The idea of ​​looking for coal was actually something Liu Tan came up with on the spur of the moment. Originally, he did not make finding resources his top priority.

His idea was to develop the economy first and then build the capital city of Shuofang more solidly.

As for how to develop the economy, there is no idea yet.

But no matter what methods he uses, the most important thing in this era is arable land.

After listening to Jiang Chong's explanation, he knew that the issue of the trees must be resolved.

However, the situation before him seemed to be a dead end.

When the weather is cold, we need to burn firewood to keep warm. To get firewood, we have to cut down trees. Cutting down trees will aggravate soil erosion, the land will become barren and the people will become poorer. This is a vicious cycle.

To break out of this cycle, we must either develop the economy and increase transportation capacity so that the cost of coal shipped in from other places can be reduced, further lowering the selling price.

However, this method cannot fundamentally solve the problem. In fact, the proportion of poor people is always larger.

The only way to solve this problem is to find new energy sources.

Liu Tan remembered that coal was actually recorded as early as the Han Dynasty, but he was not sure when exactly it was used. Now it seems that either the changes in the time and space historical line have had a great impact, or coal was indeed not used during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han.

No matter which one it is, he should just ask someone to find it first.

Liu Tan remembered that there were coal mines near Junggar Banner in later generations. The geological structure there was simple, the coal was shallowly buried, and the coal seams were thick. These characteristics combined were very suitable for the mining equipment of the Han Dynasty.

The only drawback is that Shuofang City is probably located near Urad Banner on later maps, more than 300 kilometers away from Junggar Banner.

In addition, Liu Tan was not sure about the exact location of the coal, so he could only ask someone to look for it first.

As for why he was looking for purple-red rocks, it was because Liu Tan once heard a saying: There is a red stone ridge in front and coal rock behind.

The Hongshiling refers to the purple-red rock, but this experience was confirmed in the Zaozhuang Coal Mine, which is in Shandong, too far away from the Northern Border Country, and it is not known whether this experience can be tried out.

Liu Tan also knew that the best way to identify coal was through plant fossils, which would be more accurate.

But the problem now is that at this time, not only is the concept of plant fossils not in-depth, but it may even be impossible to find local plant fossils.

The most important thing is that it would be useless even if he found it. Liu Tan only knew this principle, and he was not a geologist, so how could he know how to distinguish it?

The only thing we can pray for now is that the coal mines in Junggar Banner were already very close to the surface during the Han Dynasty. After all, the earth's crust is constantly moving. Just because coal was close to the surface in later generations doesn't mean it will be the same now.

Liu Tan had people do so many inexplicable things that no one was surprised to hear. The soldiers didn't have much to do anyway, so they just went and looked for them.

The only one who couldn't adapt was Sang Qian.

Before coming here, Sang Qian had already made preparations to fight against the Huns. In his imagination, he should have actively prepared for war after arriving in Shuofang, otherwise it would be too late to wait until winter.

But now... he wants to take people to look for stones?

This gap is too big!

However, Sang Qian had already discovered that he was basically isolated and helpless in this place, so he didn't dare to say anything. He just wanted to see if he could attract more people to come over.

His qualities were indeed not bad. After Liu Tan finished talking about this topic, he said, "Your Highness, there are still many vacancies for officials in the country. I wonder what your Highness has in mind?"

Yes, this was Sang Qian's idea. Since Liu Tan had only brought back a few people from the capital, the rest must be found locally. Now that those who came from the capital were banding together to exclude him, he had no choice but to win over the locals.

Liu Tan looked at him in surprise, then turned to look at Huo Guang: "What do you think, Prime Minister Huo?"

Sang Qian felt a little embarrassed, knowing that Liu Tan was reminding him that these matters were the prime minister's business and he had overstepped his bounds.

But it doesn’t matter, he has already said it, so just wait.

As a captain, it is naturally not enough for him to have only two lieutenants under him. He must have more people. He must have a say over these people, right?

Huo Guang didn't even glance at Sang Qian. He pondered and said, "Shuofang City has a small population, and I'm afraid not many people can read. So in the early stages, everyone will definitely have to work hard."

Liu Tan reached out and knocked on the table, then suddenly said in a serious tone, "I'd like to follow my father's example and issue a decree to recruit talented people. I wonder if that's feasible?"

Recruitment order?

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. No vassal state had ever done this before, but the imperial court hadn't said no. Liu Tan's actions seemed to be somewhat overstepping the line. Whether it would work... depended on what the imperial court thought.

Sang Qian had not expected Liu Tan to make such a big move, and he suddenly panicked. He was still thinking about going back to investigate what big families were there in the local area and trying to win them over, but if Liu Tan did this, who knew where all the people who came would come from!

