The people outside the hall who were watching the excitement naturally followed the rhythm of the beloved Master Zhao Er and immediately started booing Chu Liuxiang.

"I don't dare to say it because I feel guilty!"

"Yes, it seems that they are colluding with the Japanese!"

"Traitor!" The people cursed loudly. Some bent down to pick up stones, but the ground of the county government office was cleaner than Mr. Zhao's face. How could they pick up any stones?

So they took off their tattered cloth shoes and rotten straw shoes and wanted to throw them at Chu Liuxiang. The Wuzhong area was a severely affected area by the Japanese pirates. Every county was repeatedly plundered by the Japanese pirates. Naturally, the people hated the Japanese pirates, and hated the second devils even more...

"Stop it! You have misunderstood!" Zheng Ruozeng actually stood up and stood in front of Chu Liuxiang.

"Wait, wait!" Seeing this, Mr. Zhao slammed the gavel hard, temporarily suppressing the people's impulsive behavior.

"Why is Mr. Kaiyang protecting this person?" Zhao Shouzheng asked curiously, "Are you related?"

"My Lord, I have nothing to do with this Chu Zhuangshi."

"and you……"

"Because he is definitely not a traitor who collaborates with the Japanese, but a hero who fights against the Japanese!" Zheng Ruozeng said loudly: "Last autumn, I followed the Jiangnan Shipping Company to try out the sea transportation of grain for the imperial court. On the way, I was robbed by a large group of Japanese pirates. The pirates who came were the famous Mishima pirates. There were more than 200 ships, ten times the size of our fleet, and they were all real Japanese!"

The common people also quieted down and listened with wide eyes as Zheng Ruozeng narrated this thrilling story that they had never heard of before.

"At that time, there were only dozens of sand ships in the Jiangnan shipping industry, and they were all fully loaded with grain. The maritime security team, where Chu Zhuangshi was, was responsible for protecting the fleet. The security guards of this security team... that is, the bodyguards, all of whom were skilled in martial arts, but their numbers were too small. How could they resist the overwhelming Japanese pirates?" Zheng Ruozeng sighed.

In fact, Zheng Ruozeng was not in the fleet at the Battle of Gapa Island where Chu Liuxiang appeared. He was in the capital helping Zhao Hao lobby the court. But this did not prevent the old man from bringing an immersive experience to the audience.

As expected, the common people were all sweating. They still remembered the cruelty of the Japanese pirates. Even the government troops were chopped to pieces. How could the escorts from the security team be their opponents? Moreover, the number of people was so different.

"But none of the security team members backed down. They knew that the Japanese pirates were so brutal that surrendering would mean death, so they might as well fight! Moreover, the chief coaches of the security team were General Jin and General Wang, who were retired from the Qi family army. The two generals taught them the Mandarin Duck Formation, which had helped the Qi family army win every battle against the Japanese pirates. They couldn't let the Mandarin Duck Formation and Marshal Qi be humiliated!"

"Yes, we can fight with the Mandarin Duck Formation!" The people immediately became excited again. They were able to eliminate their fear of the Japanese pirates, all thanks to Qi Jiguang!

"So the two sides got into a bloody battle on the sea. Our side had a sophisticated battle formation and fought to the death. The Japanese pirates were numerous and powerful in martial arts... That battle dyed the sea red."

Zheng Ruozeng used his old and slightly neurotic voice to tease people's heartstrings and make them so nervous that they could hardly breathe.

Mr. Zhao also forgot about the case and asked urgently, "What happened next? Who has the upper hand?"

