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

Chapter 184

These dozen or so officials didn't even last an hour in Zhou Chu's hands before they confessed everything. Zhou Chu then ordered them to be escorted to the capital for trial.

In the present capital, neither Yang Yiqing nor the emperor are members of the Jiangnan Group. Once these people enter the capital, they will naturally not have a good ending.

Upon hearing this news, the officials in the Suzhou government who had been observing the situation immediately knelt down and began to curry favor with Yan Song. Zhou Chu didn't care whether they were sincere or not, as long as they didn't cause trouble and were obedient.

Cui Wenkui was at a loss for what to do, but fortunately Zhou Chu had only temporarily detained Cui Wenshan and his daughter and had not made any other moves.

“Zhengyuan, I don’t think we need to be in such a hurry. Anyway, they wouldn’t dare to really do anything to your brother. The flood season will be here in two or three months. At that time, we can proceed according to plan. As long as Suzhou Prefecture is in complete chaos, Zhou Chu will definitely be in deep trouble. When that time comes, it will be easy to save your brother.”

The next day, Xia Yan had no choice but to persuade him.

Upon hearing this, Cui Wenku sighed.

"That's all it can do."

Cui Wenku knew very well that even if he went to Zhou Chu's door to demand his release, Zhou Chu would not give him any face. Since Zhou Chu had captured his elder brother and niece, it was to humiliate him.

As the saying goes, concern leads to confusion, and Cui Wenkui also understood that he couldn't rush things, because the more anxious he was, the more flaws he would reveal.

"Sir, Vice President Zhang requests an audience."

The butler came before Cui Wenkui to report.

"Let him in."

Cui Wenku frowned.

Soon, Zhang Ziyi followed the butler in.

"This humble servant greets Your Excellency the Governor and Your Excellency the Censor."

Zhang Ziyi bowed to Cui Wenkui and Xia Yan respectively.

"What brings Wenqi here?"

After calming himself down, Cui Wenkui said...

"Sir, for the past month or so, we haven't heard from any of our ships at sea. It seems they've been intercepted by pirates."

Zhang Ziyi stated the truth.

Cui Wenkui and Xia Yan both frowned upon hearing this.

If there's anything that could affect their shared interests, it's these ships at sea. The sudden news that a smuggling vessel had been hijacked gave them a bad feeling.

"Have you figured out which pirate group it is? How dare they hijack our ship!"

Cui Wenkui's anger, which he had barely managed to suppress, flared up again. Lately, he had been having a run of bad luck, with everything going wrong. It seemed that ever since Zhou Chu came to Suzhou Prefecture, he hadn't encountered anything good.

First, an imperial edict arrived from the capital, instructing him not to overstep his bounds, and now a series of other matters are following in quick succession.

"Are there still pirates at sea who dare to attack our ships?"

Xia Yan said with some dissatisfaction.

If we were to say which pirate group was the most powerful along the southeastern coast, it would undoubtedly be the pirates they supported.

Many people in later generations thought that the Ming Dynasty missed the Age of Exploration, but that's not true. The Ming Dynasty never missed the Age of Exploration; it was only the Ming government that missed it.

First, Zheng He's fleet led the Age of Exploration, and later it was mainly the private fleets of the Ming Dynasty that dominated the seas. During the same period, the private fleets of the Ming Dynasty were almost invincible in the entire sea area.

Even the invincible Francois of the same era could only suffer defeats when they encountered Ming Dynasty pirates.

Among the pirates of the Ming Dynasty, the most powerful were undoubtedly those supported by the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce. They controlled most of the smuggling business along the southeast coast, forming a monopoly to a certain extent.

It's no wonder they were surprised that someone dared to snatch food from the tiger's mouth at this moment.

"It is still unclear who did it. Our ship has been hijacked and we have not heard from them since. No survivors have returned."

Zhang Ziyi's expression wasn't very good either.

"Useless! Tell those pirates to investigate what new forces have emerged at sea recently."

Cui Wenkui said.

"My lord, could it be one of Zhou Chu's men?"

Zhang Ziyi said somewhat uncertainly.