However, the fact was that Liu Tan really couldn't stand Lu Xuan's use of his beautiful face to act like a spoiled child. Anyway... if Lu Xuan wanted to stay, then he could stay. He definitely knew about the affairs of the Wusun Kingdom, and if he really needed to, he would definitely go back.

Knowing that the Huns were not living well, Liu Tan happily prepared for the New Year.

There is actually no formal change in this year's Chinese New Year compared to last year.

Even Liu Tan cannot come up with something new every year, and it is best not to form a pattern of such "innovation". Once it becomes a pattern, Liu Tan will no longer have any creativity, and his subordinates will have to come up with some "creativity" to satisfy him, which will ultimately be a waste of time and money.

But compared to the particularly formal New Year's banquet in Chang'an, he also didn't like the way the Northern Border Kingdom was organized. It didn't feel like it was the New Year, but rather that everyone was rushing there with a mission.

It is really lively, but if you ask, everyone probably still hopes to be reunited with their family at home.

Unfortunately, this is not possible, because attending the New Year banquet in the palace also means having a certain status. Those who do not have enough status cannot attend!

Of course, with Huo Guang around, Liu Tan couldn't turn the New Year's banquet into a New Year's Eve party even if he wanted to. Amidst a group of unreliable and unruly people, Huo Guang saved the day and made the entire New Year's banquet lively yet solemn, at least leaving some face for the Northern Border Kingdom.

Liu Tan was powerless to persuade him, and he did not intend to argue with Huo Guang on this matter. In his own words, "A Guang is exhausted every year. Let him do whatever he wants. When he is done, let him take a vacation. No one should bother the Prime Minister."

It was also because of this that Liu Tan's wild ideas were finally retained as a lottery session.

It’s an annual meeting, so how can there be no lucky draw?

Liu Tan was wealthy and originally wanted to set the first prize at three months' income from the Suixie Gold Mine, and there was no need to pay taxes, so Liu Tan would be responsible for paying the taxes.

Even though it’s only three months, if you really win, during these three months, a well-off family will basically have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of their lives.

Then Liu Tan's idea was suppressed by Huo Guang and Lu Xuan.

Huo Guang simply handed him a map and said, "Come, choose."

Liu Tan was stunned: "What?"

Huo Guang said, "You choose a suitable place, and I will send people to survey it. If there are no minerals such as gold, silver, copper, or iron, then it will be awarded as a first-class prize. However, only the first-class prize is guaranteed to have a mine. The others will just be given a piece of land. Whether or not they can find a mine depends on luck. The only difference is the size of the land."

Liu Tan was shocked: "You are even more cruel than me."

Just give away the ore? Even his father wouldn't dare to do that!

Huo Guang said, "Apart from the first-class mines, who knows if there are any other mines?"

Liu Tan looked down at the map Huo Guang had given him. There were still large areas of Gobi and grassland in the northern border country. It would be too easy to choose unowned land. Liu Tan took a look and saw that the area circled by Huo Guang was partly Gobi and partly grassland.

He thought about it and decided to set all prizes below the fifth place in the grassland. Although there may not be no mines in the grassland, the probability is much smaller than in the Gobi Desert. Even if there are mines, they may have to be dug deep, or the minerals may be impossible to identify and cannot be used.

Gobi will obviously have more opportunities.

Just for fun, Liu Tan casually circled one, then looked up at Huo Guang and asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Lu Xuan, standing by, laughed and said, "Even if they don't have anything, they've still got a farm for free. I think the place Prime Minister Huo chose is not far from the town, so they won't lose out."

Liu Tan scoffed, "What's the point of coming to a farm like this? If there's nothing there, it would be better to go to the grasslands. After all, there's still some pasture."

Huo Guang glanced at Liu Tan and said calmly, "It seems that Your Highness has indeed not paid attention to government affairs recently."

Liu Tan couldn't help but reflect when he heard Huo Guang say this, but he didn't realize that he hadn't paid attention to government affairs. He said confidently, "Haven't we been dealing with the Xiongnu issue recently? How can you say I haven't been paying attention to government affairs?"

Huo Guang asked, "Your Highness, do you know what has brought in the most money from the national treasury this year?"

Liu Tan looked at him sadly: "Isn't this the tax paid by the king?"

To be honest, although he knew that paying taxes was the right thing to do and he had no intention of evading taxes, when he saw the year-end summary made by Miao Rui and others and the total amount of taxes paid, he couldn't help but feel a little distressed - he felt that he was supporting half of the Northern Territory with his own efforts.

Huo Guang said: "Your Highness pays 30% of the taxes, and the common people also pay 30%."

Liu Tan's ears twitched: "What about the remaining 30%?"

Huo Guang smiled and said, "The remaining 30% comes from Cistanche deserticola."

Liu Tan was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and it took him a while to react to what Cistanche deserticola was, but he soon remembered and couldn't help but blurt out: "Saltwood!"

Huo Guang nodded seriously and said, "Yes, it's a parasite of the saltwood. Your Highness has had a large number of saltwoods planted in the past two years. While there hasn't been any improvement in the water and soil, the Cistanche deserticola has grown very quickly. The best quality of this plant was presented as tribute this year, and some was left for Your Highness. The rest was sold."

Liu Tan was a little surprised: "It's so expensive?"

He had been struggling for so long, but he was still no match for a tiny Cistanche deserticola plant? He refused to accept it!

Huo Guang said, "I am controlling the quantity. I didn't know how to do this before, and I released a large amount of Cistanche deserticola, which caused its price to drop significantly. Many people who make a living from it have suffered. Starting next year, I plan to release it gradually."