"The two sides fought to a draw in a short period of time, but anyone with a discerning eye can see that their troops are constantly coming in, while we are losing one by one. If this goes on for a long time, we will definitely be finished." Zheng Ruozeng raised Chu Liuxiang's hand and said in a cang voice:

"At the critical moment, it was this warrior Chu who remained calm, ordered his men to heat the shells red, and then aimed at the largest enemy ship and fired!" Zheng Ruozeng narrated with great emotion:

"Oh yes, I forgot to introduce him. This warrior Chu was originally named Chu Liu. He was appreciated by General Wang for his good cannon skills, so he was given the word 'Xiang' in his name, hoping that his cannons would be a big hit! Chu Liu Xiang did not disappoint General Wang. He hit the pirate leader's ship with one cannon. The ship, which looked like a city wall, immediately caught fire and the pirate leader was killed on the spot. The pirates were now like headless flies and immediately lost their composure. General Wang took advantage of the situation and ordered a fierce attack, and finally drove all the pirates into the sea!"

"In the end, we defeated the strong with our weak force and won a great victory! From now on, the Japanese pirates will no longer dare to covet our Jiangnan shipping fleet!" Zheng Ruozeng's old face turned red, and he looked so proud.

"Ahhh, great gunner, great gunner!" The people were also releasing the emotions that he had stirred up for a long time. They cheered excitedly, looked at Chu Liuxiang with admiration, and bowed to him in respect.

Chu Liuxiang's face turned red with embarrassment because what the old gentleman said was half-truthful.

For example, although they had fewer ships, they were much stronger than the pirates' broken ships. The gap was so big that it could not be made up by numbers. Moreover, their firearms were extremely sharp, and they beat the pirates to a pulp. In fact, they had already gained the upper hand, and if they continued to fight, they would definitely lose. His few shots only made it impossible for the Matsuura family to abandon the master's ship and escape, so they had no choice but to surrender and become prisoners.

But from what Mr. Kaiyang said, it sounded as if the Coast Guard had only a few cannons and were fighting hand-to-hand with the Japanese pirates.

And the head of the Matsuura family, Jinxin, is not dead, and is still in Gawa Island pouring night fragrance...

"It's not just my achievement, it's everyone's bravery in killing the enemy..." Although Mr. Zhao told him yesterday to listen to the old man in the hall, Chu Liuxiang couldn't help but say something to clear the air. Otherwise, if this boast is reported back to the Coast Guard, he will be criticized.

"Look, he is a humble hero who takes credit for his achievements without being arrogant!" Zheng Ruozeng did not even give him a chance to speak, and immediately interrupted him, saying, "He would rather suffer injustice than brag about his achievements. How could such an honest person be a pirate?"

"Impossible!" The deafening shouts of the people echoed throughout the lobby.

"Just now my parents asked where the money for his engagement came from. Now I can answer them that it was the reward for his great achievement!" Zheng Ruozeng said emotionally:

"Everyone, the cannon king Chu Liuxiang's cannon not only saved the entire fleet, but more importantly, it saved the sea transportation of grain..." He sighed and said, "You are not in the capital, so you may not know how difficult it is to get the court to allow the sea transportation of grain. But you can imagine that the freight of sea transportation is one tenth of that of grain transport. Those who rely on grain transport for their livelihood will definitely strongly oppose it and try to find faults with us in order to ruin the sea transportation."

"Yeah..." The citizens nodded one after another. This was easy to understand. Cutting off someone's financial resources was like killing his parents.

"If that sea transport was hijacked and couldn't reach Tianjin on time, the canal transport guys would definitely make a big fuss, saying, 'See, sea transport is not safe. Besides the wind and waves, there are also pirates.'" Zheng Ruozeng said with a look of fear, "The officials of the court were already afraid of the sea, and it was only after two attempts by the court that it was finally approved. If those guys interfere, many people will definitely shrink! Most likely, we will have to continue to endure three or four times the cost!"

"Oh, it's true, a great hero!" The people also began to fear, which fully demonstrated the nature of human mobs.

Seeing that the time had come, Zheng Ruozeng raised Chu Liuxiang's arm again and asked loudly: "Mr. Chu has made such a great contribution. It is not too much for the court to reward him with several hundred taels of silver?!"

"Not too much!" the people said in unison.

"Not too much!" Even Mr. Zhao couldn't help but yelled. If he wasn't still sitting on the stage, oh no, sitting in the hall, he would have to give a tip on the spot.

