Before coming here, Liu Tan had actually been prepared for the poor infrastructure of Shuofang City.

However, at that time, what he imagined was the feeling of the urban-rural fringe in later generations. After all, he grew up in the city and had never been to a truly impoverished mountain village.

So at this moment, when he saw the city wall that was half as low as the palace wall of the Great Wusun, the shock in his heart was directly reflected on his face.

This city wall... is only slightly taller than a person, right?

Were we going to use a wall like this to hold off the Huns? It would be strange if they could actually stop them, right? Perhaps the Huns' horses were so powerful they could leap over us and hold us back!

Not only is the city wall low, but the most important thing is that it is made of rammed earth, without even a piece of stone. You can even faintly see traces of hay in the wall.

When Liu Tan thought about how he had once mocked the Great Wusun and despised the Jie Kingdom, he felt that it was really karma. He never expected that one day his capital would be worse than others.

Liu Tan took a deep breath, tried to restore his expression to normal, and turned to look at the people behind him.

Well, very good. Except for Jiang Chong, everyone else's expression of shock was no less than his.

Now, let's take a look at the composition of the members of the Northern Border Kingdom. First of all, there is Prime Minister Huo Guang, who was born into an official family. Later, he was brought to Chang'an by his brother Huo Qubing, and then was brought by Liu Che. Every day, he went to either the palace or his own residence. He basically never even went to the civilian areas of Chang'an.

Commandant Sang Qian, son of Sang Hongyang, also came from a good family.

Li Buyan is a famous playboy in Chang'an.

Wei Buyi, the second son of Wei Qing, was granted a title of nobility shortly after he was born. Although his title was later stripped away, it is true that he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

Only Jiang Chong had truly worked his way up from the bottom, but even Jiang Chong had never seen a city more miserable than this.

Huo Guang recovered the fastest. He coughed lightly and instantly adjusted his expression. Sang Qian and Jiang Chong also returned to their normal expressions. Even Wei Buyi lowered his head to hide his expression. Only the foolish Li Buyan opened his mouth and said, "Can this be used as a capital?"

Liu Tan rolled his eyes at him and said nothing, because at this time the governor of Shuofang County had already brought people to meet him.

Compared to Liu Tan's team who were in collective shock, every official of Shuofang County had a happy face and was even more polite and respectful when they saw Liu Tan.

Do you think they were happy because they met the princes?

You are wrong, that’s because I can finally leave this crappy place!

The Han Dynasty implemented a system of parallel counties and kingdoms. The status of the county governor was the same as that of the prime minister, and the princes basically used the counties as their kingdoms - Liu Tan was an exception. The fiefs of the princes were also subject to population regulations. There was no maximum, but there was a bottom line.

The place chosen by Liu Tan was vast and sparsely populated, which resulted in him having three counties under his control. As a result, the population was probably not as large as that of one county under Liu Fuling, and even less than that of the King of Changyi.

Now Liu Tan has arrived with his men. The county magistrate and all the officials of the county government have to leave and go to Chang'an to report on their work. Although the future is uncertain, even if it gets worse, it probably won't be worse than this broken place of Shuofang.

When they saw Liu Tan, their eyes were almost filled with tears.

Liu Tan was welcomed into the city with great joy.

Liu Tan rode on his horse and observed the people along the way, and the people... the people were also watching him.

This was the first prince to come here after the founding of the Han Dynasty. When the people of Shuofang City learned that this city was going to become the capital, they all fell into great excitement.

They didn't know what the real capital looked like, but it sounded so grand, so it must be great, right? Their lives would be better, right?

Liu Tan sighed in his heart.

Before, he thought it would be more convenient to go to a less developed place. Because of the poverty, there might not be any big landlords in the local area. He didn't have to think about how to eradicate these forces. He might as well use that time to find ways to develop the economy.

But after arriving here, he found that what was even more unacceptable than the presence of gentry was the ragged clothes and unkempt appearance of the common people.

Even in Wusun, he had never seen such people. Not only were they pale and thin, but few of them were strong. Moreover, most of them were not young. He didn't know whether the young people had left.

The houses in the city were all low, and Liu Tan felt that he could even see the city wall to the north while riding on a horse!

It is extremely difficult to develop a city like this.

Liu Tan and his group formed a sharp contrast with the entire city. Such a glamorous appearance was something the people here had never seen before.

Even the county magistrate looked at these people with envy in his eyes. The county magistrate was naturally well-dressed. Apart from anything else, the official uniform was issued by the court, which at least ensured that the officials had clothes to wear.

The county magistrate led the way while introducing the situation in the city, but he soon ran out of things to say - the overall situation in Shuofang Prefecture was simply too simple and could be described in just three words: backward, poor, and small in population.

To extend this further, the land is barren, resources are scarce, and the location is awkward.

The county magistrate was worried that Liu Tan would be unhappy, but just as he was racking his brains to think of what to say, Liu Tan smiled at him and said, "You put your heart into it."

The county magistrate was so happy seeing that smile that he almost fainted. Just when he was about to say something, a piece of linen suddenly flew towards him.

Liu Tan leaned back and raised his hand to catch the piece of linen - well, this was a skill he learned when he was practicing in Chang'an.

After he caught it, he found that although the color of the linen was misleading, it was actually quite clean. He couldn't help but look at it with some surprise.

At this moment, someone in the crowd suddenly said something. Liu Tan was stunned for a moment, and suddenly thought of a very serious problem: he seemed to not understand the local dialect of Shuofang!

