Mount and Blade Central Asia

Mongke could be considered a true professional soldier. His great-grandfather had been fighting with Temujin. The family's status had been fluctuating and could never keep up with the changes in the situation. By his generation, apart from a good physique, all that was left was a few pitiful connections.

But this did not prevent him from realizing Li Rufeng's value across the ages. Since he first heard of Li Rufeng's name at the beginning of last year, Mengge had brought a total of 26 wounded soldiers here.

Twelve of the wounded were seriously injured and he had mentally sentenced them to death. However, Li Rufeng rescued seven of them without much effort. Three of these seven were able to fight on horseback again, and it was almost impossible to tell that they had ever been injured.

The other fourteen lightly wounded soldiers also recovered well without any sequelae.

Mengge's mathematics was limited to addition and subtraction within 20, but after a simple calculation, he knew that with the presence of Li Rufeng, warriors like them would have an extra life, which was why he dared to take the risk and lead his men to attack the caravan this time.

"Shaman Rufeng, the wind direction on the grassland is about to change. Do you feel it?" Mengge looked around and whispered to Li Rufeng, "That donkey-riding coward, Duoste, may soon respond to Milansha's call and march from the west to reconquer the Black Sheep Rebellion in Tabriz.

. "

Dost was the highest administrative officer in charge of the Tumed Wanhu. Unfortunately, he was a Chagatai-Persian mixed-race, and his Persian ancestry made his prestige always at the bottom of the Khanate's military system.

The Chagatai emirs did not trust these Mongol tribes, but they did not want to leave Transoxiana and come to this land that had been ravaged not long ago, so mixed-race descendants like Doshite were able to hold powerful positions such as Wanhu.

In order to show respect for the Golden Family, the nominal supreme leader of the Khanate was Chagatai Khan Sultan Mahamu, the orthodox descendant of the Golden Family. At least the silver coins in Li Rufeng's hands were printed with the head of this Khan.

But now even Sultan Timur had been dead for more than two years, and he didn't know whether the Khan, who was ridiculed as a prisoner of Samarkand, was still alive.

"Is Wanhu Duoshite going to recruit soldiers?" Li Rufeng frowned. In the two years since he traveled through time, the western border of the Khanate has been a rare period of peace.

Without orders from the Central Divan (the name of the administrative center of the Timurid Khanate), Doshite did not dare to make any unusual moves, for fear that those above and below would think that he had some inappropriate political tendencies.

Therefore, the subordinate Mongol tribes also had two years of good life. After all, although they were also Chagatai people and descendants of the golden bloodline Chagatai, they enjoyed tax-free policies within the Khanate and were really guaranteed a stable income when there was no war.

It was only in the past few years that Sultan Timur killed too many people here, causing the local people's livelihood to decline. Otherwise, Li Rufeng would have made a fortune just by doing business with the caravans.

Mengge nodded and said with a somewhat disdainful smile: "He will definitely have to recruit troops and return to support the army. Otherwise, once those Turkmen barbarians gain a foothold, even if we are completely cut off from the Khanate, his position will be unstable."

After hearing what Mengge said, Li Rufeng understood.

The Khanate rose too quickly. Sultan Timur built a vast empire from scratch in just thirty or forty years, and his rule in various places was limited to the level of military conquest.

But Timur himself was truly a military prodigy, and his troops were invincible wherever they went. However, after the army burned, killed, looted, and left, the rule of various places still depended on the local nobles who surrendered. The Khanate only sent inspectors to ensure the public submission and to collect taxes.

The real foundation of the Khanate lies not in land but in military power.

The core of military power is currently mostly held by the Chagatai Emirs, and Dost's weakness lies in his Persian ancestry.

The Khanate's rule was inseparable from the Persians, who were considered an emerging class in this vast kingdom. The top officials of the central Diwan were either Mongolian princes or Chagatai emirs, while the middle and lower-level officials were basically Persians. When it came to local Diwans, the proportion of Persian officials was even higher.

