Journey to the Fief! A Foundation of Eight Hundred Mu!

The day after receiving his patent of nobility, Lan Tian was squatting in the courtyard, loosening the soil around the Nine Heart Begonia, when a hearty laugh came from outside the gate.

"Doctor Lan! No, I should call you Baron Lan now!"

Alfred strode into the courtyard in plain clothes, followed by a servant carrying two jars of wine. Beaming, he walked toward Lan Tian with a cheerful smile.

He set the wine jars on the stone table in the courtyard and clapped his hands. "Congratulations! You've got your patent of nobility. You're the first person in Nuoding City in years to rise from nothing all the way to baron. I had to come celebrate properly!"

Lan Tian stood and wiped the dirt from his hands, smiling as he greeted him. "For the City Lord to visit in person is more honor than I deserve. This only worked because of your letter of guarantee. If you hadn't vouched for me, Heaven Dou City might not have approved it so quickly."

"Ah, that's not how you should put it."

Alfred waved a hand, sat on a stone stool, and poured himself two bowls of wine.

"The letter of guarantee was just a formality. What mattered was your own ability and reputation. You have no idea—when the official documents from Heaven Dou City arrived these past two days, the boys in the city guard went wild. Renn practically wanted to beat gongs and spread the word for you."

Lan Tian raised his bowl and clinked it against Alfred's before taking a sip, quietly sorting through everything that had happened lately.

After the title came through, life had indeed begun moving in a better direction.

But what he wanted most was to see his own fief with his own eyes as soon as possible.

"City Lord, there's something I wanted to discuss with you." Lan Tian set down his wine bowl, his tone turning more serious. "The documents say the fief lies about forty li north of Nuoding City. I want to inspect it personally. The papers say it covers eight hundred mu, but I need to see the terrain, soil quality, water sources, and whether people can live there before I'll know for sure."

Alfred nodded. "You should indeed go take a look. I know a little about that land. It was a fief reclaimed after an old baron died. It's been left idle for several years. The terrain isn't bad—there are some low hills, and a small stream runs through it, so it shouldn't lack water. Still, no one has tended it in years. It's probably overgrown with weeds and wild trees, so don't mind if it looks desolate."

"I'm not afraid of desolation. I'm afraid of barren mountains and bad water, with no water or roads." Lan Tian smiled. "As long as the water source and access are fine, I can develop it gradually."

Alfred took another sip of wine, seeming to weigh something. After a moment, he said, "If you intend to develop that fief and need people, just tell me. There are quite a few retired veterans in the city guard. They're too old to keep risking their lives at the blade's edge, but they're capable hands when it comes to guarding land, farming, and raising livestock. If you need workers, I can put you in touch with them."

Warmth rose in Lan Tian's heart.

Alfred had hit the nail on the head. A fief needed people to manage it; he could hardly tend eight hundred mu of land alone.

He clasped his hands. "Thank you, City Lord. I'll look over the land first. If I truly need help, I'll definitely ask for your assistance."

Alfred smiled and waved him off. "Enough. There's no need for formalities between our own people. Go inspect your fief early, then come back and tell me how it is."

He stayed for about half an hour, drinking through one and a half jars of wine. Then, carrying the remaining half jar and reeking of alcohol, he headed home with a cheerful grin.

After seeing him off, Lan Tian returned inside to pack some supplies. He watered the Nine Heart Begonia once more, locked the doors of the clinic, and left through the north gate.

The fief lay forty li north of Nuoding City, slightly northwest of the official road he took to and from Sunset Forest.

After walking for most of the day and passing several scattered villages, his view gradually opened up. The flat ground on both sides of the road slowly gave way to gentle slopes and rolling low hills.

At a fork in the road, he compared the description in his land deed with the surroundings and turned off. Following a dirt path half-hidden by weeds for another three or four li, the view suddenly opened before him.

A stretch of gently rolling hills unfolded ahead.

The hills were not high, their slopes mild. From afar, they resembled layer upon layer of green waves stretching to the horizon.

A stream four or five paces wide wound through a low-lying area between the hills. Its waters were clear and shallow, flowing at an unhurried pace, while reeds and wildflowers flourished along its banks.

The hillsides were covered in thick grass and scattered shrubs. Here and there, a few crooked old trees stood sparsely atop the slopes.

Standing by the road and looking over the scene, Lan Tian silently made an estimate.

Eight hundred mu was indeed no small area over this terrain. From the nearest low hill to the taller slope in the distance, the land appeared to cover a vast stretch.

Though it had been abandoned for years, thick with weeds and rampant shrubs, the terrain was good overall. The drainage was excellent, and the stream provided a stable water source. As long as he was willing to put in the work to clear and reclaim it, it could become fine farmland or a plantation.

He followed the dirt path deeper into the fief, circling more than half the hills and gaining a rough understanding of the terrain and distribution of water sources.

The stream ran through the southern part of the fief's central region, providing ample water.

The sun-facing slopes of the hills were gentle, suitable for cultivation or building homes.

The shaded slopes were somewhat steeper, but they could still be put to use by planting fruit trees or medicinal herbs.

What delighted him most was finding several clumps of particularly lush, unknown wild grass on a sunlit low hillside at the southernmost edge of the fief.

Those clumps resembled a low-grade medicinal herb he had seen near the edge of Sunset Forest. Though they were currently only ordinary wild plants, the sunlight and soil here were clearly well suited to plant growth. With a little improvement, cultivating medicinal herbs here should have great potential.

He crouched down, grabbed a handful of soil, and kneaded it between his fingers.

The soil was dark brown, loose and moist, carrying the scent of fertility. It was indeed quite good.

"This land... is much better than I imagined."

Lan Tian straightened up and brushed the dirt from his hands. Looking around, a plan gradually took shape in his mind.

Eight hundred mu of fief land, a stream, gentle slopes, fertile soil, and only forty li from Nuoding City—the access was not particularly far.

He could completely build an estate here in the future and develop the fief properly.

He could grow medicinal herbs and grain, raise livestock, and once the scale grew larger, recruit tenant farmers to settle here and form a small industrial community.

But those were matters for later.

For now, the most urgent task was to thoroughly survey the land's boundaries and terrain, draw a detailed map to bring back with him, and then slowly plan where to begin clearing the wilderness.

He took paper, a brush, and charcoal from his storage ring, sat on a flat stone, and began sketching a map of the fief based on the route he had just traveled.

He clearly marked the course of the stream, the rises and falls of the hills, the distribution of vegetation, the locations of usable water sources, and the places suitable for building houses.

As the sun gradually sank in the west, he put away his paper and brush, stood, and gave this land that belonged to him one final look in the afterglow of sunset.

Eight hundred mu was not much, but it was more than enough as a foundation for a beginning.

Once he put down roots here and developed the fief into something substantial, everything that followed could grow larger and larger like a snowball.

He turned and headed back toward Nuoding City along the way he had come, his steps much lighter than before.

The night wind blew up from the stream valley between the hills, brushing across his back with cool moisture and the fresh fragrance of grass.

Plans for the fief's future unfolded layer by layer in his mind: what medicinal herbs to plant, how large an estate to build, how to divert water for irrigation, whether to construct a simple road from the official highway. Every detail was slowly taking shape. Once he returned, he only needed to put them into action one by one.