Chapter 562 [Three Updates]

Since Chen Ajiao agreed, Liu Tan naturally began to prepare to set aside a beauty salon. There were three anyway, so it would be no problem to set up one specifically for men.

However, Chen Ajiao said with a look of disdain: "Do I need those shops?"

Liu Tan was helpless: "Isn't this because I'm afraid of losing money?"

Chen Ajiao was shocked: "Even if I pay it all in, how much can I get? You can't even afford this little money?"

Liu Tan: ...

He began to ponder whether this was the difference between true aristocrats and petty bourgeoisie. Although he had changed somewhat after traveling through time for so long, many deep-rooted things were difficult to change.

Of course, it may also be because he has too much idol image - you know, now when people mention the King of the North, they think of the two words "Qian Tong".

What is Qian Tong? Qian Tong is the God of Wealth of the Han Dynasty. Everyone thinks he is the God of Wealth. Even if he says he is not and denies it, he still wants to maintain this legend in his heart.

If I lose money, I’m not Qian Tong anymore.

After being taught a lesson by Chen Ajiao, Liu Tan also implemented his idea and opened a beauty salon specifically for men on one side of the East and West City.

After both of these are opened, we will decide whether to add more and see the situation.

Since it is exclusively for men, the decoration and design are naturally different. Compared with the luxurious beauty salons in the past, these two are specifically designed in an aristocratic and fresh style. The lobby still has transparent glass doors and glass walls, and various banners are placed indoors.

This kind of banner was the first time Liu Tan had created one. Before that, he had not been interested in literature and art. He only painted for the purpose of firing beautiful porcelain. In addition, paper was only slightly promoted in the past two years. Calligraphy and painting were basically still in their infancy.

But now this sprout... was directly plucked up by Liu Tan and thrown aside and replaced with a sapling.

For the sake of these banners placed in the lobby, he simply locked himself in Sui Yu Hall and wrote and painted, and rarely appeared in public. Not to mention the large and small court meetings that Liu Che repeatedly asked him to attend, he even did not leave the palace.

Liu Che and Liu Ju were already very familiar with his state. Usually when Liu Tan was doing this, it was when he was doing something strange again.

So the emperor and his son, who had waited for two days but still hadn't seen Liu Tan, finally couldn't help but go to Sui Yu Palace in a group.

In the middle of the process, he happened to meet Queen Chen Ajiao, who was worried that her son would become a otaku.

Liu Tan was originally writing with a brush, and was a little surprised to hear that the emperor, empress and prince were coming. Thinking carefully, he seemed to have not done anything recently. He couldn't figure it out, so he wiped his hands and went out to see what these people were going to do.

But before he left the study, as soon as he opened the door, he saw Liu Che standing outside and about to push the door open.

Liu Tan subconsciously took two steps back: "Father, Mother? What happened?"

Liu Che walked in very rudely and said, "Well, big news!"

"Ah? What's the big deal?" Although the weather in the Han Dynasty was not good this year, nothing big happened either. In addition, because the autumn harvest output of the Northern Border Country increased, the overall data of the Han Dynasty was directly improved. Even if the increase was not much, it was still encouraging to look at the data alone. How could something happen again?

As Liu Che walked inside, he said, "My son has been secluded in his bedroom for a long time. Wouldn't I like to come and see him?"

Liu Tan: ????

How could he not show up for a long time? It's only been two or three days at most. Is it that serious? Even when Liu Fuling was around, Liu Che didn't see him every day. Of course, Liu Fuling took the initiative to move forward and put it aside.

Liu Tan turned to look at Chen Ajiao, who said naturally, "I think so too."

Liu Tan felt that he probably didn't need to ask Liu Ju what he thought.

It's really outrageous.

He didn't know how to answer.

But before he could answer, Liu Che had already picked up the paintings he had finished and put aside. Those paintings happened to correspond to the Four Seasons series. Liu Tan not only finished the paintings but also framed them.

He did not choose a picture frame, always feeling that it did not match the lobby. Of course, it might also be his personal feeling. He felt that picture frames were more commonly used in Western oil paintings, while mounting was more common in the East.

The Four Seasons series consists of four long paintings, each of which is very exquisitely made.

The last time Liu Che saw Liu Tan's paintings was on ceramics. This time, the feeling was different seeing them on paper and on ceramics.

When he saw the four paintings, he liked them very much and asked, "Are these paintings a set?"

Liu Tan nodded seriously: "Yes, this is based on the previous design."

After looking carefully for a while, Liu Che looked up and stared at Liu Tan.

The emperor's gaze returned. Liu Tan choked and said, "If your Majesty likes it, please hang it in the Xuanshi Hall."

Liu Che immediately waved to Bu Fan and said, "Come, have someone take it back."

Liu Tan had no choice but to walk over and say, "Wait, I'll roll it up."

As he began to work carefully, he said, "The thin one on top is the sky pole, and the thick one on the bottom is the ground pole. The sky pole is for the hanging rope, and the ground pole is used as a scroll and to make the painting hang flat."

