Mount and Blade Central Asia

These were the exact words Li Rufeng said to Muzaffar. After all, their lineage of shamans really didn't care much about secular etiquette.

When Muhammad ascended to the seventh heaven at night, he met God. God told him that his people could obtain His grace by praying fifty times a day. But when Muhammad left, Prophet Moses persuaded him to meet God again and asked him to reduce the number of prayers.

“Your companions will not be able to bear such a burden,” said the Prophet Moses. Muhammad then went back and pleaded with their Lord again to reduce the requirement, and finally set the number at five.

This is the regulation on worship and pilgrimage in Islam. Although the story is fictional, it is obvious that the Prophet Muhammad at that time was already very aware that too much formalism in religion would make believers unable to bear it, while the lack of formalism would cause religion itself to lose its dignity.

The decline of the belief in Eternal Heaven is the best example. Too many people have devoted themselves to shamanism, which eventually led to no one caring about the majesty of Eternal Heaven. The only reason why it has been passed down to this day is that the Mongolian cavalry who believed in Eternal Heaven and bathed in its majesty left too many deep memories for the world.

So Li Rufeng is gradually changing this situation. Of course, he has no intention of competing with Islam and Christianity, which have already formed complex and rigorous systems.

He couldn't rely on his own wisdom to overcome the wisdom accumulated over thousands of years by countless believers, who racked their brains. After all, how to build more magnificent churches and mosques that better embody the divine will was once the most important factor in the advancement of social productivity in both the Western and Arab worlds...

Mr. Li felt that they were a bit too extreme, and that the ancient Tibetan Tantric Buddhism had already demonstrated in this regard what consequences would result when a certain religion placed its own rituals and offerings above civilization.

But not being extravagant does not mean not being presentable. Li Rufeng plans to borrow some Taoist methods and use a trick of sincerity to make offerings.

Eternal Heaven represents the heavens. Whether you like it or not, believe in it or not, He is there, without joy or sorrow. But if you are willing to open your heart to Him, He will not let you down.

Simple worship methods, flexible belief standards, no threshold for joining the religion, but real benefits, these are Li Rufeng's "three axes" to promote Changshengtian.

Chapter 376 Frankness

On December 20, 1408, five days had passed since Li Rufeng and Qinggelinayan met.

During these five days, Qinggelinayan lived in Li Rufeng's mansion and experienced the prosperity of the city firsthand.

His body was now obviously more suited to city life. The softer wind, warmer living environment, and comfortable daily life that did not require riding had greatly restored his health.

In just 5 days, Qinggelinayan's spirit and energy improved visibly. Of course, this was also due to the medicine prepared by Li Rufeng for him.

"Honestly, Shaman Rufeng, can't this herbal remedy taste better?" Qinggelinayan frowned as he drank the medicine in the morning, his eyes full of confusion.

He had drunk the medicine brewed by the old shaman before, and he didn't know how much better the medicinal power of the medicine brewed by Li Rufeng himself was, but at least in terms of taste, it was definitely better than the old shaman's. It was much more unpalatable than the one brewed by the old shaman.

"Just be happy that you have medicine to drink." Li Rufeng rolled his eyes. He said this sincerely to Qinggelinayan. If Qinggelinayan had another illness, Li Rufeng might not have the right prescription.

That is to say, a few years before Master Li traveled through time, this kind of soup medicine for moistening the lungs and relieving coughs suddenly became popular all over the country. As a half-baked dentist like him could not catch up with the other people in the family in terms of technical level, he could only think of some way in this regard so that his family could praise his medical skills.

"Are you really planning to attack Damascus?" Qinggelinayan finished drinking his medicine with a frown, and finally couldn't help asking the question that had been on his mind.

When a person gets older, his ambition becomes like the corpus sponge. When it should stand up, it really can't, leaving its owner with only tears.

Qinggelinayan is in this state now. Not to mention his ambitious plan to conquer new lands, even if he is asked to pick up a sword and mount a horse to conquer a new maid, he will be out of breath.

Only with Li Rufeng could Qinggelinayan truly relax for a while, because he knew that no matter how tough or weak he was, people like Li Rufeng would eventually become powerful. Once he gained the loyalty of the Bardock Thousand-Man Team, the two sides would no longer be competitors.

