The southern ridge was a beast of stone and thorn.
Unlike the gentle slopes of the original Westland, this new territory—two hundred mu of newly acquired land—rose sharply toward a rocky plateau. The soil was thin, clinging stubbornly to sheets of granite. Scrub oaks and thorny brambles formed impenetrable walls of vegetation.
Li Shun stood at the base of the ridge, a machete in one hand and a system survey map in his mind.
"This isn't pasture," One-Ear grunted, kicking a stone. "This is a goat's nightmare."
"It will be pasture," Li Shun corrected, wiping sweat from his brow. "The elevation gives us drainage. The rocks hold heat. We just need to clear the scrub and break the soil."
He turned to his team. The winter had forged them into a tight unit, but the sheer scale of the task ahead was daunting.
"We work in sections," Li Shun announced. "Phase One: Clear the brush. We burn what we can't haul. Phase Two: Surveying. We need to find the water pockets. Phase Three: Seeding."
He pointed to the wagon parked nearby, loaded with heavy iron tools and the precious canvas bags of ryegrass seed—now multiplied thanks to the system's harvest from the original plot.
"Han Qiang, take the men to the north slope. Start a fire line. I want it controlled. We don't need a forest fire."
---
Expansion was a loud, dirty business.
By midday, the southern ridge was shrouded in smoke. The crackle of burning brush and the shouts of men echoed through the valley.
Li Shun was in the thick of it, his lungs burning. He wasn't just directing; he was digging. He found a spot near a rocky outcrop where the system indicated a high moisture reading.
*Water is key.*
He drove his shovel into the earth. *Clang.* It hit rock. He moved six inches to the left. *Thud.* Soil.
"Here!" he shouted. "Dig a trench! We'll run a pipe from the windmill overflow."
As they worked, Li Shun noticed the wildlife. The burning brush was flushing out rabbits, pheasants, and rats.
*Rats.*
The grain stores and the feed sheds were vulnerable. He needed a biological defense.
"Li Ming," Li Shun called out. "Next time you go to the market, I want you to buy cats."
"Cats?" Li Ming asked, confused. "For pets?"
"For pest control. We need barn cats. Feral ones. The meaner the better. And... I think it's time we add to the livestock roster."
He looked at the exposed earth. The chickens in the dynasty were small, scrawny birds that scratched in the dirt of village courtyards. They were inefficient.
*I need a meat bird. Or at least, a better layer.*
He pulled out his notebook. He needed to diversify. Cattle were high value but high cost. He needed something that turned waste into food quickly.
"Pigs," Li Shun muttered. "We need pigs."
---
The next morning, a wagon arrived from the city.
It wasn't a supply wagon. It was a private carriage, bearing the seal of the Provincial Department of Agriculture—a golden sheaf of wheat on a green field.
The vehicle rattled up the dirt road, suspensions creaking, and stopped near the construction site.
A man stepped out. He was in his fifties, wearing the simple blue robe of a scholar, but his boots were thick and muddy, and his hands were stained with ink and soil. He looked like a man who spent more time in mud than in libraries.
"Is this the Westland Ranch?" the man asked, his voice raspy but sharp.
Li Shun walked forward, wiping his hands on a rag. "I am Li Shun. And you are?"
"I am Xu Wei," the man said, bowing slightly. "A humble student of agronomy, currently serving as a consultant for the Prefecture. I was passing through Clearwater and heard... rumors."
He looked around at the smoke, the construction, and then fixed his gaze on the lush green patch of the original pasture in the distance.
"Rumors of grass that grows in winter and meat that tastes like butter."
"Rumors travel fast," Li Shun said, keeping his face neutral. "Welcome, Master Xu. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I am a man of science, Master Li," Xu Wei said, his eyes gleaming with intensity. "I have studied the soil reports of this county. This land is listed as 'barren' in the imperial registers. Unfit for crops. Worthless for tax."
He walked past Li Shun and crouched down near a patch of the ryegrass that had spread near the road. He pulled a blade, examining it closely. He rubbed it between his fingers, feeling the texture.
"This... this is not native fescue," Xu Wei whispered. "This is a perennial. Thick-stemmed. High sugar content."
He looked up at Li Shun, his eyes wide.
"Where did you get this seed?"
Li Shun tensed. This was the danger of the system. Questions he couldn't answer with logic.
"It is a variety I cultivated," Li Shun lied smoothly—a story he had prepared. "From seeds my father brought from the far western regions. I cross-bred it with local weeds to survive the cold."
*Xu Wei stared at him.* "Cross-breeding? You? A scholar with no formal training in agriculture?"
"I had a lot of free time and a lot of desperation," Li Shun shrugged. "Hunger is a good teacher."
Xu Wei stood up, brushing off his knees. He didn't look suspicious; he looked delighted.
"Fascinating. If this grass can truly grow on 'barren' land... it changes everything. The famine in the northern provinces could be alleviated. We could feed the army on lands we currently ignore."
