Liu Tan led his men all the way to the royal palace. At this time, the palace had already taken shape, and it was obvious that construction had not stopped even in winter.

But he didn't say anything about vacation and quality of life. These are things that can only be discussed when one is still alive.

If these laborers do not work in the winter, they may not even have money for the New Year. If they are forced to take a holiday, some of them may starve to death.

Liu Tan didn't see many workers as he walked inside. Jiang Chong said, "The main palace has been built. What's left is the harem and other places. However... they are only built, and the interiors haven't been decorated yet."

After Liu Tan went in, he saw that it was indeed the case. The entire palace was extremely empty, and it would not be an exaggeration to describe it as bare.

As he looked at it, he suddenly laughed. At this moment, he suddenly had the feeling of seeing the unfinished house when it was delivered in later generations.

Jiang Chong and Huo Guang were a little uneasy at his laughter, and they were particularly worried that the King of the Northern Territory would be driven mad by the combined forces of the Xiongnu and Gongsun Ao. Just as they were about to ask cautiously, Liu Tan turned around and said, "Even though we have nothing, it's enough to let everyone go. Please bear with it for the time being. We will immediately build the city."

Jiang Chong and Huo Guang were stunned for a moment and immediately said, "This... I'm afraid it's not good."

Now the only part of the palace that the king can own is the main palace. This is Liu Tan’s territory. How can others be qualified to live here?

Liu Tan also understood their concerns and waved his hand, saying, "Special times call for special treatment. Besides, if you move in, does that mean I'm no longer the King of the North?"

Huo Guang looked up at him and saw Liu Tan calmly saying, "The title of King of the North must be earned by defeating the Xiongnu, not maintained by rigid and inflexible rules."

Huo Guang and Jiang Chong were not surprised at all to hear him say this. They would be surprised if Liu Tan really backed down.

Liu Tan said impatiently, "Alright, stop talking nonsense. I'll give you three days to clean up. Pick any room you want. We'll start work in three days. Oh, and arrange other houses for the other officials in the county government. I see there are some vacant ones built, so let them move in. It's still a bit cold now, so living in tents is fine for a while, but it's not right to stay there for too long."

Jiang Chong was about to say something when Liu Tan stopped him and said, "I told you to stop talking nonsense. If people are freezing, who will work for me? Besides, the tents they vacated can be used by the people first. Go quickly."

Huo Guang also said: "Do as your highness says."

Jiang Chong then went out to give orders.

After he left, Liu Tan said, "In three days... the convoy should be here, right?"

Huo Guang calculated and said, "It should be about the same."

Liu Tan was relieved then. He didn't mark out this time to really give everyone a holiday, but... his things were all in the back!

Not to mention the things originally in the county government, they have all been stolen by the Huns, so it is not an exaggeration to say that he is penniless now.

When Liu Tan thought of this, he couldn't help but cover his chest, feeling so heartbroken that he couldn't breathe.

He didn't put much money into the county government, but... it was still money, so it was a bargain for the Huns!

As he was thinking, he made another note of Gongsun Ao.

Three days later, when the convoy arrived, everyone was shocked. Although they had known the news for a long time, it was still hard to bear to see Shuofang City in such a miserable state.

Liu Tan didn't give everyone a chance to sigh, and quickly asked someone to decorate his room. He had been sleeping on the floor for the past few days, and not only did his back ache from sleeping, but he also had no place to take a shower.

Miao Rui and Bi Gao were both distressed and ordered their eunuchs around in circles, saying at the same time, "Your Highness, this amount of bedding is too little. Let's have some shipped over from Chang'an."

This time, Liu Tan didn't ask for help in wasting time and money. He had to transport bamboo to Gun Gun anyway, so it was just right to do it together.

But before that, he had to write a letter to Beijing.

Write a letter to his father, a letter to his brother, a letter to his mother, and then think of one each for Princess Yangxin and Princess Dangli.

Princess Yangxin told her not to rush to send Wei Deng here because it was not safe here.

Well, because Wei Deng happened to fall ill when Liu Tan was about to leave, he had to wait until he recovered before sending him over.

Princess Dangli was given a warning first, telling her that her place had been robbed by the Huns, so the coal production might be affected, and there might not be enough honeycomb coal available in winter, so she should be mentally prepared.

Huh? Didn't the Xiongnu find the coal mine?

He said he was robbed, so he was robbed!

Of course, I also have to mention to the three ladies that the mine of Broken Evil Gold has also been affected, and the jewelry originally promised to them may not be available, so everyone should not worry.

Cry as miserably as you can, Liu Tan does not underestimate the power of these three ladies at all.

As for writing letters to his father and brother, he didn't have to cry too much. He just had to report the matter truthfully and mention that he would not be going back this winter.

By the way, I can also say to Liu Che: "I promised my father to guard the country's borders. Now that the borders have been breached, I have failed in my duty. Unless the Xiongnu are driven out forever, I will never leave Shuofang City again."

As for Liu Ju, Liu Tan hesitated for a moment, but still asked about Gongsun Ao, and then asked very "confusedly" why the Huns did not attack the surrender city?

After writing these letters, he was basically invincible.

In fact, this matter has nothing to do with him. First of all, he was not in Shuofang City for several months during the New Year. Secondly, he has been named King of the North for less than a year. How could it be his responsibility?

Therefore, the only person who could be held accountable could be Gongsun Ao, but he would be safe and sound.

After Liu Tan finished writing the letter, he gathered everyone together and said, "Well, now that things have happened, there's no point in rushing. Let's build the city first. How many households are there in Shuofang now?"

Huo Guang immediately said, "There are now 17,643 households in Shuofang, including 22,000 males, and 1,212 people over 45 years old."

Liu Tan fell silent for a moment after hearing this. The average life expectancy these days is really... out of more than 20,000 males, only more than 1,000 live to be over 45 years old.

But they just lived to that age. In later generations, people did not retire at this age, but it is not like that now. Huo Guang mentioned this separately to mean that these more than a thousand people have lost their ability to work.

After sighing, he felt that Shuofang City was really miserable. As the capital, even if all the population were added together, it would probably not exceed 50,000.

He had someone spread out the blueprint he'd drawn earlier on the desk and said, "This is something I designed while I was bored on the road. Does anyone have anything to add?"

Everyone looked down and was stunned.

First of all, the palace is located in the west of the royal capital, which completely subverts the existing architectural concept. That’s fine, but what are these square frames for?

Liu Tan looked at everyone's puzzled eyes, smiled and said, "This time I plan to come up with something new, Fang."

"House?" Everyone was puzzled. Doesn't the house already exist?

Liu Tan quickly waved his hand: "It's not that room, it's this word."

After Liu Tan wrote it, Jiang Chong turned to look at Huo Guang and signaled with his eyes: Do you know this word?

Huo Guang was at a loss: Is there such a word?

He looked at Liu Tan's confident expression, then looked down at the word and began to wonder if this word had really appeared somewhere before and he didn't recognize it?