Liu Tan was stunned after hearing this: "Gongsun Ao? He came in person?"

Miao Rui replied, "Yes, he came in person."

Liu Tan laughed and said, "That's strange. I thought he wasn't going to come."

Li Buyan, who was just grinning foolishly, suddenly frowned: "Tell him to go back! What was he doing?"

It’s been almost ten days since Liu Tan came back, and he’s just come here?

Liu Tan patted his shoulder and said, "Alright, all of you go back to your duties. Let General Gongsun come in."

Huo Guang frowned slightly: "Your Highness, this man is so arrogant..."

Liu Tan raised his hand and said, "Even for the sake of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, I must meet him."

When Liu Tan mentioned the prince, Huo Guang suddenly stopped talking.

Although he now wholeheartedly assists Liu Tan, he still has a bias towards the prince. At the same time, he increasingly dislikes Gongsun Ao and decides to go back and write a letter to the prince.

The prince is a good prince, but having such a person who holds him back is not a good thing.

Liu Che looked at Gongsun Ao differently because he had saved Wei Qing, and Gongsun Ao had always stood on the side of the prince. However, if he was not worthy of being reused, it would also affect the prince's impression in the emperor's mind.

Huo Guang thought about this as he led his men out.

When he walked out, he happened to meet Gongsun Ao.

Gongsun Ao had a very good attitude towards Huo Guang. He was of the same generation as Wei Qing, and when he looked at Huo Guang he also treated him as a junior.

However, Huo Guang had grown up beside Emperor Wu of Han, so Gongsun Ao did not dare to act like an elder to him. He just smiled and said hello: "A Guang is here too."

Huo Guang nodded to Gongsun Ao and said, "Your Highness is inside. General Gongsun, please don't keep him waiting any longer."

Gongsun Ao heard the warning in Huo Guang's words and broke out in a cold sweat. He smiled awkwardly and said, "I'll go right away. I won't say any more to A Guang."

Huo Guang narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Gongsun Ao's back. Jiang Chong, who was standing beside him, said in surprise, "Has Gongsun Ao changed his personality?"

Huo Guang sneered: "I think he is only now feeling afraid."

As for the reason for fear, there is no need to think about it, it is either the emperor or the prince.

Huo Guang's guess was absolutely correct. After Liu Tan's letter arrived in Chang'an, both Liu Che and Liu Ju read it.

When Liu Che saw that Shuofang City was destroyed, he felt dizzy. He was relieved only when he saw the date that it was after the twelfth month of last year.

Liu Tan only realized later that there was something wrong with Gongsun Ao, but Liu Che discovered the problem at that time.

He built the Surrender City in order to push the front line with the Huns forward. If building the Surrender City would still allow the Huns to plunder Shuofang, then what was the purpose of building the Surrender City?

Liu Che was immediately furious and turned to Liu Chuan and said, "Write a letter to Gongsun Ao and ask him if he wants to rebel?!"

Liu Ju was furious and anxious, and hurriedly said, "Father, the most urgent thing is to let my brother come back first! If the Xiongnu can go to Shuofang once, they can go a second time!"

Liu Che waved his hand: "Even if you ask him to come back now, he won't come back."

When Liu Tan left, he said "The king is responsible for the country and the prince guards the national border" with great force. Now that he is really needed to guard the national border, should he be asked to come back?

If this happened to Liu Che's other sons, such as Liu Dan, Liu Bo, and Liu Fuling, Liu Che had no doubt that they would come back immediately.

However, Liu Tan would definitely not agree. Just look at how Liu Che had clearly sent people to welcome him into the pass, but he insisted on bringing people to fight back. It shows that this guy has a bad temper.

After suffering such a great loss, he would not be himself if he didn't take revenge!

Liu Ju also quickly reacted and said worriedly, "But...if the Xiongnu come again..."

Liu Che gnashed his teeth and said, "Go tell Gongsun Ao that if the Xiongnu dares to appear within fifty miles of Shuofang City again, bring him back with his head!"

Liu Ju immediately said, "Yes!"

