If it were in later times, hearing those four words would probably make people understand Liu Tan's plan. However, Wei Guan was extremely unfamiliar with this, so he couldn't understand what the four words meant.
Liu Tan didn't care whether he understood or not. He asked someone to take Wei Guan away to deal with a bunch of follow-up matters and investigate his family situation. Anyway, his parents had to be taken in, and if he had any underage brothers and sisters, they had to be taken in as well.
Wei Guan looks to be in his twenties now. According to the national conditions, he should be married, but it is hard to say. The head tax of the Han Dynasty is only for women. Women who are over fifteen years old and do not get married will be charged five times the head tax. There is no such rule for men.
If he has a wife and children, they must be brought over as well. In short, they will all be caught in one fell swoop. As for the document, it was written by Liu Tan himself, because only he knew how to restrain Wei Guan.
After signing the documents, Liu Tan said to Wei Guan, "It's not easy for you to travel all over the country these years. You've been consuming your mind and energy on math problems for the past half month. Before your family arrives, you should rest for a few days. I will send someone to invite you then. You can relax a little."
Wei Guan was so moved that he almost cried. He used to think that Liu Tan’s requirements were a bit harsh, but now it seems that being a little harsh is okay, the treatment is good!
Not only were his food, clothing, and shelter provided, but he was also given a small courtyard in Shiheyuan, which was better than his family's house in Shuofang.
No, not better, much better.
That yard is more than enough for their family to live in. In addition to these, they also give him a monthly allowance, which is enough for him to support his family!
Not to mention that the Fifth Prince was very considerate and let him rest. For a moment, Wei Guan also had some thoughts of "a gentleman will die for his friend".
However, in reality, the cost of supporting Wei Guan, or even Wei Guan's family, is no longer a big deal in Liu Tan's eyes today.
It was no problem to say that his sugar shop made a fortune every day. With such a hen that laid golden eggs, Liu Tan had no worries about money, not to mention that Chen Ajiao subsidized him from time to time, and Liu Che was even more generous with his rewards.
As for letting Wei Guan rest, it is actually not a matter of humanitarian concern, and there are reasons for it.
Liu Tan has not come into contact with any information about maps since he traveled through time. He doesn't know how maps are drawn these days, and most importantly, how to calculate the scale.
He did not intend to force the map-drawing standards of later generations into the present. You must know that after these maps were successfully drawn, they were used most by the generals rather than Liu Tan.
These generals are already accustomed to the previous maps. What should they do if they are not used to the sudden change to a different standard?
You can deal with other things slowly if you’re not used to them, but this one may end up killing thousands of soldiers.
However, maps were very important in that era and were considered important military supplies, so they were not allowed to be seen by ordinary people.
Liu Tan thought about it and decided to go to Li Xi to ask. After all, he didn't need to see the map in person, just some data would be enough.
When Liu Tan talked about the Li family, he found that the Li family was living a good life now. Mrs. Li Xi was very enthusiastic when she saw Liu Tan.
It happened to be a day off, and Li Xi and his son were both at home. Li Buyan was very surprised and asked, "How come Your Highness has time to come?"
Li Xi slapped his son on the back of the head. "How can you talk like that? Why don't you bow quickly? You're really asking for a lesson!"
Liu Tan quickly smiled and said, "No, no, we're all acquaintances. There's no need to be so polite in our own home."
Li Xi suddenly felt sad when he heard that he was the prince. When Liu Tan first came to his house, he was indeed very nervous, fearing that he would raise the prince as a bad boy.
But after raising him, they found that the prince was no different from an ordinary child.
For more than ten years, even though he was not his biological son, he raised him as his own. But with one imperial decree, this son was no longer his own. Li Xi felt sad every time he thought about it.
Fortunately, Liu Tan was willing to recognize them and treat them well, otherwise... he would have been even more miserable.
Li Xi suppressed his inner bitterness and asked, "Your Highness, is there something important that you are here for?"
Liu Tan nodded and said, "I came here to ask about the map."
Li Xi was shocked when he heard this: "What is your highness going to do?"
Liu Tan laughed and said, "What can I do? I'm just a little curious."
He decided not to tell anyone about his plans except Liu Che and Liu Ju. What if they were leaked?
Li Xi is trustworthy, but his family is not just composed of him and his son. Li Xi actually has other sons.
Li Xi quickly invited Liu Tan to the study, and Li Buyan followed after hesitating for a moment.
Li Xi didn't ask too many questions, but simply said, "What do you want to ask, Your Highness?"
Liu Tan asked, "What ratio are used to reduce the size of maps these days? What percentage of the actual image is represented on the map?"
Liu Tan racked his brains to explain the word scale in a simple and easy-to-understand way. Now if he said scale, Li Xi would probably not understand.
However, he felt that he had explained it clearly, but Li Xi still looked confused: "Huh?"
Liu Tan couldn't think of any other explanation, so he simply said, "Tell me how a general march uses maps to determine distances."
This time Li Xi understood. He said, "It's mainly through the notes on the map."
"Remarks?" Liu Tan was stunned for a moment. This seemed to be different from what he expected.
Li Xi said to Li Buyan, "Bring me the picture on the shelf over there."
Li Buyan immediately turned around and took down a scroll from the shelf on the left side of the study. The outer surface of the scroll was wrapped in cowhide. Li Buyan carefully handed it to Li Xi, then returned and said to Liu Tan, "This is the map that my father treasures most, and it is also the only one."
