Chapter 534 [Three Updates]

When the fish porridge came up, Liu Tan had just finished his speech.

Liu Ju looked down at the porridge in his bowl and couldn't help but feel a little strange: "What is this? It's actually white?"

Before Liu Tan could say anything, Liu Che sneered, "Your brother is finally willing to give me a mouthful of white rice."

After hearing this, Liu Ju didn't have time to ask Bai Mi any more questions, but turned around and looked at Liu Tan in horror.

What Liu Che said was too easy to be misunderstood. He did not doubt that Liu Tan was in charge of the kitchen. His brother's cooking was indeed delicious. However, what surprised him was that his brother actually withheld his father's food rations?

If his father hadn't said it himself, he wouldn't have believed it!

Liu Tan gasped after hearing this and quickly said, "I swear to God, I didn't stop Father from eating. It was just that there was no rice at the time. This rice wasn't brought from there, but from Jiaozhi!"

Due to the geographical location of Jiaozhi, the staple food here is basically white rice, so there is no shortage of white rice at all. How could Liu Tan save food for Jiaozhi?

What's more, the yellow rice they brought was basically considered stale rice in Liu Che's eyes. Before, they had no choice but to let his father down on the boat, but now... who would dare to let the emperor down?

Liu Che snorted and said proudly, "You already knew that Jiaozhi had rice, so why were you reluctant to give it to me?"

Liu Ju's expression became even more terrified. Liu Tan took a deep breath, and to avoid any rebellion, he said expressionlessly, "Father, if your Majesty likes this, I will do this every day from now on."

Liu Che was a man who loved novelty. Even if the dishes were always the same, they had to be different every day, otherwise he would be unhappy.

The same goes for staple foods. The kitchen always prepares them in different ways for him. He thought about eating white rice every day... and in an instant he felt deeply threatened by the person in charge of the kitchen.

But in fact, even if Liu Tan gave him white rice every day, he would cook it in different ways for him.

In addition to white rice, Liu Tan discovered that there were many kinds of seafood in Jiaozhi. He made many kinds of dishes, and he enjoyed the food, which naturally made Liu Che satisfied as well.

Later on, he even hesitated to make more - for fear that Liu Che would enjoy himself too much in Jiaozhi and not want to go back.

If he didn't go back, Liu Ju wouldn't go back either. He felt depressed when he thought about what Chang'an had become now.

However, even so, Liu Che was not in a hurry to go back. Even though Jiaozhi was already very hot, it could not change his mind - after all, his son could make ice.

Who doesn’t like to have fun eating and having fun without feeling hot?

Liu Tan tried to persuade him several times, but Liu Che finally said, "I just want to see if Jiaozhi is suitable to become a vassal state of the Han Dynasty."

Liu Tan's ears pricked up when he heard this: "Jiemi County? Father means..."

Liu Che sighed with emotion: "What a pity, the King of Jiaozhi is not the King of Wusun."

The King of Jiaozhi was really too unreasonable. Liu Che actually had no intention of doing anything to Jiaozhi. In fact, his defense against Jiaozhi was not as strong as his defense against Lu Xuanlai.

The thousands of mountains and ridges in Lingnan hinder the communication between the two sides, but it also protects both sides. No matter which side wants to attack, it will cost huge manpower and material resources, so generally they just let it go if they think it is inappropriate.

The Yangtze River in the southeast is also a natural barrier.

Liu Che did not directly say that he wanted to occupy Jiaozhi, but wanted to make Jiaozhi a vassal county. This made his attitude clear - what he needed was the port of Jiaozhi, and he did not care about other things. It was enough for Jiaozhi to pay a little tax every year.

Anyway, Jiaozhi Kingdom also pays tribute every year, and the tribute is not much less than the tax.

Unfortunately, the King of Jiaozhi did not think so. He only felt that after becoming a vassal state of the Han Dynasty, he would no longer be free, and might even be killed by the Han people to support someone who was easier to control to come to power. Therefore, whenever this topic was brought up, the King of Jiaozhi would quickly avoid it.

Liu Tan felt that the King of Jiaozhi might be acting recklessly because it was not easy for the Han people to cross mountains and rivers to fight.

Of course, if it were him, he might not be willing to do so, but the problem is... he also needs to analyze his strength.

Liu Tan smiled and said, "Who did the emperor send to tell him?"

Liu Che narrowed his eyes: "King of Qi."

Liu Tan rolled his eyes secretly. If it was someone else, it would be fine, but the King of Qi... it would be strange if he could deal with the King of Jiaozhi.

Logically speaking, the status of the King of Qi and the King of Jiaozhi are actually similar, but the problem is that the King of Qi has a larger territory, and the King of Jiaozhi is said to have ascended the throne through a bloody journey, and he is already 45 years old this year.

This person couldn't get angry in front of Liu Che, and would restrain himself in front of Liu Ju, but he had no disadvantage when facing Liu Fuling, and could even make Liu Fuling run around in circles.

According to him, the person Liu Che chose was wrong, and a different minister could have been even better than Liu Fuling.

It’s not that Liu Fuling is stupid, but that the experience gap is too big.