In the words of Mongke and his men, the Persians only need to write numbers and collect taxes, and when fighting, they have to stand aside, preferably on the enemy side, as that way the war is half won.

"Shaman Rufeng, drink!" Mengge toasted Li Rufeng again and said bluntly, "If Duosite really starts recruiting soldiers, do you think the wind will blow east or west?"

Mengge's pair of wolf-like eyes flickered dimly in the firelight at night. Bater, who was drunk and unconscious, was still laughing and saying where the wind came from in this season, but Li Rufeng's smile was no longer so bright.

This bastard really picked up the bowl to eat meat, and put down the chopsticks to curse. He was forcing Li Rufeng to take sides!

Fortunately, before leaving, the old shaman specifically told him about the relationship between the local Mughal tribes and the Khanate. As long as the old Sultan was alive and well, they would be the scimitars in his hands pointing at the necks of the Ottomans. But the problem was that now that the old Sultan had passed away, these people would definitely have second thoughts.

Doshite Wanhu was weak in character and could not control these middle-level military officers who were nominally under the title of Chagatai. Sooner or later, something would happen.

Unfortunately, the old shaman himself did not live much longer than the old Sultan. He passed away in the winter of last year. Before his death, he said that if it really came to that, he would stand on the side of whoever came first, but no matter which side he stood on, he could try to talk about the issue of faith.

"Rufeng, you're a wise man. You Ming people have a unique understanding of faith, but that doesn't apply here." The old shaman's eyes were filled with both expectation and apology. "This land has shed too much blood for faith. If you want a say, you must hold on to faith tightly. I'm a selfish person. When I saw you, I saw your extraordinary qualities, so I tied you to Changshengtian's chariot. Now you can either carry this banner and forge glory, or be burned to ashes by the fire of faith..."

Li Rufeng, who didn't believe in anything but didn't want to be burned to ashes, clinked his glass with Mengge and replied with a smile, "No matter how the wind blows, those who follow it need a clear direction. May the Eternal Heaven protect all living things on the grassland."

"All the creatures on the grassland..." A strange look flashed in Mengge's eyes. He felt that he had underestimated the ambition of this young shaman. He always managed to surprise him. "Haha, then, for the blessing and protection of all the people on the grassland, I will offer a glass of wine to Changshengtian."

Watching Mengge dip his fingers into the wine in Mongolian style and flick them towards the sky, the earth, and his forehead, representing respect for the sky, wishing the blue sky peace, respect for the earth, wishing the earth is safe, and respect for the ancestors, wishing the world is safe, Li Rufeng, on the other hand, drank a glass of wine directly.

"The old shaman said that there aren't that many rules for Changshengtian. All you need to do is be respectful."

This time, Mengge laughed sincerely. Both sides saw the other's ambition and completed a simple political deal while drinking.

Mengge wanted military power and Li Rufeng needed faith. In this land, they had almost nothing and were natural allies.

Li Rufeng made a promise that he only wanted nominal belief and would not impose too many restrictions on secular rights. Even the specific issue of how to worship Changshengtian could be discussed slowly.

This was the belief pattern that Li Rufeng was more accustomed to, but for Mengge, this was definitely a condition that no one in this land had ever offered.

Li Rufeng didn't know at this time that the connections the old shaman had left for him in the religious world were far more than he thought. He hadn't felt how special his status was from the old shaman's previous stories.

As the spokesperson for the Eternal Sky belief, the old shaman not only publicly maintained his belief, but also directly participated in the expert advisory group that treated the successor of Timur Sultan.

The old shaman thought that Li Rufeng understood. After all, in the revelation given to him by Changshengtian, Li Rufeng was so extraordinary.

But in reality, Li Rufeng simply didn't care much for Timur. In his memory, the Timurid Khanate was like a meteor in history, a fleeting moment that didn't leave much of an impression on him...

