Mount and Blade Central Asia

If you want to perform a role, you have to do it completely. From now on, Li Rufeng is the respected Rufeng Shaman.

As a time traveler, the amount of information in Li Rufeng's mind is probably equal to half of the Wisdom Palace in Baghdad that was burned down by the Mongols. Coupled with the teachings of the old shaman, he can come up with fifty kinds of funeral ceremonies with full sense of ritual in the time it takes him to fart.

Changshengtian cooperated very well on this day and pulled a large dark cloud for Li Rufeng. The faint smell of ozone before the rain seemed to have made everyone understand the main theme of the day in advance.

Heavy and solemn.

Li Rufeng stood on a temporary wooden platform outside the tribe, his tall figure straight and upright. He did not wear his comfortable silk clothes, but a black cotton shirt. A wide leather belt without any decoration served as a waist belt, which fully highlighted Li Rufeng's figure.

A gray wolfskin cape was his only decoration, which also added a touch of majesty to him.

The herders of the Taierbahe tribe walked in a daze, watching the soldiers in the tribe busying around. With the cooperation of the families of the deceased, they loaded the bodies onto the carts, and then followed the crowd out of the camp.

When Medinatah, dressed in her best clothes, stood with her nine-year-old son Orus and other nobles, almost everyone gathered here.

Li Rufeng stood in the middle of the crowd, looking around seriously. His eyes were actually focused on a position about fifty meters outside the crowd, but because the wooden platform was located in a depression, everyone felt as if Shaman Rufeng was looking at them, and subconsciously stood up a little straighter.

“Thank you for coming here on this cold day. Today, we are here to pay our tribute to our

Brothers and sisters, say goodbye." Li Rufeng's deep voice almost instantly brought the relatives of the deceased to tears.

"Some of them were our fathers, mothers, and friends. We fought together, but they gave their chance to live to others." Li Rufeng saw a delicate little boy looking at him curiously and nodded slightly. "I once promised that those who died in battle would go to the Tengger grasslands. Now, I want you to witness this moment and witness eternal glory."

Following Li Rufeng's words, the cavalrymen, arranged in neat rows, escorted carts loaded with corpses from outside the crowd into the circle.

If conditions permit, Li Rufeng would prefer to play the song "Xiritala" with Mongolian-style throat singing and horse-head fiddle, which would make at least half of the people cry.

"I hope that those who come after us, and those who come after them, can remember these people. They fought bravely until the last moment, drove away the enemy, and allowed the survivors to enjoy family life together." Li Rufeng nodded to the leading cavalry captain, and the cavalrymen immediately dismounted in unison.

Tulik's eyes widened immediately. He didn't even know that there were such elite cavalrymen in the tribe who could dismount so neatly.

Medina Taher also stepped back feeling guilty. She didn't know much about soldiers, but she at least knew that these people seemed different from before.

"We owe them a debt that can never be repaid. It is the responsibility and honor of the living to make them immortal." As Li Rufeng spoke, Medina Tahe saw that the herdsmen around him subconsciously began to nod.

The cavalrymen began to pile the bodies one by one on the wooden platform. Every time they put a body on the platform, they would shout out the name of the deceased.

The family members of the deceased whose names were called immediately burst into tears, and soon they led more people to cry.

For a moment, there was crying, and only Li Rufeng nodded with satisfaction.

There were a total of 217 bodies, and the three people on the top were Taierbahe, Butubasin, and Wusali.

When the cavalry called out the names of Tairbahe and Butubashin, even Medinatah couldn't help crying, and her son Orus was already crying inconsolably.

When the cavalry called out Wu Sali's name, Li Rufeng stepped forward and reached out to close the other's still open eyes. He remembered clearly that he closed Wu Sali's eyes when he was dealing with the body yesterday.

"We will meet again." Wu Sali's corpse said softly, scaring the two cavalrymen who had just put down the corpse so much that they almost sat on the ground.

But Li Rufeng just waved his hand calmly, signaling them not to be afraid.

The two cavalrymen looked at Shaman Rufeng in fear, their eyes immediately filled with admiration. It turned out that Shaman Rufeng could really communicate with ghosts and gods!

Li Rufeng stood before the bodies piled into a pyramid and announced to everyone, "I say, do not let the families of those killed in battle suffer. For those whose husbands died in battle, I will provide for them until their eldest son reaches adulthood! For those whose sons died in battle, I will provide for them until their youngest reaches adulthood. For those whose only sons died in battle, I will provide for both their parents until they ascend to the Tengger steppes!"

The crying in the crowd suddenly became louder, and some people even knelt on the ground, unable to get up from their knees and kowtow to Li Rufeng.

Now, Medina Taher's face looked extremely ugly, and it was estimated that her original little thoughts would be of no use at all.