But before he could think about how to deal with this matter, more linen flew over.

These linens were not only directed at Liu Tan, but also at Huo Guang and others, but Liu Tan had the most.

Liu Tanxin said that although they didn't speak the same language, their annoying habits were surprisingly the same.

Liu Tan really wanted them to stop throwing them away. What they threw at him in Chang'an were all sachets and handkerchiefs. Each one was exquisite, clean and had its own fragrance. So they just let it be thrown away.

Where in Shuofang Prefecture... where can we find that kind of stuff? So, besides linen, the things thrown over here are just some weird things, like grass and sticks. Oh, that stick might be used as a hairpin, etc.? Why is there a fishing net?

Oh shit, there’s also some dried meat of some unknown kind?

Liu Tan felt the enthusiasm of the people of Shuofang City. In this place, meat, no matter what kind of meat it is, is extremely precious. Now they are willing to throw away the meat, which shows that they really welcome Liu Tan's arrival.

But... really don't throw it away, this thing can kill someone if it hits you hard!

The people behind Liu Tan were all hit, and Huo Guang said decisively: "Where are the guards? Maintain order!"

As a prince, Liu Tan already had a quota of guards. This time he brought 500 soldiers with him. After these 500 soldiers dispersed, they pushed back the enthusiastic people.

Liu Tan said as he took off the things on his body, "Don't hurt anyone!"

After saying that, he said to the person behind him: "Find someone to pick up all these things. They are all kind-hearted people."

If he were in Chang'an, he would definitely not do this, but here... it felt like these people were throwing things as if they were gifts. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to ask someone to pick the things up. If that didn't work, he could return them.

Those who throw things away do so in a moment of excitement, and they may regret it later.

While giving the order, Liu Tan happened to glance at the people behind him.

Li Buyan and Wei Buyi were better at fighting and helped Huo Guang block things. Jiang Chong was also very agile and dodged a lot on his own.

Sang Qian was in a worse situation, as he was hit pretty hard. The most important thing was that his face was full of confusion.

Liu Tan's mouth twitched, thinking that the prince's vision of people was amazing. It should have been Sang Qian who gave the order to maintain order at this time, but he actually waited until Huo Guang could no longer bear it and gave the order. These soldiers listened to Huo Guang. Although they couldn't see anything at the moment, the power in Sang Qian's hands was being undermined.

Not to mention that Liu Tan also stuffed Li Buyan and Wei Buyi into his command as captains.

Thinking about these things, we arrived at the county government in a short while. Fortunately, the city was small, otherwise we would have lost more people along the way.

Liu Tan looked at the county government office, which was not even as big as his bedroom, and for a moment he did not feel anything.

After calmly getting off the horse and following the county magistrate inside with his men... things got awkward.

The county government is really too small. Not to mention the soldiers brought by Liu Tan, even the servants who follow them fill up the county government!

At that time, the county magistrate was saying that he had set up a welcoming banquet, but he could not continue now - he had arranged the welcoming banquet according to the number of officials from the Northern Border Country, but he was not born in a high family, so how could he have seen the posture of these princes and nobles?

Each person is served by at least two people. What a huge team it is.

The smiles on the faces of the county governor and other local officials disappeared, and they even became a little terrified. They were afraid that if they neglected the King of the Northern Territory, he would complain to the capital, and they would be in trouble!

Although it is said that the King of the North was exiled here because he angered His Majesty, don’t forget that the King of the North has a mother who is the Queen!

Liu Tan looked around, smiled and said, "It's getting late, forget about the welcoming banquet, and quickly hand over the work. You should also return to the capital to report on your duties. The capital is currently selecting officials, and if you're lucky you might be able to catch up.

How many officials died in Chang'an City because of the witchcraft case? Those vacant positions need to be filled.

The county magistrate and others did not expect Liu Tan to be so easy to talk to. They were so moved that they burst into tears and felt puzzled. How could this little prince, who looked quite well-behaved and gentle, offend the emperor so much that he was exiled here?

At Liu Tan's command, Huo Guang took his men and followed the county magistrate to take over.

Liu Tan glanced at them and said, "Sang Qian, the city is crowded. You should take your men to set up camp outside the city first. Li Buyan and Wei Buyi will go and assist."

Although he wanted to sideline Sang Qian, he still had to do things to save face.

Sang Qian finally found his backbone, quickly agreed, turned around and left with his men.

Once these soldiers left, the entire county government became much emptier.

After the people left, Liu Tan took them to tour the entire county government.

Miao Rui and Bigo behind him were sighing, "Your Highness, this place...how are you going to live?"

Liu Tan looked at the house and felt worried. It was easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it was difficult to go from luxury to frugality. However, he tried to remain calm on the surface. He stood with his hands behind his back and said, "I've been here before when I was in the Western Regions. What's wrong with this?"

Miao Rui held back and didn't say anything. When he was in the Western Regions, he knew that he would be able to return to Chang'an sooner or later, so he could endure it for a while, but now... he had to stay here for a long time.

Although Miao Rui and Bigo were worried, they still started to clean up with their people, at least... to make the house habitable.

Not long after, Huo Guang completed the handover and came to talk to Liu.

Liu Tan knew the situation might not be good when he saw his serious expression. He took a deep breath and asked, "How is it?"

Huo Guang's smile was a little bitter: "It's a bit troublesome."