Liu Tan felt a little tired. "Father, if we delay any longer, it will be almost ten months. What if you can't make it to the New Year?"

New Year's Day is a major festival, and usually at this time foreign envoys have already set out for Chang'an. Although those envoys will be received by the Honglu even if they arrive in Chang'an and will not be able to see the emperor at all, it is still different from the emperor not being in Chang'an.

Liu Che said calmly, "Shuofang is not far from Chang'an. Otherwise, why would you have been so worried when Wu Shilu led his troops south? At worst, we can just march back quickly."

Liu Tan asked sincerely, "What exactly are you doing this for?"

Liu Che said, "I just want to see what you can make with sand."

Liu Tan: ...

How should I put it? Every time I wish I could put it back on and strangle myself for talking nonsense.

He choked and said, "But this isn't something that can be done in a day or two. I have a lot of official business to deal with these next two days. And I promised to go ice sledding and ice fishing with you tomorrow."

So the official start will definitely be the day after tomorrow. Of course, he doesn't have to do the burning of the glass himself, but he must ensure that the craftsmen can find him at any time if there is any problem, and he can even go over to check the situation at any time.

This means that he needs to set aside at least one or two days to do this.

Liu Che said very straightforwardly: "You go now."

Liu Tan took a deep breath, resisting the urge to curse the emperor. He said in a gentle voice, "Father, I haven't dealt with anything in a long time..."

Liu Che said calmly: "Bring the documents here, I will handle it for you."

Liu Tan: Holy crap!

Huo Guang: =口=!

The two of them exchanged glances. Liu Tan suppressed his shock and said, "This... Your Majesty came to your son's place to relax. How can you let Your Majesty do this for your son..."

Liu Che's patience ran out: "Stop talking nonsense! Can you tire me out with just that little stuff of yours?"

The situation Liu Tan is facing now is a bit difficult, but these difficulties are more about foreign enemies and money.

It is conservatively estimated that the Huns should be able to behave themselves for a while now. The only problem left is money, which cannot be solved in a short time and can only be dealt with slowly. Therefore, even if things are dealt with, most of them are trivial issues.

It was no big deal for Liu Che at all. Not to mention him now, even he could handle it smoothly back then.

You have to know that Liu Che succeeded to the throne at a young age. At that time, he was faced with powerful old ministers, covetous princes, and the empress dowager who tried to control him. As for his relatives, they were all on the empress dowager's side.

In this situation, he took care of them all. At that time, he was about the same age as Liu Tan.

Liu Tan choked, then turned and ordered, "Tell Zhu Shanfu to bring the sorted documents over."

Then he turned to Liu Che and said, "I will keep Zhu Shanfu by my side and ask him to sort the documents first. If your Majesty is not satisfied with his work, please replace him."

Zhu Shanfu is a novice, and Emperor Wu of Han may not be willing to bring such a novice with him. It would be better for Emperor Wu of Han to replace him.

As for whether the Northern Border Kingdom's political affairs would be remembered, that was fine. Liu Che had seen it all, so what if they remembered it? Could they still distort the truth in front of his father?

Liu Che nodded, and soon Zhu Shanfu came over with a pile of documents. Liu Tan saw that he was a little dizzy when he walked, and guessed that his mind might not be very clear. He really couldn't bear to look at him.

Actually, it was not Zhu Shanfu's fault. Being able to stay with the King of the Northern Territory had already made him feel like a dream. Now someone suddenly told him that he had to assist the emperor in handling the affairs of the Northern Territory. As for His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory... he was sent by the emperor to do other things.

Zhu Shanfu was completely stunned, so stunned that he even forgot about his nervousness and excitement. After arriving at the hall, he saluted silently, unable to utter a word.

He never dared to dream of such a scene even in his dreams.

Liu Tan was worried about Zhu Shanfu, so he glanced at Huo Guang, who nodded to indicate that he would stay.

Of course, they did not doubt Liu Che's ability, but Liu Che might not be too familiar with the current situation of the Northern Border Kingdom. In order to prevent His Majesty the Emperor from treating the Northern Border Kingdom as the center of the Han Dynasty, especially treating the Northern Border Kingdom's treasury as the Han Dynasty's treasury, Huo Guang had to stay and give some reminders.

Liu Tan was a little worried but still said, "Then... I will go and check on the sand."

Liu Che waved his hand impatiently and said, "Go quickly."

Liu Tan had no choice but to lead his men out. Halfway through the journey, he felt a little suffocated and simply asked someone to call Lu Xuan over.

These past few days, apart from the time we spent shopping together with Lu Xuan that day, we were basically separated from each other for the rest of the time.

It's a headache that two people clearly live in the same city but act like they are living in two different places.

Lu Xuan was obviously happy. When he saw Liu Tan, there was a smile on the corners of his eyes and brows. Liu Tan couldn't help but smile when he saw him like this.

Lu Xuan came over and asked, "Don't you need to accompany His Majesty today?"

Liu Tan suddenly felt a little guilty. It seemed inappropriate to leave her boyfriend aside when her old father came.

He said, "Well, my father is helping me with official business."

The smile on Lu Xuan's face paused, then slowly turned into confusion: "What?"