Because she is now one of the people supported by Li Rufeng. How can a widow who is supported by one person have the face to fight for power and status?

Medina Taher dug her nails into her flesh. She didn't expect that before she could even start to exert force again, Li Rufeng would kill all her hopes in this way.

Under such circumstances, she didn't even have a chance to fight back!

Tulik gently pulled Medinatah from behind, fearing that she would do something unsafe in her impulse.

Sayyid Kuda, the only one standing next to Medinatah, also had a grim expression on his face. His opponent suddenly changed from Wusali to Li Rufeng, and he was a little overwhelmed.

But Li Rufeng had no time to deal with these people's thoughts. He looked up at the sky, feeling that the time was almost up, and slowly walked down the wooden platform, saying, "Now, send the dead on their way!"

As Li Rufeng finished speaking, rockets were fired simultaneously from the four directions of east, south, west and north, and the arrows hit the wooden platform accurately.

The wood, which had been greased in advance, was immediately ignited by the flames and began to burn fiercely.

The prisoners had also painted the unique formula left by the old shaman on the wooden platform in advance. When the flames completely covered the corpses, the color of the flames suddenly turned green. Although this green flame only lasted for a few seconds, everyone saw the change at that moment.

Li Rufeng's chemistry level is average, but in his eyes, the old shaman's secret recipe is nothing more than basic chemical knowledge of changing the color of the flame by adding metal powder. If he wants and has money, he can make the flame behind him constantly change the color of red, green and yellow like a traffic light.

But now, his financial resources can only support him for a few seconds.

But it was enough. Li Rufeng said that those who died in battle could go to the Tengger grassland to enjoy eternal happiness. The moment the flame turned green, it meant that the agreement between him and Tengger was fulfilled. That was the color of the grassland.

Chapter 55: Understatement

"Sayyid Kuda, a believer in Allah, a follower of Muhammad, a distinguished scholar of jurisprudence, can I call you that?" Li Rufeng looked at Sayyid with a smile on his face.

I'm personally very interested.

Because the other party was most likely a pioneer scholar sent by the Sufi order, the old shaman had specifically mentioned this kind of person to him.

As the most powerful conqueror after the Mongols, Timur's approach to religious beliefs was also very "Mongol".

Simply put, anyone who serves me can be a proselytizer. In this fundamental sense, Timur was a devout Muslim (Note 1)...

This also led to some restrictions on Islam within the Timurid Empire. First of all, they could not force the Mongols in a broad sense to convert to religion unless they voluntarily did so.

Specifically for the Moghul tribes that were exiled to the frontier, the only means used by the Sufi sect was to distribute money, and they did so for more than ten years.

The old shaman used this trick to cheat the Sufi order out of an unknown amount of money. It was not until the scholar of the law saw through his ulterior motives and left that the tribe stopped getting any money.

According to the old shaman, the wheels of the horse-drawn carts used by his tribe at that time were rounder than those of other tribes.

Li Rufeng always felt that he had not caught up with the good times, but now the good times have come to him!

He has no prejudice against Islam. In this era, it is not an exaggeration to say that the areas covered by Islam can be called civilized places. After all, there is still some reason among them, and you can even find many good people who truly conform to the doctrine!

In comparison, the church in the neighboring European continent has been selling indulgences for almost a hundred years, and the famous indulgence joke has spread to the grasslands -

The priest said, "When the money you paid for your indulgences jingles into the chest, your loved ones will be released from the flames of Purgatory."

The priest continued, "You threw in the money. Now I see your father's left leg has stepped out of the flames of Purgatory, leaving only his right leg in the fire. Add more money!"

"No need, my father doesn't have a right leg!"

Therefore, compared with the Christian Church that is making a lot of money, the Islamic Sufi sect that is willing to spend money to buy faith appears so pure and noble!

What's wrong with them? They just want to increase the coverage of faith and the density of believers per unit area!

Li Rufeng supports it, even though he is now the leader of the Eternal Heaven belief in the region, but who says that the Prophet Muhammad’s horse cannot run on the Tengger grassland!

Can the two sides integrate their religions? Anyway, the final right to interpret the doctrines of this era lies with those who hold the cornerstone.

The old sultan could use the prohibition on alcohol to destroy his fellow Christian country, occupy its land, enslave its people, and then drink himself to death in the tent, and no one said anything...

"I am not worthy of the title of a jurisprudence scholar." Sayyid Kuda spoke in a hard tone, and looked at Li Rufeng as if he were a class enemy.

"You can be a religious scholar," Li Rufeng said affirmatively. "Educating enough believers and opening up new dioceses is also a path to advancement for religious scholars like you, right?"

Sayyid Kuda snorted, feeling that the other party was mocking him.

