Under the stage, there were four or five tables and desks, and several clerks from the Zhuozhou Yamen were checking and verifying the "identity cards" of the young men - documents proving their identity issued by the chief security officer of each village, commonly known as guarantee documents.

Following 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 took a brief look, asked a few questions, and then asked people to go down. The entourage passing by gave the young man a bamboo sign and told him to keep it aside and wait.

Huang Jiong found that Lu Xiangsheng was very fast. In a short time, hundreds of strong men passed in front of him.

Moreover, Huang Jiong discovered that he did not understand Lu Xiangsheng’s selection criteria at all. For example, there were some strong men who were obviously very energetic, fair-skinned, and smart, but Lu Xiangsheng did not want them. And some strong men were so naive that they looked so naive.

He looks stupid as hell, Lu Xiangsheng likes people like this!

"Brother Jiandou, that one just now is pretty good. He's quite tall. Why don't you want it?"

While Lu Xiangsheng was drinking water, Huang Jiong asked in a low voice.

Lu Xiangsheng put down the tea bowl and said calmly: "My skin is fair and my hands are delicate. From the first glance, I can tell that I have never endured hardship or done manual labor. I am not suitable to be a soldier."

"What about the previous one? He has rough skin and a strong physique. Why don't you want it?" Huang Jiong asked puzzledly.

"With his wandering eyes and tactful words, he looks like a slick person in the city." Lu Xiangsheng shook his head.

"This is not good, that is not good, I really don't know who you are going to choose, Brother Jiandou." Huang Jiong sighed.

In his opinion, the two people just mentioned were good, but they were not in Lu Xiangsheng's eyes, which really made him confused.

Lu Xiangsheng said: "My requirements are very simple. It is best to be a farmer in the countryside, strong, obedient, hardworking and hard-working!"

Huang Jiong's eyes widened: "What kind of soldier selection method is this? What you selected is just a bunch of wood."

Lu Xiangsheng smiled and said: "Brother Ziming, have you read Qi Shaobao's "New Book of Ji Xiao"? I learned my method of selecting soldiers from there."

Huang Jiong shook his head blankly. He knew about Qi Jiguang, but he had never heard that Qi Jiguang wrote military books. He was a serious scholar. He used to read the Four Books and Five Classics for fame. How could he have time to read leisure books? After passing the imperial examination, he was sent to work as an official.

After that, all I could think about all day long was romance, read obscene lyrics and songs, and I was no longer interested in military books.

Lu Xiangsheng ignored him and continued to select qualified men.

Not far from the stage, Lei Zi and A Zhen stood in line one after the other, watching the strong men coming down from the stage, some beaming, some dejected.

"Brother, what is the official asking?" Lei Zi grabbed a dejected man and asked in a low voice.

"Won't you know what I'm asking you when you get up there?" The person being asked was feeling uncomfortable, and how could he be in the mood to pay attention to him.

"Don't bother, brother," Lei Zi took out a few copper coins from his arms and put them in his hand, saying with a smile, "I have nothing to do, tell me, if I can choose you, I will treat you to a big meal later!"

Looking at the dozen or so copper coins in his hand, the man's eyes lit up, he looked around, and whispered in Lei Zi's ear: "There is something wrong with the official. He asked me why I became a soldier, and I said I wanted to protect him."

When the Ming Dynasty wanted to expel the Tartars, he told me to get out..."

"There's something wrong with me. I can't even understand good words." Lei Zi nodded and said, "Brother, you go first. If I'm chosen later, I'll treat you to a big dinner."

"That's it." The man smiled and left the Chenghuang Temple. After walking for a while, he suddenly realized that the two of them didn't know each other. How could he treat himself to a meal?

"Leizi, why did you give him money?" A Zhen asked in confusion.

Lei Zi looked around and said quietly: "Don't worry about money for now. I'll tell you, Ah Zhen. When the official asks you why you became a soldier, you must tell the truth."

A Zhen nodded: "I never lie."

"Name?"

"My name is Li Chongzhen!"

Lu Xiangsheng looked at the stupid, thick, thick man in front of him in surprise: "There's something interesting about your name."

"My father spent ten eggs and asked the fortune teller at the market to get them for me. He said that this name would be promising in the future." A Zhen said honestly.

Lu Xiangsheng smiled: "Why become a soldier?"

"In order to fill my stomach, my family's fields were gone, so I could only farm the land for others. But after planting for a year and harvesting food, most of it was given to my employer. What was left was not enough for me to eat for a month, so I worked all day long.

I work as a part-time laborer, but the gentlemen don’t want me except when the farming is busy, saying that I eat too much. I heard that the imperial court was recruiting soldiers and providing enough food, so I came here.”

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

"Sir, have I passed?" Holding the bamboo sign, Ah Zhen asked in surprise.

Lu Xiangsheng smiled and said: "I have passed it for the time being, just wait for now."

Ah Zhen walked off the stage happily.

"Name?"

"My name is Lei Shisheng, and they all call me Lei Zi." Lei Zi tried his best to imitate A Zhen's speaking style, pretending to be honest.

"Why do you want to be a soldier?"

"I..." Lei Zi wanted to say it was because he wanted to eat enough, but looking at his smooth skin, it didn't look like he was always hungry.

"I want to be a general and make a name for myself." Lei Zi gritted his teeth, "I have studied for two years and worked as a servant for Zhang Ju's family, doing odd jobs and collecting rent. I was so hungry that I couldn't survive, but I was treated as a slave every day.

We are all raised by our mothers and fathers, so why should I have to be the current one? I heard that the imperial court is recruiting soldiers. If you perform well and can become a general in the future, I will come over."

Lu Xiangsheng stared at Lei Shisheng, and all he saw in Lei Shisheng's eyes was sincerity.

The man in front of him was very ambitious, which made Lu Xiangsheng a little disliked. He would rather find a stupid and rough farmer like Li Chongzhen just called him.

But what Lei Shisheng said is right. We are all human beings, so why can’t others be ambitious? When I was studying, wasn’t I also very ambitious and wanted to win the top prize?

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

"Leizi, didn't you say you want to tell the truth? Why are you lying?" Li Chongzhen pulled Lei Shisheng and asked in a low voice as he was farther away from the stage.

Lei Shisheng rolled his eyes: "What I said is that you have to tell the truth. If I tell the truth, can the official want me?"

Li Chongzhen was stunned for a moment, and suddenly thought that Lei Zi had stolen Zhang Juren's concubine and came to serve as a soldier for fear of being beaten to death. If the official knew about it, he would reject it.

"Brother, I see you are beaming with joy. You have been selected, right? Come on, let us brothers celebrate."
Chapter completed!