Sang Hongyang said with a slight pain in his teeth, "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi has sent people to search for the immortal as you instructed. You yourself said you would tour the east next year, and the Prince of Qi has already begun preparations to welcome you."
How can this change so suddenly? We've already started the preparations.
You have to know that the preparations for the Eastern Tour and the Northern Tour are definitely different. What should they do if the emperor changes his mind at the last minute?
Liu Che suppressed his smile somewhat unhappily and said, "Hasn't he been found yet?"
Sang Hongyang thought to himself, this is bad. If the emperor wants to cheat, there is nothing anyone can do about it.
He had no choice but to say, "Your Majesty, the King of the North will be heading out to battle soon, and we don't know when the battle will end. Under these circumstances, I'm afraid we can't arrange for a reception."
Sang Hongyang has already begun to hint that the Northern Kingdom will be out of money after the war. Do you want to let the King of the Northern Kingdom come to receive you and leave him starving?
Although everyone knew that the emperor and empress gave the King of the North pocket money every year, Sang Hongyang decided to ignore this issue.
Liu Che frowned slightly after hearing this, clearly unhappy, but still said reluctantly: "If that's the case, then forget it."
Sang Hongyang immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the emperor had not yet continued to be willful. If this still didn't work, Sang Hongyang decided to use his trump card - asking the queen for help.
It's useless to tell the King of the North. He will probably be overjoyed to prepare to welcome you and guarantee that there will be delicious food and fun things.
Only the queen would feel sorry for her son and could challenge the emperor.
Thinking of this, Sang Hongyang couldn't help but feel fortunate that he did not support the emperor when he had the idea of deposing the empress. Otherwise, he would never have found someone who could withstand the emperor's pressure.
Sang Hongyang left with the blueprints and documents, leaving behind the emperor who continued to play with the model in a bad mood.
Seeing his father's mood getting worse, Liu Ju couldn't help but cough and said, "Father, I heard that autumn in the Northern Territory has its own unique flavor. If you'd like, you can go and see it when the time comes."
Liu Ju's words gave Liu Che a new idea. He thought for a moment and said, "When the time comes, I'll go to Qi State and then to the Northern Border State. It's not something I haven't done before."
Liu Ju was immediately very happy. He was unhappy when he learned that Liu Che was planning to tour the east instead of the north next year.
Liu Fuling and Liu Bo would cause trouble for him whenever they got the chance. Although they hadn't caused any trouble so far, they were like little bugs that kept flying around his feet, and they were annoying after all.
His younger brother is still the best. Liu Tan not only doesn't cause him trouble, but also gives him money.
Since Liu Ju got the jade mine, he has become much more financially well-off.
Although it takes a certain amount of time to sell the jade, he no longer has to spend too much when giving it as a gift. He can directly get it from his own jade mine and have it carved by someone, which can save a lot of money.
Liu Ju thought about it and decided to go back and write a letter to his brother, asking him to be prepared to receive him next year, and at the same time ask his brother if he had any difficulties in going to the expedition.
If it is not convenient to help in the name of the court, he can also help privately.
Although the prince is short of money, his connections and other invisible assets are incomparable to the King of the North.
When Liu Tan received the letter from the prince, he was stunned. He didn't expect that the prince had already started planning next year's tour.
Although Liu Tan felt a little disappointed that Liu Che did not come in the summer, it was okay. Anyway, if he came again, Liu Tan might not have anything new to offer.
It’s good to let him take it easy, but...autumn, what’s fun about autumn?
As for the later one who asked about the expedition, Liu Tan simply ignored it. Why didn't either of them believe him?
After all, he had been developing the Northern Border for more than two years. It would have been three years by the New Year. How could he not be able to withstand such a war?
As the autumn harvest gradually came to an end, Huo Guang had a rare smile on his face for many days in a row.
Liu Tan asked curiously, "You seem to be in a good mood recently. Tell us if there's anything happy happening."
Huo Guang smiled and said, "This is not only a happy event for me, but also for Your Highness and even the Northern Territory."
Liu Tan was a little surprised: "What's the matter?"
Huo Guang asked, "Your Highness, guess what the harvest will be like this year?"
Liu Tan clapped his hands and laughed, "If you put it that way, it must be very good. Is there any need to guess?"
Huo Guang said, "Your Highness, please guess how good it is."
Liu Tan thought for a moment and said, "Although this year hasn't been exactly blessed with good weather, there haven't been any major disasters, and the Yellow River hasn't flooded. Plus, with the digging of many canals, the yield should have increased by at least 20%, right?"
Huo Guang was somewhat surprised: "It's rare to see Your Highness make such a conservative estimate."
Liu Tan was surprised: "Conservative? More than that?"
Huo Guang nodded: "At least 40% increase!"
Liu Tan was also very happy after hearing this: "The military rations have been found!"
Huo Guang said with emotion: "This is because the new agricultural tools have not yet covered the entire Northern Border Kingdom, the water conservancy system has only been laid 30%, and many people are still growing yellow rice."
Liu Tan said: "It doesn't matter, take it slow. As long as there is growth, it will be better than before."
Huo Guang said, "That's true, and quite a few refugees have come here recently."
Liu Tan was stunned. "Refugees? There are refugees in the Northern Territory?"
Most areas in the Northern Border Kingdom were not suitable for farming before. Although the land was vast and sparsely populated, there were very few refugees because there was no way to survive. It was not like the Central Plains where they could hide in the mountains. No matter how well they lived, they could always survive. At most, they would not live long due to lack of medical care and medicine.
When we arrived at the Northern Border, there was nothing to eat. There were some nomadic people there before, but after Liu Tan came here, he gradually swept through all the grasslands and took control of the good grasslands. It was impossible for nomadic people to still exist.
So where did the refugees come from in this situation?
Huo Guang said, "These people have no travel permits or other identification documents, so I say they are refugees. However, according to the secret investigations I sent people to investigate, these refugees are likely from the State of Yan."
"Yan State?" Liu Tan was puzzled. "What happened in Yan State? Although Yan State was destroyed, this kind of thing doesn't affect the people. Did they suffer a disaster?"
It's no wonder that Liu Tan was surprised. These days, the role of the princes in the vassal states has been infinitely weakened. Although King Yan Liu Dan was arrested and even the prime minister of Yan was imprisoned, the problem is that the county governors under him were not implicated. The work of these county governors was simply changed from reporting to the prime minister of Yan to reporting to the central government. There was no big change at all.
Huo Guang said, "The people I sent out reported that some Xiongnu appeared and raided the border, and it is said that the Xiongnu Chanyu himself led the troops."
"Wushilu? What was he doing there?" Liu Tan said with some regret, "It's too early. It would have been better if he had gone a little later. It would have been better if he hadn't been there when Axuan went out to fight."
The distance between the border of Yan State and the Xiongnu capital is still very far. It will take several days for Wu Shilu to receive the news, and then issue orders and mobilize troops, which will take many days. Opportunities on the battlefield are always fleeting. The time difference between this and that is enough for Lu Xuan to establish an initial advantage.
Huo Guang didn't think it was a big deal. "Nothing in the world is perfect. Wu Shilu is currently at the border of Yan State. I don't think he will return anytime soon. He might be oblivious to the developments in Wusun State. I believe His Majesty the King of Wusun will seize the opportunity."
Liu Tan said thoughtfully, "Tell me...is there any way to keep Wu Shilu there? What do you think of me going to Yan State myself?"
Huo Guang really couldn't laugh this time: "Your Highness!"
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