After eating a hot pot and barbecue, Liu Che felt relaxed. Liu Tan asked him to take a rest in the dressing room next door to adapt to the temperature before going out.

It is also easy to get sick if you suddenly go from a relatively cold place to a hot place.

After adapting for a while, Liu Tan accompanied Liu Che all the way to the main hall. As soon as he stepped in, he saw Zhu Shanfu walking towards him in a hurry.

When Zhu Shanfu saw Liu Che, he was visibly stunned for a moment, then shuddered, bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects."

Liu Che waved his hand and said, "No need for formalities. You rushed here in such a hurry, is there something important?"

Zhu Shanfu glanced at Liu Tan, who nodded. Zhu Shanfu simply said, "I just received a letter from the Mountain and River Messenger, saying that the second dam has been completed. Your Highness, please choose a day to open the gates and release the water."

Liu Tan was immediately surprised: "It was built so quickly?"

Zhu Shanfu's face also showed a hint of joy. "The Mountain and River Messenger said that this is already slow. After all, this dam is a bit larger than the last one, and we encountered difficulties we had never encountered before. So this time it took longer, about four months."

Liu Tanxin said that four months was a very fast time, as it would take a year and a half to build a building in later generations.

However, there is generally no way to say anything about this kind of thing. In later generations, whether it is building a building or constructing a dam, it is a relatively advanced project, and there are many issues that need to be considered.

They are now using advanced materials to make primary products, so it is not surprising that the speed is fast.

Liu Tan turned to look at Liu Che and asked with a smile, "Father, do you want to go and see the dam open?"

In fact, Liu Che has always paid more attention to water conservancy construction, and dams have been built in many places in the Han Dynasty. However, Liu Che has never seen the scene of water being released from the dam with his own eyes. Since Liu Tan asked him to do so, he naturally agreed with pleasure.

After hearing this, Liu Tan asked, "Then, Father, would you like to choose an auspicious day to release the water?"

When the first dam was built, Liu talked about it and asked people to start preparing for it without even choosing a date.

In his opinion, coming one day earlier is much more useful than an auspicious day, but he also knows that there are too many things to pay attention to these days, especially for someone of Liu Che's status, a sense of ceremony is a must.

He asked the right question. Liu Che asked someone to bring the Taichu calendar. The Taichu calendar was basically the same as the lunar calendars of later generations, with the auspicious and inauspicious days written on each day.

After careful consideration, Liu Che finally chose July 17th.

When Liu Tan saw July 17th, he subconsciously thought that his father didn’t want to go back to worship his ancestors on July 15th?

But he soon remembered that the Ghost Festival was a Taoist festival. Taoism was nowhere to be found in those days, so where did the Ghost Festival come from?

He calculated that July 17th would be plenty of time, and he even had time to have people pack up.

The so-called packing was not really packing luggage, but more about bringing various foods for Liu Che and having a picnic on the road as a way of fun.

This time, the dam was being built in Xi'anyang County. When Emperor Liu Che learned about this, his first reaction was, "Which county was Sang Qian the governor of?"

You see, this is the benefit of having a reputation in front of the emperor. If it was the previous prefect of Xi'an Yang County, Liu Che probably wouldn't know who that person was and how he got there. But Sang Qian has Sang Hongyang as his father, so even if he himself has no ability, Liu Che will remember him.

Liu Tan smiled and said, "That's right. Originally, sending Sang Qian there was basically a temporary solution. I didn't expect him to do so well, so we just let him stay."

Liu Che nodded and said, "If he is truly talented, it would be a shame to waste too long in a low-ranking county."

Liu Tan thought that Sang Hongyang might have pleaded for his son. Of course, even if it was a plea, the Minister of Agriculture would not be too direct.

Liu Tan nodded and said, "That's perfect. I was thinking of sending Zhu Shanfu and the others out to gain some experience. They need to be close to the people before they can truly govern the country well. However, starting as a county governor right away might be a bit too much. Why not send one of them to serve as a county magistrate under Sang Qian? If he does well, he can take over his position. Then we can transfer Sang Qian back."

As for what Sang Qian would do after he came back, Liu Tan thought it would be a good idea to let him follow in his father's footsteps. Liu Tan was not very satisfied with the current Minister of Agriculture of the Northern Border Kingdom, so it would be better to send him back to Chang'an.

When it comes to the selection of talents, even Liu Che could not say anything about Liu Tan's arrangement. He even wondered whether future talents should be selected in this order.

Although he is not in a hurry to hold the imperial examination now, even the talents recommended do need to be sent to the grassroots level to gain experience. Otherwise, they will not know the suffering of the people, and how can they govern the country well in the future?

When Liu Tan was talking to Liu Che about this, Zhu Shanfu had been standing beside him. He looked very calm. He had known long before that he would have to go to the grassroots level. If it was Xi'an Yang County, it would not be bad.

Xi'an Yang County is not the largest county in the Northern Territory, and its annual tax revenue is not much, but that place has one advantage, which is that it is close to Shuofang City. Once His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory comes up with something new, Xi'an Yang County will definitely be able to benefit from it.

