Liu Tan looked up at Wei Buyi in confusion. After the initial excitement, Wei Buyi looked at Liu Tan without saying a word and was a little at a loss for a moment.

"Your Highness?" Wei Buyi was a little puzzled. Why was His Highness unhappy?

Liu Tan wiped his face and asked, "Did you really find out?"

Wei Buyi nodded: "Really!"

If it was any other mineral, it would be fine, but copper mine is arguably the most commonly known mineral in this era. At first, everyone suspected that they had seen it wrong, but after asking people to come and conduct a careful survey, the conclusion was that it was copper mine.

Liu Tan took a deep breath and said, "Go and ask Prime Minister Huo to come over."

Huo Guang came very quickly. Now the entire leadership team of the Northern Border Kingdom is crowded in the county government to work. Considering the area of ​​the county government, the distance from Liu Tan’s office to Huo Guang’s office is less than 100 meters!

Huo Guang came in and asked, "Your Highness, what happened?"

Liu Tan looked up at him and said, "Wei Buyi just said that a copper mine was discovered where the palace was chosen to be located."

Huo Guang was also startled and turned to look at Wei Buyi. This time, he didn't need to question him, as Wei Buyi spoke first, "Really? If Your Highness and Prime Minister Huo don't believe me, you can go and see for yourself."

Huo Guang subconsciously turned to look at Liu Tan: "Your Highness chose that place for the palace..."

Liu Tan looked at him seriously and said, "If I say I don't know, do you believe me?"

Huo Guang's expression was clearly one of disbelief. Liu Tan was rather amused and confused. "I really don't know. If I knew, I would have sent someone to look for it directly. Why would they build the palace there? Now the foundation pit is half dug, and they still need to choose a new site."

This is the truth, but if Liu Tan really knows nothing, it means that all kinds of minerals may appear wherever Liu Tan points!

In fact, copper mines are not just minerals, they are a mountain of money!

Huo Guang said, "Your Highness, I will go and take a look first."

Liu Tan also stood up and said, "Let's go, I'll go take a look too."

Although he knew about the Hetao Desert from various records, Liu Tan had never actually seen it with his own eyes. Well, seeing pictures of it when he came across it didn't count. It just so happened that this time he could go over and take a look, otherwise he really couldn't find any reason.

By the time Liu Tan and Huo Guang arrived there, half a day had passed.

At this time, the construction of the palace had stopped, and the conscripted people gathered together, all of them very excited.

After seeing Liu Tan's carriage, the people all stood up and looked at it in awe.

In those days, information was not well developed and all news was passed on by word of mouth. It just so happened that among the managers who built the palace, there was someone who had followed Liu Tan to the Western Regions.

They all knew that Liu Tan had discovered a gold mine when he was building a city in the Western Regions.

So the news gradually spread among the people who came to build the palace.

At the beginning, His Royal Highness the King of the North was the incarnation of Qian Tong, and the place he chose must be where money could be found.

Qian Tong can be said to be the God of Wealth that people believed in during the Han Dynasty, while the recognized God of Wealth Zhao Gongming or the God of Wealth Guan Yu had not yet appeared at that time.

After Liu Tan got off the car, he went directly to the place where the copper mine was first discovered.

The place was now surrounded by soldiers, and no one was allowed to approach. After Liu Tan brought Huo Guang and others in, they saw a hole appear in the foundation pit.

The craftsman who was said to be very good at identifying copper mines was now flushed with excitement.

This was probably the highlight of his life. When he met Liu Tan, he stuttered and looked as if he was so nervous and excited that he would faint at any moment.

Liu Tan soothed him, "Don't be nervous, speak slowly."

The craftsman became even more excited and trembled as he said, "Thank you very much, Your Highness. Thank you very much, Your Highness."

Liu Tan was helpless. What did I do to deserve your gratitude?

When the craftsman said he was afraid he would not be able to wait any longer, he simply asked, "Can you estimate the size of this copper mine?"

The craftsman said, "It's hard to estimate right now. If... if my guess is correct, there are copper mines at least within the entire palace area. You see, the ore here is layered, and this is the same for all the terrain in this generation. So the exact extent still needs further exploration."