"Jiangnan Group is also generous to the warriors who risk their lives to protect the route. Even without this bonus, Chu Zhuangshi still has a salary of ten taels of silver every month!" Zheng Ruozeng continued: "The two hundred taels of silver for the betrothal gift can also be taken out."

"Hiss..." All the common people were stunned by what they heard, and the noise was even louder than when they shouted "hero" just now.

"How much, ten taels of silver? Is this true?" the citizens shouted in disbelief.

You know, a skilled weaver only earns 150 taels of silver a month, and even the employees of Jiangnan Group, who are known for their high income, only earn 30 taels of silver a year. It's only 250 taels of silver a month, but outsiders still envy them.

I didn’t expect that this silly old guy could earn as much as four employees of Jiangnan Group. It’s really amazing!

"So is the Coast Guard still recruiting?" Many people couldn't help themselves, money is a great temptation!

"It's no longer called the Coast Guard." Zheng Ruozeng calmed down and coughed twice, saying, "After obtaining the qualification for shipping grain, with the grace of His Majesty, Jiangnan Shipping was renamed Royal Shipping, and the Coast Guard was also renamed the Royal Coast Guard."

"Whatever his name is, can we join?"

"Well, as far as I know, they are still hiring, but the conditions are very strict. It's not an exaggeration to say that they are only one in a hundred." Zheng Ruozeng's move is called "raising one's own status". Generally speaking, companies that say this are not serious companies...

"Of course!" However, the strong credit of Jiangnan Group made people believe it without a doubt, and they asked him about the registration method.

"Pah, pah, pah!" Master Zhao finally couldn't help but slammed the table, puffing his beard and glaring, "Everyone be quiet, the court is in session!"

The yamen runners also came forward and used water and fire sticks to drive away the crowd that had gathered around them.

"Let's talk about it later. Let's talk about it later." Zheng Ruozeng quickly waved to everyone, signaling them to go back to the platform.

~~

When the hall was quiet, Zhao Shouzheng looked at Chu Liuxiang, who looked honest, and asked in a deep voice, "Is what Mr. Kaiyang said true?"

"You've praised me too much..." Chu Liuxiang still couldn't feel at ease.

"Too modest." Zheng Ruozeng patted his shoulder hard and said, "Shut up, kid!"

"So that's basically what happened?" Fortunately, Master Zhao didn't ask him to repeat himself. What a joke, knowing that this was his son's man, how could Master Zhao make things difficult for him?

"Yeah." Chu Liuxiang finally nodded reluctantly.

"Then why didn't you tell me before, and why did you have to let others tell it for you?"

"We have discipline." Chu Liuxiang still said the same thing.

"My dear parents, as I said just now, Jiangnan Group is afraid that someone will take advantage of this issue, so we issued a gag order internally..." Zheng Ruozeng explained for him.

“Then how can you say…” Zhao Shouzheng took a look at him and knew that this was Zhao Hao’s spokesperson.

"Of course, they have obtained the authorization of Jiangnan Group." Zheng Ruozeng said solemnly: "After learning that Chu Zhuangshi was wrongly imprisoned for executing the orders of the group, the top management of the group was very uneasy and decided to cancel the gag order on this naval battle, so that the heroic deeds of the coast guard soldiers can be spread throughout Jiangnan, and not give shameless villains the opportunity to tarnish their glory!"

"So that's how it is." Zhao Shouzheng suddenly realized and slammed the table again, "Speaking of shameless villains, that guy called Xue Xiaoren, have you brought him here?"

"My lord, I've brought him here!" The voice of squad leader Wang rang out at the gate of the yamen.

ps. What is the most precious thing between people? It is trust. How can you think that I made up the reason for my leave? And I have to make it different every time. How can I make it up in the future? Oh no, how can I ask for leave? (I have a headache today. I originally planned to write only one chapter, but considering that I will be laughed at for making up reasons for my leave, I had to bite the bullet and finish two chapters. The monk said with tears in his eyes, please trust me.)