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

Chapter 231

These tens of thousands of acres of land were quickly surveyed and identified, and the gentry who had hidden the land were all arrested and taken to the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Not all of them were arrested, but only the heads of their households were arrested.

These hidden lands were undoubtedly confiscated, but Zhou Chu would not let these gentry off so easily. According to the amount of hidden land, each mu was fined ten taels of silver or copper coins worth ten percent more.

The price of farmland in the Ming Dynasty varied in different periods. In the early Chenghua period, one mu of land cost only about five taels of silver. However, in the late Chenghua period and during the Hongzhi period, the price of farmland began to skyrocket, reaching a peak of about fifty taels of silver per mu.

Later, during the Zhengde era, prices began to fall. Today, the average price of one mu of arable land is about twenty taels of silver. Of course, prices vary depending on the region and the quality of the land.

The fines set by Zhou Chu were based on the price of cultivated land. If the price was too low, Zhou Chu would not be interested. Ten taels per mu was just right. In this way, more than a million taels of silver could be fined from tens of thousands of mu. Although it was not much, it was free money.

The key point is that Zhou Chu acquired these tens of thousands of acres of land. Land is the foundation; money is just a bunch of numbers, and it is people who give it the meaning of wealth.

In addition to these tens of thousands of acres of land, the land that the gentry had under-measured amounted to another forty or fifty thousand acres. These forty or fifty thousand acres were all added to the burden of ordinary people, and the total amount was neither more nor less. Zhou Chu set up a better fine for this part: for every acre under-measured, the fine was twenty taels of silver or copper coins worth ten percent more.

The two fines combined amounted to more than two million taels of silver.

This is just Huating County. Songjiang Prefecture is the smallest prefecture in Jiangnan, consisting of only Huating County and Shanghai County. This is because the area is an alluvial plain, and many areas were formed gradually, so the prefecture was established in the early Ming Dynasty.

Other prefectures, such as Suzhou Prefecture, had eight counties, all of which were extremely wealthy, each far surpassing Huating County.

This gives a glimpse into the overall financial strength of Jiangnan.

After all the land in Huating County was surveyed, the people whose land had been over-measured flocked to the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) office to present the commander with a "ten thousand people's umbrella" (a symbol of public support). The commander was extremely ashamed and dared not claim the credit.

"Gentlemen, although I am the one doing this, it was Lord Zhou who ordered me to do it. I was just following orders. If you want to thank someone, thank Lord Zhou."

Upon hearing this, the people inquired about Zhou Chu's name and soon learned that the temporary Jinyiwei headquarters in the entire Jiangnan region was established on the orders of this Lord Zhou, and that what Lord Zhou had to do was to speak up for the people.

But the umbrella for ten thousand people had already been made, and the people insisted on sending it out. They couldn't find Zhou Chu, so they set up a longevity tablet for him in their homes.

In a short time, Zhou Chu's reputation for virtue began to spread from Huating County to the entire Jiangnan region.

This is quite the opposite of the situation in the capital.

The root cause of this outcome is not the significant difference between the people in the two regions, but rather that Zhou Chu's approach in Jiangnan was rooted in the lives of ordinary people, while their approach in the capital was entirely different, leading to the people's lack of awareness of the truth.

Seeing that Huating County had been purged, and with numerous gentry members arrested, punished, and even had their homes confiscated due to recent lawsuits from the people, these gentry members in Jiangnan were naturally not going to sit idly by and wait for their fate.

Therefore, the gentry of various prefectures and counties sent representatives to the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce as agreed, hoping to come up with a plan to deal with Zhou Chu.

The headquarters of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce was bustling with activity, with nearly a hundred people present, including businessmen like Chu Huizu.

Cui Wenku, who had been hiding for a long time, also appeared here at this moment.

"Lord Cui is indeed a busy man; we can't find you anywhere at this crucial moment."

One of the gentry representatives made sarcastic remarks to Cui Wenkui.

The key point is that he really had the right to say that, because this person was a retired second-rank official of the imperial court and Cui Wenkui's mentor.

"Teacher, I'm also suffering in silence. My older brother and his daughter have been detained by that man surnamed Zhou. He's even holding an imperial edict and forcing me to sign that document. If I don't sign... sigh!"

Facing his teacher, Cui Wenkui said with a bitter expression.

Cui Wenkui didn't explain before because he knew that no one would listen to his explanation once the incident occurred.

But now that things have developed to this point, these people still have to rely on Governor Cui Wenkui, so naturally they can listen to him.

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions softened slightly.

"If that's the case, then you should come up with a plan on how to deal with Zhou Chu."

Cui Wenkui's teacher said.

Upon hearing this, Cui Wenkui looked troubled. If he had a way to deal with Zhou Chu, he wouldn't have hidden away.

However, he also knew at this point that he had to make a decision.

"The students believe that if we let the Duke of Changguo and the Marquis of Jianchang make trouble, they will naturally have to do something since they have taken so many resources and benefits from us."

Cui Wenku brought the Zhang brothers here so that they could play a role.

Chu Huizu, standing to the side, secretly kept these words in mind, preparing to find a way to tell Zhou Chu later.

"If you ask me, why not let the Zhang brothers rebel? As long as they are willing to rebel, every family can contribute. At most, we can gather an army of 100,000."

One of the gentry said somewhat impatiently.

He was clearly not satisfied with Cui Wenkui's idea. These two good-for-nothings had caused trouble before, they had already caused trouble in Huating County a few days ago, did Zhou Chu pay any attention to them?

"I think this is a good suggestion. As long as these two brothers are willing to go against it, there is still room for maneuver."

Others echoed.