"I don't forbid you from preaching in the tribe." Li Rufeng said lightly, which immediately made Sayyid Kuda no longer arrogant.

"Aren't you going to drive me away?" Sayyid Kuda looked at the Oriental man in surprise.

"Why would I chase you away? The creatures of this land possess free souls and free will, and they deserve the right to freedom of belief." Li Rufeng smiled. "I've always believed that religious people should be open-minded, and not forcing others to believe in religion is the most basic requirement."

Sayyid Kuda chuckled, thinking that the other party was making fun of Jerusalem, and millions of dead souls were laughing along from afar.

"I've also read the Quran and the Hadith, and I agree with most of what they say. However, there's a difference between what's written in the teachings and what we actually do." Li Rufeng looked at Sayyid Kuda as if he were a fool, and emphasized, "People don't care what you say, they only care what you do. As long as you're willing to do good things for the tribe, I'll allow you to continue preaching and will not interfere with anyone's conversion."

"It's a deal!" Sayyid Kuda saluted Li Rufeng with great enthusiasm. He planned to write a letter to the sect when he returned and ask the cooperating caravan to bring some food when passing by.

To be honest, Li Rufeng felt that at least after being baptized by the Mongols, these clergy had become much more amiable in their attitudes and softer in their stances, and it was much easier to utilize... no, cooperate with them.

Although Li Rufeng was very ambitious, he was not arrogant enough to plan to start a religious war on this land on his own.

As the Mongols expanded, the belief in Eternal Heaven was gradually overshadowed by Islam, Buddhism, and Nestorianism. There's a reason for this. Just look at the relaxed attitude of the old shamans towards their faith, and the literacy rates of the shamans of each tribe...

Li Rufeng really did not have the confidence to compete with a religious faction like Islam that specialized in religious warfare, but fortunately, the Mongols at least taught them how to live in harmony with military strongmen.

He now has people. The two tribes have a total population of more than a thousand. According to the Mongol tradition, it is no problem to support fifty full-time professional soldiers. If a war really breaks out, he can at least organize a nomadic cavalry of at least 150 people.

Li Rufeng is now qualified to sit down and have a good talk with the forces behind Mengge about how to fight this war, how to divide the benefits after the war, and what to do in the future after the benefits are divided.

Before Mongke's men appeared, the seriously injured Muzaffar Natanzi finally woke up.

He was one of the seriously injured soldiers treated personally by Li Rufeng. Because he was slashed on the face and his flesh and blood were blurred, Li Rufeng didn't even realize that the person he was treating was an old acquaintance of his. After all, he was an Oriental, and he was in an extremely tired state at the time, so it was normal for him to have some face blindness.

It was not until Muzaffar Natanzi woke up and shouted to see Li Rufeng that he was able to identify the disfigured man.

"Am I blind?" Muzaffar excitedly held Li Rufeng's hand, half of his face tightly wrapped in cotton cloth. "Tell me! Am I blind?"

Li Rufeng recalled the surgery he had performed based on the extent of his injuries and consoled him, "You are only half blind, my friend."

"What does half-blind mean?" Muzaffar Natanzi froze in place, and the burly man asked with a trembling voice.

"When you were sent here, you were slashed on the face and the lens of one eye was shattered. You never came back, so I had no choice but to remove your eyeball." Li Rufeng sighed. He really didn't know what he had been through in the past two years. Thanks to the advancement of armor forging, attacking vital points has become a habit of archers.

Li Rufeng has performed three eyeball removal surgeries, but in the end only one patient survived the postoperative inflammation.

"I'll still be able to see in the future, right? I still have one eye!" Muzaffar Natanzi's tone no longer had the composure he had before, and he didn't behave much more stable than an injured child.

For a man like him, he would rather die on the battlefield than accept the result of being blind or lame. Although the old Sultan whom Muzaffar admired so much was a lame man, Timur was Timur because he was a miracle.

"You can see, but you must survive first." Li Rufeng pinned Muzaffar to the bed, preventing him from moving. He warned, "You're not completely out of the threat of death yet. The wound on your face is deep, and your lens is shattered. I'm not sure if I've cleaned all the debris. If you don't die from the inflammation in the next three days, you'll be able to have your stitches removed and see again in a week."

"I can't die... I can't die like this." Muzaffar Natanzi said firmly, his hand holding Li Rufeng's hand like a pair of pliers. "I owe you a life, Shaman. If I don't die, then I owe you two lives!"

"Take good care of your injuries." Li Rufeng patted Muzaffar's hand. "I'm offering you a very high interest rate."

These wounded provided Li Rufeng with a total of 18 points of medical skill improvement. At this time, his medical skill level had reached 68, which could provide up to 52% recovery speed bonus and an additional 0.5% survival rate for the patients he treated.