Of course, being close also has its disadvantages, that is, people are easily attracted to the royal capital, especially those who are capable. Whether Xi'an Yang County can retain people depends on the ability of the local county magistrate.

Now it seems that Sang Qian is not bad, but he is good at maintaining the status quo and not good at innovation. If he were Zhu Shanfu, he might be more radical.

However, Zhu Shanfu knew very well that if he were in the past, he would definitely start as a county magistrate. In that case, even if he wanted to carry out drastic reforms, he would need to be careful.

In fact, there is one advantage of being under Sang Qian, that is, Sang Qian will never cling to the position of county governor. He should be aiming for the central position of the Northern Border Kingdom or even the central position of Chang'an.

Because it was a summer trip, the first thing Liu Tan thought about was how to avoid the heat.

To be honest, the temperature in the Northern Country is not very high. It is just a little hot during the day, and the temperature difference between day and night is a bit large, so he not only thinks about how to avoid the heat, but also how to keep warm.

Liu Tan had ridden in Liu Che's car and felt that although the ice basin was cool, it was only effective in places close to the ice basin.

You have to know that the carriage is also ventilated. It is impossible to just close all the doors and windows and turn on the lights, right?

Last time I went to places like the water park, they were relatively close, so I endured it. But this time, going to Xi'an Yang County is not that close. The county seat of Xi'an Yang County is not far away, but the dam cannot be in the city.

So Liu Tan began to think about how to modify Liu Che's car.

There was no air conditioning or fans these days, so the only thing available was ice. So Liu Tan thought it would be best to have ice all around the carriage so that it would be cooler.

As for how to put the ice... of course, use the interlayer. Add another layer inside Liu Che's car, and then put ice in the middle layer.

This ice will continue to cool the interior of the carriage, and because of the doors and windows, it won't be very cold inside.

As for how long the ice can last, no one knows, but Liu Tan is not afraid. They don’t need to carry the ice with them. They just need to walk along the Yellow River and bring enough saltpeter.

What’s even better is that saltpeter can be reused, so you don’t have to worry about not bringing enough.

All that needs to be done is to divert the water that has melted from the ice away.

If there were electricity, Liu Tan would have thought of building a circulating cooling facility, but now... forget it.

Anyway, as long as the ice can last until the sun sets, it will be fine. After the sun sets, they will start to set up camp.

Fortunately, Liu Che had more than one chariot, otherwise it would be difficult for him to modify it casually.

While he was getting the existing spare frame to be processed, he also ordered someone to build another one.

Because the modification is a later-added interlayer, you can't see anything from the outside of the car, but you can feel that something is missing from the inside.

Fortunately, Liu Che was not that picky. After getting in the car, the first thing he felt was the coolness. He couldn't help but ask in surprise: "What did you do?"

Liu Tan smiled and said, "Nothing much, just had someone add a layer to the frame of the emperor's carriage."

Liu Che reached out and knocked, and found that the sound was dull, not completely empty, so he asked, "What did you add?"

Liu Tan held his chin in his hand and said, "Father, please take a guess."

Liu Che thought for a moment and said, "Ice?"

Liu Tan smiled and said, "If you answer correctly, there will be a reward!"

As he spoke, he flipped his hand like a magic trick and a small cloth bag appeared in his hand.

In the cloth bag was the grape-flavored candy that he had ordered made earlier. Well, it was glucose, but not medical glucose.

Liu Che picked up one and put it in his mouth while saying, "This time it really was a waste of money and effort."

Even Emperor Liu Che would not dare to use it this way. At most, he would put an ice basin in the carriage. If the carriage had interlayers for ice in other places except the door, how much ice would it take?

If you want a replacement, you either have to bring ice or have someone deliver it as quickly as possible. Liu Che doesn't think there is an ice cellar in this wilderness.

Liu Tan said with a smile, "Don't worry, Father. How could I do something that would cost the people too much money and effort? We didn't bring any ice this time, so we don't need anyone to bring us."

Liu Che sneered: "Can you really create ice?"

Liu Tan nodded seriously and said, "Yes, I can."

Liu Che looked at Liu Tan in some surprise and doubt for a moment. If someone else had said this, he would definitely have kicked that person out and scolded him for playing tricks. But if it was Liu Tan... he couldn't help but subconsciously believe the truth of it.

But how can a person turn ice into ice out of thin air? Isn't that something that can only be done by immortals?

Seeing Liu Che's suspicious expression, Liu Tan couldn't help but ask, "Father, do you not believe it? If not, I will show you a live demonstration."

Anyway, I'm free on the road, so I might as well entertain Liu Che.

As he spoke, he asked someone to bring two small copper basins, and secretly instructed people to fill one of the basins with saltpeter solution and the other with water.

Liu Che watched him put the small copper basin into the large copper basin with cold eyes. At the same time, he placed his hands on both sides of the large copper basin, looked up at Liu Che seriously and said, "Father, you have to watch carefully this time."

Liu Che leaned over to take a look and found that the water in the small copper basin was actually starting to get colder and that faint ice chips were gradually appearing.

For a moment, Liu Che's entire attention was drawn to it. He stared at the small copper basin without blinking, fearing that he had seen it wrong.