Inside the yamen of the Military Commissioner of Bazhou, Xia Huai'an stood before a massive map of Bazhou, his fingers gently tracing the contours of mountains and rivers. Morning light filtered through the lattice window, casting mottled shadows across the map. Behind him, Main Bookkeeper Zhou was busy organizing a mountain of files with several clerks, the rustling of paper echoing through the hall.
"Master," Main Bookkeeper Zhou wiped the sweat from his forehead and handed a thick booklet to Xia Huai'an, "These are the preliminary results of the resource census reported by the various commanderies and counties."
Xia Huai'an took the booklet, his fingertips brushing against the freshly inked text. He opened the first page, which detailed the amount of reclaimable wasteland across Bazhou:
Chapter 173