As Liu Tan was working on the paintings, he couldn't help but sigh that Liu Che had come at the perfect time. If he had come a little later, these paintings would have been sent out already.

Chen Ajiao simply said, "There happened to be two identical sets, and the Queen Mother took the other one."

What else could Liu Tan say? He could only agree. Fortunately, he had planned to open two more beauty salons at the same time, otherwise he would have to work overtime to paint for his mother.

Not long after he finished feeling relieved, he looked up and saw Liu Ju looking at him eagerly.

Liu Tan: ...

It seems that he still cannot escape the fate of working overtime.

Of course, since they were of the same generation, he could just pretend not to see it, and Liu Ju couldn't do anything to him.

But the problem is that as a man with a conscience, Liu Tan was reluctant to reject Liu Ju.

You have to know that if someone else became the crown prince, he would never tolerate what he did in the Northern Border Kingdom and would definitely keep causing trouble for him. Unlike Liu Ju, who not only did not cause trouble for him, but also often helped him to get better treatment.

Liu Tan had no choice but to say, "I'll finish the painting in two days and then send it to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Liu Ju was a bit more shameless than Liu Che and Chen Ajiao. After hearing this, he said a little embarrassedly: "Then... I'll trade you with the white jade Ruyi I just got the other day."

Liu Tan smiled and said, "No, it doesn't take much effort."

Liu Ju said sternly, "My brother's time is very precious. It would be a sin to waste even a little bit of it."

Liu Tan: ???

How is his time precious?

Liu Che thought for a moment and said, "I don't have anything good to give you, so why don't you just help me with something?"

Liu Tan looked at Liu Che in shock. He never expected that this man could be so cruel. If he didn't want to give anything, then he didn't give it. As Liu Tan said, these paintings were just a waste of his time.

If it were an outsider, he would definitely ask for a huge sum of money, but since they were all family members, it was nothing.

But Liu Che not only didn't give him anything but also made him work for others? Wasn't he cheating the father... no, wasn't he cheating the son?

Liu Che waved at him, and after Liu Tan came over, he patted his shoulder and said, "Alright, these days you've been messing around with these rouge and powder just to spice things up. How can you indulge in this for long? Where's your ambition?"

Chen Ajiao, who was standing by, snorted in displeasure after hearing this, but didn't say much.

She knew that the beauty salon was very profitable, and it wouldn't be a waste of time if she really wanted to do it, but the problem was that Liu Tan's talents were not limited to that. He should have a broader stage to care about the people's livelihood.

She was just being sarcastic to Liu Che out of habit, and Liu Che was used to it and pretended not to hear anything.

Liu Tan frowned and asked, "Father, what kind of ambition does your Majesty want your son to have?"

Liu Che patted his head and said, "I think the imperial examination you organized in the Northern Kingdom is quite good. Why not try it in Chang'an?"

Liu Tan was shocked when he heard this: "This...is this possible?"

Liu Che raised his eyebrows: "If the Northern Border Kingdom can do it, why can't Chang'an?"

Liu Tan originally wanted to say that Chang'an was a complicated place with many connections, and those people definitely didn't want anyone to come in and compete with them for their jobs.

But he soon came to his senses - in this era, neither the aristocratic families nor the noble families existed yet, and even if there was a hint of this, it would not reach the point of dominating the court.

Moreover, the talents who passed the imperial examination did not directly become high-ranking officials. Except for the top scorer, everyone else had to learn how to be an official first. Even the top scorer could only follow the emperor or the prime minister to observe the officialdom closely, learn the knowledge and rules of the officialdom, and then wait until the time was right to be sent out to serve as an official.

Therefore, the talents who came out of the first batch of imperial examinations would not be reused as quickly as those in the Northern Border Kingdom. In fact, the second batch of talents who came out of the imperial examinations in the Northern Border Kingdom would not be as popular as the first batch.

When everyone sees that these people are going to serve as officials at the lower levels, I'm afraid many people would be happy to let them go - if these people were not there, others would have to go, and it would not be strange even if the prime minister's son was sent to be a county magistrate.

By the time these talented people who passed the imperial examinations had grown strong enough to enter the imperial court, it would be too late for those in the court to react.

Liu Tan thought for a moment and said, "That's not impossible, but before that, we need to sort out other channels for appointment of officials."

Liu Che sat down and said, "Go on."

Liu Tan said seriously, "Although the imperial examination system is useful, we cannot rely entirely on it. Therefore, recommendations must continue, but this is difficult to regulate. The only thing that can be regulated is the system of imperial positions, and the current imperial position system... is somewhat chaotic."

Liu Tan's words were still implicit. The Han Dynasty's current system of hereditary positions was not only chaotic, but also completely disorganized. Of course, it was not completely without rules, but as long as the emperor liked, the rules could be broken at will.

For example, among the sons of the Nine Ministers, if one is favored by the emperor, he may be given a higher position, while the other is just given a position as a token of his appreciation, which can easily lead to various kinds of instability.

Liu Che was quite interested after hearing this and asked, "Oh? Then how do you think we should change it?"