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

Chapter 189

Xia Yan and Cui Wenkui's confidence was not without reason. Once the funds from the imperial court were allocated, they would naturally be skimmed off by the officials in charge, and it would be considered good if one or two tenths were left in the end.

This involves many officials from a wide range. Even if Zhou Chu were just a centurion in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, it would be impossible to investigate such a large number of officials in a short time.

Time is the biggest problem here.

These tens of thousands of refugees are like tens of thousands of mouths to feed, waiting for rice to be cooked every day. Even if we investigate this money thoroughly, it will still take several months.

Several months later, the flood season will arrive. Not to mention whether these refugees will have food to eat, if the dikes are not repaired and break, most of the Suzhou Prefecture will be flooded. If such a result occurs, Yan Song will be held accountable.

Cui Wenkui understood this better than anyone else. After all, he had far more experience serving as an official in local areas, especially in the Jiangnan region, than Xia Yan. Cui Wenkui was extremely clear about the intricacies of the situation.

In his view, neither Yan Song nor Zhou Chu had experience serving in local government; only by experiencing it once would they understand the issues involved.

But once is enough. Just once is enough for Cui Wenkui and Xia Yan to make Zhou Chu and the imperial court look bad.

The imperial court wants to pacify Jiangnan, right? Let them pacify it. They want to show the emperor and the court that Jiangnan is not a place that anyone can pacify at will. In fact, if a rebellion is really caused, they can take the opportunity to put pressure on the court, push Xia Yan to the position of Grand Secretary, and even completely eliminate Zhou Chu. It is not impossible.

Everything in the court is nothing more than an exchange of interests.

How powerful was Wang Zhi, the former head of the Western Depot? In the end, he still retired to Southern Zhili in his early twenties.

Did Emperor Chenghua really not see through the situation? Of course he did. It was just that the civil officials were putting pressure on the emperor, and as the emperor, he naturally had to be wary of Wang Zhi, who was leading troops in the field.

Wang Zhi's fate was nothing more than the result of an exchange of interests among various parties, as well as a combination of many factors.

Matters in the imperial court are never decided by a single factor.

At the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters, Yan Song and Zhang Cong arrived together once again. Unlike Yan Song's optimism, Zhang Cong's face was full of worry.

"What is it that makes Mr. Luo so worried?"

Zhou Chu looked at Zhang Cong and smiled.

“Lord Zhou, Weizhong, neither of you has ever served in local government, so you don’t know the intricacies involved. Building a dam is not as simple as it seems.”

Zhang Cong sighed.

"Oh? Lord Zhang, you must teach this humble official a lesson."

Upon hearing this, Yan Song responded with humility.

At this point, the three of them were on the same side, so Zhang Cong naturally didn't hold back and immediately explained the pros and cons involved.

After hearing this, Yan Song's face immediately fell with worry.

"So, is there really no solution to the problem of building the dike?"

Zhang Cong shook his head.

"That's not necessarily true. Generally, if local officials have enough prestige, they can organize local gentry to donate funds for the construction of dikes, which can solve the problem. However, if you rely on funding from the imperial court, this matter is unlikely to be accomplished."

"However, would the gentry of Jiangnan possibly contribute a single penny? These people have more or less business dealings with the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce. Moreover, even if they had the money, what if the local grain merchants inflated grain prices or simply refused to sell you any grain?"

With each additional word Zhang Cong spoke, the worry in Yan Song's eyes deepened.

It seems that building a dike faces numerous obstacles.

On the contrary, Zhou Chu remained calm and composed, listening to Zhang Cong's words as if he were listening to a story.

Zhang Cong and Yan Song naturally noticed Zhou Chu's expression as well. They exchanged a glance and then looked at Zhou Chu.