As of present there's absolutely no reason why a player wouldn't upgrade their castles in "dirt" provinces (well, if you really want gold armoured Saharan cavalryOriginally Posted by Deus ret.
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If you needed to upgrade to 80% farming before building the citadel, the Sahara or Cyraenica would probably be your last province to upgrade, because the farming upgrade there will take an eternity to return the costs.
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