This day's small meeting didn't seem to resolve anything, but it made people feel very fulfilled.

After the prime minister is determined, the only one left is the Grand Censor.

No one volunteered to step forward as this candidate, so Liu Che simply postponed the discussion.

Everyone was discussing who would be the final Imperial Censor, but no one commented on the question of whether Huo Guang was too young to be the Prime Minister.

Not to mention that Huo Guang was almost taught this problem by Liu Che himself, even his brother also went to war with the army when he was young.

In that era, the average life expectancy was extremely short, and even the nobles who lived in luxury might not live long, so it was not yet the stage where people were required to have experience and age as in later generations.

As long as you have the ability, no one will say anything even if you become the prime minister.

What everyone is more concerned about now is which unlucky guy will be chosen as the Imperial Censor of the Northern Border Kingdom.

Liu Tan was also thinking about this issue. To be honest, if possible, he still wanted to choose the person himself.

He probably wouldn't want those powerful ministers in history. After all, what if he couldn't suppress them?

Or what if he gets in trouble with Huo Guang and wants to fight for power?

No matter how small the Northern Border Kingdom is, it is still a country. The various official settings are almost copied from the imperial court, except that there are fewer auxiliary official positions.

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes. Liu Tan does not expect to make the Northern Border Kingdom an ironclad entity, but he also does not want to reduce efficiency for the sake of power.

So this person must be timid, but not completely disobedient.

While Liu Tan was thinking about this, Liu Ju was talking to him.

Liu Ju was still trying hard to persuade his brother to go to Qi. After all, Liu Che had only given the title verbally. As long as there was no written document or order, there was room for change.

Liu Tan was already very tired from trying to persuade Liu Che, and at this moment he just pretended not to hear anything.

Liu Ju was so thirsty that he turned around and saw his brother was in a trance. For a moment, Liu Ju could only take a deep breath and tell himself that he was the prince and could not beat his brother in the street.

But this is only Liu Tan. If it were Liu Fuling, he wouldn't bother to care.

Liu Ju became even more depressed when he thought of Liu Fuling.

Although many confessions in the witchcraft case pointed to them working for Liu Fuling, the problem was that Liu Fuling was two years younger than Liu Tan. Liu Tan liked to go to his own manor and Shihe Garden to play, while Liu Fuling basically rarely left the palace.

So even so, Liu Che did not show any dislike for Liu Fuling.

As for the enfeoffment of kings and fiefdoms, it was most likely done by Emperor Liu Che to prevent everyone from having any uneasy thoughts, and it was also partly the result of the efforts of the prince's party.

But even if Liu Fuling was granted a fiefdom, it would definitely be good. Liu Ju didn't know which fiefdom Liu Che would give Liu Fuling, but he just hoped it was not Qi. If Qi was given to Liu Fuling, he would be very angry.

It was just that Liu Ju was worried because he probably had a premonition. Sure enough, Liu Che immediately handed the Qi land to Liu Fuling.

Of course, there was no written document, but since the rumor had already spread, unless Liu Fuling also did not want it, this matter was basically a done deal.

Is it possible that Liu Fuling would not want it? That is one of the richest places today. The most important thing is that Qi is close to the sea and produces salt. There are also a lot of plains and fertile land.

After Liu Tan learned about this, he immediately went to the Pepper Room.

Sure enough, when he arrived there, Chen Ajiao was about to go to Ganquan Palace to find Liu Che.

Liu Tan quickly stopped her and asked, "Is Queen Mother so angry about the fiefdom issue?"

When Chen Ajiao saw him, she said, "Don't worry, the Queen Mother will naturally seek justice for you!"

Liu Tan quickly said, "Mother, please allow me to explain in detail. I requested this fief from my father. Please don't be angry with my father."

Chen Ajiao naturally didn't know about this matter. After hearing this, she looked skeptical: "What are you talking about? You took the initiative to ask for Shuofang Prefecture as a fiefdom?"

Liu Tan helped her walk towards the Pepper Room as he said, "Yes, it was this son who took the initiative to ask for this. Now Shuofang Province, together with Liang Province and Bing Province, is considered the Northern Border Kingdom. During this mission to the Western Regions, I discovered that it might not be a bad place. Didn't this also allow me to discover a gold mine?"

Chen Ajiao swallowed her anger and said, "How can it be the same? How can a gold mine be so easy to find? How good is Qidi?"

Liu Tan whispered, "Qi is good, but it's too far from the Western Regions. I'm in the Northern Border Kingdom, which is closer to Wusun."