Originally, he wanted to let him give it a try, but after Liu Che said that, Liu Tan was unable to speak.

Otherwise it would sound as if he was competing with Liu Fuling for a job. In the past, when he and Liu Fuling were evenly matched, it was just a competition for favor, which was nothing.

Now that Liu Fuling has obviously lost power, if Liu Tan continues to do this, he will be utterly ruthless.

He didn't care whether Liu Che would be unhappy or not, and Liu Ju... would probably be very happy. He just didn't want his reputation to be ruined.

He himself doesn't know what kind of image he has in Chang'an now.

Liu Che looked at Liu Tan. Although Liu Tan didn't say anything, Liu Che knew him very well. Generally, when this child didn't speak, it was either because he had something to say but didn't know how to say it, or he was unhappy. Especially when he lowered his eyes and pursed his lips, it meant that he was both embarrassed to say and unhappy.

He thought for a moment and said, "Originally, the Crown Prince should have been in charge of this matter, but I see that he is still a little weak, so I won't let him waste his energy. Since the King of Qi is unable to do it, then you should go see the King of Jiaozhi."

Liu Tan opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't. Liu Che pinched his shoulder and said, "Don't worry about this anymore. When you return to Chang'an, take good care of yourself. Go ahead. A real man shouldn't be timid."

Liu Tan said quietly, "No, Father, I just want to remind you, don't mention the king."

Liu Che was stunned for a moment before he reacted and immediately burst out laughing. His son's train of thought was really amazing.

Since Liu Che had spoken personally, Liu Tan didn't think too much about it. However, he didn't go to find the King of Jiaozhi immediately. Instead, he went to find Mo Shi first and asked him to improve the formula of black gunpowder.

Well, the so-called improvement is actually just to make the power of black powder less powerful.

Then someone would put it in a small bamboo joint, fill it up, insert a fuse on the outside, and then push the fuses together. The fuses were also mixed with some ignitable charcoal or something like that.

Even though this ancient version of firecrackers is ready, it has to be said that Liu Tan doesn't need to think of any other name for it.

After Liu Tan finished making it, he had someone try it out. Then, when the King of Jiaozhi came to see Liu Che, he ran over happily and said, "Father, I have come up with a new thing."

Liu Che glanced at him and was a little confused about what his son was doing. He had asked Liu Tan to negotiate with the King of Jiaozhi before, and originally thought that Liu Tan would prepare immediately.

You know, Liu Che was very enthusiastic about Jiaozhi before, but he didn't expect that his son would turn around and get together with those Mohist guys, and no one knew what they were busy with.

Liu Che has now summed up the rules. Generally speaking, at this time Liu Tan must have new ideas and want to do something.

But it was so important that he didn't rush to find the King of Jiaozhi.

At this time, Crown Prince Liu Ju and King of Qi Liu Fuling were both sitting aside. Hearing this, Liu Ju looked at Liu Tan with some curiosity, while Liu Fuling had a complicated expression.

He felt a chill in his heart as soon as he knew that Liu Tan had taken over his job. The thing he least wanted to see had happened. He was unhappy but helpless.

In the past, he had seen Liu Tan always be successful when facing the Western Regions and the Huns, which made him feel that he could do it too.

Not to mention that everything went smoothly after he arrived in Qi. The prime minister respected him and the local natives were also very polite to him. He felt that he was like a fish in water and didn't think it was a big deal when he negotiated with the King of Jiaozhi before.

Unexpectedly, the king was a wily old man who never told the truth and refused to be persuaded.

Liu Fuling was feeling discouraged and was waiting for Liu Tan to come over to take over the task to see how Liu Tan was going to deal with this person.

As a result, I waited and waited but he still didn’t show up. When I asked him... I didn’t know what this guy had gone off to research!

Liu Fuling looked at him angrily, wanting to see how Liu Tan would respond.

Liu Che asked with a smile: "Oh? What fun things have you come up with?"

Liu Tan said: "It's not really a fun thing, it's just fun."

As Liu Tan spoke, he pulled Liu Che's sleeve and walked out, saying, "This son discovered it by accident, and it made quite a fuss."

When Liu Che heard about the commotion, he became very curious. After following the crowd out, he saw a guard outside holding a long bamboo pole with a string of firecrackers hanging from it.

Liu Che observed it for a while but didn't ask what it was. Liu Tan made a pair of jade earplugs for Liu Che. Of course, Crown Prince Liu Ju also had one. The rest of Liu Fuling and the Han officials all had a pair of cotton earplugs.

The King of Jiaozhi and his ministers stood aside, completely bewildered, not knowing what the Han people were going to do.

To be honest, the Han people themselves don’t know what their Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory wants them to do.

After everyone had their earplugs plugged in, Liu Tan raised his chin and said, "Light the fire."

Wei Buyi grabbed the task of lighting the fire, and after lighting it, he quickly ran back. In an instant, the sound of firecrackers was deafening.

Everyone on the Han side put in earplugs. Although it was still loud, it was within the tolerable range. And it really felt like what the King of the North said, it was lively!

The situation was worse for Jiaozhi. After a string of firecrackers were set off, Liu Che turned around and found that the king of Jiaozhi had rolled his eyes and fainted.