Liu Tanxin said where is the palace? Who would build a palace next to a mining area?

He asked, "What is the quality of the ore?"

All mines are divided into rich and poor. If it is a very poor mineral, there is basically no need to mine it when the mining efficiency is low.

When he asked this, the craftsman became even more excited: "Your Highness, the copper ore here can be extracted at least 30% copper, it is the best copper ore!"

To be honest, when Liu Tan heard that only 30% of copper could be extracted from the copper ore, he was still very disgusted. He didn't know much about minerals, but he just thought that after mining for half a day, 70% of it would be waste, which was a bit too difficult.

Unexpectedly, this kind of copper ore is actually the best copper ore.

He asked with some surprise: "The best? The Northern Kingdom or..."

"These are the best copper mines in the entire Han Dynasty!" the craftsman explained excitedly. "And not only that, Your Highness, I just took a look and found that these copper mines are also associated with silver! There are also small amounts of lead and zinc!"

Liu Tan was shocked. He had no knowledge of minerals and had never known that copper mines could be accompanied by silver mines.

"There are silver mines as associated minerals in copper mines?" Wei Buyi on the side was a little shocked. He knew even less than Liu Tan.

The craftsman nodded vigorously, while Liu Tan on the side was a little dumbfounded.

Although this is not a gold mine, it is truly a mountain of money.

Even though silver is not used as currency these days, it is still widely used in various jewelry and the like. Even if it is not as good as copper, it is not much worse.

Liu Tan turned to look at Huo Guang, who immediately said, "I will immediately send people to seal off the entire area, Your Highness... If that is the case, I am afraid there will not be enough craftsmen in the country."

These craftsmen brought by Liu Tan were specially requested by Liu Che, who felt that he had to prepare some for his son regardless of whether they would be used or not.

This was preferential treatment for Liu Tan. As for Liu Fuling... Liu Che had a very good reason: Qi was a rich land with many talented people, so there was no need for excessive preparation.

Well, the double standard is so obvious that it leaves you speechless.

This was also one of the reasons why Liu Fuling was so angry when he left.

If you are treated poorly, it may not seem like a big deal when you are the only one there, but if there is suddenly a control group next to you, it is extremely easy to feel psychologically unbalanced.

When they left, Liu Fuling's motorcade, including the people brought by the Queen Mother of Qi, was still not as big as Liu Tan's team alone. When he thought about the fact that they and their son were both released into Qi, there was no other way for them to turn things around except to wish for the prince to die suddenly.

Even the sudden death of the crown prince has nothing to do with him. The Northern King's biological mother is still in Chang'an, and she is the queen. Now that the crown prince is gone, isn't it natural for the legitimate son to inherit?

Even though the former Lady Gouyi and the current Queen Mother of Qi were certain that Liu Tan was not Chen Ajiao's biological son, as long as Liu Che did not say it and others tacitly agreed, who could still doubt the background of the King of the North?

Anyway, if Liu Che liked someone, even if he was not extremely considerate, he would think of every aspect. But no matter how thorough his thinking was, he probably would not have thought that Liu Tan would find the copper mine when he got here.

Liu Tan understood what Huo Guang meant and said, "I will go back and write a letter to my father!"

Huo Guang hesitated. "What I mean is to recruit talents within the Northern Territory. After all, the copper mine belongs to Your Highness. Asking the court to send people... is not appropriate."

Liu Tan quickly realized that princes were allowed to mint coins in those days!

Not only is it allowed, there is no limit on the number of coins minted except that it needs to be reported to the court!

To be honest, the fact that the economy has not collapsed despite being left to its own devices can only be attributed to the survival of ancient customs. Nowadays, people are still accustomed to bartering.

Liu Tan was very worried about this hidden danger, but he couldn't say anything. He could only sigh and say, "It's okay. It's the same if I write to my mother."

Huo Guang shut up immediately. Really, how could he forget that Liu Tan had a super rich mother who was the queen?