Especially the extra 0.5% survival rate. If the number of his direct soldiers increases in the future, it would be like snatching people from the hands of death without giving them any face at all.

So Muzaffar Natanz's chances of survival were quite high. He'd only suffered a slash to the face, which ruptured a lens and damaged numerous facial nerves. He'd also sustained a wound to his chest, stomach, and arm, losing around 1500cc of blood. He'd received 122 stitches, leaving him looking like a mummy...

Judging from his grip strength, it shouldn't be a big problem. He should be able to survive, right?

After Muzaffar Natanz exhausted his remaining strength, he fainted. Li Rufeng then went to check on Bao Rizhebu's injuries. Bater had two dark circles under his eyes, and his gaze was a little dull when he looked at people.

But Bao Rizhebu has indeed recovered well. There is no festering in the wound. Although he still has a fever, the temperature has dropped a lot. Bater has boiled some herbs, and maybe he will wake up tonight.

After Li Rufeng carefully examined every seriously injured soldier and took a cursory look at the lightly injured soldiers, the entire Taierbahe tribe could now be renamed the Rufeng tribe, and no one had any objections to this.

He even received an invitation from Mrs. Medinatah that evening, inviting him to attend a dinner party. Three nobles, Tulik, Mirzan and Guder, would also attend. Before Li Rufeng went to the banquet, these three nobles went through different channels and met Li Rufeng privately, offering him their cheap loyalty.

The author says:

Author's Note: Note 1 - According to the "History of Central Asia", Timur was a devout Muslim, but this book also describes Timur's attitude towards religious beliefs from the side more comprehensively - mutual benefit. I have fabricated some religious descriptions here, such as the restrictions on the Mongol beliefs, which actually do not exist. In fact, the Chagatai Mongols began to fully turn to Islam as early as 1340.

Chapter 56 A Bigger Plan

Medinatah's banquet was like a French meal without good sauce, looking both shabby and tasteless. Only Medinatah was trying to save face. Li Rufeng even saw her secretly wiping away tears while toasting.

Obviously, Mrs. Medinatah was a "real man" who could bend and stretch. When she failed in the power struggle before it even began, she chose to endure, bowed her head and admitted her mistakes to Li Rufeng, and only made one request: she did not want Li Rufeng to support Butubasin's child.

Li Rufeng didn't regard Medinatah's family as his own.

enemies, so he kindly agreed to Medinatah's request and generously asked her if she was willing to leave the tribe and live in the city. He was willing to give her a considerable amount of travel expenses.

This is both Li Rufeng's sincerity towards Butubasin and a signal that he has forgiven the past.

As a time traveler, Li Rufeng had a lot of plans to implement. The only obstacles that stood in his way before were the available population and the obstacles from the superstructure. But now, all the obstacles have been broken.

Li Rufeng wanted to survey the land, which required manpower. He also needed manpower to count the population. He also needed manpower to regulate the taxation of caravans, which required considering the opinions of the local Diwan and Duosi Tewanhu. He also needed to consider the possibility of being stabbed by those with ulterior motives in order to establish a more rational management system.

He now even has a sense of freedom, as if the sky is high and birds fly freely, and the sea is wide and fish leap freely.

Therefore, the selfishness of these tribal nobles could not attract Li Rufeng's attention at all. He raised his glass and drank with everyone at the banquet. His gentle and elegant temperament was many times higher than that of Taierbahe.

In a few words, Mirzan, the tribe's former trade route manager, retreated to his corner with a pale face and began counting on his fingers. How had Shaman Rufeng figured out the accounts so quickly? Had he already set his sights on the Taierbahe tribe?

Gu Dier also fell into deep thought after the toast, thinking about Shaman Rufeng's previous proposal.

He said that since you have so many sons, you can continue to expand the size of your own herd. Let those who are good at raising horses focus on raising horses and not worry about anything else. Those who are willing to raise sheep can just raise sheep without being distracted.

As for the remaining sons, Li Rufeng let some of them specialize in learning butchering, some concentrate on learning wool removal, and if others are willing to study and learn arithmetic, Li Rufeng is willing to support them in forming a caravan to carry the goods of the tribe to travel around and trade.

Li Rufeng did not touch a penny of their family's previous property, but if they were willing, Li Rufeng could buy more lambs and foals in the name of the tribe and form a partnership with the Gudier family.

The tribe provides the money, and the Gudier family provides the manpower and effort. In the future, if there is a profit, both parties will split it in half.

Gu Dier was obviously tempted. He was almost sixty years old this year, but he could still eat a leg of lamb for every meal and go home to entertain his young wife. To be optimistic, Gu Dier was still enterprising in the family business.

He was very interested in the cooperation model proposed by Li Rufeng, and Milzan was also very tempted by Li Rufeng's proposal to form his own caravan.

When you are looking at things, you represent me.”