Zhao Jiu was not polite at all. He sat directly in the seat of the middle-aged man. Then he waved his hands repeatedly, pointed at Lu Haowen to sit in the first seat on the left, and Han Shizhong with a jade belt to sit in the first seat on the right. Then Zhang Jun, Zhang Rong, Qu Duan, Yang Yi Zhong, Liu Yan, Wang De, and Li Qiong lined up along the Prince of Yan'an. At the signal of Emperor Zhao, seven or eight of Lu's brothers stood up and sat down in order along the current prime minister.

As for the rest of the people, they stood obediently in the position opposite to Emperor Zhao, and lined up in a solemn manner.

"Are you guys writing poetry?" Zhao Jiu looked down at the paper and pen on the desk, but couldn't help laughing.

"The children have nothing to do in winter, so they have to do these things." Lu Haowen smiled and twirled his beard. "I'm sorry to make you laugh."

"I'm sorry to make you laugh." Zhao Jiu nodded and became serious again. "Poetry can't save the Song Dynasty, nor can it revive the two rivers!"

The relatives and friends of the Lu family looked at each other in shock. Li Qiong, who was seeing such a scene for the first time, was also a little nervous. Of course, Lu Haowen had long been accustomed to this official, but he just chuckled and didn't say much.

"Why are there only vegetarian porridge and pickles?" Zhao Jiu put aside the topic of writing poetry, looked around, and smiled again.

"Most of my family members are Buddhists, and many of them have become vegetarians by nature." Lu Haowen smiled more bitterly. He could already imagine that Emperor Zhao would criticize him again.

"You can believe in Buddhism, but you still have to eat meat." Zhao Jiu shook his head. "How can you be considered a good monk if you don't eat meat? Have I ever talked to Mr. Lu about this... The most Buddhist monk I've ever seen is the one who eats wine and meat. Before the Jingkang period, it was said that this man uprooted a weeping willow tree in the Daxiangguo Temple."

Lu Haowen shook his head helplessly, and on his right side, except for Zhang Rong and the two imperial commanders who had slightly strange expressions, the rest of the people were whispering to each other.

"Your Majesty." After a pause, Han Shizhong could not help but look at him sternly. "There is no monk in the world who can uproot a weeping willow tree... Your Majesty may have been deceived by that bald thief. May I ask what is the origin of this monk, the Prime Minister, and how dare he speak so arrogantly?"

"He was from Weizhou. In his early years, he served as an officer under Lao Zhong in Yan'an Prefecture. Later, he transferred to Xiao Zhong in Weizhou..." Zhao Jiu listed all the details, almost blurting them out. "Later, he killed a butcher named Zhen Guanxi, fled to Mount Wutai, and then fled to Daxiangguo Temple to manage the vegetable garden."

Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun looked at each other in bewilderment. After a moment, Zhang Jun insisted, "Your Majesty, this man is indeed a liar who can only deceive people. I have served under the old General Zhong for half my life. If there really is an officer who killed the butcher in Zhen Guanxi and then escaped to become a monk, how could I not know the details?"

"That's right." Zhao Jiu seemed to be thinking about something, and couldn't nod his head for a moment. "What the great scholar Su said is right. Since ancient times, if you are not poisonous, you will not be bald, and if you are not bald, you will not be poisonous. If you turn from poisonous to bald, then you turn from bald to poisonous. If you are poisonous, you will be bald, and if you are bald, you will be poisonous... The monk's words are not to be believed at all. You should also take them as a warning. As for the Buddhist sayings, it's enough to just recite a few Buddhist verses to show that you are a good man. We must not really eat vegetarian food and take the precepts. What kind of appearance would that be?"

Five or six generals on the right nodded their heads in agreement, while Lu Haowen could only remain silent helplessly… Scholar Su was obviously joking with his Buddhist friends, so it was not worth taking it seriously.

"Mr. Lu." After talking nonsense for a while, Zhao Jiu turned around and continued to talk nonsense about this trivial matter. "At the foot of Shaoshi Mountain and in front of Yiyou Gate, didn't you promise me that you would pick out some Buddhist sayings from your Lu family's family school and add some new ones? Why are you still letting your children eat vegetarian food?"

Lu Haowen instinctively wanted to refute such absurd and inexplicable words, but the thought only turned around in his mind for a moment, and this important military and national affairs fell silent immediately.

Zhao Jiu did not stop at all, but urged on the spot: "The foundation of the country lies in new learning. Lu Qing is a public minister and should be a role model for the world! From now on, you must not drink porridge and eat vegetarian food. It is better to eat more meat!"

Lu Haowen knew that the government was coming to his door to collect debts today and there was no way to escape. He was helpless for the moment and could only sigh and prepare to have a serious talk with the government.

Just when the minister was cornered, the middle-aged man who had been sitting at the first seat beside him stood up and saluted, as if he was about to make some excuses for Lu Haowen: "Your Majesty..."

"Who is this?" Zhao Jiu asked curiously without waiting for the other party to finish speaking.

"I am your eldest son, Lu Benzhong." Lu Haowen explained quickly.

"Why have I never seen you before?" Zhao Jiu continued to ask.

"First, Cai Jing was in power and the six thieves were rampant. As a member of the Yuanyou Party, I was not allowed to advance, and I was naturally implicated as a minister. Later, Yuan Sheng and the emperor favored me, and I was suddenly promoted to the position of prime minister. He had no choice but to be cautious... He had been guarding the gate in his hometown in Huainan before, and was allowed to come here recently." Lu Haowen gave a brief introduction.

Zhao Jiu nodded, but suddenly slammed the table, pointed at Lu Benzhong and looked at Lu Haowen, saying with certainty, "I think Mr. Lu's son has a face like the character 田 (field), which means he will be granted a title of nobility, right?!"

When Lu Benzhong looked up, he was stunned and speechless for a moment. As for Lu Haowen and the relatives and friends of the Lu clan around him, and even several generals and military commanders, looking at Lu Benzhong's long face, they didn't know what to say.

However, none of these people feel as absurd and powerless as Lü Benzhong, the famous poet of Jiangxi School of Poetry… You have to know, 'My face is not like that of Ban Chao, so don't envy him for being crowned a marquis', this is exactly the original sentence of one of Lü Benzhong's thousands of poems!

At this point, not to mention Lu Haowen, even Lu Benzhong, who was meeting the emperor face to face for the first time, knew that this official was taking advantage of the year-end to collect debts!

The kind that can't be avoided!

Ps: I have been taking online classes at Luyuan since the day before yesterday... The schedule is getting tighter and tighter... With my shitty work and rest habits, it is really embarrassing and exhausting...