Without having to explain in detail, Chen Ajiao immediately understood what Liu Tan meant.

She hesitated for a moment and then said firmly, "No!"

Liu Tan's trip to the Northern Border Kingdom was indeed closer to the Western Regions. Having his brother so close might be able to intimidate him, but Chen Ajiao had suffered enough and knew that sometimes she shouldn't be too emotional.

She felt sorry for her daughter, but she didn't want to sacrifice a son because of her daughter!

Now that both of them want to stay away from her, why is she struggling so much?

Liu Tan sighed: "The emperor has agreed, and Huo Guang is also going to be my prime minister."

"Huo Guang?" Chen Ajiao's attention was drawn to him: "Why did he go there?"

Liu Tan laughed and said, "How would I know? It was his initiative, and the emperor agreed. Mother wondered, why would Huo Guang go unless there was a special reason? And why would the emperor agree so easily?"

Chen Ajiao looked thoughtful. After a while, she said, "No, what good is that shabby place? Besides, Qi was originally meant for you. Why should I give it to Liu Fuling?"

Liu Tan deeply felt that this was the real reason why Chen Ajiao was angry.

It was not just because he was named King of the North, but more importantly, the land of Qi was given to Liu Fuling in the blink of an eye, and Chen Ajiao could not swallow this.

Liu Tan said indifferently: "Just give it to him. It's not my place anyway."

Chen Ajiao said: "No, it doesn't matter whether you want it or not. How can you become a vassal when you are still young?"

Liu Tan said with a smile: "Liu Fuling is younger than me, isn't he leaving too?"

Chen Ajiao's eyes turned cold: "Can Liu Fuling compare with you?"

Liu Tan was silent. "I'm afraid if I don't leave, they'll start making trouble again after a while. Then my mother will be in a passive position. Anyway, I'm going to Shuofang Prefecture, where the Xiongnu often invade. In the past few years, Shuofang wasn't even part of the Han territory. If I can't resist, returning to Chang'an is the only option, right?"

After hearing this, Chen Ajiao looked at Liu Tan in surprise: "You mean..."

Liu Tan whispered, "My Queen Mother knows that I once annihilated a pair of Xiongnu cavalrymen. The Xiongnu must hate me to the core. Knowing I'm in the Northern Border Kingdom, they might try to attack me. Then it would be natural for me to return."

After hearing this, Chen Ajiao was immediately very worried: "But if I hurt you..."

Liu Tan laughed and said, "The Northern Kingdom is so big, why should I go to the most dangerous place? As long as I run fast, how can the Xiongnu catch me?"

Chen Ajiao thought for a moment and said, "That's fine. If that doesn't work, we can always lure the Xiongnu over."

Liu Tan almost choked to death after hearing this. Lure the Huns here? Chen Ajiao was so smart! Doing this is a real traitor!

Even though the population of the Northern Border Country is not large, it is still around 900,000. Is Chen Ajiao crazy?

In fact, Chen Ajiao was certainly not crazy, she just didn't care. After all, Shuofangzhou had a very small presence. It was a poor and desolate place. Moreover, because it bordered the Xiongnu, every time Chen Ajiao heard about this place, she thought there was nothing good about it.

So in Chen Ajiao's inherent impression, it doesn't matter whether this place is there or not.

Liu Tan was afraid that Chen Ajiao would change her mind, so he didn't refute her and just said a few perfunctory words.

Chen Ajiao finally calmed down a bit, touched Liu Tan's face and said, "Don't worry, your things are not so easy to get. Liu Fuling...will have to pay a price if he wants Qidi."

Liu Tan didn't know what Chen Ajiao wanted to do, but as long as Chen Ajiao didn't stop him from becoming a vassal, then let Chen Ajiao do whatever she wanted. After all, it was just to cause trouble for Liu Fuling, so he didn't care.

The only thing that worried him was whether Liu Che would cause trouble for him if he knew what he had said to Chen Ajiao today.

Now his only hope was that there were no Liu Che's spies in the Pepper Palace.

How is that actually possible?

Chen Ajiao's methods were not enough for Liu Che. Almost as soon as Liu Tan returned to Sui Yu Palace from Jiao Fang Palace, Liu Che, who was far away in Ganquan Palace, received the news.

After reading the news, Liu Che didn't take it to heart at all.

He saw at a glance that Liu Tan was just deceiving Chen Ajiao.

He didn't even think about how the Jie Kingdom was destroyed. If he really was the type to run away when in danger, we wouldn't have to worry so much before!

