Chapter 1274: Pastoral City

"He is called Xiaohe, just an ordinary herdsman, and he only had good luck; even with this, they could give him a Marquis title, isn't that a bit too casual?"

Baifeng stroked the cat and said, "It's not casual, a Marquis title is enough, but the premise is that he can catch more and breed them; otherwise, giving him a Baron title now, a Viscount title will be the end of it later.

You must know what it means for us humans to have cats; as long as there is a cat in this courtyard, then it will basically be difficult for mice to appear in this courtyard in the future, and even if there are mice, they certainly won't form a scale.

With a cat, the mouse-catching team's work can be snatched away by it in the future; one cat can equal several people, you cannot underestimate it."

Changle asked cautiously again, "Father, then this cat, where is it best to keep it?"

Baifeng's hand movements didn't stop: "Just keep it at home; there have been a few mice in my courtyard recently, and they are always biting things at night, which keeps me from sleeping. Those Slaves are also useless; they don't have the ability to catch them, so it's just right to let Xiaobao practice its skills."

As soon as he finished speaking, Baifeng saw the disappointed expressions of Changle and Ayuduo. For a moment, he had no choice but to sigh and say, "Fine, fine, you two go and raise it; just lend the cat to me for a few days, let it catch the mice for me, and then you can raise it yourselves."

Ayuduo spoke a step ahead of Changle: "Thank you, Father!"

Ayuduo now calls him Father very naturally, calling him even more affectionately than Changle, as if Ayuduo were his own biological daughter and Changle were just a son-in-law living with his wife's family.

"Alright, alright, enough about the cat, tell me about your discoveries in the Western Development Group; the letter didn't explain in detail."

Speaking of this, Changle took out the map he had drawn and said, "Father, look, this is the map I drew of the Western Development Group and its surroundings.

As far as the city site selection for the Western Development Group is concerned, it is quite good; the scenery is truly exceptional, that boundless prairie, the winding little river, and the white snow-capped mountains in the distance—oh, it is truly beautiful.

It's just a pity that it's impossible to build a large city; the soil quality is not good, and the terrain is not good either. There is too little flat land at high elevations, and the flat places are easily flooded, which is not safe, so it can only be used as a Pasture."

"Father, it's not that I'm just saying this, but the Western Development Group really could be the best Pasture, it's incredibly good. The cattle and sheep there don't even need to eat feed, they grow very fat, and the place is large, with no shortage of Grass or water; that land can't do anything else, it can only be used for grazing."

"It is also completely unsuitable for a capital city, and I have even looked at the surroundings; there isn't a suitable place either. I have also drawn maps of even further places, and I haven't found a suitable place to build a city, let alone a capital."

Baifeng smoothed out the map and looked at the crude contour lines. I feel it is a bit troublesome; indeed, I cannot find a suitable place, so I will have to look further away, or perhaps somewhere slightly closer.

In any case, the matter of re-selecting a site and building a capital must be carried out, because Huaxia City is already overwhelmed, and it does not have the potential to become a capital. Now, all of Huaxia City's trump cards have been squeezed dry; in the future, it can be an industrial city or a transportation hub, but it cannot be the capital.

Regarding the nearby Lema City, after Yu's explanation, Baifeng feels that Lema City will be a developed agricultural city in the future. Agriculture and city—the two words seem incompatible, but the requirements for a city in this era are relatively low; as long as there is a city wall and a sufficiently large population, it is a city.

Lema City is vigorously developing agriculture, and the grain produced every year already exceeds that of Huaxia City; it's just that he hasn't seen the specific figures yet. When Yu comes over next time, he will bring the data.

The current finances of Lema City are absolutely overflowing with wealth. In the past, all the pressure was borne by Huaxia City, and nothing was demanded from Lema City, but now it seems that it is time to add some burden and pressure to Lema City. The main reason is that the pressure on Huaxia City is too great; Baifeng even had to take out the gifts earned from his son's wedding to use, which shows that the pressure is still a bit high.

Originally, there was no problem at all, but the sudden addition of the Suiren Clan put pressure on Baifeng; those thirty thousand people who moved over would consume a huge amount of grain all at once.

Moreover, Xiong is currently bringing back thousands of Slaves from the Shennong Clan Battlefield; these Slaves need to be fed, which again requires a lot of grain. It is a pity that Xiong did not receive this news; otherwise, he could have directly traded the Slaves to Xuanyuan, which would have well relieved the pressure on Huaxia.

"Since that place is not suitable for building a capital, we will find a new place to develop as soon as possible. However, since they have already settled down, let's continue to develop that place as well."

"Since the water and Grass are lush, then develop that advantage and use it specifically for grazing."

"In the future, other large cities certainly cannot graze or raise livestock within the city; having such a city specifically to provide us with livestock meat is also not bad."

"What is your opinion on the fiefs of others?"

"Oh... it doesn't matter now; the Western Development Group is no longer valuable, and the surrounding land is of no great use either."

Changle echoed his father's words: "Yes, Father. Originally, I also felt that the surrounding land was not very good, not fertile enough, and some places were completely unusable. Now that the Western Development Group has such a future, it certainly cannot become a very large city, and the value of the surrounding land has dropped even lower."

"I also suggested to Uncle Yishang that he prepare in advance and develop in advance, starting to graze on his fief now. His fief is still passable, and grazing is also not bad. As long as we buy some young animals from our Huaxia City and find people to graze them, the profit is actually not lower than farming; now is the time to take action."

"Hmm, this is indeed feasible. The animal husbandry in our Huaxia City must gradually be transferred outward; staying here all the time is not a solution. If those Pastures were cleared out, especially the one in the west of the city, if it were demolished, it would be a very large residential area. It is ultimately not good to have livestock living there now."

"At the end-of-year meeting this year, I will give notice and mention this, letting the Ministry of Agriculture keep more young animals and separate them; then we will see who is willing to take over this matter and be specifically responsible for grazing."