Liu Tan looked at Li Buyan in disbelief and said, "I'm going with you on my own initiative? Are they trying to set me up?"

Li Buyan looked bewildered: "Ah? What kind of honey trap is this?"

Liu Tan coughed lightly and said, "Nothing, just that you were deceived, right?"

Li Buyan immediately smiled and said, "How could that be possible? We immediately confiscated their weapons, and even anything that could be considered a weapon."

Li Buyan tutted his lips and said, "This tribe is really poor. They don't even have any decent weapons. Many people are just holding wooden sticks."

Liu Tan was not surprised. If he had no money, no people, and no weapons, how could he have been squeezed here because of his lack of strength?

But even so, Liu Tan couldn't understand why these people would take the initiative to follow Li Buyan.

He sat there and asked, "What did they...say? Didn't you ask?"

Li Buyan scratched his head and said, "I did ask, but... I don't understand."

Liu Tan almost gasped: "What?"

Li Buyan whispered, "We forgot to bring a guide."

Most guides can speak Xiongnu, so this kind of mistake rarely happens in previous expeditions. However, they didn’t bring it this time.

Liu Tan was shocked: "Are you crazy? You dare not even bring a guide? Aren't you afraid you won't be able to return?"

Li Buyan said honestly, "Isn't there a new map made by His Highness?"

Liu Tan glared. "Even the new maps can't accurately identify directions on the grasslands."

Li Buyan said, "Sure. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. As long as we can confirm the direction, we can come back."

Liu Tan paused and thought that it was true. If he knew how to read a map, he only needed to identify the position of the sun and arrange the new map according to the position. Even if he went astray, as long as the direction was right, he could return from Dunhuang even if he could not return to Shuofang.

Even if they arrived in the Western Regions, they would not have to be afraid. Right now, the Little Wusun led by Lu Xuan was the overlord of the Western Regions. If they really arrived in the Western Regions, it would be safer to meet people from the Little Wusun.

Liu Tan said with some tiredness: "Alright, let's not talk about the guide for now, let's invite the Prime Minister first."

When talking about the latter part, Liu Tan felt a little guilty. He had asked Li Buyan and Wei Buyi to go out before, mainly to find something for them to do. It would be better if they could capture them, but it didn't matter if they couldn't.

Just treat it as training and make them familiar with the grassland environment. Anyway, they will go to the grassland sooner or later. It is better to get familiar with it now than to grope around bit by bit later.

Unexpectedly, the person was brought here within a few days. He didn't know whether Huo Guang would be angry after hearing the news.

When Liu Tan thought about how Huo Guang was so busy every day that he had little time to sleep, and now he had to increase Huo Guang's workload, he suddenly wished he could solve the problem himself.

However, it was impossible for the Huns to get these things from him. Apart from anything else, he had very important minerals there, especially coal and copper. It would be extremely dangerous if the Huns accidentally found his place.

Therefore, the only thing these Huns could do was to build cities or help blacksmiths. They would not be allowed to do any work that really required skills. At most, they would do some repetitive labor.

When Huo Guang was called over, the first thing that came to his mind was what had happened recently.

Then he made sure there were no omissions and recalled the recent news from the palace. He hadn't heard about what Liu Tan was doing.

But the more this happened, the more worried he became. Huo Guang was very experienced in this kind of situation where he was suddenly called over without any accidents happening. This meant that something was happening that was out of his control.

Huo Guang took a deep breath as he walked over there, repeatedly telling himself to stay calm. Their prince had been staying in the palace like a homebody recently, so he probably had no chance to cause any trouble.

However, when he arrived at the main hall, he found that he was still too naive. At this point, there was no need for Liu Tan to go out and do things himself. He could completely command others to do things!

When he saw Liu Tan said with a guilty look on his face, "There are some things I need to tell the Prime Minister," Huo Guang's expression remained calm.

He said calmly, "Your Highness, please tell me what you have to say."

Anyway, he was used to it. However, when he heard Liu Tan say, "A few days ago, I asked Li Buyan and Wei Buyi to lead the troops to patrol near Shuofang City to prevent them from being tricked by Shoujiang City again. They didn't even know the Xiongnu were coming."

Huo Guang nodded. This was not a problem, so he asked, "What then?"

Liu Tan whispered, "Then they stumbled upon a Xiongnu tribe and were brought back by accident."

Huo Guang's vision went dark in an instant. He didn't care about etiquette and pointed at Liu Tan for a long time without saying a word.

Accidentally? How could you be so careless? You brought back an entire tribe. You've really made it!

Liu Tan jumped up in fright, he really jumped up - he was afraid that he would anger Huo Guang to death, then he would be a sinner for all eternity!

Liu Tan rushed over and patted his chest to calm him down while saying, "Prime Minister, calm down. They finished it off very cleanly and neatly. The Xiongnu royal court won't know about it for a while."

Huo Guang became even angrier when he heard this. Such a quick reaction clearly showed that it was organized and premeditated. It was not an accidental encounter at all!

Huo Guang slammed the table angrily and said, "What are you planning to do, Your Highness?"

Didn't we agree not to clash with the Xiongnu for now? We can't fight now. If we do, what will we do with the spring plowing, not to mention building the city?!

Nomadic people just need water and grass, but they don’t!

Liu Tan whispered, "Well... prisoners, wouldn't that be perfect for building a city? Five hundred people isn't a lot, but it's not a small amount either. It can at least help alleviate some of the pain."

Huo Guang's IQ was enough to connect all the events in an instant. He immediately knew that they were probably short of people, and it was not easy to ask the people to stop spring plowing and work. However, building a city was also a very important matter, so he turned his attention to the Huns.

It has to be said that this is indeed a good way to solve the problem, and there is no need to worry about excessive conscription causing dissatisfaction or being targeted by certain people in the court for trouble.

Isn't that what prisoners are for?

Huo Guang took a deep breath and said, "This matter can be done once or twice, but not three times! The Xiongnu royal court is not stupid!"

A tribe of nearly a thousand people was wiped out in an instant. People didn't care at first, but if two more Xiongnu khans came, they would definitely go crazy.

You know, that Chanyu is really a madman!

Liu Tan felt very guilty. He had originally wanted to get more, but now it seemed that it was impossible. He could only respond: "Okay, I will ask them to withdraw these prisoners..."

Huo Guang said helplessly, "I'll ask someone to arrange it, but are you sure there's no problem?"

Li Buyan said, "They cooperated very well and just...followed me directly."

Huo Guang's brows relaxed after hearing this: "I'm afraid there's something wrong within the Xiongnu."

Liu Tan's eyes lit up: "I think so too, then we..."

"We're not doing anything!" Huo Guang's face was stern. "Right now, the main thing is to build the city and do spring plowing. Your Highness, if you really have nothing to do, go play with Gun Gun!"

Liu Tan: ...

Huo Guang stood up and walked away angrily. As he walked, he made another note of Lu Xuan in his mind. Although he didn't know what Lu Xuan wrote, Liu Tan had a sudden idea after reading Lu Xuan's letter. Otherwise, why didn't he think of taking prisoners before?

After Huo Guang left, Li Buyan said dejectedly, "Your Highness, what should we do now?"

Liu Tan pondered, "The Xiongnu won't work. I remember there are quite a few small kingdoms in the Western Regions, right? I'll ask the governor of Dunhuang who has recently invaded Yumen Pass."