Now Qinggelinayan is a little worried about his younger brothers, especially Dangertai.

In fact, it is not surprising that Dangertai is so young and arrogant, because Qinggeli Nayan knew his hidden illness at the beginning, and he has been teaching Dangertai intentionally or unintentionally over the years. Sooner or later, he will become the pillar of the family and become the new Nayan to lead all the tribes.

And now Qinggelinayan himself was going to break his promise. Even if he used his butt to think, he knew that although Li Rufeng was a smiling tiger and had a good relationship with everyone, what he wanted would always fall into his hands.

Li Rufeng's base is the Mongols, so he naturally would not give up this powerful army in his hands, so Qinggelinayan came to establish a relationship with Li Rufeng.

After the balance of power between the two sides became unbalanced, Qinggelinayan quickly realized that his only chance of winning was disappearing rapidly along with his health. He ordered those unruly centurions to obey the orders of a consumptive, let alone a half-grown child.

In the end, the "decisive battle" that Dangertai had been thinking about might never happen. Maybe one day some brave centurion would send the heads of the two brothers to Li Rufeng to earn him a future.

Qinggelinayan recently felt that there was something wrong with the way Baoledebagen (Gangzhu) looked at him, so he didn't dare to delay for a moment and hurried to Aleppo. Instead of letting others make this fortune, it would be better for him to come here himself so that he could sell more.

Although Qinggelinayan had expected this, the prosperity of Aleppo still exceeded his imagination.

He knew very well how thoroughly they had looted the place back then, and now the whole city was thriving with vitality.

There was an endless stream of caravans traveling back and forth from the north and south. Qinggeli had been stationed in this land for nearly ten years and had never seen such a scene.

In the simple worldview of the Mongols, more caravans mean more money, more money means more soldiers, and more soldiers mean a larger territory.

Therefore, Qinggelinayan hopes that the power transfer between the two parties can end in a smoother and more face-saving way.

But Qinggelinayan did not expect that Li Rufeng was so ambitious. He did not take the Mamluks and the Black Sheep People seriously at all. This made Qinggelinayan, who had originally planned to use his power and status to get official positions for his two younger brothers, a little hesitant. He was afraid that Li Rufeng would perish because of his overly inflated ambition.

"Actually, attacking Damascus isn't as difficult as you think. The Mamluk Sultan won't necessarily react to us." After observing Qinggelinayan for the past few days, Li Rufeng had roughly determined what she was thinking, so he reassured her, "The emirs in Syria are already essentially independent. They don't care about Sultan Nasir anyway."

"But they are still nominally vassals of the Mamluks," Qinggelinayan asked, frowning. Now that the two sides had brought the topic to light, he didn't hide it. "Are you still planning to use the title of that little Mamluk noble to fool people? Damascus and Aleppo are different."

"Is there really any difference?" Li Rufeng asked with some interest.

This is the difference caused by the information gap between the two sides. Qinggelinayan did not know what kind of interest exchange was represented behind the plague war that had occurred outside the city of Aleppo.

If Sultan Nasir seeks to gain support from the followers of the Green Wind, he will have to give up something.

The first thing that comes to mind is naturally faith. In a political system like the Mamluk Empire that combines military and politics, the Sultan must be in a state of panic now, right?

After all, no matter how incompetent the Muslims among the Mamluks were, they would not be unable to see the changes happening around them.

If the conversion could be completed overnight, Li Rufeng's belief in Changshengtian would have been spread long ago. Li Rufeng is now betting that Sultan Nasir has no energy to care about what is happening on Syrian soil.

By then, he would be wearing the skin of Mabrouk on the surface, and pay more money in private. I guess the Sultan would continue to turn a blind eye, just like he treated the Aleppo incident coldly.

"In that case, how do you plan to deal with us?" Seeing that Li Rufeng was so determined, Qinggelinayan stopped trying to persuade him and asked directly.

Chapter 377: Strong and Healthy

Li Rufeng really didn't expect that the showdown between him and Qinggeli Nayan would come so early. To be honest, he was not yet ready to completely accept Qinggeli Nayan's position in the Mongol tribe.