He coughed lightly and said, "This... is too much of a fuss, isn't it? No vassal state has ever acted like this before."

Jiang Chong, standing aside, said coldly, "No prince has ever personally guarded the national border before. How can an ordinary prince be compared with Your Highness? Moreover, everyone has seen the current situation in Shuofang. There are only a few people who can speak elegant language. Even the elegant language of the county governor is somewhat incomprehensible. Are you going to work with a group of people who can't understand what they are saying?"

Sang Qian: ...

Liu Tan was secretly pleased, but nodded seriously on the surface and said, "That's right. Remember to write in the recruitment order that those who are good at elegant speech will be given priority."

Huo Guang asked again, "How can we determine whether those people are useful? Although Your Majesty has ordered the recruitment of scholars from all directions, not many can meet with Your Majesty. The current situation in Shuofang may not allow us to screen out those who are unqualified."

Simply put, there are not enough people and no one can help Liu Tan eliminate the unqualified people.

But it is not appropriate to let those people meet Liu Tan directly. After all, he is the king. Can he meet him like ordinary people?

But if they are neglected, those scholars will be very vicious. Look at the current reputation of the First Emperor. As a person who is familiar with history, Huo Guang knows very well that the First Emperor's advantages must outweigh his disadvantages. But now the people refer to him as a dictator, which makes those people feel that they are not valued and go out to spread rumors, and their reputation will be ruined.

After hearing this, Liu Tan said, "It's not difficult. It's an exam."

"ah?"

This time everyone's reactions were very consistent. Not only had they not taken the test, they hadn't even heard of these two words!

Liu Tan said enthusiastically, "Relying on individual selection isn't fair at all. Everyone has their own preferences. A very capable person might be eliminated simply because their speech wasn't pleasant or something else didn't satisfy them. Wouldn't that be unfair? Why not just have a unified assessment? Anyone who meets the requirements can move on to the next round, and so on until only a qualified number of people remain?"

Huo Guang's brain was quick, and he understood Liu Tan's meaning in an instant, but he was still a little uneasy: "That sounds feasible, but how should we evaluate it? What should we evaluate?"

Liu Tan rolled up his sleeves and said, "Isn't this simple? The first round of assessment is the most basic, such as how many characters you know and whether you can recite books like the Spring and Autumn Annals from memory. Only by passing this level can you be considered qualified to be an official. Then, there will be more detailed assessments. Hmm, I can't explain it clearly right now. I'll write a proposal later and we can discuss it."

It was such an unfamiliar matter that no one could come up with any suggestions for a moment and could only agree with hesitation.

Liu Tan said, "Okay, these two are the most important things now. Does anyone have anything else to say?"

Huo Guang said with a mixture of laughter and tears: "Your Highness, the most important thing now is to build the royal palace."

Liu Tan suddenly realized: "Oh, yes, this should also be put on the agenda."

To be honest, when striving for a career, people's material desires will be infinitely reduced.

When Liu Tan first saw the situation in Shuofang City, he was also worried about how to live in such a place?

After walking around the county government office, I felt that it was not so bad. Now that I had a clear goal and motivation, this place was not unbearable.

But it was useless for him to endure it. The palace still had to be built. The palace represented the face of the princes. Even if Liu Tan didn't care, he had to care about the people below. If he told others that the King of the Northern Territory and his officials were worse than each other and couldn't even build a palace, it would be too unfair to Huo Guang and others.

Huo Guang was relieved to see Liu Tan agree, and quickly said, "Your Highness, I have chosen these two places. You can choose one as the royal palace, and the other can be used as a temporary residence if you like."

Liu Tan looked down and saw that the two places were basically in the east, or one in the east and the other in the southeast.

He scratched it and asked, "Is this distance appropriate?"

After all, Shuofang City is also the capital. He built the royal palace in a faraway place, and over time it would be easy for a new royal city to form there.

This time, without waiting for Huo Guang to speak, Jiang Chong advised, "Your Highness, the Prime Minister has chosen these places very well. Apart from anything else, just look at the current situation in Shuofang City... It takes half a day's ride to get there and back, and it's still not as big as your manor in Chang'an. It's really unsuitable for a capital. Sooner or later, it will have to be expanded. Shuofang City's geographical location makes it difficult to expand northward, and the west and south are adjacent to the desert, so these two places are the most suitable."

When Liu Tan heard Jiang Chong say that Shuofang City could not develop northward, he subconsciously said in his heart that that was not necessarily true.

But it seems to be true now, so Liu Tan looked at the map and thought for a while, then suddenly pointed to a place on the map and said, "Here."

When Jiang Chong saw this, he immediately felt that what he had just said was in vain. His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory really didn't listen to him at all. The place his Royal Highness pointed out was right in the Hetao Desert!