Liu Tan looked at Liu Che in confusion: "Ah?"

What chess?

He just wanted to tell Liu Che that these people were selected by him, and they would be grateful for his kindness in the future, so they would be loyal even if they were in the northern border country.

Before, Liu Tan was worried that his high-profile examination and selection would cause trouble for someone.

At first glance, this method is definitely much better than the previous method of selecting filial and honest people.

But this also brings a hidden danger - will the imperial court think that the Northern Border Kingdom is ambitious?

After all, this is an elite regiment and has an imperial examination system, so it looks different from other vassal states.

Fortunately, it was during the Han Wu Dynasty, and Liu Tan only had to deal with Liu Che. As long as Liu Che trusted him, there was no need to worry about anyone else.

But what Liu Che realized seemed to be different from what he thought?

Liu Che looked at Liu Tan's confused expression and realized that Liu Tan said all this just to show his loyalty and to emphasize that he had no ulterior motives, and he had no other thoughts at all.

Fools have their own luck, Liu Che thought, his son had hit the jackpot by accident.

Nowadays, the trend of mutual assistance among fellow townsmen in the Han Dynasty court is becoming more and more intense. Not to mention Zhu Maichen and Zhang Tang, people who were eventually implicated were all their fellow townsmen and accomplices.

This made Liu Che a little annoyed. He had always been decisive in killing people, but no matter how decisive he was, he couldn't help but feel a headache when he thought that killing one person might implicate a group of people. Every time this happened, he felt that these ministers didn't take him, the emperor, seriously at all.

If Liu Tan's method is used, not only can talents be screened out more quickly, but the trend of forming cliques among fellow townsmen can also be broken.

Seeing Liu Tan's confused look, Liu Che couldn't help but pat him on the head and said, "Don't think too much, you won't understand it anyway."

Liu Tan: So angry!

Why can't he figure it out?

After the meal, fifteen test papers had been selected, so Liu Che went to take a nap while Liu Tan went to look at the test papers.

He had to select ten before Liu Che woke up.

When he saw these papers, he took a quick glance at them and had an idea in his mind.

As long as Liu Che didn't mind, Zhu Shanfu would have won at the starting line just by looking at the paper.

There is no way. Most of the scholars in the Northern Border Country come from poor backgrounds. Their so-called good family conditions may not even be considered a well-off family in Chang'an.

Who would stay in a place with real money? In those days, aristocratic families had not yet formed. There were clans, but most of them were not very influential.

Liu Tan took Zhu Shanfu's paper and took a look at it. He couldn't help but feel a little surprised. He never expected that the point Zhu Shanfu chose to solve the problem was Wusun.

However, it is not surprising. Among the countries in the Western Regions, only Wusun and Loulan are relatively powerful, and the rest are Khotan and Sindhu.

The Wusun split into Big Wusun and Small Wusun, and Zhu Shanfu saw this as an opportunity.

It seemed that he had also studied the ecology of the Western Regions. He knew that although the Little Wusun had been independent for a relatively short time, it had a tendency to rise. In particular, the Little Wusun's Kunmi had a sharp eye and acted decisively without any delay. Unlike the Great Wusun, he did not waver and directly defected to the Han Dynasty. In this way, the Little Wusun no longer had to worry about threats from the east, and could boldly stir up a bloody storm in the Western Regions.

In Zhu Shanfu's eyes, compared with others, Kunmi of Xiao Wusun is the most dangerous one. In his opinion, he should first let Xiao Wusun compete with the countries in the Western Regions, and then secretly support Da Wusun. It would be even better if he could support the son of Princess Danyang to ascend to the throne.

Zhu Shanfu wrote on the test paper: The Little Wusun has been at war for years and seems strong, but it won't last long. If this continues, it will inevitably become weak inside. When the time comes, we won't give it a chance to recuperate. We will take advantage of its unpreparedness to support the Big Wusun and eliminate it. We will then send troops to bring the Big Wusun under our command. From then on, the Western Regions will fall into the hands of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Tan laughed as he watched, and Zhu Shanfu thought it was a little simpler.

However, considering his growing environment and experience, it was not easy for him to think of this. After all, information was not smooth in those days. It was not easy for him to know that Xiao Wusun had defected to the Han Dynasty. More Han people might not even know what Xiao Wusun was.

Although this strategy is simple, it is vicious.

He put Zhu Shanfu's test paper aside, and considered it passed.

Well, he was a fair examiner. Even if Lu Xuan was here, he would give this test paper a high score.

After looking at Zhu Shanfu's test paper, the test papers of others seemed even more immature.

In the end, Liu Tan picked and chose and reluctantly selected ten. Ten of them sighed sadly, wondering if showing these test papers to Liu Che would make him feel that it was a waste of time.

Just when he finished reading, Liu Che had already woken up.

Liu Tan brought the test paper over and said, "Father, I have just read through the test paper."

Liu Che asked, "Oh? You look dissatisfied?"

Liu Tan nodded seriously and said, "If I really have to choose, only Zhu Shanfu is okay. The others... are just barely okay. Not as good as Zhu Shanfu, and naturally not as good as the others."

Liu Che asked, "Who are you talking about by 'other person'?"

Liu Tan tilted his head and said, "Just... Huo Guang, Sang Qian, the Minister of Agriculture and others."

Liu Che laughed and scolded: "These people you are talking about have been influenced by their surroundings for a long time, so naturally they are not comparable to ordinary people. If the candidates here can compare with them, they must be born as monsters."

Liu Tan thought about it and agreed. Perhaps being around these people for a long time had broadened his vision. If he used other standards to measure these people, they would definitely be far from the standard. But how could he find ready-made manpower so easily?

It was incredibly lucky for him to have picked up a Huo Guang.

Liu Tan put the test paper on Liu Che's desk with a smile.

After Liu Che looked at Zhu Shanfu's paper, he looked up at Liu Tan with a half-smile and asked, "Do you think he wrote well?"

Liu Tan said calmly, "That's right. If Lu Xuan had someone whose intentions of allegiance weren't so obvious, I would do the same."

Liu Tan knew very well that Lu Xuan's current choice was actually influenced by his emotions. Anyone else would definitely not do the same. Even if they yearned for the culture and technology of the Han Dynasty, they would not really submit to it.

But it was also because of this that Liu Tan never doubted Lu Xuan after he made his promise. If it were someone else, Liu Tan would have to make preparations for both scenarios.

Of course, Liu Tan would not adopt Zhu Shanfu's opinion, but the talent that Zhu Shanfu revealed through this incident was what he needed.

After hearing this, Liu Che did not comment and put Zhu Shanfu's paper aside. Seeing him like this, Liu Tan probably knew that Zhu Shanfu had passed the test in Liu Che's eyes.

Liu Che glanced at the remaining test papers, then looked up at Liu Tan and asked, "Do you think they are not as good as Zhu Shanfu?"

Liu Tan nodded.

Liu Che smiled and said, "I don't think so."

Liu Tan: "Ah?"