Liu Tan had never expected Huo Guang to think this way, but after thinking about it, he found that it seemed to be true, and quickly said, "This should also be reported to the court under the tax items!"

Huo Guang shook his head and said, "No."

Liu Tan said earnestly: "Prime Minister, the Han treasury is not very rich now, so let's not fleece the treasury!"

If he wasn't worried about the lack of funds in the national treasury and that he would be short of money to do anything in the future, why would he be so active in paying taxes?

As a prince, he has ten thousand ways to avoid taxes!

Huo Guang looked at Liu Tan expressionlessly: "Does Your Highness think that I am a parasite of the court?"

Liu Tan fell silent immediately, looking at Huo Guang and not daring to say anything, he could only complain in his heart.

Huo Guang probably guessed what he was thinking, so he sighed and said, "Your Highness, believe it or not, if property fees are considered taxes, once they are reported, other vassal states will surely follow suit. I know Your Highness wants to reduce taxes, but others won't."

Liu Tan was shocked when he heard this. Oh, yes, he almost forgot about this matter.

Sometimes, exorbitant taxes and levies are not set by the imperial court, but are closely related to local conditions. Even if the imperial court imposes restrictions, some people will collect taxes in advance, and some will even collect taxes twenty years later.

Liu Tan said with some concern: "Then... even if we don't report it, if they find out, will it..."

Huo Guang said, "As long as Your Highness doesn't mention it when His Majesty comes, and he only stays in Shuofang, there's no need to worry. If the capital of the Northern Border becomes like Shuofang City in the future, then... there's nothing we can do about it."

Even Liu Che might not be able to do much about such matters. All they can manage is the Northern Border Kingdom, and it would be good enough if they can manage the Northern Border Kingdom well.

Liu Tan sighed and said secretly, "It doesn't matter. If other vassal states do the same, we will... welcome everyone to the Northern Border!"

Huo Guang laughed and said, "Your Highness, it's good that you understand. As for other matters..."

Liu Tan said, "That's all. Well, for the palace, I'll list the requirements, and you can have someone draw up a map."

Huo Guang said, "Okay."

Liu Tan picked up his pen and muttered as he wrote, "First, we need to be close to mountains and water. Well, we don't have many mountains here, so how about... let's build a mountain."

Huo Guang: "Your Highness, wake up, we are short of manpower."

Liu Tan regretfully gave up the idea and continued, "There must be water, preferably near a relatively calm river, not too close or too far away, with plenty of vegetation around, and not too dry..."

Huo Guang finally couldn't stand it any longer after hearing him nagging like this and said, "Your Highness, would you like me to just carve out a piece of land near Chang'an?"

These requirements are difficult to meet even if you search the entire Northern Kingdom, okay?

Liu Tan said somewhat unhappily, "Penglai is on Father's eastern tour route. Liu Fuling and Liu Bo will definitely let Father go there. They are both by the sea, so the scenery must be beautiful. We can't be too bad. If all else fails, we should build an oasis."

When Huo Guang heard this, he was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He said that Liu Tan was not a wasteful person, so why did he build such an exaggerated palace for the emperor? Was he trying to compete with his brothers?

He had no choice but to coax her, "The conditions in the Northern Territory are not good. Your Majesty knows this, and Your Majesty is also aware of your Highness's filial piety. There is no need to do this."

Liu Tan said helplessly: "Okay, in that case, we don't need them to draw the map, I'll do it."

If there were no specific requirements and he didn't want something luxurious, Liu Tan thought he could do it himself.

He had long wanted a garden like the Humble Administrator's Garden. There were many varieties of plants and trees in the Northern Border Kingdom, which could be changed. As a famous garden that had been passed down through the ages, the layout of the Humble Administrator's Garden should be refreshing to Liu Che.

Huo Guang couldn't stand listening to his mumbling any more, so he turned and left. He still had a lot of things to do, and he felt like he was just starting out in the Northern Border Kingdom. He had no time to waste.

Liu Tan didn't really want to draw the entire Humble Administrator's Garden. What a joke! No matter how good his memory was, he couldn't remember the specific layout of the Humble Administrator's Garden. At most, he would draw the part that he remembered most clearly, and then give it to the craftsmen below to improve.

