Liu Tan stared at Huo Guang with wide eyes. He wanted to develop infrastructure in a scientific way. Now that science has not developed yet, what's the point of getting involved in metaphysics first?

Huo Guang also looked at him, his eyes very calm, as if he was looking at a unreasonable child.

The two of them stared at each other for a while, and finally Liu Tan took the map with a muttered voice. He then said cautiously, "I can choose a few more, but don't let them all go. We're short-staffed, and I'm having a headache just making the exams. And you said before that we'd come one by one."

Huo Guang said calmly, "We can take our time with other things, but we can tackle this together. What we lack now is experienced hands, not labor. Why do you think the people are so happy about the discovery of the copper mine? It's on your fiefdom, and this mine is destined to belong to you. What does it have to do with them? They're not happy about the mine itself, but about having a livelihood!"

Liu Tan was stunned for a moment, then pressed his hand towards him and said, "Wait a minute, you're talking a little too fast. Sit down and let's talk slowly."

Huo Guang sat down and explained, "No matter what kind of mine you mine, it actually requires a lot of labor. You haven't brought many slaves with you. For such a large copper mine, you must hire common people to work it. This will give them another way to make a living."

Liu Tan was a little surprised: "But... isn't this very dangerous?"

Huo Guang said helplessly: "It's dangerous, but at least I can survive."

Liu Tan only then realized that why shouldn't he just eat meat porridge? Even in later generations when the country was just founded, everyone was eager to become a miner because miners had the best treatment.

No, that's not right. People in later generations were treated better because of good policies. Now... miners doing physical labor belong to the lowest level. Didn't you see that Li Guangli didn't care at all when he forced several miners to death?

But they were soldiers at Yumen Pass, and logically speaking, they were more important than ordinary miners.

However, Liu Tan did not ask any further questions. Since Huo Guang said that everyone was happy because of this, then it must be true.

Because Huo Guang was much more familiar with Shuofang than he was.

It's a shame to say that Liu Tan was crazy about asking for Shuofang Prefecture as his fiefdom because he actually wanted to go to a simple enough place, where there were no complicated connections with the aristocratic families and he would not do anything to affect the interests of the local people. As for the four families in Shuofang City now, Liu Tan didn't take them seriously.

So he thought he would know everything once he got there, and didn't ask any more questions.

On the contrary, after Huo Guang took the initiative to apply to become the prime minister, he looked through all the information and even read many classics. Although he didn't know much about the actual local situation, at least from a macro perspective, Huo Guang knew a lot.

Liu Tan lowered his head and looked at the map, feeling a little psychological pressure.

Although I don't want to rely on metaphysics, who doesn't want to find more minerals? As long as we can find them, metaphysics is not a bad idea.

However, all of these were unintentional actions before. Now that Liu Tan went to choose with high expectations, he found that he had difficulty making decisions and was very worried about what to do if the choice was not right.

Seeing his brows gradually furrowed, Huo Guang couldn't help but curl his lips and said, "If Your Highness likes it, you can choose a few more places."

Liu Tan reflexively looked up at him, and Huo Guang quickly suppressed the smile on his face and became serious again.

Liu Tan thought about it and agreed. If you’re not sure, why not just cast a wide net?

If he didn't get any of the choices he made, although he would feel regretful, he could also feel relieved.

He was also worried that if he could get a mine with just a touch, what would happen if Liu Che heard about it and dragged him back?

Although there has been no case of recalling princes from their fiefdoms, what if?

People are not machines. Just because something has never happened in history doesn’t mean it cannot happen.

If you really want to be picky, Wu Zetian would not even be able to become the emperor.

Liu Tan didn't want Liu Che to pay attention to this matter at all, but unfortunately he had to write the letter.

After selecting those places, Liu Tan threw the map to Huo Guang and said, "Go, go."

Huo Guang left with the map in his hand, feeling satisfied. Liu Tan felt tired looking at his back. If even Huo Guang was like this these days, it must be too difficult to develop science.

After Liu Tan finished writing the letter, he immediately sent someone to Chang'an at full speed.

When his letter arrived in Chang'an, Emperor Wu was muttering, "I wonder how Lao Wu is doing in Shuofang. I heard he hasn't even started building the palace yet."

Bu Fan bowed and said, "Yes, I heard that construction had already started, but for some reason it suddenly stopped."

Liu Che frowned, turned around and said, "Go and tell the Crown Prince to write a letter to Tan'er, asking him to return to the capital on New Year's Day."

It is already August and almost September, and there are only three or four months left until New Year's Day. Although it sounds like a long time, when it comes to projects, especially large projects like building a palace, let alone three or four months, even thirteen or fourteen months is not too much.

Moreover, the construction progress will slow down a lot after winter, not to mention that the cold will come earlier in the north.

In this case, wouldn't Liu Tan be cold without a palace to live in?

Of course, the most important thing is that Liu Che was worried that the Huns would come. What if the Huns knew where the King of the Northern Border was and came directly for Liu Tan?

But he couldn't say it openly. Liu Tan's words "The king is responsible for the country and the prince guards the national border" were so powerful that people still praise them when they mention them. Liu Che couldn't show his distrust of his son.

He no longer trusted Liu Tan, so how could others believe that Liu Tan could resist the Huns?

If even the local soldiers of Shuofang are not trusted, the consequences of failure will be extremely terrible.

