Liu Tan leaned back, resting his head on the table and quietly watched the wailing performance of these county governors.

Huo Guang, Jiang Chong and Sang Qian, who came to watch, were dumbfounded.

Not to mention that Jiang Chong and Sang Qian were not of high enough rank to attend court, even if Huo Guang was of high enough rank, he had never seen such a scene at court.

Although there were officials who cried bitterly during court meetings, there would never be more than three people doing so at the same time.

Fighting was quite frequent, and it was a common custom in the court meetings of the Han Dynasty to resort to fighting when one could not win an argument.

Huo Guang quickly came to his senses and looked up at Liu Tan.

I noticed that Liu Tan's expression at this moment looked no different from when he was watching the song and dance.

The people below cried for a long time without receiving any response, and gradually their voices became quieter.

Liu Tan watched them wiping their tears with their sleeves while secretly looking at himself and thought that the tricks used to deal with naughty kids would also be useful against these people.

When their voices gradually died down, Liu Tan placed his hands on the desk and asked, "Have you cried your heart out? Is this place enough for you to cry? If not, how about I have someone open the gates of the county government and we go out to cry?"

As soon as he said this, everyone fell silent and looked at each other, horror in each other's eyes: Good man, this guy won't listen to any tricks or threats.

Liu Tan waited for them to stop and said, "Let's continue. This time, only one person passed the exam, which really disappointed me. You are all high-ranking officials after all. Your father trusted you by appointing you as prefects, but is this how you repay his trust? Do you think that since this place is 1,800 miles from Chang'an, no one can control you? It's really rare to see officials as muddleheaded as you are."

As Liu Tan spoke, he angrily slapped the desk. It turned out that his sword was placed on the desk at that time. He stretched out his hand and slapped the sword. He immediately felt pain in his palm, but he could not show it. He could only pretend that nothing had happened.

However, the county governors kneeling below were frightened when they saw him patting his swords, and they trembled with each pat.

If Liu Tan didn't feel pain in his hand, he would have wanted to claps a few more times just because of their reaction.

Finally, one of the prefects was more sensible and quickly said, "I was negligent in my duties before. I have no complaints about any punishment Your Highness imposes. I only ask Your Highness to give me a chance to atone for my sins."

This person also realized that Liu Tan would not kill them all directly.

After all, even Liu Tan would have a hard time explaining to the court if they were all killed. Moreover, who would work for him if they were all dead?

So the first thing we need to do now is to appease the King of the North. Young people always want to do big things when they first come to power. Let's just let him do it. Can he manage such a large piece of land?

This person reacted faster, and although the others did not react quickly, they soon caught up.

Liu Tan raised his eyebrows and said, "Since you all say so, I am not an unreasonable person. I will give you five days to memorize all the questions on this paper. You will be retested after five days. If you fail again, you will be rejected."

Liu Tan smiled and patted the sword on the desk.

The county governors were horrified: What the hell? Failing the test means death?

They originally thought that they could just fool around this time, but they never expected that Liu Tan would be so ruthless and force them all to endorse it!

I wonder how long it has been since they last memorized their lessons. Suddenly, I feel like I’ve returned to my teenage years.

Originally these people wanted to protest, but when they saw Liu Tan's hand on his sword, they retreated.

Liu Tan was very happy to see them looking at a loss, which helped him to balance his mood. He was really angry at these evil guys before.

He was happy and his tone softened a bit: "Alright, go back and memorize your lessons seriously."

The county governor who had just reacted the fastest asked, "Your Highness, then... the answer..."

If you ask them to recite, they must have the answers.

Liu Tan looked at him gently and asked, "You are the county magistrate and you are asking me for an answer?"

When the others saw him like this, they were instantly scared to death and no longer dared to ask for answers. They prepared to go back and write letters to Jun Cheng, asking them to hand over all the things.

However, after they went out, they suddenly remembered a very important thing: how did His Royal Highness the King of the North have the answer to something that they themselves did not know?

There are only two possibilities: either they are deceiving them, or some of their men have already defected to the King of the North.

As for deploying personnel, it shouldn't be necessary. The King of the North has only been here for a month at most. How could he have time to deploy personnel?

While they were discussing this, someone suddenly said quietly, "Have you ever considered that those people might have been arranged by the imperial court?"

Everyone was silent. After looking at each other, they suddenly felt that the situation was a bit tricky. However, everyone had some small ideas in their minds. After all, they were county magistrates. When they returned, that place would still be their territory. Wouldn’t it be easy to get rid of these people?

But no one said it explicitly, and they all went back to prepare to endorse it with a smile on their face.

The county magistrates who needed endorsements all left, and Liu Tan left Kou Zhengda alone.

Liu Tan looked at Kou Zhengda and asked, "How many years have you been in Dunhuang County?"

Kou Zhengda said, "Twenty years."

Liu Tan asked, "Do you want to move to another place? Xi'an Yang County is already vacant, and I estimate that there may be a few more vacancies in the future."

Kou Zhengda was startled by his words. He looked up and felt very strange.

He looked like a sweet and well-behaved little prince, but how could he be so murderous? He could kill several people with just one word.

Although Kou Zhengda is straightforward, his emotional intelligence is not low. Even if he has something on his mind, he won't say it out loud.

He was silent for a moment. To be honest, although Xi'an Yang County was also on the border, it was much better than Dunhuang County. After all, only the Huns were to the north, and it was close to Shuofang County. If the King of the Northern Territory really wanted to take any action, Xi'an Yang County would definitely benefit.

However, after a moment of silence, Kou Zhengda said in a very strong voice, "I still want to stay in Dunhuang County."

Liu Tan was very interested and asked, "Why?"

Kou Zhengda didn't elaborate on any profound principles, simply saying, "I've been in Dunhuang County for twenty years. I've experienced the ups and downs of those twenty years. Initially, Dunhuang County had a population of just over ten thousand, but now it's close to thirty thousand. I'm a humble servant, but I once boasted that I would raise Dunhuang's population to fifty thousand. Now, that task remains unfinished, I dare not covet wealth and fame."

Liu Tan was filled with awe after hearing this. Not only him, but even Huo Guang couldn't help but feel respect for him.

No matter when, people with clear goals and hard work always have their own unique personal charm.

Although it took Kou Zhengda twenty years to increase the population by about 20,000, everyone knew the situation in Dunhuang. There were wars and conscriptions every year, so it was already very good to be able to achieve this.

Liu Tan asked, "Dunhuang has a unique climate. From what I understand, most of its local specialties are fruits, right?"

Speaking of this, Kou Zhengda's brows were covered with a layer of worry. "Yes, there are Feijiangjun apricots and Feijiangjun peaches, as well as grapes. However... these fruits are not suitable for storage. Planting more is useless."

Liu Tan got a headache when he heard the three words "Flying General" and thought to himself, who would want to eat with such a name?

After all, it is difficult to be a Li Guang, and almost every household in Dunhuang has soldiers. Even if it is a life-threatening job, it represents a little hope. Maybe he can make a name for himself?

This is too unlucky. Liu Tan said, "Let's change the name first, and then... I'll find a way!"

Huo Guang coughed lightly and said, "Your Highness, the transportation cost is too high. Even if it can be transported to Chang'an, it will be useless."

Huo Guang was worried that Liu Tan would suddenly decide to increase transportation efforts, but that would definitely result in losses.

Liu Tan turned to look at Huo Guang: "Prime Minister Huo, I'm afraid you've forgotten what I'm best at."

Huo Guang pondered: "Looking for minerals?"

Liu Tan: ?????

Liu Tan: “Making wine!”