Liu Tan single-handedly made everyone present begin to doubt whether they were illiterate.

He waited for a long time but no one asked him anything. He couldn't help but feel a little strange for a moment: "What's wrong? Don't you have anything you want to ask?"

This city is different from Chang'an, or any other city in the Han Dynasty now, right?

How come you don't look surprised at all?

Liu Tan was originally full of confidence and prepared to face everyone's surprised looks, but the result was different from what he imagined.

Huo Guang coughed lightly and asked, "This word... is it pronounced as 'fang'? What does it mean?"

Liu Tan was stunned. He looked down at the word and thought about it carefully. It seemed that he had never seen anyone use this word in daily life or in the documents he had read.

So this is... this word hasn't appeared yet?

Liu Tan's mouth twitched awkwardly as he said, "Ah, this means alley or street market."

With this explanation, everyone understood a little more. Looking down, Jiang Chong asked, "What is this square used for?"

Is the purpose of dividing the land into pieces to keep people under surveillance? This was everyone's first reaction.

Liu Tan explained in detail: "Look at this picture. There are roads connecting the wards, and each ward has a gate. These gates are open during the day, but after curfew, these gates will be closed, while the wards remain the same. There is no curfew."

"What?" Everyone was surprised: "No curfew?"

Liu Tan nodded. "That's right. After this division, the guards only need to patrol these main roads. As for the inner districts, each district has its own headman, and the headman also has people under him to maintain law and order."

After Liu Tan finished explaining, Li Buyan looked around, poked Wei Buyi, and whispered, "Do you understand?"

Wei Buyi looked at him in confusion and shook his head.

At this moment, Huo Guang suddenly spoke up and said, "Great! This way, even if someone wants to do something bad at night, the harm will only be limited to the neighborhood. There's no need to worry during the day."

Liu Tan nodded and said, "This will actually be beneficial to the city's security."

Jiang Chong was silent for a while before asking, "Your Highness, are these small squares the houses you drew?"

Liu Tan nodded: "That's right, except for the East and West Markets which are markets, the other districts are places to live."

Jiang Chong asked a heartbreaking question: "Your Highness, there are so many houses, but we don't have enough people to live there."

Liu Tan: ...

Why is this guy bringing up things that are not related to the topic?

Huo Guang, who was standing by, suppressed a smile and said, "Since Your Highness has no intention of moving the capital, then Shuofang City will be the royal capital. In the future, Shuofang City will naturally be crowded with people, so there's no need to worry about having too many houses."

Liu Tan said angrily, "Who said we have to live here? Most of these street-facing areas are shops, and besides the East and West Markets, the other districts also need dedicated commercial locations!"

Liu Tan casually swiped on the map, and everyone looked at each other, feeling that this... was not very reliable.

In Shuofang City today, people are lucky to have enough to eat. How can there be so many people doing business? Even if they do trade, it is mostly barter.

Liu Tan knew what they were thinking from their expressions, and he couldn't help but say with deep sorrow, "Everyone should take a long-term view. Look at Chang'an now. Even if Shuofang City can't be built to the same level as Chang'an, it should at least look like a royal capital, right?"

Huo Guang opened his mouth and said, "But Your Highness... your plan is only slightly inferior to Chang'an."

Yes, what confuses everyone is not Liu Tan’s plan. The concept of Fang is very good. It can give everyone more freedom and at the same time ensure public security. At least the royal palace and the residence of the nobles are protected.

But this picture... it looks like the city is very large. Where do they get the money?

Liu Tan waved his hand and said, "Isn't that not as big as Chang'an? Everyone should have ambition. The capital of the Northern Border Kingdom should stand out with grandeur!"

Everyone: Okay, you are the boss, do whatever you want.

Huo Guang said solemnly, "How long will it take to complete such a large project?"

Liu Tan looked up and said, "With the presence of cement, it should be much easier."

Jiang Chong rubbed his hands and said, "Your Highness, I'm not suspicious of anything. I just think... although cement is good, it might not be suitable for building a city wall."

