes. Since the incident at the quarry, Yan Song has realized that many problems stem from the failure to implement orders from above.

This is especially true at the grassroots level, where clerks and lower-level officials can easily manipulate things.

However, since the quarry made an example of someone to warn others, the situation has improved considerably; it's not completely gone, but it's improved by about 70-80%.

After all, the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) had a formidable presence. If there was one thing that the officials and clerks of Suzhou Prefecture feared most these days, it was undoubtedly the Jinyiwei.

The entire Embroidered Uniform Guard seemed to have changed overnight. Those Embroidered Uniform Guards who were originally completely disregarded by them had now become extremely arrogant, and they wanted to arrest and interrogate any official or clerk they encountered.

This made them even more cautious, fearing that these Imperial Guards would find fault with them. Once they entered the Imperial Guard's territory, they would be severely injured, if not killed.

Yan Song had been keeping a close eye on the construction progress of the dike. These days, he had simply been living on the dike. His official robes were covered in mud and cement, and his shoes were almost never dry.

Originally, many people were eyeing the situation covetously, which made Yan Song very uneasy, fearing that these people would cause trouble.

But when the first batch of dikes had completely solidified, Yan Song had people hit the dikes hard with hammers. When all that was left were some white marks and the dikes were not damaged at all, Yan Song was completely relieved.

Then came a surge of elation. Lord Zhou had indeed not lied to him. Once this kind of dike was built, it would be a project that would last at least a century. This would be an extremely brilliant achievement in Yan Song's resume, and it was even possible that he would be remembered in history for this.

Thinking of this, Yan Song was filled with energy and did not feel tired at all because he was over forty.

These days, fewer and fewer people have been loitering by the dike with ill intentions. Yan Song knows that this is because Lord Zhou has drawn all the attention. Now, the eyes of the gentry throughout Suzhou Prefecture, and even the entire Jiangnan region, are fixed on Lord Zhou, and no one cares whether the dike can be completed.

There was no other way; what Lord Zhou was doing was of vital importance to the gentry and officials. Compared to what Lord Zhou was doing, whether the dike was completed or not seemed to have little impact on them.

Yan Song couldn't help but recall that more than half a month ago, he went to Lord Zhou to complain, saying that these people were eyeing the dike covetously, and hinted to Lord Zhou that he could send some people to guard the dike.

At that moment, Lord Zhou gave a mysterious smile.

“Mr. Jiexi, how can you defend against thieves for a thousand days? As the saying goes, prolonged defense will inevitably lead to defeat. As the art of war says, attack where the enemy must defend. I have my own methods. They will soon have no time to watch your dikes.”

At first, Zhou Chu's words puzzled Yan Song, but when Zhou Chu began to measure the land, the attention of all the gentry in Suzhou Prefecture was instantly drawn to him, and no one paid any attention to the dike anymore.

This made Yan Song admire Zhou Chu immensely. Even if Yan Song could think of such a thing, he would never dare to do it. Throughout history, how many people have come to a good end by touching the land of these people?

No wonder these people went crazy.

At this time, the entire Jiangnan Province was in complete chaos. In every prefecture and county, countless people lined up at the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) office to appeal their grievances. The gentry watched as their friends were arrested one by one because of this matter, and they were all panicked and did not know what to do.

This situation was particularly prominent in Huating County. The commander of the Imperial Guard of Songjiang Prefecture personally led a team, carrying Liu Damo's booklet, and began arresting and judging people according to the booklet.

In Suzhou Prefecture, after finishing her own business, Chu Li looked towards Songjiang Prefecture with some worry. In the past two days, she had received a lot of news about Zhou Chu and knew that Zhou Chu was currently waging a major war in Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture, which made Chu Li even more worried.