The Queen's team is more complete than the Crown Prince's. Who doesn't she have under her command?

What puzzled him the most was why Liu Tan suddenly looked so worried?

Shouldn't this be a happy thing?

He would never have thought that Liu Tan was now worried about the entire economic system of the Han Dynasty. When a person can clearly see that something may erode the foundation of the country but there is no way to change it, the pain is simply unbearable.

Yes, even if he could see it, Liu Tan didn't intend to say it, at least not now. If he said it now, he would affect the interests of all the princes. No, no, no, not just the princes. These days, the emperor could give anyone he favored the job of minting coins. Think about Deng Tong, he could even make "Deng Tong coins"!

If Liu Tan really raised this issue, not only the princes, but also those who benefited from it would want to kill him.

Killing him is not just a psychological activity, but will be put into action.

People these days still carry some barbaric legacy. The ways of benevolence, righteousness and gentlemanliness have not been widely promoted. There are not so many rules and restrictions. If they really don't like you, they will just find someone to kill and be done with it, without any psychological burden.

Think about how Chen Ajiao killed Madam Li so easily, and how almost no one in the government or the public judged Chen Ajiao, and you will know that this kind of thing is very normal.

Wait a little longer. When Liu Tan went back to write a letter to Liu Che, he held it in and didn't write it.

But he was young, with the passion and impulse unique to young people, and he couldn't bear to keep holding it in. After thinking about it, he simply wrote a letter to Liu Ju.

Of course, he didn't write anything in the letter, just asking Liu Ju to give him 30% of the entire copper mine's income every year.

Anyway, the Witchcraft and Poisoning Incident seems to have been safely resolved. As long as Liu Ju does not run into any major problems, he will not be deposed, and he will become the emperor sooner or later.

In this case, giving him a portion of the copper mine's revenue is no different from giving it to the emperor, the only difference being that it is not counted within the imperial court.

When Liu Tan wrote this, he suddenly remembered something. This copper mine was his personal property, so even if it was minted as coins, it would not be included in the Northern Border Kingdom's court revenue.

So... he is very rich, but the Northern Kingdom is still very poor!

On one side is a land with mountains of money, and on the other side is the poorest fiefdom. This contrast... Liu Tan was really a little dizzy.

Just as he was trying to write a letter to the capital, Huo Guang suddenly came to his door with a map.

When Liu Tan saw the map, he was shocked: "This is... a map drawn according to my method. Where did it come from?"

Huo Guang said calmly, "I've been exploring the surrounding area these past few days and made a simple map. Because I've only been to a limited number of places, the map doesn't cover a large area."

For a moment, Liu Tan seemed to feel the fear of being dominated by the academic bullies when he was in school.

However, this map is indeed very simple, basically covering Shuofang City and the surrounding area of ​​more than 50 miles.

The terrain around Shuofang City is not complicated at all. There is a small amount of vegetation, most of it is Gobi and desert, and there is also a Yellow River, so it is easy to draw.

Liu Tan looked at him and asked, "Then...what happened?"

Huo Guang said, "The place Your Highness originally chose is no longer suitable for building a palace. You should choose another one."

Liu Tan was already a little apprehensive about the location, so he simply said, "Wasn't the one you chose before very good? Let's go with that one."

Since we can't change everyone's cognition, we can only succumb to metaphysics. It's okay if he doesn't interfere, right?

Huo Guang said, "We've sent people to explore there before. It seems there's an underground river there, very close to the surface. It's not suitable. Your Highness should come and make the choice."

Liu Tan thought about it for a long time and simply chose a place close to the west of Shuofang City. It was the only way for Shuofang and Xi'anyang to travel there. If there was anything special, it should have been discovered long ago and he wouldn't have to wait until now.

However, after he made his selection, Huo Guang did not take the map away.

Liu Tan looked up at Huo Guang with some doubt. Huo Guang looked at Liu Tan with a sharp gaze and said, "Your Highness, please choose a few more. Well, it would be better to choose ten or eight. Let's go and take a look!"

Liu Tan: ???

Liu Tan: “I don’t!”