Liu Tan had no choice but to explain the glass incident to him, then said bitterly, "Father probably thinks it's a waste of time for me to handle state affairs."

Lu Xuan also asked curiously: "So you are going to make glass now?"

Liu Tan said, "Yes, but I don't actually need to do this myself. I just need to give the order. Who knows my father... Never mind, just think of it as a day off. Let's go and take a look."

Lu Xuan readily agreed. Although the place for this date was a little special, considering that he and Liu Tan were rarely together, he decided not to be picky.

Liu Tan took him to the workshop in the palace. At that time, there was a pile of sand in front of the workshop, and the craftsmen had already arrived and were ready to receive orders.

Lu Xuan observed the workshop curiously. It was actually quite ordinary, no different from other small workshops. The only difference was that it was probably cleaner.

But if possible, he believed that countless people would be willing to come and take a look around this workshop - this place can be regarded as the treasure house of the King of the North, and many things come out of here.

After he finished watching, he saw Liu Tan directing people to load sand, and couldn't help but go over and ask, "What is this for?"

Liu Tan said simply: "Burn."

Lu Xuan was in the Western Regions. Although the Wusun Kingdom did not have the technology to make colored glaze, he also knew that colored glaze was fired.

From what Liu Tan said, the glass wasn't much different from colored glaze, so Lu Xuan couldn't help but wonder, "Is glass made from sand?"

Liu Tan hesitated for a moment and said, "I guess so, but it may not succeed."

Lu Xuan asked, "Why?"

Liu Tan said, "You need to add something. If you don't, it won't cook."

Although Liu Tan didn't know whether pure burning sand would work, he decided not to take the risk.

Lu Xuan nodded after hearing this, and then tactfully walked aside.

Liu Tan would definitely involve some recipes in the process of giving orders. Although he and Liu Tan were close, Xiao Wusun and the Han Dynasty, or Xiao Wusun and the Northern Border Kingdom, still had to divide themselves for the time being.

Liu Tan didn't notice him leaving. He was worried at the moment - although he knew that alkali and quicklime should be added during the burning process, he still had the same problem, he didn't know what proportion to add!

Originally, he wanted to ask if anyone knew how to burn colored glass, hoping to learn from others. However, the unfortunate result was that there might not be anyone in the entire Northern Territory who knew how to burn colored glass - no one had ever thought that sand could be used to burn colored glass, and burning colored glass required a lot of fuel. In the past, when there was no coal, the fuel was firewood, which the Northern Territory lacked, and colored glass was not easy to burn.

Wan - if the quality of the products is not good, not only will you not make money, but you will lose money, so naturally fewer people are willing to do it.

Because of this, colored glaze is extremely precious in the Han Dynasty, much more precious than gold and jade. Except for the royal family, or more precisely, except for the princes and above, no one else is qualified to use it.

Liu Tan rubbed his head, thought for a moment and said, "Let's try a little."

Anyway, Li Buyan was generous enough and gave the sand in piles as if it were free.

Oh, yes, these sands are indeed free for Li Buyan.

After Liu Tan finished giving the order, he turned around to talk to Lu Xuan, but found that Lu Xuan was not around. He looked again and found that he had gone for a stroll nearby.

After a moment of surprise, Liu Tan finally understood what Lu Xuan meant and couldn't help but laugh. However, he didn't expose Lu Xuan. He simply walked over and said, "Let's go to the front hall and eat some fruit while we wait."

It takes time to make glass, and Liu Tan just let these craftsmen do it freely and let them try different proportions, so there may not be any results in a short time, and it may not even be ready by dinner time.

Anyway, his father does his work, so he might as well just spend some time alone with Lu Xuan.

Of course Lu Xuan would not refuse, and followed Liu to a palace that was not remote, but very deserted.

Lu Xuan walked in, took a look, and said, "This place... should be built for the future crown prince, right?"

It is located right in the east, almost the same location as the Prince's Palace in the Weiyang Palace.

Liu Tan thought he was thinking of somewhere else, so he said casually, "Yes, palaces all over the world are pretty much like this. It's a pity that this house is probably uninhabited."

Lu Xuan walked over to him, sat down, and said with a smile, "That's not certain."

Liu Tan frowned slightly. What he had meant just now was that he would not get married and asked Lu Xuan not to worry too much. However, just as he turned around to express his dissatisfaction, he saw Lu Xuan's eyes looking at his belly with ill intent.

Liu Tan: ???

He threw the hand warmer in his hand over and said angrily, "What are you looking at? Men can't have children!"

Lu Xuan teased him: "That's not necessarily true. You are a deity who has descended to earth. Isn't it said that deities can do anything?"

Liu Tan was immediately enraged and turned around to push Lu Xuan hard. Lu Xuan didn't argue and simply lay down on the mat. Then, Liu Tan turned over and straddled him fiercely, saying, "I can't give birth, but gods can make mortals give birth. Do you want to try?"

Lu Xuan held onto his waist and was about to say something when Miao Rui, who had been pretending not to exist, walked over quickly. He coughed twice and said, "Your Highness, the Emperor has arrived."

Liu Tan was suddenly startled, and when he turned around he saw his father standing under the eaves, staring at him with a bad face.