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The author says:

Author's words: p.s. According to the description in the fourth volume of "History of Central Asia" compiled by Professor Lan Qi, although Timur conquered a large area of ​​territory, he did not establish effective rule, which led to rebellions one after another in the empire. The army went on expeditions almost every year. Transoxiana was almost the only pure land, and the areas that really benefited from the war were the three cities of Keshi, Samarkand, and Barikhe. According to the tradition of the Central Plains, the areas outside Transoxiana were not even considered as vassal states, but more like colonies that were exhausted to catch fish.

Chapter 8 Uncontrollable Fate

Mongke's privateering team left at dawn in the morning. The main advantage that enabled Sultan Timur to establish a vast kingdom spanning Central Asia in just a few decades was his military system.

The Timurid Khanate was a country with multiple systems coexisting. Before Timur conquered Samarkand, in order to prove that he was the orthodox Khanate of the Golden Horde, the Khanate had always relied on the Great Yasa issued by Genghis Khan.

When conflicts arise between the Sharia law and the Great Jasa of Islam, the latter is often given priority, mainly for the purpose of winning over the hearts of the nomadic peoples.

During the heyday of the Timurid Khanate, forty Mongolian commanders provided Timur with a large number of high-quality cavalry. The most elite of them were the grassland warriors led by centurions like Mongke.

From Li Rufeng's perspective, the warriors under Mongke have already shown the rudiments of professional soldiers. The entire Tumed tribe has devoted all its efforts to supporting them. In addition to the task of raising horses, they usually spend their days either learning to obey orders, organizing formations, or honing their martial arts.

Compared with the tribes within the Khanate that have begun to engage in agricultural development, these Tumed Wanhu located in the border areas have a better population structure, and are basically composed of young and middle-aged people.

Based on his own observations, Li Rufeng guessed that the total population of the Wanhu of Dosite should be between 30,000 and 50,000. Unfortunately, the old shaman's understanding of numbers was limited to addition and subtraction within 20, otherwise it would be more accurate.

Even so, in the Wanhu led by Duosite, professional soldiers like Mengge who maintained a full-time mode even in non-wartime only maintained a size of six centuries.

This is also the reason why Mengge dared to make a bold statement in front of Li Rufeng as a centurion, saying that the wind direction on the grassland was about to change.

The warriors in these six regular hundred households are not only professional soldiers, but also grassroots officers in wartime. Once Duoshite starts recruiting soldiers and puts the entire ten thousand households into war mode, Mengge's strength will expand rapidly.

If he could win over a few centurions of the same rank as himself and have the support of a few Na Yans behind him, it would not be difficult to overthrow Duosite.

"Rufeng, they left behind a lot of food and meat, enough for the wounded to spend the whole summer with us." The chief Wuerhun appeared beside Li Rufeng a little stiffly. Even though they had been together for more than two years, Wuerhun could still feel the distance between himself and Li Rufeng.

This sense of distance was far greater than what he had felt when he met Sultan Timur before.

Although Wuerhun looks like a skinny old man now, he is actually only forty years old. Twenty years ago, he was still riding his horse across the Yellow River under the banner of the Chagatai Khanate, dreaming that one day he would be able to take back that land.

Unfortunately, all his dreams were shattered the moment his horse fell. He became a captive and slave of those mixed-race bastards. After wandering for half his life, he finally found his home in this strange land.

The old shaman was the benefactor who saved him from danger, and Li Rufeng was the successor chosen by the old shaman, so he should be loyal to him.

"Just like the wounded who came before, don't let them see the wind, don't give them alcohol, check their wounds every two days, and change the cotton cloth." Li Rufeng took a bowl of goat milk with honey from Bater. This was his first visit.

The greatest spiritual enjoyment since coming to this world.

Perhaps it was because he had a stronger taste in his previous life, Li Rufeng, who was born in Inner Mongolia, was at least very adaptable to the tribal diet and did not show any symptoms of lactose intolerance.

