Chapter 1174: Unsuitable for a Capital

Changle has already been with the Western Development Group for over ten days, and he has basically looked over the fiefs of those Nobles in several directions; one can only say that the good and the bad are half and half. If one were to exchange for a high-quality fief, one could secretly rejoice, but if one were to exchange for a poor one, it would be too late to cry now.

Changle cannot even imagine what use those barren beaches could possibly have; they cannot be farmed, there are not many trees, and as for grazing, the Grass is not as lush as in other places, and the water sources also appear to be unstable.

There are many loose stones, but they cannot be used for mining either; they are all useless waste rocks, and they do not even look good. The only use might be that one could dig for wild vegetables on those barren beaches; perhaps the wild vegetables in the crevices of the rocks might taste even better?

The fief of his eldest brother's father-in-law is barely acceptable, and he can be considered lucky. As for Sanxin's, one can only say it is fifty-fifty; the area that can be used as farmland is not large, and the rest is a transition zone and completely barren beaches of loose stones. Changle does not even know how he should tell Sanxin about this matter; he is afraid that after telling Sanxin, Sanxin will not be able to withstand the blow and will pass out on the spot.

Having managed to live to this age with difficulty, and now seeing that his health is still fine, his final pursuit is to leave behind a fief that looks decent for his descendants. If it turns out like this now, then it is all over.

If Sanxin's spirit were to suddenly collapse and he were to die all of a sudden, then Changle would be afraid of becoming a sinner and would have to live in regret from then on.

But for others who are in slightly better health, one can directly and clearly tell them that the fief they received is just a useless beach of rotten stones, so there is no need to waste any more effort. When there was no clear definition like before, there was still room for maneuver.

If one felt their fief was not good, it was possible to go a bit further away; after all, no one could determine a very obvious boundary line for you. It was just in that direction, in that general location, and wherever you liked, they would just circle that much for you.

Now that they have moved here, there is the fixed landmark of the Western Development Group, and the Western Development Group has also occupied all the best land. Even if they might not be able to develop those lands for decades to come, they should still be occupied.

The rest, the bad ones, or those too far away, are the fiefs of those Nobles. When Changle simply chiseled words or symbols onto stones and set them up on the boundaries, and piled up more as markers, then everything was already irreversible. One of the boundaries of the fief had already been determined; you cannot move the boundary set by the Prince of Huaxia.

Moreover, even if you wanted to move it, those large stones born on the spot are not something you can move just because you want to. How many oxen would it take to even pull them out? And then? What way do you have to transport them to a further place, and you still have to do this sneakily—is it easy? It is as difficult as ascending to Heaven.

The matter of the fiefs is thus settled, and Changle is unwilling to waste time specifically looking at those fiefs. If it were not for the fact that he could walk around and look for new species, he would have wanted to let other people go and look.

Furthermore, he has already confirmed one point: this place is absolutely, completely unsuitable to be used as a capital; a capital cannot be built here. He cannot even imagine what it would look like if a capital were built here.

How would the city walls be built, and where would those houses and all the facilities be constructed? Moreover, one would have to modify the valley here to ensure the greatest possibility of not being affected by precipitation. He feels that if there were a rainstorm here that lasted for many days, it might become very dangerous.

Building a city is possible, but the area cannot be too large. One could only build a small city on such hills, especially in this location that Ce and the others chose, which could house one or two thousand people; that might be it.

Other places could also be redeveloped; one could find places to build cities not far away, but such a model cannot be used to build a capital. Could it be that one department occupies one small hill?

The mountain is truly not high; it is just a small hill, and the slopes are very gentle. But as long as there is any such undulation, it cannot be considered a plain. Moreover, regarding the water beaches and river bends in the distance, Changle cannot guarantee that they will always be that safe; they would definitely flood if there were a rainstorm.

Changle has observed here for so long and believes that the Western Development Group is just a place suitable for grazing, and then incidentally growing some grain. Building a small city is absolutely no problem. It is a bit of a pity to abandon such a place with lush water and Grass.

But a capital is out of the question; one must go and look for another place. Plus, the Western Development Group has already invested so much, and the roads have already been built. If it were just abandoned like this, what would become of the previous investment? It would be too much of a loss; one cannot do this.

The people of the Western Development Group do not know that their place was originally intended to be developed as a capital, and Changle did not have the heart to tell them. If he had told them, the psychological gap would likely be too great.

However, Changle also shoulders the responsibility of finding a suitable place for Huaxia to build a capital, so it certainly cannot just end like this. He must continue to search now. As long as he can find a suitable place, he can report back to his father, and then his father will naturally have a way to develop it.

Therefore, after roughly finishing the work of the Western Development Group and staying for a few more days to help the people of the Western Development Group solve some of their difficulties, Changle set off again. He wants to find a more suitable place to use as the site for building the capital.

The first choice is definitely the route that has already been explored, which is the road of the Golden Autumn Gathering, while at the same time trying to choose higher places to observe higher and further, so that the location can be determined more quickly.

Changle does not know how good or how big the capital should be; he himself cannot imagine how big a capital should be, but in any case, it must be bigger than Huaxia City, at least two or three times the size of Huaxia City.

Changle and Yulong are also the people in Huaxia who are more suitable for doing this task; of course, there is also Yu. They have stayed by Baifeng's side for a long time and have received Baifeng's ideological education, so they can understand better than others what kind of place Baifeng wants and can do it better.

The Western Development Group was chosen by Xiong, and it is indeed a good place; at least it looks lush and rich, so one cannot say that Xiong was wrong; one can only say that Xiong's understanding was not thorough enough.

Changle took nearly a hundred people with him and set off again. Because Changle has enough experience in outdoor travel and exploration, he is not worried himself; it is just that he has worried Ce to death.