Of course, as a mere imperial chef, he cannot enter and leave the prison at will.
But...he is willing to spend money!
The benefactor gave him a full thirty thousand taels of silver!
This amount of money can be considered a considerable fortune for him, not to mention a royal chef, but also for a true relative of the emperor.
Therefore, after many attempts, Zhang Huaimin finally came to the prison and stood in front of Lu Ji.
However, Zhang Huaimin's brows furrowed as he watched.
It doesn’t look like it!
Among the Yangzhou Saint Pirates team, both male and female Saints have been killed by their benefactor!
Then only the Great Sage is left.
During the days when he was arrested, the Great Sage rarely showed up. At the beginning, Zhang Huaimin saw him once.
But even if it was only once, he still had some impression of the great sage's body, shape and voice.
The person in front of me... To be honest, he doesn't look much like him.
"You... are the great sage among Yangzhou's thief saints?"
Zhang Huaimin asked tentatively.
When Lu Ji heard this, he immediately frowned.
Great Sage? What Great Sage?
Isn’t he the only thief saint in Yangzhou? When will a great saint appear?
But soon, he figured it out!
test!
The court still doesn't trust him, this is still a test!
After thinking clearly, he nodded without hesitation and said: "Yes, I am the Great Sage!"
After hearing Lu Ji's affirmative answer, Zhang Huaimin's doubts dissipated a little, but he still asked without giving up: "You took me away from the palace and asked me to cook for you?"
When Lu Ji heard this, he almost lost his joy.
This is a good thing done by one of my colleagues. He sneaked into the palace all the way just to catch a cook and let him cook for him.
I have to say that a normal bandit would not be able to do this kind of thing!
understood!
Lu Ji understood again, it was still a test from the imperial court!
It's just that the officials responsible for this matter are a little lazy and don't even bother to make up some decent reasons.
But even so, what can he do?
I can only nod my head yes.
Two consecutive affirmative answers completely dissipated the doubts in Zhang Huaimin's heart, and his eyes gradually changed from suspicion to hatred.
His eyes turned red, and he took out a large amount of banknotes from his arms and gave them to the jailer on duty.
Upon seeing this, the jailer first looked around and saw that no one was there. Then he collected the money and exited the cell: "Don't beat him to death!"
"???" Lu Ji looked at this scene and felt something was wrong.
I've already followed what you said, why are you still fighting?
"Make noodles! Make noodles! Make noodles! You love eating noodles so much!"
"Do you know, I feel sick when I see noodles now!"
"asshole."
Zhang Huaimin roared hysterically while beating him.
As he listened, Lu Ji felt that something was wrong.
This doesn't seem to be a test by the court, this is a personal grudge!
This...could it be that there is more than one person pretending to be my Yangzhou Pirate Saint?
What kind of blame is this being thrown at me?
After thinking about it clearly, Lu Ji's face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot in an instant.
"Stop fighting! Stop fighting!"
"Stop! Brother, you have recognized the wrong person. I am not a great sage!"
Lu Ji tried his best to widen his eyes, trying to show his sincerity.
However, in Zhang Huaimin's eyes, it became a naked provocation.
With a snap, the backhand is like a big mouth.
While fighting back, he scolded: "Aren't you very capable? Aren't you cutting down from Taipingfang to Qiandu West Street without blinking an eye?"
"Why have you fallen into such a bad shape now?"
"No, brother, you really recognized the wrong person!" Lu Ji was about to burst into tears, dodging frantically while trying his best to defend himself.
"Then why did you admit that you are the Great Sage just now?"
"I...I was teasing you." Lu Ji said with a sad face.
He couldn't tell the truth about the imperial test on him. If he did, he would die even faster.
However, upon hearing such an answer, Zhang Huaimin became furious, stretched out his arms, twirled his wrists, and struck Lu Ji's face with his bow left and right.
While spanking, he muttered: "This slap is for cooking noodles, this slap is for fried noodles!"
For a time, there were cries and slaps in the cell.
"What a sin!" Lu Ji was so filled with grief and anger that he looked up to the sky and screamed.
However, before he finished shouting, he was interrupted by a big cockroach.
Three of the teeth were shattered.
…
Three days later, early in the morning, Zhengde Hall.
"Ascending to the court!"
"Greetings, all the ministers!"
Zheng Ying's sonorous voice came from the depths of Zhengde Hall, indicating that the time for morning court had arrived.
Seeing this, all the civil and military officials filed in one after another.
"When there is something to do, start the court, and when there is nothing to do, leave the court."
"Your Majesty, I have something to report." Ma Rulong, Minister of the Ministry of War, stood up wearing a crimson official robe.
"What's important for the Qing family?" Emperor Jing Xing always paid attention to the affairs of the Ministry of War.
"The Ministry of War has already built five ships and is just waiting for the new recruits to board the ships and sail southward into the sea."
"But the new recruits were delayed. The ship stayed on the shore and was exposed to wind, rain, and sea waves every day. The cost of repair and maintenance was tens of thousands of taels of silver."
"Besides, Da Chen's naval forces have been active in the Xiangjiang River area recently. They must have some ideas. If we don't send troops yet, the opponent will inevitably seize the opportunity."
"This is both emotional and reasonable. It's time for the troops heading south to fight against Chen to set off."
What Ma Rulong said made sense, and the civil servants and generals nodded.
The same was true for Emperor Jing Xing, but it was not easy to put it into practice.
It is not easy to recruit 30,000 soldiers in a short period of time.
That's all, if it really doesn't work, you can send 10,000 or 20,000 new soldiers there.
It's just that the southern border is far away from Qiandu, and the navy is needed to replenish troops.
So it often takes a long time to replenish it.
If the number of people dispatched this time is not enough, I am afraid there will be some waiting, which will be a hardship to the soldiers stationed day and night on the border.
"Dong Guo, I think you are responsible for the recruitment of soldiers."
"I have also written a memorial about this matter, but I don't have enough time to talk about it. I think you know a lot about this matter, so I told Ma Qing's family how many soldiers they have recruited in total so far."
When Zhang Xun heard that he was called out, he immediately stood up.
Hearing the emperor's question again, a smile suddenly appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said loudly: "More than 53,800 people!"
As soon as these words came out, the entire court fell silent.
The civil servants didn't know what this concept was, but the generals and emperors knew it well.
In just a few days, more than 50,000 soldiers were recruited?
Isn’t this nonsense?
"Zhang Xun, deceiving the emperor is a capital crime!" Ma Rulong turned around and scolded Zhang Xun angrily.
"I have been fighting all my life, sitting upright and behaving upright! How can I deceive you?"
"I said that I have recruited more than 53,800 people, so that's more than 53,800 people. As long as there are few people, I, Zhang Xun, will come to see you!"