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

Chapter 323

"Rest assured, sir, I have specially arranged for people to monitor this. Everyone who was confiscated will be searched."

Yu Hai hurriedly assured him.

Zhou Chu nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this. Yu Hai was indeed quite capable.

Looking at the booklet in his hand, he learned that this raid had yielded more than three million taels of silver, more than 23 million strings of copper coins, and the rest were worthless items.

What good things could these hundreds or thousands of households possibly have?

Most of this money was embezzled military pay, and a small portion was earned by these people through other channels, such as merchants. People like Lu Ying would also share some of it with them, but not much.

The purpose is to completely bind them to the same warship and form a community of shared interests.

"Assemble the entire army."

Zhou Chu looked at a sergeant's path not far away.

Upon hearing this, the squad leader, looking at the boxes of silver in front of him, immediately understood what Zhou Chu was up to and excitedly went to gather the entire army.

"Go and bring Lu Ying here."

Zhou Chu looked at Yu Haidao.

"Yes, my lord."

Yu Hai accepted the order and left.

Yu Hai's thorough investigation this time didn't just target these centurions and commanders; he also investigated Lu Ying. With so many people arrested, they all knew that someone would eventually implicate General Lu.

It's better to speak for yourself than to let others say it. The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard said that the more people who testify, the lighter the punishment will be.

Therefore, this raid not only targeted the homes of the hundred and thousand households, but also Lu Ying's family.

However, Lu Ying had only served as a general for a little over half a year, so he couldn't have embezzled much; the lion's share was taken by the previous general, Hang Xiong.

Zhou Chu was not surprised by this. He sent a memorial to the capital, listing the amount of money Hang Xiong had embezzled and the evidence. As for how to deal with the rest, that was up to the emperor, since Hang Xiong had already been transferred away from Datong.

This time, the army assembled very quickly and with exceptionally high efficiency. Those who aren't eager to collect their pay are clearly out of their minds.

Zhou Chu immediately had these boxes of money carried to the front of the army.

"As you all guessed, the reports you made earlier were mostly true. We have now confiscated all their assets. Twenty percent of them will be awarded to the soldiers who made the reports, and the rest will be distributed as military pay."

Zhou Chu shouted loudly.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Upon hearing this, tens of thousands of soldiers became extremely excited and cheered in unison.

Lu Ying, who had been brought over, saw this scene and realized that the situation was hopeless, her face turning ashen.

After the army calmed down, Zhou Chu gave Yu Hai a wink, and Yu Hai immediately stepped forward with a booklet.

"Those whose names I call next, come forward to collect your money."

Yu Hai shouted.

Next came the distribution of money. The soldiers who had previously reported the crime were called out one by one to come forward and receive their money. Some received two or three thousand taels, while others received two or three hundred taels. This was the difference between the thousand-household commanders and the hundred-household commanders who had reported the crime.

Hearing familiar names suddenly become rich, everyone else was kicking themselves and regretting not seizing such a good opportunity.

It took most of the day just to distribute the money. After all, there were so many people, and distributing it to each one individually while ensuring no mistakes were made was a meticulous and lengthy process.

After the money was distributed, it was already afternoon. Zhou Chu even went to have a meal in between. Although tens of thousands of soldiers hadn't eaten, they weren't in a hurry at all because they were waiting for their money to be distributed.

"Once the bounties are all gone, what's left is the military pay. I had someone calculate it, and each ordinary soldier will receive one hundred taels of silver and thirty strings of copper coins. This is the military pay that has been distributed in recent years. If the silver is not enough, we will make up the difference with copper coins. I don't think anyone has any objections, right?"

Zhou Chu smiled.

Upon hearing this, the tens of thousands of soldiers burst into laughter. For them, receiving money was already an immense favor, especially such a large sum at once, something they had never dared to dream of before.

The soldiers in these garrisons were mostly from military households, whose families had served in the military for generations. So Zhou Chu wasn't worried about making mistakes. It was just a matter of some fathers giving money to their sons. Naturally, Zhou Chu wouldn't bother to deal with each of them individually.

The distribution of military pay was much more efficient, with more than a dozen teams distributing it simultaneously, and all of them receiving the same amount. Even so, it was already midnight by the time all the pay was distributed.

The entire battalion was busy cooking; they hadn't eaten all day and were starving.

"Lu Ying, what else do you have to say?"

Only then did Zhou Chu have time to pay attention to Lu Ying.

"It's all about the winner taking all, what's there to say? But don't be too happy yet, the waters here are too deep, be careful you don't drown."

Lu Ying said with a face full of resentment.

He certainly has reason to hate him. Hang Xiong pocketed most of the money, and he took the blame. How could he possibly accept that?

Zhou Chu had previously asked Jiajing to transfer Hang Xiong away largely because Hang Xiong had been deeply involved in Datong for many years. If Hang Xiong was still leading the troops when Zhou Chu came to Datong, it would probably not be so easy for him to seize power.

However, Lu Ying had only commanded troops for half a year and did not have that much appeal, so seizing power was naturally much easier.

"You don't need to worry about that. As the commander-in-chief, you led the embezzlement of military funds, which is an unforgivable crime. You will be escorted to the capital and His Majesty will determine your punishment."

Zhou Chu said coldly.

Lu Ying was, after all, a general. Although I had sufficient reason to kill him on the spot, now that I had control of the army, it was best for the emperor to make this decision.

Killing a general without prior notification, no matter how justified the reason, is likely to arouse suspicion.

"My lord, someone has delivered an invitation outside the military camp, inviting you to come to our residence for a chat."

Shen Lian approached Zhou Chu with an invitation in hand.

Shen Lian had taken a nap during the day, so he was full of energy at the moment.

"Who sends invitations in the middle of the night? Looks like these people are really in a hurry."

Zhou Chu sneered.

After saying this, Zhou Chu took the invitation, opened it, and glanced at it.

"Wang Changshan?"

Zhou Chu looked at the name without surprise.

Unlike Datong, and even the whole of Jiangxi, Suzhou, and Jiangnan, where merchants were basically serving officials, many of them were their money bags, and their lives were completely in the hands of officials.

Because these officials' roots were in the capital, and even at their peak, the Grand Secretary was always their spokesperson, those merchants naturally dared not have any disloyal thoughts.

But Shanxi and Datong are completely different. Merchants here have become so powerful that they can even be on equal footing with local officials. Families like the Wang family, which are famous throughout Shanxi, are even more powerful in Datong. They can even decide the appointment and removal of officials like Hu Duo.

As the head of the Wang family, Wang Changshan's status was comparable to that of some top officials in Shanxi Province, and the extent of his dealings with them was astonishing.

"My lord, there is no such thing as a good banquet."

Yu Hai said with a worried expression.

"What's there to be afraid of? Since they've already made their move, wouldn't it be a coward if I didn't go?"

Zhou Chu smiled.

Although the Tiger Legion wouldn't arrive for several more days, Zhou Chu wasn't entirely without confidence. At the very least, the military camp was now completely under his control, he held military power, and he also had dozens of flintlock muskets that he had brought with him. It would be a joke if he didn't even dare to attend a banquet.