Liu Tan looked at Huo Guang's wary expression and said helplessly, "Nothing, I just promised to give the head of the Gongshu family an official position."
Huo Guang was slightly stunned: "Is this it?"
Liu Tanxin said of course there was more than that, but he didn't dare to say directly that he was going to proceed step by step, so he nodded.
Huo Guang, who knew how unreliable he was, looked at Liu Tan suspiciously and said, "Your Highness, please tell us what else you have to say."
Liu Tan looked at Huo Guang's posture, which seemed to indicate that he was already prepared. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I want to add a winter official."
Huo Guang frowned slightly: "Winter Official? Zhou Dynasty official system?"
Liu Tan nodded. The reason why he didn't say it was the Ministry of Works was because the position of Winter Official had appeared in the Zhou Dynasty, and the Ministry of Works in later generations actually evolved from the Winter Official.
Huo Guang looked at him and said, "There is a Sikong in the government."
Whether it is the Grand Chancellor of the central government or the Chancellor of the vassal states, the functions they are in charge of are basically the same. How is Liu Tan going to arrange for the Winter Official when he suddenly created one?
Liu Tan understood his implication and quickly explained, "The Winter Office is only in charge of various handicrafts and civil engineering and water conservancy projects. Forget it, just think of this department as one dedicated to the study of things."
Huo Guang knew that Liu Tan was very interested in studying things, so he said, "In that case, why not build a house specifically for them to use for their research?"
Liu Tan laughed dryly and said, "Isn't it... that the Gongshu family is a bit obsessed with becoming an official? Don't worry, I'll pay their salaries."
Huo Guang took a deep breath and said, "My concern isn't about salaries, but about personnel. What kind of officials should be assigned to the Winter Palace? How many should they have? How many subordinates and clerks should they bring with them? Where will these people come from?"
Liu Tan was stunned by his barrage of questions and was about to hand the matter over to Huo Guang. However, after noticing Huo Guang's thinner face, he calmed down and said, "So I'm just asking if you can. If you agree, I'll find a way."
Huo Guang didn't agree to it, but said, "If Your Highness can come up with a perfect plan, I have no reason to disagree."
Liu Tan: ...
He vaguely seemed to be back to the time when he made demands to his boss, and his boss required him to reach a certain level.
Did he and Huo Guang's roles get reversed? Shouldn't he just give the order and let his subordinates handle it?
It seemed that Huo Guang had advised him in this way before, why was it different today?
Huo Guang met Liu Tan's inquiring gaze and raised an eyebrow, asking, "Your Highness?"
Liu Tan said solemnly, "Prime Minister, you have changed."
Huo Guang's forehead jumped: "Your Highness, what are you thinking about now?"
Liu Tan took a look. Zhu Shanfu wasn't here today, so he simply didn't bother to maintain his appearance. He just leaned over the table and said, "You're actually ordering me around! You weren't like this before!"
Huo Guang watched Liu Tan act like a rogue and felt deeply that it was a good thing that the emperor had left. After the emperor had been here for a few days, the behavior pattern of their prince had regressed by several years. If he stayed any longer, he would probably return to the unreasonable behavior of his childhood!
He said lightly, "This matter is relatively simple. I just want Your Highness to experience it so as to avoid giving me greater problems in the future."
Liu Tan, leaning over the table, looked at Huo Guang and suddenly asked, "Is this considered a check and balance?"
Huo Guang was slightly stunned, and his expression changed instantly. He thought that he and Liu Tan were different, or different from other monarchs and ministers. They were not like those people who targeted each other and fought for power, nor did they need to suppress each other. But sometimes, suppressing each other is not necessary just for fighting for power.
His desire to suppress Liu Tan's wild ideas also fell within this category.
Seeing his expression was off, Liu Tan couldn't help but laugh and said, "What are you thinking? This is a kind of benign check and balance, there's nothing wrong with it. Prime Minister Huo isn't so naive as to think we don't need it, right?"
Huo Guang raised his eyes and looked at Liu Tan. Liu Tan met his gaze and felt that those eyes seemed to have a lot to say, but he was hesitant.
Because there was a distance between them. Liu Tan sat on his throne and Huo Guang sat in the place of a minister. Even though he was the most powerful minister in the northern border country, he was at most in the front and could not be too close to Liu Tan.
Liu Tan simply stood up and walked over to Huo Guang, squatting down with his elbows on his knees and his hands supporting his chin. Huo Guang couldn't help but twitch his forehead at his childish behavior. He was just about to ask Liu Tan to stay away from him so he could calm down when he heard Liu Tan say, "Are you overthinking it again? Human desires are endless, and these desires will become increasingly difficult to satisfy as status and wealth increase. Isn't there a saying that goes, 'Desires are insatiable?' At this time, someone needs to persuade such people. Isn't that the responsibility of the Prime Minister? I don't care about it, why do you care so much?"
Huo Guang's eyes gleamed: "Your Highness knows everything?"
Liu Tan sighed deeply: "I don't really want to know, but I don't want to embarrass you either. After all, I am a reasonable person."
He is indeed a very reasonable person. Huo Guang couldn't help but think that this was not the first time he rejected Liu Tan's proposal, but Liu Tan never refuted him or quarreled with him. What's more, if he felt he was right, he would seriously correct it.
Thinking of this, Huo Guang was silent for a while and then said, "Your Highness is right."
Liu Tan looked up at him, but before he could say anything, Huo Guang said, "The appointment of officials is my responsibility and should be managed by me."
Liu Tan was a little surprised: "It's okay to let me come, but you may still have to check in the end."
Huo Guang was already feeling soft-hearted, and now, thinking of Liu Tan's ability to stir up trouble, he felt that it would be better for him to take control, so he said again: "It would be good if I could come."
Liu Tan couldn't help but lean forward and put his hands on the mat and asked, "Really?"
Huo Guang leaned back slightly and said, "Your Highness! It's better not to leave the table during the political discussion!"
Don't get so close to him even when you're sitting down!
Liu Tan smiled, stood up and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Huo Guang's eyelids twitched. After Liu Tan left, he looked at his brisk steps and felt deeply as if he had been tricked by their prince.
In fact, Liu Tan was not deliberately trying to trick him. He just wanted to tell Huo Guang in a tactful way that it would be better to keep going. He knew his own situation and if no one cared about him, he could really go to heaven.
If the matter of appointing officials was left to him, he himself would not be able to guarantee what would happen next.
Now that he had Huo Guang, he finally felt a lot more at ease.
After Huo Guang left with the mission, Gongshu Yi returned with the process of Gongshujia making colored glaze.
Gongshu Yi handed the entire recipe directly to Liu Tan, then said with shame, "I have never been very interested in glassmaking, so I don't have much experience in this area. If Your Highness can wait, we can wait for my father to come and discuss it."
Liu Tan said casually: "Let me take a look first."
Then he looked down at the entire process. In fact, he basically didn't need to look at the previous part. The method he was using now was better than the Gongshu family's. After all, the Gongshu family was still in the stage of burning firewood, and a large part of the middle part was explaining how to ensure the temperature.
Liu Tan kept reading and found that the only useful information about increasing the hardness of glass was the last sentence: Soaking the glass in molten salt for more than six hours will make it no longer brittle.
Molten salt? Immersed for more than six hours?
Liu Tan thought about it for a while and finally slapped his thigh: Damn, isn’t this the low-temperature ion exchange method?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