Liu Tan said, "Are you afraid of impacting the market? Well... there's a solution. Can't you collect the medicine from the people, process it, and then sell it? You can also make some pills or something. Let me tell you, you can't make money selling raw materials. You have to process it yourself. It's best for you to find one or two good recipes and either buy them or cooperate with others. That way you can make more money."

Huo Guang looked at Liu Tan expressionlessly, and once again confirmed that his prince was probably born with the element of Tianlu, born to attract wealth, and any thing could make him come up with an idea to make money.

Liu Tan became more and more excited as he spoke. He didn't know why, but although he didn't want to deal with government affairs, he had no interest in anything other than developing people's livelihood and fighting the Huns. He was very interested in making money.

With his status, he could have monopolized something, but unfortunately, Liu Tan still had some bottom line. He had already spent all his money, and he probably had no descendants in this lifetime. He couldn't even find someone to pass the money on to, so what was the point of making so much money?

Other businessmen want to seek political status after getting rich, but Liu Tan... his political status is already high enough and he doesn't need a higher one.

Seeing Liu Tan becoming increasingly addicted to his talk, Huo Guang finally said with a headache, "Your Highness, please stop writing now. I can't remember all you have said. It would be better to wait until after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month."

Liu Tan, still unsatisfied, said, "Then remember to remind me later, I'm not saying it myself, there are too few state-owned workshops. We need to learn to make our own money and can't rely on the people paying taxes for everything."

If the Northern Border Country can form a complete industrial chain, or have a stable income that does not rely on taxes from the people, then Liu Tan can try to implement policies that benefit farmers in the future.

However, this idea was too shocking at the moment, so Liu Tan did not speak it out directly. He just kept the idea in his mind and would bring it out when the time was right.

Later, Huo Guang actually found a mineral in the places selected by Liu Tan. Although it was only a small sulfur mine, sulfur could be used in many places, and most importantly, the source was relatively stable.

So the most lively part of the New Year's banquet was probably the lucky draw. For fun, Liu Tan even set up a turntable and asked everyone to come up and draw one by one. Anyway, he set up enough prizes and there were quite a few. Even the thank you for participating prize was one copper coin.

Of course, most people only got one copper coin.

Seeing how much fun they were having, Liu Tan wanted to join in the fun too, but unfortunately he had to be cautious about his status. If he won a bigger prize, it would be inappropriate for him to join in.

He simply poked Lu Xuan and said, "Go over and join in the fun."

Lu Xuan laughed and said, "What if I get ranked A?"

Liu Tan rolled his eyes and said, "If you draw the China League One, I'll prepare another gift for you when I get back!"

Do you really think it's that easy to win the first prize? That's basically a one percent chance.

Lu Xuan laughed loudly and indeed went over to join in the fun. He casually turned the dial and then watched the pointer slowly stop at the first-class prize.

Liu Tan: ...

Lu Xuan was also stunned. He was just joking when he said this to Liu Tan just now, but he didn't expect that his words would actually hit the mark.

He looked at Liu Tan with a smile. Liu Tan couldn't bear to look at him and waved at him: "Come back."

Huo Guang couldn't help laughing: "This doesn't count."

Wei Buyi, standing by, clapped his hands and laughed, "Of course it doesn't count. The King of Wusun and Your Highness are one family. Isn't this just back in Your Highness' hands?"

After he finished speaking, Lu Xuan couldn't help but smile. Just as he was about to go find him for a drink, he found that the entire hall had become quiet.

Wei Buyi blurted out the words because he was drunk. When he found that the surroundings were quiet, the alcohol instantly turned into cold sweat and flowed down. It seemed that he had accidentally said the wrong thing.

Li Ling on the side opened his mouth wide and was about to say something, but Wei Deng quickly covered his mouth and glared at him wildly: his brother was probably beyond saving, but his brother couldn't go with him!

Lu Xuan turned to look at Liu Tan. He actually didn't care much, but he didn't know whether Liu Tan cared or not.

But... Liu Tan never seemed to deny it, he just didn't admit it on his own initiative.

Liu Tan looked around and said, "What are you doing? I already said that the A-class doesn't count. Let's continue the lottery. I want to see who has the ability."

After he finished speaking, he waved to Lu Xuan and said, "Come here, don't fight with everyone for the prizes, you don't need them."

Lu Xuan walked over with a smile, and the hall became lively again, as if Wei Buzhi's words just now had not caused any ripples.

When they were staying up to see the New Year in the evening, Liu Tan said drowsily, "Hey, we are already so old, why do we still need to stay up to see the New Year in the evening?"

Lu Xuan suddenly asked, "What did Wei Buyi say today..."

"Are you still fussing over this?" Liu Tan reached out and pinched Lu Xuan's chin, asking, "Why? Are you upset because I didn't publicly give you a title?"

Lu Xuan held his hand and said, "No, it's just that they all know, so..."

"What are you afraid of? My father and brother both know about it, but you're not afraid. The people below won't rush up to you or me and say anything. Anyone who dares to say anything will be exiled to the frontier!"

Lu Xuan was helpless. Miao Rui happened to come over to give him some soup. He handed the soup to Liu Tan and said, "Isn't your place frontier enough?"

Liu Tan took a sip of the soup and said curiously, "What's in this? Why does it taste a bit weird?"

Lu Xuan said calmly, "I told them to add some Cistanche deserticola."

Liu Tan paused, then turned to look at Lu Xuan. A sudden smile spread across his face. He put down his soup and said, "It seems you want to celebrate the New Year in a different way. If you want, just say so. Why are you being so secretive?"

Lu Xuan looked at him steadily: "Then..."

Liu Tan stood up and lay on top of him and said, "I'm tired and don't want to leave."

He had originally just wanted to play a joke on Lu Xuan, but he didn't expect Lu Xuan to pull him in front of him, pick him up horizontally, and stride all the way back to the bedroom.