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

Chapter 144

The next morning, the atmosphere of the entire court assembly suddenly became strange.

Originally, according to the procedure, Yang Yiqing, Zhang Cong, and others should have continued to argue with Yang Ting and Xia Yan.

But Yang Yiqing's immediate memorial impeaching Zhou Chu caught everyone off guard, including the emperor and Yang Tinghe.

However, Yang Ting and Xia Yan were not ordinary people. They immediately sensed Yang Yiqing's intention: this old guy wanted to work with them to bring down Zhou Chu first.

Thinking about it, it makes sense. Both Yang Tinghe and Yang Yiqing are over sixty years old. Who could tolerate being ridden on by a teenager?

Under the leadership of Yang Yiqing and Yang Tinghe, civil and military officials began to impeach Zhou Chu, accusing this commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard of persecuting loyal officials and of being arrogant because of his favor with the emperor.

The winds of change instantly shifted entirely to Zhou Chu, leaving Emperor Jiajing on the throne somewhat at a loss. He could only temporarily put the matter aside and announce the adjournment of the court.

After the court session, Jiajing sent Huang Jin to summon Zhou Chu to the palace.

Zhou Chu had already heard about what was happening in the imperial court.

Seeing Huang Jin looking anxious as she came to him, Zhou Chu smiled.

"Oh dear, my lord Zhou, how can you still laugh? Do you know how serious this matter is?"

Huang Jin beat his chest and stamped his feet in protest.

"What's there to be anxious about? I expected this situation to happen."

Zhou Chu smiled indifferently.

Zhou Chu had long anticipated the current situation and even hoped that the two sides would join forces against him, so that he could unleash his full potential and make a big splash.

To expedite the Great Rites Controversy, arresting a dozen or twenty officials wouldn't suffice. What Zhou Chu needed to do was arrest at least half of the civil officials in the capital.

There are more than two thousand officials in the capital. Zhou Chu had already set a goal for himself: to capture one thousand first.

He had some reservations before and couldn't act freely, but things are different now. Yang Ting and Yang Yiqing have joined forces, and he has become a thorn in their side.

Zhou Chu knew very well that if he remained the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Yang Yiqing would not have the freedom to deal with Yang Tinghe. As long as he was removed from his position as commander, Yang Yiqing would have no more worries.

From the very beginning, Zhou Chu never intended to keep his position as commander. If he could exchange his position for a thousand civil officials and replace Yang Tinghe, that would be worth every penny.

Moreover, without the position of commander, Zhou Chu could move to Jiangnan and begin his next plan.

Yang Yiqing, without his subordinates, is no longer a threat, and Zhang Cong, that treacherous fellow, is also watching him closely.

The thought of embarking on his final, wild adventure in the capital filled Zhou Chu with immense excitement.

"Did Lord Zhou foresee this?"

Huang Jin was quite surprised to hear this, but he didn't have time to talk to Zhou Chu in detail at the moment. Jiajing was eager to see Zhou Chu, and the two quickly arrived at the Imperial Study.

"I am here to see you, Your Majesty."

Zhou Chu bowed and said.

"Weighing instrument, this is bad! Yang Yiqing and Yang Tinghe have joined forces to impeach you. What should I do?"

Even with Jiajing's abilities, he still needed to unite one side to suppress the other. Now, these two sides have suddenly joined forces, catching Jiajing off guard.

At this moment, Lu Bing was also in the imperial study, his face full of worry.

"Why should Your Majesty worry? This may not be a bad thing."

Zhou Chu smiled.

"Good thing?"

Upon hearing this, and seeing Zhou Chu's calm and composed demeanor, Jiajing immediately perked up.

"Quickly tell me about the weighing instruments."

“Your Majesty, I have been acting so high-profile and recklessly these past few days, even slaughtering the entire palace with my men. Whether it is Yang Tinghe or Yang Yiqing, or any other officials, they will certainly not tolerate me. Even if Yang Yiqing overthrows Yang Tinghe, he will still be outdone by me in the end. That old fellow will never allow such a thing to happen.”

"Therefore, I had long anticipated that Yang Yiqing would be restless and make a move against me. With so many officials impeaching me, Your Majesty had no choice but to go with the flow and remove me from my position as commander, demoting me to a centurion or a flag officer. In this way, the public anger can be appeased."

Zhou Chu laughed, as if he wasn't talking about his own affairs.

"How is this possible!"

As soon as Zhou Chu finished speaking, Jiajing objected.

"I have said before that I will support you unconditionally no matter what you do. We, as ruler and subject, will not doubt each other."

Jiajing thought Zhou Chu had lost confidence in him, so he hurriedly assured him.

Even Lu Bing, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but speak up.

"Yes, Hengqi, how could His Majesty possibly remove you from your position as commander?"

Zhou Chu was somewhat touched to see how anxious the two of them were.

"Your Majesty, please listen to me. Whether I hold the position of Commander or not is irrelevant. Your Majesty should issue an edict to all the commanders, garrison commanders, and assistant commanders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, stating that my position as Commander is merely for show and that the actual position still belongs to me."

"Moreover, I will not let them get away with this for nothing. Your Majesty only needs to stall for a few days. During these days, I will purge half of the more than two thousand officials in the capital. In this way, my Great Ming will be completely wealthy."

This was Zhou Chu's ultimate goal.

The assets of these thousand officials.

Even if each official had an average net worth of only 100,000 taels of silver, a thousand of them would amount to 100 million taels. Of course, the silver alone wouldn't be that much, but when you add in copper coins, antiques, and calligraphy and paintings, the total would be far more than that.

Zhou Chu had already planned this out.

At this moment, whether it was Jiajing, Lu Bing, or Huang Jin, they all felt their scalps tingle after hearing Zhou Chu's words.

A thousand officials? Their homes were raided together? Just thinking about it makes you realize how big this is.

Even an emperor might not be able to withstand it.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, only the Hongwu Emperor's reign saw such a large-scale massacre of officials, followed by the Jingnan Campaign of Emperor Taizong of Ming, Zhu Di.

"At that time, Your Majesty only needs to push me out and demote me, and the anger of the officials will be appeased."

Since the position of commander is temporarily insecure, let's use it to acquire sufficient benefits.

Jiajing looked at Zhou Chu, deeply moved. It took him a long time to realize that his face was covered in tears.

"His Majesty."

Huang Jin subtly handed over a handkerchief.

Jiajing took it, turned around, and wiped the tears from his face.

He never imagined that Zhou Chu would be willing to sacrifice so much for him and for the Ming Dynasty.

Lu Bing was also deeply moved at this moment.

“Weighing instruments, let me handle this matter. Let me take over as commander for a few days first.”

Lu Bing knew very well that right now, His Majesty couldn't do without Zhou Chu the most.

Zhou Chu shook his head upon hearing this.

“This matter cannot be left to me. Whether it’s Yang Yiqing, Yang Ting, or Xia Yan, they are all watching me.”

After saying this, Zhou Chu's face was full of excitement.

"Let me go crazy in this capital city."