Huo Guang stood outside listening to Liu Tan singing folk songs that he had heard from somewhere. The more he listened, the more he couldn't stand it. What was this dignified King of the North singing?
So he walked in directly without waiting for Miao Ruitong to report.
Then when he walked in, he saw Liu Tan with his hands full of red mud pouring into the grid. Not to mention his body, there were even a few mud marks on his face.
Huo Guang's blood rushed to his head and he almost passed out.
Liu Tan heard footsteps and turned around to see Huo Guang. He stood up and said with a smile, "Huh? Prime Minister Huo, what's going on here at this time?"
Huo Guang trembled and said, "Your Highness...what are you doing?"
Liu Tan said as if it was a matter of course: "Making bricks."
As he spoke, he felt a little itchy on his face and couldn't help rubbing it with his sleeve. However, his sleeve was also rubbed with mud, and now there was another stain on his face.
Huo Guang felt that he really could not bear it any longer. He thought about how the emperor and the prince had talked to him separately before he came. The content of the conversations was similar. They all hoped that he could take good care of Liu Tan and persuade him more if possible.
Although Liu Tan seems to be very opinionated and mature precociously based on past events, he is only fifteen years old after all and still needs an adult to guide him.
Huo Guang agreed very well at that time and was very confident.
What's the result now?
The once clean little prince is now almost turned into a mud monkey!
Huo Guang took a deep breath and said, "Your Highness is of noble status. How could you accept such a menial task? Miao Rui, Bigao, don't you know how to stop His Highness?"
Miao Rui and Bigo huddled aside, not daring to speak. Liu Tan quickly said, "It's none of their business. I decided to do it myself."
Huo Guang said solemnly, "Besides serving Your Highness, they must also be able to give advice and counsel. Otherwise, what use are they?"
Huo Guang turned to look at Miao Rui and Bigao and said, "Twenty lashes for you two. Go find Chief Justice Jiang to receive your punishment!"
Liu Tan almost jumped up. "Why is Prime Minister Huo so indiscriminate? Besides, you don't know what I'm doing, so how do you know it's just menial labor?"
Huo Guang said solemnly, "I don't need to know what Your Highness is going to do. I only know that no matter what Your Highness wants to do, you can ask others to do it on your behalf. Why should Your Highness do this personally?"
Liu Tan said: "They don't know how to do it!"
Huo Guang looked at the bronze basin on the ground and the model beside it, then said calmly, "I don't think there is even someone who can mix the mud."
Liu Tan: ...
Eh, that seems to be the case.
He used to think that no one knew how to make porous bricks, but now the first thing he made was not porous bricks but solid bricks.
Originally, he wanted to take it step by step and not try the difficult stuff right away. That way, even if porous bricks couldn't be made, he could use solid bricks first.
And solid bricks... where's the technical content? There's really no need for him to get himself so dirty.
Liu Tan suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He thought about it and realized that it was indeed inappropriate to spread the word that the King of the Northern Territory liked to play in the mud. No wonder Huo Guang was so serious.
He could only whisper, "I understand. Then...just fine them a monthly salary and don't punish them."
Huo Guang glanced at him nonchalantly and said, "How much punishment I impose on you can compensate them, so what good will it do? I just want them to remember that you can't let your Highness do everything you want. Your Majesty didn't send them to your side to do whatever you want."
What kind of nonsense is this? I'm contributing to national infrastructure!
Liu Tan was dissatisfied, but he could not argue with Huo Guang, so even if he was dissatisfied, he could only complain in his heart.
However, even if he whispered it in his heart, Huo Guang could see it.
After all, Liu Tan doesn't hide his feelings in front of people he knows well, and now his eyes probably show that he is both timid and unconvinced.
Huo Guang felt a little headache for a moment.
As the prime minister, he was able to restrict the princes, so he had many ways to punish Liu Tan and let him remember that he was of noble status and his time was precious, and it was not to be used for this.
However, those punishments... according to Huo Guang's previous understanding of other prime ministers, generally meant that the princes could not listen to music and dance, could not hold banquets, and could not play games.
Anyway, we start with the four aspects of eating, drinking, and having fun, among which eating and drinking are generally not restricted.
Just the entertainment aspect is enough to make other princes very uncomfortable.
But are these useful to Liu Tan?
It's useless!
Except for the required music, singing and dancing during meals, Liu Tan would never summon musicians and dancers at other times.
As for other entertainment, there is none.
Thinking about it this way, it seemed that Liu Tan spent all day and night in the study writing various documents. Huo Guang could understand some of those documents, but not some.
But he could vaguely see that Liu Tan was busy with the political affairs of the Northern Border Kingdom.
When he thought of this, Huo Guang suddenly felt soft-hearted again.
While other princes were enjoying themselves in luxury, his little prince was racking his brains and spending all his energy every day thinking about how to make this barren land fertile.
Thinking of this, Huo Guang said, "Your Highness's behavior is inappropriate, so... let's punish His Highness by not allowing him to set foot in the study for three days."
