Chapter 613 [First Update]

Liu Tan felt that these people really didn't have big imaginations when they should, and when they shouldn't, no one knew what they were thinking about.

He looked at Li Xi and said, "You don't have to worry. I've already used this thing to blow up Qilan and two ports in Jiaozhi."

Li Xi came to his senses at this time, and felt that he had probably lost his mind due to the explosion of black gunpowder.

However, he still said with some concern: "But... I'm afraid it won't be very useful this time."

Liu Tan said, "This thing has a greater power if the dose is large, and a smaller power if the dose is small. However, this also requires experimentation, so I'll let you see it first so you have a plan. If it works, use it. If it doesn't, forget it."

After Li Xi came back to his senses, he felt a little itchy after confirming that Yong Lei was fine.

Worrying is one thing, but having such a powerful weapon in your hand and not being able to use it is another. Wouldn’t you feel frustrated?

He thought seriously and said, "Anyway, we still have time, so we can explore it bit by bit."

Liu Tan raised his eyebrows, sneered, and said, "No one can resist the temptation of hot weapons."

Especially these generals, if they go to fight in other countries' territory, everyone may still hesitate, but if they fight in their own territory, it is of course best to win quickly and decisively.

As for whether Liaodong County would be in ruins after the battle, Liu Tan was not worried at all. Judging from the situation in Liaoxi County, Liaodong County would probably not be much better. If possible, it would be better to just move all the people out and then destroy and rebuild the place.

But he couldn't tell anyone about this idea, because if he did, people would probably think he was making a big fuss.

Liu Tan sent Li Xi back to sleep, after all, they had to go to Guangyang tomorrow.

Liaodong County and Guangyang County are not particularly close, because you have to go halfway around the bay. If you go by sea, it would be closer, but the problem is that there is no port in Guangyang County. Liu Tan’s ship has to go there... and then he has to come here again, and then send someone to ask the ship to come over when he returns. This is not only troublesome enough.

It would be better to just take a car there. As for riding a horse, Liu Tan usually wouldn't choose to ride a horse unless he was in a hurry. Not only is it too tiring, but it's also easy to get injured.

When Li Kangcheng received the news that the King of the North was coming, he was completely conflicted.

He had received news that Liaoxi County would soon have a new county seat. It was said that the new county seat would basically follow the planning of Shuofang City, but it would be smaller than Shuofang City and the buildings would be shorter.

But this is already very good. Li Kangcheng had also been to Shuofang City for tourism. When he arrived in Shuofang City, he was shocked at the first sight of the city wall. After he arrived in the inner city, he was even more dazzled.

He had never been to Chang'an, but he had heard that even Chang'an was only slightly better than Shuofang City in terms of population and prosperity, and it was said that it was not as well-disciplined as Shuofang City.

It's not like he hadn't thought about how nice it would be if his county town could be like Shuofang City, but it was just a thought because he had no money.

Li Kangcheng was not a corrupt official. He would occasionally increase taxes a little, but he would never force the people into a desperate situation. However, Guangyang County had no choice.

In fact, Guangyang used to belong to the Guangyang Kingdom, but the kingdom was abolished later, which allowed him to get the position of prefect of Guangyang County. Otherwise... the one who governed this place should be the prime minister of Guangyang Kingdom.

Li Kangcheng didn't have any special abilities, so naturally he couldn't lead Guangyang County to prosperity.

So when Liu Tan came this time, on the one hand, he hoped that the other party could build him a new city, but on the other hand, he was also a little worried that the other party would cause trouble for him.

At this moment, Li Kangcheng felt extremely regretful. He should not have tested the bottom line of the King of the Northern Territory. Now everyone was worried.

Liu Tan didn't want to make things difficult for Li Kangcheng, he just wanted to watch Li Kangcheng's fun.

After they met, Li Kangcheng bowed and Liu Tan smiled and said, "You mentioned before that you were related to Li Xi. Coincidentally, Li Xi is in charge of the pacification of Liaodong Commandery this time. I brought him here today so you can... catch up."

Fortunately, Liu Tan was not so wicked that he swallowed the words "grandfather and grandson", of course out of respect for Li Xi.

Li Xi stood aside and looked at Li Kangcheng coldly.

Although he acted unreliable in front of Liu Tan, he was still quite intimidating when he showed off his prowess outside. After all, he was a man who had led troops in battles, and the murderous aura on his body could make Li Kangcheng breathless.

Li Kangcheng's face turned pale. He was just a weak scholar who knew some sword skills for self-defense at most. How could he compare to Li Xi, who had experienced the blood of a knife?

He immediately pulled out a bamboo slip and held it in front of him: "I have never said anything nonsense. I have the family tree as proof!"

Liu Tan: ...

Well, Li Xi had said before that if we really wanted to talk about generations, we could only look up the family tree, and it turned out that he actually brought the family tree.

Li Xi asked expressionlessly, "This is your family tree, and you don't have mine. How can you be sure?"

