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

Chapter 250

By arranging Zhou Chu's fiefdom in Shanxi, Zhou Chu could use this opportunity to deploy manpower to keep a close eye on these merchants. Although Shanxi was remote and poor, Zhou Chu didn't care, since he himself didn't need to go to the fiefdom.

Most importantly, it was Shanxi's coal resources that Zhou Chu valued, as these would be the most valuable assets for the future Ming Dynasty.

In the future, decades or even centuries later, once the Industrial Revolution begins in the Ming Dynasty, the value of coal in Jiangxi will rise accordingly.

At that time, the descendants of Zhou and Chu will be able to rely on Shanxi and live off its resources without ever running out.

Regardless of how the officials in the court reacted, the plum rain season had already begun in Suzhou Prefecture, and even in the entire Jiangnan region.

The drizzling rain seemed endless, falling day after day. It had been raining for three days straight since the Zhou Chu rebellion ended.

This made Zhou Chu somewhat worried about the hundreds of thousands of buried corpses, since so much rain might wash them out again.

However, burning hundreds of thousands of corpses would require a massive amount of wood and cause severe air pollution, making it a poor choice.

For a moment, Zhou Chu was at a loss for what to do and was somewhat troubled.

However, as much as I'm worried, it's not really that serious. At worst, the rain will stop one day, and the army can handle it again. But by then, it will probably all be soaked and rotten.

Zhou Chu never expected that the rainy season would arrive earlier than usual this year, catching him completely off guard.

The entire Suzhou Prefecture was shrouded in misty rain, which looked beautiful. The misty rain of Jiangnan was actually quite uncomfortable, as everything was damp.

Zhou Chu took advantage of this free time and brought some high-quality charcoal to the Tang residence again.

During rainy weather, wealthy families needed charcoal fires, partly to keep the rooms dry and partly to dry damp bedding.

This puts even greater emphasis on the quality of the charcoal. Inferior charcoal produces a lot of smoke when lit, so no one can be around it. Moreover, bedding dried with this kind of charcoal will have a smoky smell.

What Zhou Chu has no shortage of is top-quality charcoal. Ever since he first came to Suzhou last year, there have been people specifically in charge of this area who have been continuously delivering all kinds of top-quality supplies to Zhou Chu's home.

Charcoal is just one of them.

In the Zhou family mansion in Suzhou today, not to mention Chunlan, even an insignificant servant has to be flattered when they go out.

As the saying goes, "Even a third-rank official is in front of the prime minister's door." Today, Zhou Chu's influence in Jiangnan and Suzhou Prefecture is no less than that of the prime minister to the country, and may even be greater.

This is one of the byproducts of power.

Power brings many other things. Even Zhou Chu enjoys the power he currently possesses. He has long been accustomed to everyone bowing and scraping before him, flattering and fawning.

However, Zhou Chu was simply enjoying himself and would not lose himself in the process. Zhou Chu always knew very well what he wanted to do and what his goal was. Before reaching that goal, Zhou Chu still had a long way to go.

If you don't want to get lost along the way, set yourself a high and strong goal that is still achievable. In this way, you won't be blinded by the scenery along the way.

"Brother Hengqi, this is a painting I just drew, I'm giving it to you."

Little Xu Wei, in his childish voice, held up a painting and came to Zhou Chu.

Zhou Chu took the painting, opened it, looked at it, and then closed it.

At this moment, Zhou Chu admitted that he was jealous. How could the gap between people be so great?

Even a casual sketch by Xu Wei possesses the level of skill that Zhou Chu could only dream of.

"Does Brother Hengqi not like it?"

Little Xu Wei said from the side, "Killing someone is like killing their heart."

Upon hearing this, Tang Bohu glanced at Zhou Chu's constipated expression and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

“Your brother really likes the weighing instrument; he plans to take it home and admire it carefully.”

Tang Bohu looked at Xu Wei and smiled.