Under the stage, there are four or five tables, and several scribes of the Zhuozhou government are checking and verifying the "ID cards" of the strong men -- the identity documents issued by the village security chiefs, commonly known as the guarantee books.

With Lu Xiangsheng's words, the soldiers guarding the stage began to release people, and the strong men who had verified their identities lined up to walk to the stage one by one, and came to Lu Xiangsheng one by one.

Lu Xiangsheng glanced at it briefly, asked one or two questions, and then asked people to go down, and the entourage who passed by would give Zhuang Ding a bamboo card, and ordered him to put it away and wait.

Huang Jiong found that Lu Xiangsheng was very fast, and after a while, he walked in front of him with a hundred and ten strong men.

And Huang Jiong found that he couldn't understand Lu Xiang's criteria for selecting people at all. For example, there are some strong men, who are obviously very energetic, fair-skinned, and smart-witted, but Lu Xiangsheng doesn't want it. And some strong men, who look naïve and stupid, look stupid to death, Lu Xiangsheng likes such people!

"Brother Jiandou, that one was good just now, it's quite tall, why don't you want it?"

Taking advantage of Lu Xiangsheng's efforts to drink water, Huang Jiong asked in a low voice.

Lu Xiangsheng put down the tea bowl and said lightly: "With fair skin and delicate palms, at first glance, he has not suffered hardships and has not done manual work, so he is not suitable for being a soldier." ”

"What about the previous one? Rough skin, strong physique, why don't you want it too? Huang Jiong asked puzzled.

"With wandering eyes and clever words, at first glance he is the slippery man of the city." Lu Xiangsheng shook his head.

"It's not good, that's not good, the foolish brother really can't figure out who you want to choose, Brother Jiandou." Huang Jiong sighed.

In his opinion, the two people just now were good, but they didn't even enter Lu Xiangsheng's eyes, which made him really unable to understand.

Lu Xiangsheng said: "My requirements are very simple, it is best to be a rural farmer, with a strong physique, honest and obedient, hard-working!" ”

Huang Jiong's eyes widened: "What kind of method is this?" It's a bunch of wood. ”

Lu Xiangsheng smiled and said, "Have you read Qi Shaobao's "Ji Xiao New Book" Brother Ziming? That's where I learned my method of recruiting soldiers. ”

Huang Jiong shook his head blankly, he knew Qi Jiguang, but he had never heard that Qi Jiguang had also written a military book. He is a serious reader, he used to read the Four Books and the Five Classics for fame, how can he have the time to read idle books? After being released as an official in the entrance examination, all I thought about all day long was the wind and snow, and I watched obscene words and songs, let alone be interested in military books.

Lu Xiangsheng ignored him and continued to select qualified strong men.

Not far from the stage, Lei Zi and Ah Zhen stood in line one after the other, watching the strong men come down from the stage one by one, some were beaming, and some were depressed.

"Brother, what did the official ask about?" Lei Zi grabbed a dejected man and asked in a low voice.

"Won't you know what to ask when you go up?" The person being asked is uncomfortable, how can he be in the mood to pay attention to him.

"Don't mind, brother," Lei Zi took out a few copper coins from his arms and put them in his hand, and said with a smile, "Idle is idle, tell me, if I can choose, I will invite you to a big meal when I come back!" ”

Looking at the dozen or so copper coins in his hand, the man's eyes lit up, he looked left and right, and whispered in Lei Zi's ear: "There is something wrong with the official, he asked me why I became a soldier, I said that I wanted to defend the Ming Dynasty and expel the Tartars, so he asked me to get out......"

"There's something wrong with it, and I can't even understand good words." Lei Zi nodded in agreement, "Brother, you go first, and if I turn back, I will invite you to a big meal." ”

"That's it." The man smiled, and left the City God Temple, and after walking for a while, he suddenly realized that the two didn't know each other, how could he invite himself to dinner?

"Leizi, why did you give him money?" Ah Zhen asked puzzled.

Lei Zi looked left and right, and whispered: "Don't worry about the money first, Ah Zhen, I'll tell you, after a while, the official master will ask you why you are a soldier, you must tell the truth." ”

Ah Zhen nodded: "I wouldn't lie." ”

"Name?"

"My name is Li Chongzhen!"

Lu Xiangsheng looked at the stupid black man in front of him in surprise: "Your name has some meaning." ”

"It's my dad who spent ten eggs to ask the fortune teller on the set to get it for me, saying that this name will be designated in the future." Ah Zhen said honestly.

Lu Xiangsheng smiled: "Why are you a soldier?" ”

"In order to fill my stomach, my family's field is gone, I can only farm for people, but after planting for a year and harvesting grain, most of it is handed over to the owner, and the rest is not enough for me to eat for a month, so I will work for people all day long, but those old men do not want me to eat at other times except when they are busy with farming, saying that I eat too much. I heard that the imperial court recruited soldiers and took care of the food, so I came. ”

The smile on Lu Xiangsheng's face deepened, and he ordered: "Give him the bamboo card." ”

"Master Guan, have I passed?" Holding the bamboo card, Ah Zhen asked in surprise.

Lu Xiangsheng smiled and said, "It's passed for the time being, let's wait for it." ”

Ah Zhen happily got off the stage.

"Name?"

"I call Lei Shisheng, they all call me Lei Zi." Lei Zi tried to imitate Ah Zhen's style of speaking, pretending to be honest.

"Why did you come to be a soldier?"

"I ......" Lei Zi wanted to say that it was to eat a full meal, but looking at his smooth skin, it didn't look like he was constantly hungry.

"I want to be a general, I want to get ahead." Lei Ziyi gritted his teeth, "I have studied for two years, working as a domestic helper for Zhang Ju's family, doing miscellaneous work and collecting rent or something, I am so hungry that I can't starve, but I am used as a slave every day." It's all raised by my mother's father, so why do I have to give people the present? I heard that the imperial court is recruiting, and if I can become a general after I behave well, I will come over. ”

Lu Xiangsheng stared at the two eyes called Lei Shisheng, and saw only sincerity in Lei Shisheng's eyes.

The person in front of him was very ambitious, which made Lu Xiangsheng a little disliked, he preferred to find a stupid and honest farmer like Li Chongzhen just now.

But what Lei Shisheng said is also right, the same people, why can't people be ambitious? When I was studying, wasn't I also ambitious and wanted to win the top prize?

"Give him a bamboo sign." Lu Xiangsheng thought about it and decided to give Lei Shisheng a chance.

"Leizi, didn't you say you wanted to tell the truth, why did you tell nonsense?" Far away from the stage, Li Chongzhen pulled Lei Shisheng and asked in a low voice.

Lei Shisheng rolled his eyes: "What I'm saying is that you have to tell the truth, if I tell the truth, can the official ask me?" ”

Li Chongzhen was stunned, and suddenly thought that Lei Zi had stolen Zhang Juren's concubine and was afraid of being killed.

"Brother, see you are beaming, you have been chosen, right, let's go, let's celebrate."

At this moment, an enthusiastic voice sounded, Lei Shisheng and Li Chongzhen turned their heads to see that it was the one that Lei Shisheng promised to invite to dinner not long ago.