When Gongshu Can was in Chang'an, he once heard that during the spring hunt, the King of the Northern Territory would simply ride his horse past the iron-eating beasts, and the beasts would all bow their heads. Later, the King of the Northern Territory chose his favorite among these beasts and took him away as a pet.

When this rumor spread in Chang'an City, Gongshu Can did not take it seriously and thought it was an exaggeration.

You have to know that it is an iron-eating beast, a ferocious beast among beasts. How could it bow down when it sees humans?

He had heard before that the King of the North kept an iron-eating beast in captivity, but these days nobles kept all kinds of ferocious beasts just for viewing.

He originally thought that the King of the North captured the iron-eating beast for viewing, but what did he just see?

The iron-eating beast actually let the King of the North rub it, and only hummed without fighting back!

For a moment, Gongshu Can even doubted whether this iron-eating beast was real. However, when the iron-eating beast spit out the skin on the bamboo shoots and looked at him, Gongshu Can suddenly felt a chill all over his body.

Well, this iron-eating beast is not fake.

Liu Tan looked at Gongshu Can, who was standing there very stiffly, as if frightened and didn't dare to speak. He simply stood up, patted the dirt off his body and said, "Let's go to the study and talk."

If Gongshu Can didn't leave now, he would probably be scared to death by the rolling guns.

Although he thinks GunGun is very cute and looks adorable no matter what he does, he doesn't force others to share his opinion.

When GunGun saw Liu Tan was about to leave, he hugged Liu Tan's legs reluctantly: the bipeds hadn't played with him for a long time.

Liu Tan rubbed its head and said, "Be good, your dad has something important to do, I'll play with you later."

GunGun hummed twice, and Liu Tan comforted it for a long time before letting it go.

Gongshu Can waited nearby, barely daring to breathe. After Liu Tan and he had reached the study, he finally said, "Your Highness, the plow you mentioned earlier has been installed."

Liu Tan asked, "How did you do it?"

Gongshu Can immediately took out the blueprint and said, "I've considered what Your Highness said before. I've added a horizontal plate to the bottom of the plow. When we don't need to sow seeds, we insert the plate. When we need to sow seeds, we remove it. The hole at the bottom of the plow isn't very large, so it can sow seeds little by little by just vibrating while it moves. No other mechanism is needed."

After hearing this, Liu Tan asked, "Have you tried it?"

Gongshu Can immediately said, "I've tried it, and there's no major problem."

Liu Tan nodded: "Well, then prepare it. I will use it when I test the plow on the second day of February."

Gongshu Can calculated the time and found that there were only three or four days left. He immediately said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. I will check it carefully when I get back. There will definitely be no mistakes."

Liu Tan nodded, but this time he did not give Gongshu Can too many rewards. He only gave Gongshu Can two pieces of linzhi gold.

However, Gongshu Can was extremely excited after getting the Linzhi Gold.

This is equivalent to recognition from the royal family. These days, very few people can get the Linzhi Gold.

But after his excitement, Gongshu Can placed the Linzhi gold back on Liu Tan's desk and whispered, "Your Highness, I feel ashamed to accept this."

Liu Tan looked at him in surprise: "Why?"

Gongshu Can said seriously, "The Northern Border Plow was designed by Your Highness. Although I have made some improvements along the way, I wouldn't have been able to make it without Your Highness's blueprints. Your Highness has already given me a huge reward, and I'm grateful. But I feel unworthy to accept it again now."

After hearing this, Liu Tan smiled and said, "Okay, I'll keep these two for you. When you come and get them with your own ability."

Liu Tan originally just wanted to motivate Gongshu Can, and at the same time convey a signal: as long as what you make is useful, the king will not be stingy with rewards.

But now that Gongshu Can said this, he also felt that it was a bit inappropriate.

Gongshu Can was so sensible that Liu Tan couldn't ignore him. He turned to Zhu Shanfu, who had been pretending to be mute, and said, "Go and get the Minister of Agriculture."

Zhu Shanfu stood up and repeated what Liu Tan said. After confirming that there was no problem, he went to call Si Nong Lin Xiu over.

When Lin Xiu came in and found that Huo Guang was not there, he couldn't help but feel uneasy, fearing that Liu Tan would ask him to do something difficult. This... without the prime minister here, he couldn't handle it.

After seeing Lin Xiu, Liu Tan asked, "How much money is left in the treasury now?"

Lin Xiu's heart tightened as he said, "It's not much. The Prime Minister said that Your Highness will need to divert water and build a canal later, and that part of the money cannot be touched. What does Your Highness need the money for?"

Liu Tan was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then he reacted: "Yes, it's time to repair the canal. Hmm, how many more are there besides this?"

"The rest is for disaster preparedness. The Prime Minister said that in spring and summer, the Yellow River is prone to changing course or rainfall can easily cause disasters. Although there isn't much rainfall near the capital, the Northern Border Kingdom is vast, and there are other areas that require attention."

After hearing this, Liu Tan asked, "So there's still not much money?"

Lin Xiuxin immediately raised his voice, "There are some, but not much. What is Your Highness going to do?"

Liu Tan said, "Nothing much. I just plan to buy some cows and rent them out for the spring plowing season. I also plan to make a few more plows and rent them out when the time comes."

Lin Xiu felt relieved after hearing this. It was about the spring plowing. He immediately smiled and said, "Your Highness, why do you need us to do it? Why don't you just send someone to buy it?"

This kind of business exists in other places and is quite profitable, but the most important thing is a good reputation. According to Lin Xiu's idea, the King of the Northern Territory can do it himself, and the court does not need to intervene at all.

Liu Tan glanced at him and said, "If I do it myself, I will make money. If the court does it, it will make money. Now the treasury is empty. Can't you think of ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure?"

Lin Xiu was suddenly speechless. Liu Tan glanced at him and said, "Don't leave everything to the Prime Minister. He's doing all of your work, so what are you supposed to do? Do odd jobs? There are plenty of people who can do odd jobs. Go back and write a proposal on increasing revenue and reducing expenditure. If you can't write one, don't blame me for replacing you."

Lin Xiu's heart suddenly tightened. Although he was sent by the court, logically speaking, neither the princes nor the prime minister had the power to appoint or dismiss. The most they could do was to write to Chang'an to make requests. Whether the central government agreed or not was another matter.

But the King of the Northern Territory... is different in the entire Han Dynasty. This person's petition is probably just a formality. As far as Lin Xiu knows, as long as it is proposed by this person, the Supreme Father and son will never disagree. They may even do more. For example, the original normal transfer may result in more charges against him when he returns to Chang'an.

Lin Xiu said with sweat on his forehead, "I will write it when I get back."

Liu Tan nodded and let Lin Xiu go. He was very dissatisfied and felt that he still had to discuss this matter with Huo Guang. The people under him were so lacking in talent that they needed to be further trained.

As he thought about it, he grabbed a piece of blank letter paper and prepared to write a letter to Liu Che.

He still had to tell his father when he got new farm tools.

However, he did not rush to send the letter, but waited until after the second day of February.

Liu Tan originally thought that the so-called trial plowing was just that on the day, he would drive the oxen to the field one or two times to show it off.

As a result, on the 27th day of the first lunar month, Liu Tan received the entire process arrangement for the trial plowing.

The first part was fine, but when Liu Tan saw the second part, he was stunned: Just try plowing, why do you have to sing and dance on the spot?