Li Kangcheng smiled cautiously and said, "General Li made great contributions in defeating the Xiongnu in the north. Although my Guangyang Li family has long been separated from the general's clan, we still have some connection. I tried every possible way to verify it, and now I know about it."

Li Xi guessed that the admiration was fake. He probably thought that if he had the chance to go to Chang'an in the future, he could get some care based on the relationship.

Li Xi had encountered this kind of thing many times before, and he was too lazy to argue with Li Kangcheng. He just said calmly: "Since we have already split up, let's not talk about this anymore."

Li Kangcheng nodded repeatedly and said, "That's right, that's right. I won't be so arrogant anymore. General Li, please bear in mind that I'm still young and outspoken, and don't argue with me."

Liu Tan: ...

You are almost forty years old, and your age has already exceeded the average life expectancy of Han people. You are still young.

However, neither Liu Tan nor Li Xi wanted to argue with him about this matter.

Li Xi didn't want to argue with him at all. The reason he cooperated with Liu Tan was just to take the opportunity to warn the other party. After all, he had to train soldiers in Guangyang County, and maybe a port would be built in Guangyang County. In this case, the conduct of the Guangyang County Magistrate was very important.

According to Li Xi's idea, it would be better to just replace him with an obedient one.

But Liu Tan had his own concerns. First of all, he couldn't guarantee that those who came up would be obedient.

Well, the officials of the Northern Border Kingdom are definitely obedient, but the problem is that Liu Tan can't transfer them to Yan Kingdom, and the Northern Border Kingdom is also short of people.

Secondly, Li Kangcheng has some minor flaws, but not many major ones. At least in Liu Tan's opinion, he has not done anything major wrong.

As for things like selling shops at low prices, to be honest, compared with the misdeeds of the Pinggang County Magistrate, this is nothing. After all, he just lowered the price, and did not lower it too much, leaving the other party a way to survive, and his family members have never forced anyone to death.

Such officials are rare these days.

Therefore, Li Kangcheng has a good reputation in Guangyang County, and replacing him may not be better than him.

Seeing that the other party has become extremely honest, I think he has been beaten into being honest. In this case, it is better to leave it like this for now and talk about it later if it doesn't work.

Liu Tan is not afraid at all now. After all, there is no one he can't deal with.

Li Kangcheng accompanied Liu Tan very carefully along the way and introduced him to the various situations in Guangyang County.

I have to say that the county seat of Guangyang County is actually much stronger than that of Liaoxi County. After all, this place used to be the Guangyang Kingdom, and the county seat was the royal capital back then. No matter how bad it is, it can't be any worse.

Li Kangcheng took Liu Tan all the way to the former Guangyang Palace. Although the Guangyang Kingdom had been abolished and the Guangyang King had long since passed away, the Guangyang Palace was still there.

Compared to Prince Yan's Palace, Prince Guangyang's Palace was slightly less luxurious, but in fact, the flowers, plants, trees, pavilions, and towers were still better than those in Liu Tan's own palace. As for the furnishings... to his surprise, there actually were some.

Liu Tan turned to look at Li Kangcheng: "Are these all yours?"

Li Kangcheng immediately shook his head and said, "No, no, no, these are from the government treasury."

When the Guangyang Kingdom was abolished, if the King of Guangyang had no son to inherit his inheritance, it would naturally go to the local government, and the government had also considered converting these things into cash.

But in a small place like theirs, no one can afford or dare to buy those luxurious furnishings, and basically no one is qualified to use them, so they can only be left in the warehouse gathering dust.

Every time Li Kangcheng was short of money, he would go and sigh at the things in the treasury.

But now he is glad to have these things, at least he can use them to entertain the King of the North. Once His Royal Highness the King of the North is happy, he might give him some advice, and Guangyang County might have a chance.

Liu Tan walked around and was a little surprised: "These things can't be fixed in one day, right? Has the Guangyang Palace been under maintenance for so long?"

Li Kangcheng immediately said, "Of course not. It's just a small thought from the minister. I want to invite Your Highness to come and have a look after you have settled down. Guangyang County is still very nice in the summer."

Liu Tan immediately understood Li Kangcheng's little thoughts and couldn't help but patted Li Kangcheng on the shoulder with a smile: "Smart."

He knew to adjust his route after being beaten, which can indeed be called smart. He is not afraid that his subordinates have ulterior motives. If they are all stupid, it will be tiring.

Li Kangcheng is indeed flexible. At least when it comes to serving Liu Tan, Li Kangcheng is more attentive than others.

Liu Tan certainly didn't need it, but he wouldn't refuse either.

What surprised him most was that Li Kangcheng actually had a new version of the map!

He had already lost hope in all the county governors of Yan State, and was planning to ask Li Kangcheng to send people to draw a map first. He was not in a hurry to draw a map of the seaside first so that he could find a way to choose a place to build a deep-water port.

Unexpectedly, Li Kangcheng had already prepared everything.

Liu Tan was convinced that Li Kangcheng was a man with some ambition.