Just as Wuerhun nodded, a rumbling sound interrupted their conversation. Li Rufeng then saw that there was a nervous-looking young man hiding behind Bater.

Li Rufeng patted his head. He had forgotten that he had obtained another slave yesterday.

"Give him food, then help him wash up and bring him to see me." Li Rufeng instructed Bater while looking at the other's clothes covered in mud.

Hearing Li Rufeng's words, the young slave became noticeably more nervous. He was clearly worried that he would suffer in another sense of the word...

Bater slapped the other man hard, but his tone was still gentle: "Come with me, don't worry, Rufeng Shaman is a good man."

Li Rufeng didn't care about the new slaves' thoughts. He was frowning and thinking about himself and the future of the tribe.

Don't be fooled by the fact that he was chatting and laughing with Mengge last night and seemed confident, but that was because if he was not careful last night, he might have lost his head and body.

Mengge had only cooperated with him three times when he suddenly asked him to "rebel" together. It was obvious that he was impressed by Li Rufeng's prestige and ability.

Although the belief in Eternal Heaven has declined, it still has some prestige among these Mongols.

Li Rufeng is not the type of person who complains about everything. The situation is stronger than people, and the law of the jungle happens every day in this land. Ever since he visited the scenery outside Aleppo from afar, he has forced himself to adapt to this kind of life.

What's more, Mengge still left him some benefits and face, but this sudden change disrupted Li Rufeng's original plan.

Since he legitimately took over the power of the tribe from the old shaman, Li Rufeng has carried out drastic reforms on the entire tribe.

He was not a genius, and he could not manage a country or a city in an orderly manner right away, but a tribe with a population of only four or five hundred people was just right for Li Rufeng.

The old shaman's prestige and his medical skills combined to give Li Rufeng the right to speak.

For a backward semi-nomadic and semi-agricultural tribe, Li Rufeng represents the highest productivity. With his own efforts, he has ensured that 34 out of 45 newborns in the past 19 months were born healthy, and only four mothers died from various accidents during childbirth.

With a medical skill of up to 50 points, Li Rufeng seems to have magic powers. Even in this remote place where there are no reliable anti-inflammatory drugs, no hemostatic agents, and disinfection depends entirely on strong liquor, he can still maintain a very outrageous success rate in surgery.

Li Rufeng asked the tribe to stop migrating across the grassland in a nomadic manner, but to choose a sufficiently fertile grassland and enter a planned rotational grazing state.

He is not an omniscient person, so he can only propose the concept of rotational grazing and some basic concepts, such as paying attention to the selection of forage species, regularly removing weeds, etc. The rest can only be left to the herders who have been grazing for a lifetime to figure out.

Li Rufeng had to stop the tribe so that it would have more time to develop.

Otherwise, the only way for nomadic tribes to develop is to fight, just like Mongke did, robbing caravans, or those tribes that are larger and weaker than themselves, annexing them and strengthening themselves.

Li Rufeng does not have the conditions and does not want to do so. He has a better choice - the trade route.

Transforming the tribe into a settlement is only the first step, and initial results have been achieved. At least the first round of rotational grazing did not cause too many problems. Although the workload of the herders has increased and they need to devote more energy to looking after the herds, at least Li Rufeng no longer has to migrate back and forth.

In order to attract caravans to a settlement, a stable surrounding environment is needed, and the biggest danger near Aleppo is the border guarding tribes of the Timurid Khanate.

Li Rufeng originally planned to accumulate some more prestige and make friends with some powerful military officers and nobles like Mengge, so that he could open up a trade route on the border by using his connections and promises to share profits.

As a result, a rebellion broke out behind him. In order to maintain his status, Duosite planned to respond to the rebellion and suppress it. Li Rufeng's trade route plan was stillborn.