Liu Tan didn't expect that Li Xi actually had a map in his hand. His interest suddenly increased. He watched Li Xi unfold the map bit by bit, and then... he was greatly disappointed.
This map is really too simple. There are only a few lines on it, some straight and some curved. Mountains and rivers can be recognized in front of it. Some of them are wrong and the area is very small. As for the proportion, there is no need to mention it. There are indeed some small words on it, which say what is from which mountain to which distance.
Li Xi fondly stroked the edge of the map and said, "This is what I used when I went to fight the Xiongnu with the general. I set out from Dai Commandery, and the general from Yunzhong Commandery. We fought all the way to Gaoque, then to Longxi, driving out both the Baiyang King and the Loufan King. That battle was truly exhilarating. The general is truly a prodigy."
This was the first time Liu Tan heard Wei Qing's name from someone else. He realized that Li Xi did not change Wei Qing's posthumous title to Changping Liehou, but still called him the general, which showed that he had deep feelings for him.
When he talked about the battle that year, his eyes sparkled and he seemed to have returned to his youth, full of high spirits.
He tilted his head and looked at Li Xi, ready to wait for him to say more, but Li Xi seemed to suddenly return to reality and said dejectedly, "It's a pity... the general and the general of the cavalry left too early."
Liu Tan felt sad after hearing this. If these two were still alive, how could Wusun have the courage to propose marriage?
Li Xi coughed lightly and said, "I am old now and I love to recall these things. I am sorry to make you laugh, Your Highness."
Liu Tan said, "No, I just love to hear these things. To defeat the Xiongnu in the north and spread the might of the Han Dynasty is something that many people dream of."
Li Xi suddenly sighed and said, "Yes, the fate of a general leading an army should be the battlefield, not..."
He stopped talking after saying this.
However, Liu Tan could understand his thoughts. Although fighting was difficult, the result was clear and obvious. No matter how much wits and courage were fought in the middle, it was within a certain range. When returning to the court, there would be more things involved.
Li Xi has experienced all kinds of ups and downs over the years, so it's not surprising that he has such feelings.
But this topic could not be discussed. Even though he believed that Liu Che would not be so shameless as to plant a stake in a minister's house, or even if he did, he would not plant a stake in Li Xi's house, he still changed the subject and said, "This map is really well preserved."
Li Xi said, "Yes, it's not easy. Your Highness, please look..."
Next, Li Xi explained some of the key points on the map to Liu Tan.
This kind of thing is considered confidential in front of people of lower status, but in front of Liu Tan... the whole world belongs to their Liu family, so there is no such thing as confidentiality.
After listening for a while, Liu Tan realized that the map making in this era was indeed very primitive. There was no such thing as the six bodies of cartography or the method of drawing squares!
This is almost equivalent to asking him to start from scratch to formulate the rules for map drawing!
The question is, is this thing so easy to formulate? If you want to promote it, you have to make it acceptable to everyone!
After listening to this, Liu Tan nodded and said, "I understand."
Li Xi was relieved to see that Liu Tan didn't suddenly decide to take the map. He asked Li Buyan to put the map back and asked carefully, "Your Highness, are you preparing for your trip to the Western Regions?"
Liu Tan nodded: "We're going a thousand miles, so we must be well prepared."
Li Xi comforted him, "Don't worry, Your Highness. The Honglu Temple will be ready."
Liu Tan didn't reveal his plan, but stood up and said, "It seems I've been worrying for nothing. By the way, does Li Buyan want to go with me?"
Li Xi was slightly stunned: "Is he going?"
"It's up to you. If you want him to go, take him with you. If you don't want him to go, let him stay." Liu Tan felt that this trip would at least give him some experience and be a preparation for future expeditions.
In fact, Liu Tan could see that Li Xi probably didn't want Li Buyan to pursue a military career, but there was nothing he could do. Li Buyan really... had no other special skills.
In fact, Liu Tan didn’t know whether Li Buyan had any special skills in leading troops, but at least he should be better than the average person due to family inheritance.
Li Xi hesitated, but Li Buyan's eyes lit up: "Can I go? Dad, I want to go!"
Li Xi considered it for a moment, thinking it was just a wedding procession, not a war, so there shouldn't be any danger. He immediately nodded and said, "But, you must be very careful and take good care of His Highness."
Liu Tanxin said that it was not certain who would take care of whom. Besides, he had so many people around him, so why would he need Li Buyan's care? Li Buyan was lucky enough to be able to take care of himself.
After deciding this matter, Liu Tan hurried back to Shiheyuan.
He sat in his study, trying hard to recall the method of drawing squares in Ji Li and the meaning of the six bodies of drawing.
These two things did not appear until the Jin Dynasty. They were invented by Pei Xiu of the Hedong Pei family. However, there was no other way. Now Liu Tan could only let them appear ahead of time.
Among them, the six aspects of cartography are relatively complicated, but drawing a square is the simplest. It is just to draw a grid on paper according to a certain proportion, and then determine the length and width of each grid, and then proportionally reduce the real terrain.
However, when preparing to make the grid, Liu Tan discovered something very serious: the paper now is very, very uneven!
There is no problem using this kind of paper for writing, but it will cause a lot of trouble if used for drawing, especially when high precision is required. Uneven paper can easily cause certain problems with proportions.
Liu Tan sat at the desk with a paper in his hand and began to daydream: Is he going to compete with Cai Lun for work again?
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