This was not because Mr. Li was modest, but because the Mongol tribes were too scattered, and the nomadic lifestyle itself was very difficult to manage. When Li Rufeng set out from his own tribe, it took him three full days to walk to the Taierbahe tribe.

This is still considered close. From this, we can imagine how much administrative cost it would take to control all the Mughal tribes.

In this regard, you only need to look at what Timur did back then to know how difficult it is. Even the ambitious Timur only treated the Mongols as a border guard tribe and left them alone in the border area.

Even Timur only needed them to provide pathogens during the war and did not expect these Mughals to make any economic contribution.

Li Rufeng also faced the same dilemma, but for Timur, the entire western border could be regarded as a vassal area. It did not need to be prosperous or provide much economic benefits. It was enough to ensure that the Mongols would not guarantee that a regime that could threaten the stability of his Central Asian region would not appear again.

But Li Rufeng was not able to do so. The border areas, which Timur regarded as vassal states, were his core territories, and the Mongols, whom Timur regarded as military resources, were the foundation of his rule.

Although Aleppo is booming now, there are still some trivial matters beneath this prosperity.

Almost every day, several pieces of news about conflicts and frictions between the Mongols and caravans traveling to and from nearby villages would appear on Mr. Li's desk.

Should I side with the right or with my relatives? This is the question Li Rufeng has to face every day. As the conquerors of this land, the Mongols have become accustomed to an arrogant and domineering lifestyle. There is no one in this land that they dare not provoke.

With Qinggelinayan as his signboard, Li Rufeng could hide himself behind the other party in some matters and make a decision that could barely satisfy both parties. If Qinggelinayan was gone, Li Rufeng would have to face a big problem directly -

Should he continue the privileges of the Mongol people and ensure his military dominance, or should he vigorously develop the people's livelihood economy and curb the privileges of the Mongol people? Sometimes, just thinking about these questions would give Li Rufeng a headache.

In comparison, how to accommodate Qinggelinayan, who voluntarily "retired", and his two younger brothers are just minor problems.

But fortunately, compared to other outsiders, Qinggelinayan is already a qualified politician. He at least knows his value to Li Rufeng very well, so after confronting Li Rufeng, he gave Li Rufeng a very appropriate way out.

"I won't step down for the time being, but you can mobilize the various departments in my name, and I can cooperate with you." Qinggelinayan said his plan with a smile. At his age, he has enjoyed what he should enjoy and experienced what he should experience, so he can calm down and live a peaceful life.

Of course, both Qinggelinayan himself and Li Rufeng tacitly did not mention Qinggelinayan's hidden illness, or his father who died of the same hidden illness. Many times, people's ambitions are determined by their health status.

Qinggelinayan was a person who seemed to be fine when he was quiet, but felt like he was dying when he moved and was under great pressure. Tuberculosis was the most destructive to one's will. It was only a few days of city life that made Qinggelinayan easily decide to give up his power.

Li Rufeng was thinking about how much of the credit should be attributed to the system. After all, his charm skills could always play an unexpected role inadvertently. Although the mere 10% chance was meaningless in the game, this 10% chance in the real world saved Li Rufeng a lot of trouble.

That is definitely a magical skill that everyone in the political game dreams of, but for Li Rufeng it is just an entry-level expertise.

The more Li Rufeng looked at the Mount and Blade system, the more he liked it. He felt that he had great potential for success, so he made a bold promise to Qinggelinayan: "Let's be frank. My roots are with the Mongol people. I will never treat you unfairly."

"You are the successor of the old shaman. I believe what you said, Shaman Rufeng. I hope that Changshengtian can witness that our friendship will always be strong and reliable." Qinggelinayan said this with a sigh in his tone.

Facing this young man who rose like a comet, Qinggelinayan actually had a feeling of defeat without a fight. Just like now, apart from pinning his hopes on Li Rufeng keeping his promise, he actually had no other choice.

Li Rufeng thus concluded the transaction with Qinggelinayan, and completed the transfer of power over the Mongol tribe in a fairly peaceful manner.

