That fief lay on the southwestern edge of You Province. Its core region encompassed part of the Swallow Return Mountains. To its northeast was Dense Cloud Commandery of You Province, and three cities in Dense Cloud Commandery, north of the Swallow Return Mountains, had been incorporated into this fief.
Zhang Tie remembered that three years ago, when he had fought for Zhang Taixuan to become the Governor of You Province, he had met the head and elders of the Li Clan of Dense Cloud Commandery at White Tiger Platform. Among the many powerful clans of You Province, the Li Clan of Dense Cloud Commandery ranked only at or below the middle tier. Including its clan head and elders, the entire Li Clan seemed to have only four Black Iron Knights. Such strength was vastly inferior to the deeply rooted Lu Family and Gu Family of You Province, and even to the Huaiyuan Hall Zhang Family, which had come from behind to seize the position of Governor of You Province in one stroke.
To the south of this fief, namely the southern part of the Swallow Return Mountains, lay Passage Province. Zhang Tie saw that four cities in Passage Province near the Swallow Return Mountains had also been assigned to his fief.
At the northernmost edge of the fief, at the northern end of the Swallow Return Mountains, it bordered Swallow Province, where the central authority of the Great Xia Northeast Protectorate was located. Four cities of Swallow Province had been included within Zhang Tie's fief.
Though he was only looking at a map, Zhang Tie estimated that the assigned cities were not particularly developed. Moreover, most of the fief consisted of the mountainous and forested regions of the Swallow Return Mountains. Therefore, among all the green areas on the map,