Huo Guang was relieved when he heard that Liu Tan was going to start working on digging a canal. As long as his prince didn't do anything weird again, it would be fine.

Although he was able to come up with interesting stuff every time, the problem was that there were too many derivative problems that followed.

He didn't object to Liu Tan's efforts, he just hoped that His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory would take it slowly, otherwise he wouldn't be able to bear it.

Every time Huo Guang came, he would be given a new task. Of course, he could choose not to do it, but the price of not doing it might be that he would have to clean up the mess. In that case, he would rather take over himself from the beginning to avoid wasting time and effort.

When Huo Guang left, Liu Tan asked Zhu Shanfu to go with him to invite Xu Lin over.

As they were leaving, Huo Guang asked, "Have you gained anything from following His Highness these days?"

Zhu Shanfu's heart suddenly tensed up. He had just heard how strict the Imperial Academy's students were. At the same time, he was glad that he was the top scholar, otherwise, even if he entered the academy, he would have a very hard time.

He said cautiously, "I did learn a little, but..."

Huo Guang tilted his head slightly and raised his eyebrows: "Just?"

Zhu Shanfu smiled bitterly and said, "This humble official feels... that following His Highness in his work is a bit tiring."

Huo Guang asked, "Which aspect?"

Zhu Shanfu said nervously, "Any aspect."

In fact, he didn't want to say it so clearly, but there was no way. Even if he didn't say it, the prime minister might know it, so it would be better to be frank.

Huo Guang laughed and said, "You have quite a heart."

Zhu Shanfu looked at Huo Guang in surprise. Huo Guang suddenly asked, "If you were in your position, facing the Northern Border Kingdom, which has nothing, what would you do?"

Zhu Shanfu was confused. He had never thought about this question before, or rather, he didn't dare to think about it.

One should do his job well in his position. Generally speaking, starting to think about these things means that one already has certain ambitions.

Regardless of Zhu Shanfu's character, his current situation obviously cannot support such ambitions.

Seeing his shocked expression, Huo Guang said, "Don't overthink it, just say it directly."

Zhu Shanfu thought for a long while before saying, "Your humble servant... Your humble servant is dull and doesn't know."

Huo Guang walked out with his hands behind his back, saying, "Not to mention you, even I wouldn't know where to start. But you see... maybe the Northern Territory as a whole hasn't changed much, but the capital is getting better, and the area around it is getting better too, isn't it?"

Zhu Shanfu understood what Huo Guang meant and whispered, "Your Highness is indeed a genius."

Huo Guang said, "So what you need to do is to assist His Highness as best as you can, and don't try to figure out His Highness's intentions. His Highness is always kind and tolerant. As long as you do your job well, he won't criticize you harshly. If you excel, he will reward you generously. Look at Gongshu Can, and you'll know what to do."

Zhu Shanfu broke out in a cold sweat after hearing this. He then realized that he had taken a detour before. Because he was very eager to stand out, he tried hard to leave a good impression on the King of the North.

But what he was doing now was very ordinary, organizing documents, running errands and delivering imperial decrees, which made him feel that it was not enough, so he began to try to figure out the thoughts of the King of the North, and even deliberately flatter him at certain times.

If Huo Guang had not suddenly awakened him, he would probably be no different from those jesters.

He stopped and bowed to the ground towards Huo Guang: "Thank you very much, Prime Minister, for your advice!"

Huo Guang continued walking calmly, "Your Highness has high hopes for you all. I don't want to disappoint you, so I'm reminding you once. However, there won't be a next time. If I ever feel you're truly unworthy of your position, I'll also remind Your Highness to remove you."

Zhu Shan calmed himself down and said calmly, "Don't worry, Prime Minister. I know what to do."

Huo Guang fanned him and said, "Go ahead. Don't keep His Highness waiting."

Zhu Shanfu stood there and watched Huo Guang's back disappear around the corner, then he walked in the opposite direction of Huo Guang.

When Xu Lin came over, Liu Tan was looking at the design drawings he had presented to him earlier.

He looked up at Xu Lin and found that after a winter of recuperation, Xu Lin's cheeks finally had some flesh and his complexion looked much better. He couldn't help but smile and said, "It seems that you have had a good New Year."

Xu Lin lowered his body slightly and said, "Thanks to Your Highness, otherwise Xu Lin would have become a wandering ghost by now."

He wasn't being polite. Based on his previous condition, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to withstand the harsh winter climate in the Northern Territory. He was already suffering from illness, and coupled with his homelessness, he was afraid that he really wouldn't live until spring.

He had anticipated this when he first came to the Northern Border, but he was not afraid of death. His only regret was that he could not fulfill his master's wish.

However, he did not expect that things would take a turn for the better. Not only did he have the hope of fulfilling his teacher's wish, he was even properly placed.

Liu Tan directly ordered: "Put Mr. Xu next to me."

Xu Lin quickly said, "Your Highness, I don't deserve to be called sir."