On the same day, John Hiltberg left Aleppo with twenty Mongol cavalrymen, twenty cavalrymen from the Badakh Thousand, and five personal guards of Li Rufeng, and headed for the territory of the Aries to meet Kara Osman to convey Master Li's goodwill and the intention of the alliance.

Li Rufeng has no ill will towards the Aries people for the time being. At least before the threat of the Black Sheep people is resolved, he and the Aries people are natural allies. Therefore, this meeting is destined to be a meeting of weak alliances. I believe that Hiltberg should not encounter any risks.

In the following days, Master Li finally had some time to breathe. In addition to going to the blacksmith area to burn charcoal and forge iron every day, he also developed the habit of getting up early to exercise because of Parisa's presence.

The princess, who had been taught strictly since childhood, had very good living habits. She would get up before dawn to practice martial arts. Even Li Rufeng felt embarrassed to sleep until he woke up naturally every day. Of course, he didn't have that much sleep. After all, there was no reliable lighting at night in this era. Master Li went to bed very early every day, and at most he would play small games with Satuya at night.

Just like that, when Christmas, the traditional Christian holiday, arrived, Master Li unexpectedly received two specialization rewards at once. One was the running skill from his endurance attribute. Four years after crossing over, the system finally recognized that Master Li could run. His running skill proficiency level had reached level 25, and generously offered him a choice of two specialization rewards:

[Daily Morning Exercise: (Individual) Increases personal movement speed by 3% during combat. (Captain) Increases the personal movement speed of soldiers in your formation by 5% during combat.]

[Strong Body: (Personal) Self-healing speed increased by 5%, (Commander) The self-healing speed of soldiers in your unit increased by 5%]

This was a choice that did not require much hesitation. Regardless of whether Mr. Li needed that 3% increase in movement speed, the titles of captain and troop commander alone were enough for him to make the choice.

So Mr. Li acquired a new specialty, "strong body".

I don’t know if it was an illusion or the improved self-healing ability would lead to improved physical fitness. In any case, after Master Li acquired this new expertise, he did feel that his body was much stronger than before. At least there was an immediate effect on his figure, and his muscle lines became much more obvious than before.

That is, Satuya was still a young girl, and the light was not bright enough when she played games every night, otherwise she would have noticed that night that her master had upgraded from a strong man to an extremely strong man in just one day.

But even if she found out, it wouldn't matter. The little maid might think it was a gift from Changshengtian...

Chapter 378 New Process

"Sir, you really don't need to come here to burn charcoal every day. If you have any dissatisfaction with us, you can just tell us directly and we will definitely change it!" Da Mier's face was red from the fire, and his tone was full of undisguised panic.

It was so abnormal for a lord to guard the forge and burn charcoal every day that every time Li Rufeng came to burn the charcoal, Da Mier couldn't sleep at night.

In fact, it was not just him. All the blacksmiths in the Blacksmith Guild couldn't sleep at night. They didn't know what Li Rufeng's purpose was.

If you were to say that Li Rufeng was burning charcoal to advise the blacksmiths to stop daydreaming and focus on improving their skills, then he wouldn't have burned charcoal every day for half a month...

"Don't talk, just wait quietly by the side!" Mr. Li was currently immersed in the system prompts of experience +3, experience +3, so he had no time to deal with this mediocre blacksmith.

It's easy for a person to go from frugality to extravagance, but it's difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. Originally, Li Rufeng still valued these blacksmiths he brought back from Martin City, but the appearance of old Luo Kan destroyed his ability to tolerate mediocrity. Now, the more he looks at these blacksmiths, the more unhappy he feels.

This group of blacksmiths who had no skills and no skills had actually negotiated with him time and time again, trying to do something secretly. It was only because Master Li was kind-hearted, otherwise he would have hung these people on the city wall to let everyone see Master Li's thundering methods.

Finally, as another piece of charcoal was baked at high temperature, it was judged by the system as a qualified product. Master Li's forging skill level finally reached level 25, and he could choose one of the two specialties.

As planned, Li Rufeng decisively chose the specialty of "Highly Efficient Ironmaker" as his first specialty in the forging field.

