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

Chapter 201

After hearing this, Zhou Chu was too lazy to pay any more attention to Cui Wenkui. This kind of repetitive talk was meaningless and wouldn't lead to any conclusions.

“Lord Xia, His Majesty appointed you to inspect the Jiangnan region on behalf of the Emperor, yet such a shocking thing still happened. You, as the Censor, have seriously neglected your duties.”

Zhou Chu looked at Xia Yan beside him and said.

Xia Yan felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this, wondering why the attack was directed at her.

“What Lord Zhou says is true. It was indeed my oversight and dereliction of duty.”

Xia Yan simply admitted his mistake. Negligence was better than other charges. He and Cui Wenkui both knew that going against Zhou Chu at this point would do no good. If they accidentally angered this living devil, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Seeing how cowardly the two men were, Zhou Chu felt that he had lost a lot of fun. He stopped arguing and pointed to a group of Imperial Guards behind him with bandages on their bodies. Zhou Chu had specifically asked them to put on these bandages before he came, in order to extort money from the two men.

Although Zhou Chu knew he couldn't extort much from them, it was still good to annoy them.

"Yesterday, our Imperial Guards fought bravely against those bandits, and many of them were injured. Lord Cui, shouldn't we offer some compensation?"

Upon hearing this, and looking at the obviously fake bandages binding the Imperial Guards, Cui Wenkui couldn't help but want to curse.

Fighting bravely? And getting wounded? So many people were injured, how come not a single one died?

However, Cui Wenkui also knew that the situation was beyond his control, so he didn't dare to say it out loud. He was thinking about how to get rid of Zhou Chu, this plague god, and he didn't want to face Zhou Chu for even a moment longer.

"What do you think is the proper way to compensate us?"

Cui Wenku said cautiously.

“Your Excellency, look at them. Many of their legs have been broken. Each of them should be compensated with at least a thousand strings of cash to be worthy of their bravery last night.”

Zhou Chu solemnly pulled one of the Imperial Guards over, and the guard instantly transformed into a top actor, wailing in pain, leaning on a cane, and not daring to put one foot on the ground, for fear that he would run away if he did.

"How about this, Governor, allocate one million strings of cash as compensation for them."

Zhou Chu seemed to have made a great decision, as if giving Cui Wenkui and Xia Yan a lot of face, and said with a pained expression.

Upon hearing this, the Imperial Guards who were wailing almost lost their composure, each recalling painful memories of the past, which prevented them from laughing.

Chen Zhao was utterly impressed. He had never heard of anyone extorting money from the governor and censor, but today he witnessed it firsthand.

When Cui Wenku heard Zhou Chu's outrageous demand, he almost spat out blood. He thought to himself, "You really dare to ask for a million strings of cash? Why don't you just rob me?"

If public funds were used, it's questionable whether the entire Jiangnan province would have a million guan in military expenses at that time. Moreover, could those military funds even be touched? If they were, the troops under his command would be the first to object.

Cui Wenkui knew very well that Zhou Chu was forcing him to pay out of his own pocket.

"Alright, we'll do as Lord Zhou says. I need to raise the funds, and I'll have someone deliver them to Lord Zhou tomorrow."

Cui Wenku said through gritted teeth.

He couldn't possibly pay for it all by himself, and he wouldn't even pay for it himself. Naturally, he would have his subordinates chip in to make up the difference.

"Lord Cui is indeed a man of great principle. In that case, I shall take my leave."

After saying this, Zhou Chu ignored Cui Wenkui and Xia Yan and left with the Imperial Guards, looking refreshed.

However, Zhou Chu would not let this matter go so easily.

He had already sent a memorial to the capital with Yan Song, and the court would soon know about this. At that time, they could use this opportunity to take away Cui Wenkui's military power and ostensibly hand it over to Wang Yangming to control the military power of the two provinces. In reality, the military power of Jiangnan Province would be handed over to Zhou Chu.

With external pressure from the imperial court and internal threats from Zhou Chu, even if Cui Wenkui had seventy-two transformations, he would have to obediently hand over his military power unless he wanted to rebel.

Even if they want to rebel, they have to see if Zhou Chu agrees.

This was a calculated scheme devised by Zhou Chu for Cui Wenkui, a scheme based on absolute strength and deterrence.

The reason why open schemes are unsolvable is entirely because the person who uses them has sufficient power, and Zhou Chu had that power at this time.

"Lord Cui, this can't go on. Are we just going to let Zhou Chu turn the world upside down in Jiangnan?"

After Zhou Chu left, Xia Yan regained her confidence and looked at Cui Wenkui.

Cui Wenku naturally understood this principle as well; they had to continue fighting Zhou Chu, but they couldn't do it openly.

"Send a letter to the Duke of Changguo and the Marquis of Jianchang, saying that the entire Suzhou Prefecture and Jiangnan are now under Zhou Chu's surveillance, and all their smuggled goods have been seized by Zhou Chu."

Cui Wenku sneered.

Even if they themselves cannot attack Zhou Chu, they still have two very useful cards in their hand.