At this time, Liu Tan was being helped by Miao Rui and Big Gao to wash his hands and face and change his clothes.
Although the space inside the kiln is not big and not very suitable, he can't just go out covered in mud.
When he heard Huo Guang's words, he was stunned for a moment: What kind of punishment is this? Isn't this really giving me a holiday?
This did sound like giving Liu Tan a holiday, but Huo Guang knew very well that based on Liu Tan's personality, it would be very uncomfortable for him not to go to the study and write down his thoughts.
To teach him a lesson, Huo Guang even said, "I will order that no paper or pen be provided to Your Highness."
Liu Tan didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You are really ingenious."
Huo Guang was also helpless. Who made his prince not follow the ordinary path?
After Miao Rui and Bigo helped Liu Tan finish the work, Liu Tan called in the disabled soldiers outside, explained the operation process to them in detail, and promised: "If you can do it, it can be considered a skill. When I open a kiln in the future, I will give you priority."
The soldiers became excited instantly.
Throughout the ages, people have always known that having a skill is the safest and most popular way to earn a living.
Although Liu Tan was very nice to these soldiers, they still felt uneasy, mainly because they felt that what they did could be done by others, and even by healthy people who could do it faster and better than them.
They felt that they had let down the Northern King's kindness to them, and if they could now acquire a skill, it would be a way to repay the Northern King.
Liu Tan explained to them what he was going to do. In fact, the steps of making bricks are quite simple.
The only thing you need to be careful about is to smooth it out bit by bit after putting it into the mold, and this step is actually the most difficult.
All that remains is to dry the bricks in the shade first, and after they have dried to a certain degree, put them into the kiln and slowly burn them.
After Liu Tan finished speaking, the veterans were a little confused and couldn't help asking: "Your Highness, how long does it take to dry in the shade, and how long does it take to bake?"
Liu Tan: ...
To be honest, he didn't know either, otherwise how could it be called groping?
Liu Tan thought about it and said, "Let's try them all. Make a few more pieces for the initial drying process. Cut one every three days and see how it goes. Once it's completely dry, you can put it in the furnace and fire it. Don't use too high a fire at first, just take your time."
At this point, Liu Tan wanted to roll up his sleeves again, because many things were based on feelings, and he had no way to describe what that feeling was like, not to mention that his feelings might not be correct.
Finally, he simply said, "Start giving me samples every day on the fifth day of firing."
After Liu Tan finished speaking, he followed Huo Guang and obediently accepted his "punishment".
However, Huo Guang obviously underestimated Liu Tan's enthusiasm.
Even if Liu Tan didn't step into the study, he could still have fun - he didn't play with mud himself, but he started to lead a group of people to play!
Not only playing with mud but also playing with wood!
What kind of hobby is this!
Huo Guang was so angry, but he couldn't control himself, so he had to close his eyes and let him go.
However, Liu Tan was actually testing the drilling positions of the porous bricks.
There is no way. If hollow bricks are used, porous bricks are used to bear weight, so the holes must be drilled well, otherwise they will not be able to bear weight.
At first, Liu Tan wanted to make a brick out of mud for experimentation, but later he found that this was too slow because it would take many days to dry in the shade, so he simply used wood instead.
The materials are different, but the principle is the same. As long as the wood can bear weight to a certain range, porous bricks can only be stronger than it, not worse.
After leading his men to cause chaos in the county government for half a month, Liu Tan finally obtained some rough data. It was just rough, but if he wanted to get detailed information, he had to practice it.
Anyway, this porous brick can bear the load of only one layer, and the bricks are strong enough to cover two layers.
Liu Tan was thinking about whether to convert the main buildings of the palace into two floors. As for the third and fourth floors... forget it, who has the time to climb stairs? The reason for building two floors was because he wanted to lower the height of the rammed earth platform.
Nowadays, there are regulations on the height of rammed earth platforms from the imperial palace to the palaces of princes. In order to reflect one's status, people of high status have to live in higher places. And the steps are so dizzying just looking at them. It would be better to leave half of the rammed earth platform empty to turn it into a house.
Liu Tan started to draw the blueprints as soon as he thought of it. He didn't know how to draw architectural drawings, but he could draw a schematic diagram for the craftsmen to study how to build it.
After the drawings were completed and the craftsmen began to study the various load-bearing structures, all Liu Tan had to do was wait for the bricks to come out, and then he could start building the palace.
Come to think of it, he still doesn't know where his palace will be built!
When Liu Tan thought of this and was about to go find Huo Guang, he saw Li Buyan hurriedly coming over with a stone in his hand.
It was not until Li Buyan approached Liu Tan that he discovered that the stone was a neat square, and it was obvious that it was not formed naturally.
Liu Tan's eyes suddenly lit up: "Is it done?"
Li Buyan scratched his head and said, "Your Highness, it seems that what I said to you is not quite right."
As Li Buyan spoke, he held up the brick and placed it on Liu Tan's desk. Liu Tan looked down and his mouth twitched - although the brick was similar in shape and color, the surface was not flat, but was covered with various large and small pits, like the surface of the moon.
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