Liu Tan didn't know that Liu Che had seen through him. As soon as he returned to Sui Yu Palace from Jiao Fang Palace, he received a letter from Jiang Chong.

To be honest, Liu Tan now feels a bit scared when he hears the name Jiang Chong.

Even if he didn't deliberately inquire about it, he knew that Jiang Chong was so cruel and ruthless that he could stop a child from crying at night. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the number of people who died because of him was a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood.

However, Jiang Chong was very humble in the visiting card, saying that he wanted to

After hesitating, Liu Tan still went ahead and charged privately.

However, he didn't expect that there would be a buy one get two free deal. In addition to Jiang Chong, there were two other people there - Li Buyan and Wei Buyi.

Liu Tan was also very surprised to see Li Buyan and Wei Buyi hanging out with Jiang Chong.

"Why are you guys together? What are you going to do?"

As soon as he sat down, Jiang Chong asked someone to serve wine and food. Liu Tan took a look and thought, wow, this meal will probably cost Jiang Chong a lot of money.

Jiang Chong even ran over to pour him wine himself, ignoring the dishes on his own table.

Li Buyan and Wei Buyi also came over. Liu Tan raised his eyebrows. When you give a gift to someone, you must have something to ask for. What Jiang Chong wants must not be a small matter.

Liu Tan made up his mind to let Miao Rui settle the bill first. As for the matter... he would not agree to it if he could.

After all, who knows what tricks Jiang Chong will come up with next.

After pouring the wine, Jiang Chong looked at Liu Tan expectantly and said, "Your Highness, I heard there is a vacancy for a minister in the Northern Territory. I would like to follow Your Highness. Please grant me your permission!"

Liu Tan was startled and was about to speak when he heard Li Buyan and Wei Buyi say, "We also want to follow His Highness!"

Liu Tan almost forgot what he was going to say when they interrupted him. He just waved his hand like he was swatting flies and said, "You guys stay aside for now."

After saying that, he turned to look at Jiang Chong and asked, "Have you finished the task at hand?"

Jiang Chong smiled bitterly: "That's not my job, that's the job of the Chief Justice. I'm just the one who goes out and arrests people!"

Jiang Chong was a shrewd man. He had long understood Liu Tan's aversion to the witchcraft case and directly pointed out that he was just an official in this matter.

After hearing this, Liu Tan said nothing. He slowly picked up a piece of shredded vegetable and put it in his mouth, chewing it slowly.

He was also very conflicted. Jiang Chong was indeed a talented person with many skills and his methods were not limited to high or low status. He was actually a good match for Huo Guang.

But precisely because this person is so lawless and dares to think and act, he is indeed a hidden danger.

Jiang Chonglao knew there was a way out from his expression. He squatted down next to Liu Tan and said pitifully, "Your Highness, I have really offended many people these days. I am afraid I can no longer stay in Chang'an. But if I leave Chang'an, my life will be over sooner or later. I have a selfish motive and only ask Your Highness to give me a way out."

Jiang Chong really understood Liu Tan, and Liu Tan felt a little reluctant after hearing this. After all, they had lived and died together. Although Jiang Chong pretended to be pitiful, he was telling the truth.

Liu Tan hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at Jiang Chong: "Then let's make a deal: if Prime Minister Huo and I don't agree on anything, you won't do it on your own."

Jiang Chong was overjoyed, knowing that Liu Tan had agreed, and he immediately bowed and said, "Your Highness, I will follow your orders."

Liu Tan felt relieved after making his decision. He turned to look at Wei Buyi and said, "What's wrong with you? The Northern Territory is a bitterly cold place, and full of dangers. If anything happens to you there, I won't be able to explain it to Marquis Lie even if I die."

Wei Buyi asked, "How old are you?" and his tone sounded similar to that of Princess Yangxin.

Despite thinking this, he still said sincerely, "Everything I have now is a gift from Your Highness. With my talent, I might just be mediocre for the rest of my life. So, while I still have some strength, I might as well follow Your Highness. Even if it's just to be a guard, it would be a way of repaying Your Highness for your support."

Liu Tan asked, "Have you thought about it?"

Wei Buyi nodded and said first, "My family also agrees."

Liu Tan stopped asking questions after hearing this. He looked at Li Buyan and said helplessly, "Why are you joining in the fun?"

Li Buyan said honestly, "Father said I was too stupid. In Chang'an, I didn't even have the chance to eat meat or drink soup. I might as well follow His Highness and get some soup. If I'm lucky, I can even eat meat. Anyway, they will be the ones who will suffer if the Xiongnu encounter the enemy."

Liu Tan: Thank you, Li Xi!