Most people in later generations know who Liu Bei is, but few know who his ancestors are. The main reason is that the Liu family has too many people and it is not easy to trace back.

Liu Zhen is many generations away from Liu Bei. If you are not a person who has studied this, you probably won’t think of this.

After Liu Tan thought about it, he just felt that the world was really small.

Rather than the fact that Liu Zhen had a descendant whose name was passed down through the ages, he was more curious about why Liu Zhen came here.

He asked someone to check Liu Zhen's resume and found that this person was also quite unlucky.

As one of the more prominent sons of Liu Sheng, King Jing of Zhongshan, Liu Zhen originally had a noble title and was granted the title of Marquis of Lucheng County. Although it was only a fiefdom of one county, it was still a title.

You should know that King Jing of Zhongshan was lustful and promiscuous throughout his life. He had more than a hundred sons. People like Liu Qumao would not even have a title if they did not have some ability.

Only the first twenty sons of Liu Sheng were granted the title of marquis. Some, like Liu Qumao, earned the title of marquis through their own abilities.

This is enough to show how difficult it was for Liu Sheng's son to obtain a title.

Liu Zhen finally got a title, but a few years ago, he was also on the list of people punished for offering bribes to seize the title, so he lost his marquisate.

As a member of the royal family, he became a commoner overnight. Apart from his royal status, he had nothing and was not much better off than ordinary people.

That's why Liu Tan said that this person was also quite miserable.

However, why did Liu Che think of assigning this person to Liu Tan?

Liu Che did not write it in the letter. Liu Tan thought about it and decided to say it during the small court meeting the next day, and then mentioned it casually.

Li Ling was a little surprised and said, "Former Marquis of Lucheng? He has a feud with the Prime Minister."

As soon as he said this, everyone present pricked up their ears, eager to gossip. Liu Tan even asked, "What do you mean?"

Li Ling said, "When Liu Qumao was Prime Minister, Your Highness had already arrived in the Northern Border Kingdom. It's normal that he didn't know about it. When the sons of Prince Jing of Zhongshan were distributing titles, they directly petitioned Your Majesty for several, but the individuals weren't chosen. Then they were allowed to fight among themselves, and whoever won, regardless of the means, would inherit the title."

Liu Tan was shocked: "Can you compete for a job with a title?"

Conferring a title is such a serious matter. Usually, the princes would write to the court to inform which son they want to confer a title on which marquis. But when it came to Prince Jing of Zhongshan, it was just the opposite. This was simply outrageous, and Liu Che actually tolerated it?

Li Ling laughed and said, "Anyway, the court has given Prince Jing of Zhongshan so many titles to confer on his own son. As for who to confer them on and how to confer them, that's Prince Jing of Zhongshan's business. What difference does it make to the court?"

Liu Tan thought about it and agreed. What Liu Che wanted was to divide the vassal states into smaller and smaller parts so that he could weaken the power of the princes.

He placed his arm on the imperial desk, supporting his chin, and said, "Then how did Liu Qumao and Liu Zhen become enemies?"

Li Ling said, "I've only heard this from hearsay. It's said that Liu Qumao and Liu Zhen were both vying for the title of Marquis of Lucheng. Liu Zhen was ruthless and had his leg broken. Because of his disability, Liu Qumao missed the opportunity, allowing Liu Zhen to obtain the title. How could he not resent Liu Zhen? Later, Liu Qumao became Prime Minister and was granted the title of Marquis of Peng by Your Majesty. However, Liu Zhen was stripped of his title for not offering enough gold. It seems Liu Zhen later settled in Zhuo County. I don't know what he did for a living, but I hear Liu Qumao often put obstacles in his way."

Everyone gasped when they heard that Liu Qumao's leg was broken, thinking that Liu Zhen was really cruel.

These days are not the future. If a broken leg gets timely treatment, it won't be a big problem. Most of the time these days, if you break a leg, you will really become lame.

The officials of the Han Dynasty never employed disabled people, let alone those who were granted titles of nobility. Even if King Jing of Zhongshan agreed to let Liu Qumao become Marquis of Lucheng, once the court knew about it, they would only deprive him of his title.

Liu Tan sighed and said, "Liu Zhen was too soft-hearted back then. He only broke his leg."

Wouldn't it be okay if Liu Qumao was beaten to death with a stick?

Everyone looked at their prince with some pain in their hearts. They always felt that since stabbing Wu Shilu to death, their prince seemed to be getting more and more violent.

Wei Deng, standing by, was a little puzzled. "Is it true that Liu Zhen broke Liu Qumao's leg? I don't think Liu Qumao has any difficulty walking."

Li Ling thought for a moment and said, "I heard that Liu Qumao also spent a lot of money on treatment. In the end, his legs only looked fine when he walked on a daily basis, but he couldn't run or jump. If he ran or jumped, you could tell that his legs were tilted."

Wei Buyi suddenly had an idea and said, "Then do you think His Majesty knows? If His Majesty doesn't know, why not find a way to let everyone know that the current Prime Minister is a cripple..."

"That's enough." Liu Tan stopped Wei Buyi and said, "Don't use such tactics too much."