He took a look at the map, circled an area, and said to Li Xi, "Build it here."

Li Xi knew at a glance that Liu Tan must have had this idea long ago, and couldn't help but ask, "Why did Your Highness choose this place?"

Liu Tan said with an unfathomable look on his face, "Don't ask, the answer is intuition."

Li Xi: ...

Liu Tan pretended not to notice Li Xi's expression. Otherwise, what could he say? He said he remembered that this was the location of Tianjin Port in the future? In fact, as far as he knew, the more famous ports in this area included Tianjin Port, Tangshan Port, and Qinhuangdao Port.

But those are things to be discussed later. What he needs to do now is to build Guangyang Port.

Since he didn't explain, Li Xi didn't ask any further questions. Li Kangcheng, on the other hand, was scratching his head anxiously. He had been holding back and didn't dare to interrupt until now. Now, he finally found his chance and couldn't help asking, "Your Highness, are you going to build a shipyard? What are you going to build it for?"

Liu Tan said, "Train the navy."

Li Kangcheng was stunned for a moment. He had heard before that Qi State was building a port in order to open up sea transportation with other countries.

In Chang'an, Liu Che meant that this matter must be taken seriously.

But when the news reached Li Kangcheng, it meant that the whole country was devoting all its efforts to this matter. Li Kangcheng was very excited when he heard that a port was to be built, thinking that he had also been selected to become a part of the sea transportation.

I didn't expect it was only used for naval training?

But he changed his mind and decided that no matter what he did, as long as he was carrying out a project, he would need manpower. He knew that the wages offered to the hired laborers in Liaoxi County had made Li Kangcheng somewhat tempted, not to mention the people who had received the news.

It's a pity that the policy there is quite strict, and priority is given to local people from Liaoxi County. Others have to queue up first, and may not even get a spot. This is why many people return empty-handed. After all, eating, drinking, and going to the toilet there all cost money, and if they are not requisitioned, not only will they not make any money, they will even have to pay for it.

Now that the King of the North has come to Guangyang County to build a port, it will definitely require a lot of manpower.

Li Kangcheng instantly became cheerful again and said immediately, "Your Highness, please give me any instructions. I will do my best."

In fact, there was no need for Liu Tan to give orders for such matters. The people he brought were all used to doing engineering projects. Although building a port was different from other things, many aspects of coordination were similar. Liu Tan simply handed the matter over to others, and then took Li Xi to the beach.

The climate in the Bohai Bay area is actually quite good, and the temperature here is now slightly higher than that in Liaoxi County. Liu Tan came here on the one hand to see the sea, and on the other hand to think about whether he could build a marine park here for his father to use for vacation.

Qinhuangdao has always been a royal holiday resort, and it is also the seaport where the Qin Emperor sought immortality. I believe Liu Che would be interested in this place.

Unfortunately, Qinhuangdao is now composed of several small fishing villages. The famous Beidaihe and Golden Coast in later generations are still very deserted. There are some people in Laolongtou, but it still has a defensive function, so those are soldiers stationed here.

It would probably take a lot of effort to develop this place. Liu Tan took a stroll and put those thoughts aside. He decided to develop the State of Yan first. First of all, the roads here were much bumpier than concrete roads. He didn't even have the heart to let Liu Che come over.

After Liu Tan took a stroll, he returned to the Guangyang Palace to deal with some matters first. Li Xi had nothing to do before the port was built, so he followed him like a guard.

After Liu Tan finished reviewing the documents in his hand, he said to Li Xi, "You now need to do three things. First, lead your team to experiment with black powder to see if you can train a blaster, someone who specializes in configuring the gunpowder and selecting the explosion site. Second, you'll monitor the construction of the deep-water port. Third... find a way to send someone to Liaodong County to understand the current situation. It would be best if they could draw an up-to-date map."

Liu Tan had previously thought that the maps of the entire Han Dynasty had been surveyed using the latest methods. However, he did not expect that the maps of Yan State, except for Guangyang County, had never been updated.

He guessed that many vassal states might not have been replaced. After all, it was difficult to say who owned those vassal states. The prime minister was responsible to the imperial court, but the imperial court generally did not seem to have high requirements for these prime ministers.

Anyway, now he had no idea where to start with the simple map of Liaodong County.

Li Xi was also a little uncomfortable. Ever since he arrived in the Western Regions, he had only been looking at the latest maps. When you think about it, it has only been a few years, and he was actually a little uncomfortable with this kind of map.

Li Xi nodded seriously: "Your Highness, rest assured. I will never slack off."

Before Liu Tan could say something, he saw the young eunuch standing outside with a man dressed as a scout. Li Xi immediately walked over and asked a few questions.

When he came back, Liu Tan saw his serious expression and couldn't help asking, "What's wrong?"

Li Xi's face was heavy as he spoke, "Your Highness, I just received news that the Wuhuan Bo Xi clan massacred civilians after occupying Liaodong County. Now, only... one in ten people are left alive."