In his memory, the East Garden mainly consisted of mountains, pools, pavilions and terraces. The mountains were a bit difficult to build, so Liu Tan planned to use rockery instead. Of course, this was just a temporary idea, and whether it would work or not depended on how it was built.

Then there is the West Garden, which is also nestled against the mountains and beside the water, with the water corridors and streams being the most important. As for the layout... because the Humble Administrator's Garden was modified by Emperor Qianlong, according to Qianlong's aesthetic... Liu Tanzhen would rather believe the aesthetic of his craftsmen than him, so the original compact layout had to be changed.

In particular, the Han people originally advocated openness and grandeur, so they only needed to preserve the water corridors and streams.

The middle is the essence of the entire garden. The entire layout is centered on the pool, and pavilions are all built along the water. Some pavilions even emerge directly from the water, which puts a greater test on the building materials.

But he was not afraid, he believed that cement could do it.

Then the main residence is on the south side. Because this is a temporary palace, even if Liu Che brings people with him, he will not bring too many people. The ministers who accompany him certainly cannot live in the temporary palace, but must live in the inn. Therefore, he can compress the functional buildings a lot and arrange more ornamental buildings such as pavilions and waterside pavilions.

Because he was so engrossed in painting, he forgot to look for Lu Xuan.

After Lu Xuan heard that Huo Guang had left, he waited for a long time but Liu Tan didn't show up. He couldn't help but get up to look for Liu Tan. As a result, when he entered the study, he saw him drawing seriously. He had no choice but to quietly find a place to continue reading.

When Liu Tan stretched his neck during a break in drawing, he looked up and saw Lu Xuan sitting beside the bed. The sunlight shone on Lu Xuan's hands, making his slender fingers look even whiter like jade. Liu Tan couldn't help but hold his face and thought that Lu Xuan was perfect in every way, and the perfection just hit his spot.

Lu Xuan felt his gaze and turned to ask, "Are you done?"

Liu Tan shook his head: "Not really, but the rest can be handed over to others. Oh, you come."

Liu Tan asked someone to bring the map over and said, "Can I give this place to you?"

Lu Xuan looked over and found that Liu Tan was pointing at a square closest to the palace and located in the center.

Lu Xuan had also gone out for a walk these past two days and knew that each block covered a large area. He couldn't help but wonder, "Give it to me?"

Liu Tan said as a matter of course: "Yes, you can't always keep the people you bring with you in the posthouse, right? What if your family wants to come visit? We can accommodate quite a few people here."

After hearing this, Lu Xuan teased him, "So that's how it is. I thought you wanted to kick me out."

Liu Tan turned around, hugged his waist and said in a very domineering manner: "How can you kick me out? You are now mine. You can't run away even if you want to. If you dare to run, I will interrupt you!"

Lu Xuan laughed loudly, lowered his head and kissed Liu Tan, but did not refuse his kindness. After all, they both had enough money and could afford to give him a workshop.

Lu Xuan even said, "Shuofang City has a good layout. I'll try to imitate it when I build my own royal city."

Liu Tan was a little surprised: "Isn't your royal city built?"

Lu Xuan said, "That royal city is in the Western Regions. If I can conquer the Xiongnu River in the future, I will definitely build a city there. After all, it's close to you."

In fact, no matter how close it is, it is not as close as Madam Fan City, and there are Junji Mountain and Zhuoxie Mountain in between. But there is no other way, this is the closest place he can find, and Madam Fan City must be left to Liu Tan.

Liu Tan said, "Okay, well, let's talk about this first. I'll leave this block to you. You can build it however you want, but you have to send your own people."

He explained somewhat embarrassedly, "My father is coming, and we need to build a palace for him. There are also many other places that need construction, and we don't have enough manpower."

Lu Xuan murmured, "Not enough manpower? The Xiongnu are quite numerous."

Liu Tan gasped. "We should not provoke the Xiongnu anytime soon, right? Wu Shilu probably won't let the Xiongnu go south of Madam Fan City. If we send troops to provoke that psychopath, we're going to get into trouble."

What Shuofang fears most now is trouble.

Lu Xuan laughed and said, "Who said we should fight? We have other options."

Liu Tan's face was full of questions: "Hmm? What's the solution?"