To be honest, he had this idea originally, but he couldn't say it without Liu Che's permission, and the prince couldn't threaten important officials of the court!

Now that Liu Che had spoken, Liu Ju felt relieved.

After instructing Liu Ju to write a letter to Gongsun Ao, Liu Che turned around and said, "Please ask the Minister of Agriculture to come."

Sang Hongyang was originally slacking off in his Minister of Agriculture's Mansion, but was called into the palace by Emperor Wu of Han. When he entered the palace, he was a little puzzled: What happened?

However, Liu Che did not answer his questions. Instead, he asked a series of questions: "How was the tax revenue last year? How are the granary reserves in various places?"

As the Minister of Agriculture, Sang Hongyang had never neglected his duties, and he was familiar with these data. However, he was puzzled when he heard these questions. Why did the emperor suddenly think of asking this?

After he finished answering, he suddenly realized: Could it be that the emperor wants to go to war again?

Liu Ju on the side was very sure that his father wanted to beat the Huns. He said that Gongsun Ao had made such a big mistake, why did his father only let him write a letter to warn him instead of issuing an imperial edict to scold him? It turned out that his father was waiting here.

However, everyone's speculation was just speculation, and Liu Che did not say that he really wanted to fight after asking.

Although Liu Che was furious, he and Liu Tan both felt that now was not a good time.

It is spring farming season now. If we start a war now, it means that all the laborers will go to fight, and this year's harvest will be affected. This impact will not only affect tax revenue, but also the survival of the people.

Therefore, even Liu Che would not provoke a war at this time. He would only make intensive preparations and send troops to fight the Huns when the time was right.

After Liu Ju finished writing the letter scolding Gongsun Ao, he hesitated for a moment and whispered, "Father, Gongsun Ao is not a good general. It would be better to let him come back."

He was not sure why Gongsun Ao ignored the invading Huns, but it was certain that he had neglected his duty. Thinking about Gongsun Ao's battle record, it was worrying to continue sending him there.

As for the other idea, he suppressed it firmly in his mind and dared not think about it any more.

Liu Che glanced at him and said, "Don't think too much. Tan'er's indifference shows that he knows what's going on."

Liu Ju pursed his lips. His thoughts were exposed. He instantly wanted to throw out all these people who were holding him back, including Liu Qumao and Gongsun Ao.

These two people are doing things under the banner of doing good for him. Liu Qumao is fine, he has ulterior motives from the beginning, and Gongsun Ao... he means well but ends up with bad results!

However, the concept that royal brothers are rivals has been left behind since the founding of the Han Dynasty. Probably no one has really thought that a powerful prince can be friendly and respectful to the crown prince.

Liu Ju was a little depressed. The previous letter had already been sent, so he had to go back and write another letter to scold Gongsun Ao for acting on his own.

Then he heard that Gongsun Ao had not even paid him a visit after his brother returned to Shuofang City, which made him even more furious. He wrote another letter to scold Gongsun Ao.

Gongsun Ao was dizzy and scolded by the three consecutive letters from the prince. What made him even more afraid was the prince's attitude and the attitude of the emperor revealed by it.

So Gongsun Ao didn't dare to be negligent any longer and came over in a hurry to apologize.

Gongsun Ao apologized profusely when he saw Liu Tan. Liu Tan smiled on the surface but sneered inwardly. Is he scared now? What had he been doing before?

Although Gongsun Ao was not good at fighting, he had been in the court for many years. He knew that an apology alone would not calm Liu Tan's anger, so he said, "Your Highness, this was my mistake, but the Xiongnu also came too suddenly. If it was the Left Grand Commandant who came, we would not have been able to miss the news. But this time, the person was said to have been sent by Wu Shilu, and not many people on the Xiongnu side knew about it before he came!"

Zuo Da Duwei and Wu Shilu?

Liu Tan suddenly remembered something: "Before, the Left Grand Commandant had conspired with us to execute Wu Shilu. Only after the Emperor agreed did we build Shoujiang City to deal with Wu Shilu. How come Wu Shilu is still alive now?"