Liu Tan glanced at him and smiled: "I know what you are thinking, and I will make it appropriate."

Huo Guang asked, "How did it change?"

Liu Tan said decisively: "Rebar!"

Everyone was confused: "Steel... steel bars?"

They had just come into contact with the concept of steel, and it was only after Liu Tan created the Hundred-Refined Steel that they learned about it.

It has to be said that the Hundred Refined Steel is indeed very sharp. Li Buyan and Wei Buyi are almost crying with greed. Not to mention them, even people like Huo Guang and Jiang Chong want it very much.

Nowadays, men usually wear swords as decorations, but even if it is just for decoration, everyone wants good ones.

Unfortunately, only the emperor and the prince have them now. The emperor has a sword and the prince has a dagger. Nothing else, not even Liu Tan has one!

Therefore, it is generally recognized that steel is more precious than any kind of broken evil gold. The preciousness of broken evil gold is entirely due to Liu Tan's control of production and hype.

But the output of steel is really low.

Liu Tan said: "Think of the steel bars as the skeleton of an animal. With the steel bars supporting it, the cement and bricks will be stronger and will be very difficult to break through."

Reinforced cement concrete, and then widened and thickened the city wall, the Huns were able to break his city wall, and he had the same surname as the Huns king!

Do you really think that he went to so much trouble to make the Hundred-Refined Steel just to show off to Liu Che and Liu Ju?

Hey, wait, do the Huns have surnames?

Li Buyan wondered, "If it's a skeleton, why not call it steel bones but steel bars?"

Liu Tan choked. How could he know why it was called steel bar? Wasn't that just a name he was used to calling it?

This naughty kid... Liu Tan slapped him on the back of the head: "You're the only one who talks too much!"

Li Buyan scratched his head, not knowing where he had said wrong again.

Jiang Chong asked, "But Your Highness, if Hundred-Tempering Steel is so hard to come by, then reinforcing steel must be equally difficult to come by, right? The city wall project is massive, can you handle it?"

Liu Tan said calmly, "There's no need to rush the city walls. Let's build the inner city first."

"What?" Everyone said almost in unison.

Wei Buyi was a little impatient: "Your Highness, this... this has no city walls. Even if the inner city is built, what if the Xiongnu..."

He didn't continue. According to the current situation, the Huns would still come.

Liu Tan said, "While I'm here, the Xiongnu dare not come. Otherwise, why is it that Shuofang City was destroyed, but the royal palace was not affected at all?"

Doesn't that mean the Xiongnu don't want to confront Liu Tan head-on? It's just that Shuofang City was destroyed, so Liu Tan might be busy settling the people first and hold back for now.

But if Shuofang City and the palace were destroyed together, and the King of the North went mad, it would be really unpredictable.

After Liu Tan finished speaking, he sneered and added, "What's more, Gongsun Ao dares to let the Xiongnu come again and try."

Seeing that they couldn't convince him, everyone simply stopped talking and said nothing else. Liu Tan had the final say anyway.

Liu Tan added, "By the way, all the land belonging to the people within the city will be purchased by the court. In addition to the normal land price, we will also provide a subsidy and promise that they will be eligible to buy houses after the city is built. As for the land, we will also discuss a purchase agreement for occupied arable land. We will then send people to survey areas suitable for reclamation and allow them to go there. We will also be exempt from taxes for three years."

Huo Guang listened and took notes. When he finished, Jiang Chong, noticing that he hadn't spoken, could not help but say, "Your Highness, I'm afraid the national treasury is unable to support such a huge expenditure."

Liu Tan snapped his fingers and said, "Miao Rui, go back and give the account of the honeycomb coal sold in Chang'an to the general manager, and then pay the tax. Not a single copper coin will be shortchanged."

Miao Rui immediately stepped forward and replied, "Yes, Your Highness, rest assured, I will see to it."

Jiang Chong was stunned for a moment, then hesitantly said, "Even if I pay taxes on those honeycomb coals..."

Liu Tan laughed: "Do you know how much each of my honeycomb coals sells for?"