Huo Guang stared at Liu Tan for a long moment, unable to resist asking, "Could it be that Your Highness had anticipated this day?"
Liu Tan paused before saying, "No."
Huo Guang knew from his expression that he was speaking sarcastically.
For a moment, he didn't know what to say. "Shrewd and calculating"? If his Highness could use this word, would he still need to worry about it?
Prepare for a rainy day? But isn't this a little too early?
It had been more than two years since Princess Danyang's marriage, and Liu Tan didn't know where his fiefdom would be at that time. How could he have made plans so early?
The most important thing is that Huo Guang remembered that it was Liu Tan who was eager to become a fief, and then the emperor pointed to Shuofang to appease him. At that time, everyone thought that any normal person would definitely not choose Shuofang as a fief. In the end, who would have thought that Liu Tan would take advantage of the situation?
It was uncontrollable for Liu Che to tease his son, and Liu Tan certainly could not know this in advance. As a prince, the possibility of him taking the initiative to request Shuofang as a fiefdom was zero.
The more Huo Guang thought about it, the more he felt that there seemed to be something mysterious at work.
Seeing him lost in thought, Liu Tan couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"
Huo Guang came to his senses and asked, "Your Highness wants Princess Danyang to provide cattle?"
Liu Tan said, "I can buy it from her."
Huo Guang calculated and said, "Not enough time."
Not to mention how difficult it is to transport cattle, the distance from Da Wusun to the Northern Border Kingdom is not short. By the time the cattle arrived, spring plowing would have been over.
Liu Tan said, "Don't count on it this year. Right now, we're mainly pushing the Northern Plow. The plows that require oxen need to be customized for the time being."
Huo Guang asked, "What is the price, Your Highness?"
Liu Tan touched his chin and said, "Just add one five-zhu coin to the cost. You can handle this matter yourself. Then go find Gongshu Can. This time, you have to provide him with some manpower, right?"
Huo Guang had been busy before and had no time. Of course, the most important thing was that Liu Tan knew that Huo Guang did not agree with his behavior of giving official positions so casually, but Liu Tan did not do anything out of the ordinary. After all, he was not buying or selling official positions.
As for Gongshu Can, Huo Guang was not very serious about him, nor did he deliberately make things difficult for him.
Liu Tan didn't urge him these days. He knew that as long as Gongshu Can produced results, Huo Guang would pay attention to him.
Huo Guang said sternly, "I will arrange this matter as soon as possible."
Liu Tan held his chin with both hands and said, "Prime Minister Huo, as the Prime Minister, you should have the most basic trust in your princes. Do you think I am someone who can just give orders casually?"
Huo Guang looked at him with a smile and said, "Yes, this time it is my fault. I apologize to Your Highness."
Liu Tan shook his head and said, "No need to apologize. I just happen to have something for you to do."
Huo Guang asked, "What?"
"The academy should be opening soon. You will temporarily serve as the chief priest and assign a task to the students."
Huo Guang had been following up on this matter. After all, it was related to the issue of successor talents for the Northern Border Kingdom. He had been paying attention to the academy, and after the New Year, those students returned to the academy one after another.
Huo Guang asked curiously, "What tasks can these students perform?"
Liu Tan said, “Give them the task of recording all the characters, not only their shapes but also their meanings.”
Huo Guang was stunned after hearing this: "What does Your Highness want this for? Aren't there enlightenment books on this subject?"
Liu Tan waved his hand. "That's not enough. How many characters does the introductory book cover? There are also many rare characters that need to be included. During this process, they also need to collect as many books as possible. The collected books can be submitted to the library in exchange for credits."
How can an enlightenment book be compared with a dictionary?
Huo Guang suddenly heard a new term and couldn't help asking, "What are credits?"
Liu Tan said, "Just think of it as currency used within the school. They will study for two years. After the final assessment, those who have enough credits will graduate, and those who don't will be sent home."
Huo Guang's mouth twitched when he heard this. "Go home? Isn't that too good of a deal for them? Your Highness went to great lengths to find them teachers, providing them with good food and drink for free. Under these circumstances, they can stay in the academy for two years and then leave without any worries. What kind of place is the academy?"
Liu Tan thought about it and it seemed to be true. His academy did not charge tuition fees, all the money went into his warehouse.
There is no other way. With the current treasury situation of the Northern Border Kingdom, it cannot afford such a school. It is not taboo for princes to set up schools. Many princes do so, but those princes do so to recruit talents to play with them or to build up their reputation. There seems to be no one like Liu Tan who really focuses on teaching.
Liu Tan asked, "So what do you think?"
Huo Guang pondered for a moment and said, "If anyone fails to pass the examination after two years of study, their title of Gongshi will be revoked, they will be punished by serving as an official for three years, and they will not be allowed to take the imperial examination for five years."
Liu Tan couldn't help but gasp after hearing this: "Isn't this... too heavy?"
Although petty clerks were considered civil servants in this era, their status was really not that high. Of course, it was definitely better than that of ordinary people, but it was basically impossible to start a formal official career from being a petty clerk.
Unless one is like Zhu Maichen in the past, who has great talent and has the support of his fellow townsmen, he can rise from a minor official to a minister.
But how many Zhu Maichens are there in this world?
If it were really that common, Zhu Maichen would not be so famous.
He passed the imperial examination and became a clerk because of his poor academic performance. He was not allowed to take the imperial examination for another five years. How many five years can a person have in his life?
Huo Guang said sternly, "Your Highness, please don't be soft-hearted. If you're not strict, how can you have a deterrent effect?"
Liu Tan did not refute. Huo Guang was more experienced in this kind of thing. Whatever he said was what it was. It was also good to have strict admission and graduation standards. After all, he had spent so much money. If he couldn't even train a qualified graduate, he would feel frustrated.
"Okay, you can handle this matter. Anyway, just assign this task. I have to take care of other things next."
Huo Guang's ears twitched, and he looked at Liu Tan warily and asked, "What is your highness going to do?"
Normally, Liu Tan wouldn't give any advance notice when he was tinkering with something, but once he started talking about what he was going to do, it proved that it was definitely something very important!
Liu Tan said, "I looked at the records of previous years. Although we don't have much rainfall here, there is a period of frequent rainfall every year. Is it about time?"
Huo Guang understood: "Your Highness, are you worried about the Yellow River changing its course?"
Liu Tan replied, "Yes and no. The main thing is that we want to take advantage of the spring season now, but it's not yet time for farming, so we can get some canals done. Sigh, I was thinking of digging in the winter, but the ground is so frozen solid here. Now we can dig as many canals as we can."
Huo Guang said, "In this case, we should choose a medium-sized farmland that is far away from a water source."
Good farmland means there is enough water resources, otherwise it is impossible to produce much food. Inferior farmland is not worth wasting time on.
Liu Tan nodded and said, "That's right. Speaking of which, Xu Lin has been taking care of him for so long, how is his health? Isn't it time to relax and work for me?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