Once Dosite Wanhu starts recruiting soldiers, the tribe must provide at least sixty nominal cavalrymen and provide their own weapons and bows and arrows, which is basically half of the men in the entire tribe.

Li Rufeng was still confident that Mengge's group would rebel. After all, more than half of the Tumed Wanhu were Mongols, and they had an absolute advantage in both numbers and combat effectiveness.

朵思忒显然察觉到了这一点，这一次起兵平叛，他大概是想接着老苏丹还没消散的威名赌上一把，赌自己能一战而胜，快速打通和汗国之间的通道。群:六9四”9三6一&3五群'6玖四9*三6'壹3五

The group represented by Mongke wanted to take this opportunity to control their own destiny.

The wind blowing to the west means that after they have done this, they will simply vote to the west for the Ottomans. The wind blowing to the east means that they will get rid of Dost first, and then decide which side to stand on based on the outcome of the attack and defense of Tabriz behind them.

In short, there is no way to avoid killing Duosi Te first.

Li Rufeng hated the feeling of being forced to terminate his plan. The cheap-looking wooden fence outside the tribe, the inconspicuous gate, and the tents surrounding it...

In the middle, there is a small square that Li Rufeng and his men leveled with their own hands. These things all have costs and are very valuable.

For that little thing, he almost emptied the tribe's few remaining money and also spent all his savings for the year.

Next to the square, the tribe’s first stone house was under construction. Everyone thought that it was the house Li Rufeng built for himself, but he actually planned to use it as a school.

Including him and Bater, only half of the people in the entire tribe can write. The spiritual loneliness is far more unbearable than the suffering in life.

It was unknown when Bater returned to Li Rufeng with a new slave who was full, clean, and looked much more energetic.

But when he saw that Li Rufeng was thinking, he remained silent.

Bater often saw Li Rufeng fall into this state of meditation. The old shaman always said that it was the sparks of wisdom colliding and asked him to keep quiet.

Now that the old shaman is gone, he has become the one responsible for keeping people quiet.

Bater hopes that one day he can be like Shaman Rufeng, with a brain full of sparks and crackling sounds...

"What's your name?" Li Rufeng gave up on fretting over the inevitable loss. He sighed deeply and asked the young man behind him, "Can you read?"

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The author says:

Author's words: ps: I came back late today, and I have to check for typos later

Chapter 9: Master Li is anxious and angry

"Dear master, my name is Belén Garces, a student of the late Master Fernan Fernandez, and I can write." The boy, who had washed himself clean, seemed to have accepted his new fate and appeared much calmer.

He has slightly curly dark brown hair. His nose is the most three-dimensional of his facial features, and his pupils are dark in color. Compared to Bartel next to him, he looks a little thin.

"Fernan Fernandez?" Li Rufeng took out a map from the bag of maps beside him. It was a simple map of Aleppo. Although it was outlined with simple geometric lines, it accurately expressed the city's building distribution, main exits, and traffic arteries.

In this era, this kind of map is almost the standard for military maps. The reason why Mongke did not want this thing was because they were the ones who captured the city of Aleppo and they knew the surrounding environment very well.

Inside the city, they carried out a massacre for three days, turning almost the entire city upside down. This map was of no use to them.

"Did your teacher draw this?" The lines on the map were clean and neat, and the handwriting was clear, showing a very high level of academic accomplishment. He felt sorry when he thought that such a scholar was shot to death by an arrow by a young boy.

Belen Garces nodded silently, and shuddered as if he remembered the night he was attacked.

"The teacher was observing the phases of the moon and was shot by an arrow." Beren Garces' tone was a little confused, and it was obvious that he had not yet recovered from the fact of his teacher's death.

"What a tragedy. Now tell me what languages ​​you can speak and what Mr. Fernando taught you." Li Rufeng didn't have the resources to support an idler. If this young man had a certain level of knowledge, he could try to let him be the children's enlightenment teacher. If not, he could let him open up wasteland and farm with another slave of his.