Wei Buyi was stunned for a moment, then he saw Jiang Chong sitting next to Huo Guang and immediately shut his mouth.

Yes, no matter how obvious Liu Qumao's legs are, they are not obvious at all. He conceals them very well, so it cannot be considered a disability.

However, the Northern Border Kingdom actually has two people who are not suitable for being officials, one with a disfigured face and the other with a lame leg and blind eyes.

Wei Buyi said honestly: "It is my fault. I shouldn't have..."

He originally wanted to say that he shouldn't be so vicious.

Before he could finish, Liu Tan said, "If you don't kill the snake, you'll suffer from it. At most, this will prevent Liu Qumao from continuing to serve as Prime Minister, but he's still alive. He might still have a group of loyal followers. By then, he won't be Prime Minister anyway. Without them, he'll probably fight us to the death. Wouldn't that be asking for trouble? So if you really want to deal with someone, either don't do it or kill him. Do you understand?"

Everyone: It seems to make sense.

Especially Li Ling and Wei Deng, combined with Liu Tan's behavior, they found that their prince did indeed do so. Either he would not take action, or he would kill him. If he did not kill him, it proved that it was not yet at that point.

Huo Guang could hardly bear to listen any longer. He coughed and said, "Alright, let's not discuss Liu Zhen's background. The most important question now is what your majesty meant by placing Liu Zhen here, and... where will he be placed?"

Only then did everyone realize: Oh, yes, we seemed to have gone off topic just now.

They were so busy gossiping about the love-hate relationship among the sons of Prince Jing of Zhongshan that they almost forgot what they were originally going to discuss.

Liu Tan coughed lightly, withdrew his hand, sat up straight, and tried to look serious. He asked, "What do you think, father, means by this?"

He felt that Liu Che would not be unaware of the purpose of his request for someone, but instead of the young men from the royal and noble families, a man who had almost a blood feud with the prime minister came. Was Liu Che trying to let him go further and further on the road of fighting to the death with Liu Qumao?

Liu Tan turned to look at Huo Guang: "A Guang, you know our father better, please analyze this."

Huo Guang was immediately furious: "His Majesty is your father!"

Liu Tan spread his hands: "But you have been with him for a long time."

Huo Guang paused, as if he suddenly remembered that Liu Tan grew up outside the palace before he was fourteen.

In the past two years, the close relationship between the Emperor and the Northern King and his son has always made people forget about this matter.

Huo Guang pondered for a while before saying, "If I really want to say it, perhaps... Liu Zhen has something we don't know about, something that can be used to deal with Liu Qumao."

Liu Tan was surprised: "Huh?"

Huo Guang said, "Your Majesty is not trying to harm Your Highness, nor will he use Your Highness to deal with the court officials. Perhaps Your Majesty is warning Liu Qumao."

Liu Tan pondered for a moment and said, "Do you think my father wants to change the Prime Minister again?"

Everyone was stunned, but they realized that what Liu Tan said was probably correct. Maybe His Majesty the Emperor had this in mind.

Liu Tan thought for a moment and said, "Both Yiwulu and Yanmen counties are short of governors. I don't know what kind of person Liu Zhen is. Judging from the rumors, it would be a good idea to have him go to Yiwulu County."

The location of Yiwulu County is relatively important. The county magistrate does not necessarily need to be very smooth, but he must be decisive and cannot hesitate when encountering things.

After all, the westernmost gateway of the Han Dynasty is no longer Dunhuang but Yiwulu County.

However, it always seems inappropriate to let Yiwulu County serve as both a supply station and a border town.

Liu Tan turned to look at Huo Guang and asked, "What do you think? Should we build another city outside like the Surrender City as a barrier?"

Huo Guang glanced at Liu Tan and said, "If your Highness wants to build it, choose a place to build it."

Liu Tan said directly: "Bring me the map."

After the map came up, Liu Tan took a look at it and was about to choose a place, but suddenly he came to his senses and looked up to find that everyone was craning their necks waiting for him to choose a place!

Liu Tan simply threw the small red flag made of magnet aside and said unhappily, "You guys are really doing something else."

Huo Guang asked in reply, "The drunkard's interest is not in the wine... Where did this quote come from?"

Liu Tan was stuck for a moment. This sentence was said by Ouyang Xiu, and Ouyang Xiu was a person from the Song Dynasty, which is probably about 1,100 years ago.

He coughed lightly and said, "That's not important. What are you all waiting for anyway?"

Jiang Chong smiled and said, "We are waiting for the city and the mine."

After he said this, everyone couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Liu Tan couldn't help laughing, and looking at Huo Guang unhappily, he said, "No wonder the Prime Minister is so easy to talk to this time."

Huo Guang said seriously, "A protective barrier is indeed necessary, but it would be a good thing if we could find minerals as a result."

Liu Tan squinted at him and said, "Have you forgotten that you once asked me to select more than a dozen places in a row, but in the end there was no mine? Maybe it will be the same this time."

Huo Guang said seriously, "Last time it was because I was inexperienced. This time it shouldn't be the same."

Liu Tan: ??? No? My skill is passive. I haven't noticed any pattern. How did you come up with this experience?