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

Until they can't stand it anymore, they will ask the court to lift the sea ban without the emperor's intervention.

Earning less is better than earning nothing.

But finding a leader for this team is very difficult.

Those with excessive ambition are difficult to control.

Human ambition is constantly growing, and few people can control it.

Wang Zhi would be a very good candidate.

They are able to control their ambition very well.

If he couldn't control his ambition, he wouldn't have talked to Hu Zongxian, and naturally he wouldn't have been caught.

To put it bluntly, Wang Zhi was a genuine citizen of the Ming Dynasty.

Even if he were rich and powerful in Japan, his heart still longed to become an official of the Ming Dynasty and return home in glory.

Wealth that does not return to its hometown is like walking in brocade at night.

Zhou Chu ultimately wanted to build such a team.

By this time, the West should have already invented flintlock muskets and breech-loading cannons.

If the Ming Dynasty doesn't keep up in time, it will eventually fall behind.

With these two things, and after establishing his own team, Zhou Chu finally gained a real voice and confidence in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhou Chu wouldn't gamble on whether Zhu Houcong would become suspicious of him.

This makes little sense.

He was not Lu Bing, and had no deep friendship with Zhu Houcong.

Once someone holds significant power, it's almost inevitable that they will be suspected.

To avoid being discarded after serving your purpose, you need to have the confidence to overturn the table.

You don't have to overturn the table, but you have to have the power to do so.

Having a gun and not using it is one thing, and not having a gun at all are two different things.

Only in this way will Zhu Houcong have a proper talk with him.

This was Zhou Chu's initial plan.

It's still just a plan; everything will only be implemented after Zhu Houcong ascends the throne.

However, Zhou Chu knew very well that the future Jiajing Emperor would never object.

Soon, Zhou Chu had filtered out all of the dozen or so bowls of sugar water.

Then they began to boil the food, pot after pot.

After spending half a day boiling all the sugar water into syrup, I put the syrup on another stove and started stir-frying it.

There is a large iron plate on the stove.

After being constantly stirred, grains of snow-white sugar quickly emerged.

The dozen or so basins of sugar water eventually produced nearly twenty pounds of white sugar.

"It should last for a while."

Looking at the white sugar he had made, Zhou Chu felt a sense of accomplishment.

Although I did it in my past life, what were the conditions in that life, and what are the conditions now?

After packing the sugar into cloth bags, Zhou Chu drove the carriage loaded with the sugar to the capital.

When they arrived at the city gate, they were stopped for a routine check.

After all, there are still many illegal salt dealers these days.

Anyone found selling illicit salt is committing a serious crime.

"What are these?"

When the soldiers guarding the city saw the white sugar in the bag, they assumed it was smuggled salt and drew their swords.

"Replying to your question, sir, these are all icing sugars that I had someone buy from out of town. I'm planning to open a restaurant soon, so I bought a lot. These icing sugars are quite expensive, so please do me a favor."

As Zhou Chu spoke, he subtly slipped five taels of silver to the leader of the group.

The leader weighed the item in his hand and nodded in satisfaction.

Then he pinched some white sugar with his hand and tasted it.

"It is indeed icing sugar, let's go."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chu boarded the carriage.

We had to go through the city gate.

Otherwise, after the restaurant opens, Zhou Chu will not be able to explain the source of his sugar.

It is easy to attract the attention of those with ulterior motives.

Now that you've gone through the city gate, when some people check, they'll probably assume you bought it from somewhere else.

Caution is the boat.

After returning home, Zhou Chu put all the sugar away and then asked someone to call Sun Qiang and Chu Liu to his house.

He also instructed the servants to begin preparing the meal.

Soon, Sun Qiang brought Chu Liu home.

"Sixth day of the Lunar New Year, how have you been these past two days?"

Zhou Chu looked at Chu Liu's somewhat reserved expression and asked.

"Replying to young master, there's nothing I'm not used to. Uncle Sun has been very kind to me and has taught me a lot."