The expertise tree under the entire forging system has been developing around charcoal burning and iron making in the early stages, continuously improving the blacksmith's ability to produce carbon and iron. For a noble gold coin player like Li Rufeng, the field of iron production is obviously more economically valuable.

After all, he has a whole blacksmith guild behind him to supply him with various raw materials, so he never has to worry about running out of charcoal.

Moreover, in the field of forging, there is no future in relying on burning charcoal. Li Rufeng is also thinking that he has to find a way to import some coal recently.

After getting the expertise he needed, Li Rufeng clapped his hands and threw the leather apron hanging on his body to Da Mier. He walked to a place away from the forge and asked his personal guards to fetch clear well water to wash his hands and face.

Just as he had thought before, being a blacksmith was not a job for humans in this era.

Even with so many blacksmith apprentices helping him with his work, Li Rufeng still felt more tired than after fighting on the battlefield.

It took Li Rufeng twelve whole days to improve his skill proficiency from level 0 to the current level 25. And the time required to go from level 25 to level 50 is more than double. Mr. Li does not plan to continue investing his energy in the forging field for the time being.

But the production tasks in the blacksmith area cannot be stopped. Now all the blacksmith shops in Aleppo are basically running at full capacity, and the clanging sound of iron hammering can be heard from early morning to night.

Fortunately, there was no noise pollution law in that era, otherwise the citizens living around the blacksmith district would have already sent letters of protest to Li Rufeng's lord's mansion.

"Have you had enough fun?" Old Luo Kan then walked up to Li Rufeng, who had regained his neat appearance, and asked. He now had a different opinion of Li Rufeng for being able to persist until now.

Moreover, he has always been very interested in Li Rufeng's brain full of wonderful ideas. For example, the standardized assembly line process proposed by Li Rufeng before really shocked Lao Luo Kan.

To understand how difficult it is to train a technically qualified blacksmith these days, you only need to look at the people in the blacksmith guild. Many of them have been working as blacksmiths for their entire lives and still cannot be considered qualified.

Being a blacksmith not only requires intelligence and culture, but also long-term training. Only by accumulating experience through repeated trial and error can one eventually become a master.

No one teaches you sincerely. The change in furnace temperature alone is enough for a novice to ponder for more than ten years.

But if this complex system is broken down into countless simple steps, and then these relatively simple and easy-to-learn steps are assigned to different people, the difficulty will drop sharply.

Finally, when these different people are put together to work together, they are able to complete the work that only a qualified blacksmith can do.

This may not be fair to the parts that make up the blacksmith, but for lords who just need a blacksmith to get the job done, this system is perfect.

These people are valuable blacksmiths only within this system. Without this system, what they have learned is useless. This ensures the stability of the entire system to a great extent.

This does not include the improvement in output and quality of the entire industry brought about by this new process.

After all, even a qualified blacksmith cannot guarantee that every process of his is perfect, but those who focus on a simple step can ensure that every work of his is perfect.

After all, Lao Luo Kan is not an ordinary blacksmith, so he naturally does not look at the problem from the perspective of a blacksmith.

He really wanted to know whether the process Li Rufeng proposed could be realized. If it could, Aleppo would soon become the most technologically advanced city in the land, a true steel city.

Those traditional blacksmiths will soon face crushing competition from these "new blacksmiths", and I'm afraid that the Ah Brotherhood will not be able to defeat Li Rufeng in the same field.

What’s even more terrifying is that this set of process flow, which Li Rufeng calls a standardized assembly line, can also be applied to many other industries.

Old Luo Kan had been observing Li Rufeng, and it was obvious that this lord was very smart and had begun to apply this process to other handicraft industries outside the Blacksmith Guild.

And there was the hospital, which was also where old Rokan had been paying attention to. He had seen similar institutions in other cities before, but it was obvious that this hospital in Aleppo had a professional structure that far surpassed its peers.

After all, compared to blacksmithing, Li Rufeng is professional in this area. He not only divided the hospital managed by Isabella into different departments to treat patients with different symptoms, but also provided generous subsidies to the medical school attached to the hospital, directly using money to improve the status of doctors and nurses in disguise.