The Humble Family's Daughter Has A Spatial Pocket!-Chapter 1039 - 877: Buying Sloped Land, Pastures

January 18, Daohua rode out of the city in a carriage with Yan Shouhou to inspect the farmland and ranch they were interested in. freёweɓnovel.com

The Gan State Guard was located at the westernmost edge of Xiliang and governed a vast area with a diverse landscape.

There were plains suitable for farming, sparsely populated deserts, vast grasslands covered in greenery, but most of all, barren mountains.

Xiliang generally suffered from water scarcity, and the Gan State Guard had the least rainfall of all.

Ganzhou City was situated on the plains, where almost all the best farmland was designated as military land, with a few belonging to the officials of the guard.

As a newcomer like Daohua, it was almost impossible to buy any good farmland.

Daohua visited two parcels of land with Yan Shouhou and felt quite dissatisfied with both.

Her fondness for estates stemmed from their generally large size, which allowed for unified planning and centralized management. The two plots of land Yan Shouhou showed her were considered medium-sized, but they were too small, each being just over a hundred acres.

"Let’s go, let’s take a look at the ranch!"

Upon hearing that the largest plots in the coming areas were no more than two hundred acres, Daohua decided not to continue and went directly to see the ranch.

...

Renxin Ranch.

Upon seeing Daohua and her entourage, the Ranch Manager immediately greeted them warmly.

Previously, when Yan Shouhou had come to inspect the ranch, his master was also present. Learning that Yan Shouhou was a servant from the new governor of the Xiao Residence, he immediately ordered the Ranch Manager to sell the ranch to them.

The Ranch Manager glanced at Daohua who wore a veil and a white fox fur cloak, guessing she must be the lady of the Xiao Residence, and the eagerness on his face intensified.

"Our ranch is the largest around Ganzhou City, spanning a total of fifty thousand acres. At its peak, it housed tens of thousands of cattle and sheep."

Daohua didn’t negotiate with the ranch owner; instead, Yan Shouhou spoke for her.

"Since it’s the biggest ranch around Ganzhou City, why are you selling it?"

The Ranch Manager sighed, "It’s because the master urgently needs money at home, we have no choice."

Yan Shouhou, who had done his homework beforehand, immediately said, "It seems like this ranch has been neglected for quite some time."

The Ranch Manager’s smile stiffened, and just as he was about to justify, Daohua suddenly spoke up.

"Is there a river running through this ranch?"

The Ranch Manager instinctively nodded, "Yes, the Dan River from the foot of the Yunlian Snow Mountain flows right through this ranch." After saying this, he realized that the lady of the Xiao Residence was quite knowledgeable about the area.

Daohua, "Since a river flows through, why is the ranch still so deserted?"

"Uh..."

The Ranch Manager didn’t expect the people from the Xiao Residence to be so well-prepared and knew so much about the ranch, he could only tell the truth:

"Madam, ever since the upstream of the Dan River was occupied by the people of Xiliao ten years ago, the water flowing through Gan State Guard has become less and less. With insufficient water, the grass grows sparser each year, naturally leading to the desolation of the ranch."

Daohua frowned slightly, "The Dan River?"

She remembered reading in the records of the Gan State Guard that the Dan River was like a mother river to them. With its source cut off by the people of Xiliao, no wonder the land was getting drier each year.

"Yunlian Mountain is part of the Xiliang territory, how could it be occupied by Xiliao people?"

The Ranch Manager had no answer to that.

What else could be the reason? Xiliang couldn’t defeat Xiliao!

Daohua didn’t expect an answer from a ranch manager, "I want to see where the Dan River flows."

The Ranch Manager was somewhat reluctant, "Madam, the Dan River is on the western side of the ranch, it’s quite a journey from here."

Daohua, "Then we’ll take the carriage."

At that, the Ranch Manager fell silent.

Yan Shouhou waved toward the entrance of the ranch, and seeing this, Cao Chuan immediately brought the carriage driven by Bald over.

Daohua, Mei Lan, and Mei Ju directly got into the carriage.

Yan Shouhou looked at the Ranch Manager, "Please lead the way. Since we are considering buying this ranch, we naturally want to inspect it thoroughly, especially since your asking price is not low."

The Ranch Manager had no choice but to fetch a horse and accompany Daohua and her group.

The carriage moved slowly. Daohua carefully surveyed the ranch from inside the carriage. The perimeter of the ranch was fenced with wooden stakes and barbed wire, and every so often, she could see the residential houses and animal sheds of the herders.

Although somewhat old, the basic infrastructure was still decent.

Two quarters of an hour later, Daohua and her group stood in front of the dried-up Dan River.