Thanks to the Jishui River and Jishui Lake, the land for over a hundred *li* around Linji City was a vast expanse of flat, fertile fields.
Even in this year of drought, these fields still yielded a decent harvest.
The carriage slowly made its way along the mountain path. All along the route were sprawling manors and commoners busy at work within them.
After a few more *li*, the manors grew sparse, replaced by low, gentle, rocky hills and forests.
Once they reached the barren hills of Ten-Mile Slope, the manors became even rarer.
This area was far from the Jishui River. The terrain was quite high, and the soil was sandy and gravelly, making it very barren. Only drought-resistant crops like sorghum and millet could be grown here.
With this year's great drought, it had hardly rained at all in the entire Linji City region. The crops in the nearby manors were all short and frail, withered and yellow. Their heads of grain were shriveled, promising a poor harvest at a glance.