Liu Tan waited until he sat down in a chair beside him before saying, "Mr. Xu is qualified to be a teacher in water conservancy. How can you say he is not qualified? In fact, I should leave this matter to you. However, I am very interested in this matter and want to hear more about it."

Xu Lin whispered, "If Master were still alive, he would certainly treat Your Highness as a close friend. Furthermore... the Northern Territory's water system is complex, requiring extensive travel. I can only judge based on what I've seen so far. If Your Highness truly wishes to improve, the most I can offer is my lifelong learning. Anything else is..."

As Xu Lin said this, his eyes dimmed. In his situation, he needed people to serve him wherever he went. If he really wanted to improve the water system of the Northern Kingdom, he couldn't take on the responsibility.

After hearing this, Liu Tan was moved and asked, "Are you interested in taking me as a disciple?"

Xu Lin was stunned: "Your Highness means..."

Liu Tan said, "You know there's a school in the capital now. The students there are all former tribute students. It's hard to say what their character is, but they all have good cultural attainments. If you don't mind, you can go there and teach a class. If you find someone you like, you can take him or her as your closed disciple."

Xu Lin was very moved after hearing this. He looked at his legs and said with some self-abasement, "It's just that I'm like this now..."

"You've traveled all over the mountains and rivers. As long as you don't look down on yourself, no one can look down on you. What's more, what you teach them is knowledge, which values ​​the brain, not the body."

After Liu Tan finished speaking, he felt that he would have to formulate some rules and regulations for the academy, and respecting teachers must be put first.

Xu Lin lowered his head and blinked, suppressing the heat in his eyes. He smiled and said, "Since Your Highness has said so, then I will... be disrespectful to refuse."

Liu Tan nodded in satisfaction: "That's right, come, let's take a look at this picture."

Xu Lin knew the situation of the picture at a glance. He had drawn this picture himself, so he knew it by heart.

So at a glance he noticed a few more red markings on it, and couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, what are these red dots..."

Liu Tan laughed and said, "These are the lakes that have already been dug. We had people dig them before when it wasn't too cold. The next step is to dig canals to divert water."

Xu Lin's eyes lit up, but he soon noticed something was wrong. He couldn't help but point at the red dots and said, "These places are too scattered. I'm afraid it's difficult to coordinate them."

Liu Tan sighed and said, "That's true. So in some places we can only dig a section of canal first."

Xu Lin looked as if he was about to speak, but hesitated. Liu Tan said, "I know what you're worried about. Don't you think we should plan it out before digging?"

Xu Lin was a little embarrassed: "Yes."

Liu Tan bent down and circled a few plots of land on the map. He then said, "These are medium-sized fields. They are the ones that need water the most."

Xu Lin understood Liu Tan's meaning at a glance and frowned slightly, saying, "These fields are very scattered. I'm afraid it will be difficult in the later stages."

Liu Tan responded: "So what we need is to design the overall design first, and then start the division of labor."

As he spoke, he sighed: "There is no other way. There are few people in the North, so we can only come a little at a time."

Xu Lin said with some shame, "It's my fault. I was too eager for quick success and forgot to consider the actual situation of the Northern Territory."

He remembered that when Xu Bo was dying, what he was most worried about was not that he had not learned well enough, but that he was unable to adapt to local conditions, so he repeatedly urged him to think more about it.

Xu Lin thought he had put a lot of thought into this picture, but he didn't expect that he still overlooked many problems.

Liu Tan patted his shoulder and said, "Don't stress yourself out. Even if your master were still here, he might not have considered this. After all, your master was ordered by the emperor to control the floods. He had everything he wanted, so he wouldn't be so strapped for cash. It's a pity that the Northern Border Kingdom can't be so reckless these days."

Xu Lin pondered and said, "In that case, this diagram is no longer applicable. Your Highness, please give me two days to make changes."

Liu Tan said, "Don't rush to change the map. I just took a look and found that in some places the riverbed is high, but the chosen reservoir is a bit low. This will easily cause river water to backflow."

Xu Lin seemed to have thought about this question and said directly: "This is not difficult, it just requires a certain amount of manpower and material resources."

Liu Tan laughed and said, "Are you talking about building dikes?"

Xu Lin nodded. "That's right. It will require a lot of mud, sand, bricks and stones, and I'm afraid it will require a lot of manpower and resources as well."

Liu Tan said, "Mud, sand, bricks and stones? No, we don't need that. We use cement."

Xu Lin was stunned for a moment: "Cement... is it the same as the city wall?"

Liu Tan said: "The mixture of cement and steel bars is stronger than mud, sand, bricks and stones, and it is easy to plasticize."

Xu Lin pondered: "I don't know much about cement. I need to look into this... more."

Liu Tan pulled out a few pieces of paper from the side and said, "Since you've already read it, take a look at these as well."

Xu Lin looked down and saw that they were actually three blueprints. The things drawn on the blueprints seemed to be dikes, but they were different from what he had seen before. He looked at them carefully for a long time and couldn't help but frowned and asked, "Your Highness, are these three blueprints depicting dikes?"

"right."

Xu Lin looked bewildered. "Where did this come from? I've never heard of this before."