He looked at Li Shun with new respect.
"I would like to stay," Xu Wei said. "Just for a few days. I want to observe your methods. I want to see the soil pH. I want to see the root structure."
Li Shun weighed the risk. A government agronomist snooping around could expose the system. But having an official stamp of approval from the Agriculture Department was the ultimate shield against the Meat Guild and local bureaucrats.
"You can stay," Li Shun said. "But I have a condition."
"Name it."
"When you write your report, you attribute the success to 'diligent land management' and 'experimental irrigation'. I don't want the seed stolen by the government before I can harvest enough for my own herds."
Xu Wei chuckled. "Fair enough. A man protects his livelihood. I will respect your trade secret, provided you share the truth of your techniques with me."
"I have a spare room in the cabin," Li Shun gestured. "It's small, and it smells like beef jerky."
"I have slept in horse stables," Xu Wei smiled. "This will be luxury."
---
With the agronomist watching, Li Shun pushed the expansion forward.
He used the *Advanced Veterinary Kit* he had unlocked to check the health of the new horses he planned to buy. But first, the pigs.
He sent Han Qiang to a village on the border known for wild boar hunting. He ordered six sows and a boar—not the pink, docile pigs of the city, but hairy, tusked, hardy swine.
"We build their pen near the compost pile," Li Shun explained to a horrified Xu Wei. "They eat the leftovers, the spoiled vegetables, the whey from the cheese we'll eventually make. They turn waste into meat."
"And the smell?" Xu Wei asked, holding his nose.
"We move the pen every month. The land they root up becomes fertilized soil, ready for planting," Li Shun said. "It's a cycle."
**[SYSTEM ALERT]**
**[NEW LIVESTOCK DETECTED: MOUNTAIN BOAR (FERAL MIX)]**
**[POPULATION: 7]**
**[INTEGRATION INTO RANCH SYSTEM: 85%]**
**[NOTICE: PIGS REQUIRE A SHELTER. CURRENT HUMIDITY HIGH.]**
"Pigs don't sweat," Li Shun muttered, checking the interface. "They need mud."
He directed the workers to create a wallow near the stream, shaded by trees. The pigs immediately took to it, rolling in the cool mud, grunting contentedly.
Li Shun watched them. They were ugly, aggressive beasts, but they grew fast.
"Next year," Li Shun told Xu Wei, "we will have bacon. Smoked, salted bacon. A luxury food that keeps for years."
"You think of everything as a product," Xu Wei noted, scribbling in his notebook. "Most farmers think of survival. You think of commerce."
"I was a merchant's son-in-law," Li Shun quipped. "It rubs off."
---
Three days later, the expansion had a shape.
The southern ridge was still rough, but they had cleared forty mu. The fence posts were in. The windmill was pumping water to a new trough system.
Li Shun stood with Xu Wei on the plateau, looking down at the ranch. The original valley was green. The southern ridge was a scar of brown earth waiting to be seeded.
"You have done well, Li Shun," Xu Wei said, closing his notebook. "I will write a favorable report. This land is no longer 'barren'. It is 'productive wasteland'. I will recommend the county lower your land tax for the next five years as an incentive for reclamation."
Li Shun blinked. "Lower taxes?"
"It is policy," Xu Wei smiled. "Encourage development. You are doing the empire a favor by turning rocks into taxable assets."
*Jackpot.*
"Thank you, Master Xu. Your wisdom is appreciated."
Before Xu Wei left, he stopped at the stable. He looked at the two horses, then at the new mares Han Qiang had brought back.
"Your horses are sturdy," Xu Wei noted. "But they are common. If you truly want to impress the capital... you should look into the 'Heavenly Step' breed."
"Heavenly Step?" Li Shun asked, his ears perking up.
"A breed from the northwest. Small, but with incredible endurance. They say they can run for three days without rest. They are rare, and expensive."
Li Shun filed that information away. *Endurance horses. For the long drives.*
"I will keep an eye out."
---
That evening, after Xu Wei's carriage had departed, Li Shun gathered the team in the cabin.
The room was warm, the fire crackling. The smell of roasting pork—freshly slaughtered from the new stock—filled the air. It was a feast.
"We have the land," Li Shun said, raising his cup. "We have the tax break. We have the new stock. Now, we cement our position."
He looked at Han Qiang.
"The Meat Guild is quiet. Too quiet."
"I heard Gao is recruiting men," Han Qiang said darkly. "Thugs from the city. He wasn't happy about the Pavilion deal."
"He thinks we are weak because we are far away," Li Shun said. "He thinks his thugs can come here and scare us."
Li Shun stood up. He walked to the wall and took down his hat. He put it on.
"Let him come. We have something he doesn't."
"What's that, Boss?" Wang Da asked.
"A reason to fight. This isn't just a business. It's our home."
Li Shun tapped the table.
"Double the guard rotation. And start training the dogs. If Gao wants a war, he'll find out that ranchers are just soldiers who fight with nature."