This quite good. A noble of a land that has a very bad reputation(a shithole to be frank) who could only heal and no offense curry favor withhis subjects as not be killed by them. He gave them metal farming equiptment just to have good food. It worked....too well. There is this trope in novels/manga where a healer healing a person that person will be uber devoted to the healer to a extreme extent even yandere level. What if those healed are legion.
As long as noone gets mad at his actions and tries to conquer or take back his lands, he'll probably stay there or expand into inhospitable lands further. But if they do, he'll conquer in that direction instead.
I agree with the direction that he is going. Logically speaking, he neither have the resources or power to rely on. Thus to maintain control the shee.. I mean citizens totally reliant on your power. They say that an open hand can sometimes be deadlier than a closed fist. This way even if they rebel they end up shooting themselves on the foot thus eliminating the chance of internal rebellion. The only problem is the outside powers, which is tricky but not impossible. I agree conquest would be the most logical path to proceed as strike first mentality. Although I would suggest spies and conflict to first weaken the empire then come in as a savior.
I get this feeling other nobles will know about his changes after a while since few spies ever return and those who return was 'changed'. He better be careful as this will enslave the magic users few centuries from now. He better include the magic less should support magic users too.