So Liu Che just asked Liu Ju to write a letter. At that time, it could be said that the elder brother missed his younger brother. If that didn't work, there was still Chen Ajiao.

Does a mother need a reason to love her son? No!

It was at this time that Liu Che suddenly realized the benefits of keeping Chen Ajiao.

Bu Fan immediately sent someone to inform the Crown Prince upon hearing the order. Not long after, Liu Ju came directly to his father and said with some concern, "Father, isn't it too late to come back on New Year's Day? Well, the Empress will celebrate her centenary in October. Why not let my younger brother come back to celebrate her birthday?"

Chen Ajiao's birthday is at the end of October. After the Qianqiu Festival, it will not be far from the Zhengdan Festival. It is completely possible to let Liu Tan stay until after the Zhengdan Festival.

Liu Che squinted at him and said, "You seem to feel sorry for him."

Liu Ju quickly said, "I'm not partial to my fifth brother. My sixth brother went to Qi, where he has the Queen Mother of Qi to take care of him. The climate there is warmer, which is better than my fifth brother's situation in Shuofang. Now... I don't know how my fifth brother is doing, or what he's done."

Just as Liu Che was about to speak, Liu Tan's letter arrived.

Then the father and son knew what Liu Tan was doing - he was mining!

Liu Che and Liu Ju each sat on a desk and opened the letters. The letters Liu Tan wrote to them were basically the same, with only some differences in details.

But the same thing is that the copper mine is placed at the top.

So Liu Che's first reaction was: "He actually discovered a copper mine?"

Liu Ju's reaction was: "He discovered minerals again?"

The emperor and the prince exclaimed almost at the same time. They looked up at each other and saw surprise in each other's eyes.

But they didn't talk, they just continued watching.

Liu Tan first talked about the discovery of copper mines, but did not say how they discovered it.

After reading on, both Liu Che and Liu Ju were speechless.

After a long while, Liu Che finally spoke: "He...he..."

For a moment, even Liu Che didn't know how to comment on it. Could it be such a coincidence?

Every time you build something, you discover mineral deposits.

Although Liu Tan has only built two buildings so far, oh, one has not even started construction.

Looking at it this way, the probability is absolutely perfect!

Even Liu Che had never seen such a strange person, and what Liu Tan discovered were not ordinary mineral deposits. They were a gold mine and a copper mine, both of which were money. It can be said that these two mines alone were enough to make Liu Tan rich enough to rival a country.

This wealth that is as rich as to rival a country is compared to the richest vassal state in the Han Dynasty, and it is the wealth of the vassal kings plus the taxes of the vassal states added together!

After reading the letter, Liu Che chuckled and said, "There's no need to worry about him going hungry."

Liu Ju looked up at Liu Che with a complicated expression: "Father, my brother said Huo Guang had him enclose dozens of plots of land in preparation for building a palace."

Liu Che was drinking honey water at that time, and he almost spit out the water when he heard this.

Bu Fan quickly took a handkerchief and went over to help Liu Che wipe it. After everything was done, Liu Che laughed and said, "What does Huo Guang take Tan'er for?"

Liu Ju hesitated for a moment before whispering, "Father, if we can find something else this time..."

Liu Che originally wanted to say it was unlikely, but after reading the letter, he felt it was difficult to say. In the end, he simply did not comment on the matter. He just knocked on the table and said, "Let's postpone the previous edict for a while."

Liu Ju was slightly stunned, and then realized that Liu Che was talking about the previous decree that decided to take back the coinage rights of the vassal states and return them to the imperial court.

How could Liu Che not see what Liu Tan could see?

Even the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion had sounded the alarm.

But just as Liu Tan thought, it was not so easy to take back the coinage rights all at once. Who knows, the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion might happen again.

Therefore, Liu Che laid the groundwork little by little from the very beginning, or perhaps he experimented little by little to see which method would be more effective.

The first was to reform the nominal value and weight of copper coins, so that the Han people could all implement a unified standard and choose the Sanzhu coin.

However, the three-zhu coin and the four-zhu half-liang coin were of the same weight, and counterfeiting was rampant, so they were not widely used.

Then there was the second implementation of the half-liang coin. However, due to years of war, the national finances were difficult to support, so Emperor Liu Che issued new currencies, namely the white deerskin coins and the three grades of platinum.

However, later on, both coins were abolished and the Wuzhu coin was introduced.

Only then did he slowly begin to understand the trick. This decree was basically the sixth time that Liu Che had taken action on currency.

This time, thanks to the previous preparations, we can basically take back all the coinage rights directly.

Seeing that the imperial edict was about to be issued, Liu Ju was now making final preparations to avoid any mistakes.

However, now that Liu Che has said he will not release it, all the previous work will be wasted.

Liu Ju knew that Liu Che was probably worried that taking the coinage back would delay Liu Tan's coinage. The Northern Border Kingdom was already very poor, and the discovery of a copper mine could give Liu Tan some leeway. Taking back the coinage right right after that might be a huge blow to Liu Tan.

Liu Ju whispered, "Father, my brother... has already mentioned this matter."

As he spoke, he carefully handed over the part where Liu Tan explained that private coinage might not be a good idea.

Liu Che took it and looked at it. He found that although Liu Tan spoke in a tactful way, if you look at the essence of it, you can see that he was almost slamming the table and saying that the country would be destroyed if this continued.

After seeing this, Liu Che said with both pride and anger: "He is very careful!"

Then he looked at Liu Ju again and said, "He is using money to shut you up."