Colonial Era: From Remnants to European Dominator

At the foot of the Tarbagatai Mountains, a grassland paradise with exceptionally lush vegetation and stunning mountain and cloud formations has now become a playground for distant dignitaries to play matchmaking games.

As for the so-called locals, their cattle and sheep were cheaply confiscated and they are currently migrating to another, more acceptable pasture.

The so-called "cheap" was nothing more than being exempted from paying tribute for the next year by its owner, Alaker Gek Kartar Zaisang. The total value of the confiscated cattle and sheep exceeded that of at least two years' worth of tribute. If it weren't for the promise of exemption from "military labor," blood would probably have been shed again during this joyous time for men and women to gather on the grassland.

The Zaisang, whose core territory is Lake Arakel and who uses it as their family name, has 876 households, totaling approximately 4,500 people. Among the various Zaisang, their strength is considered average.

As for the other Zaisang, apart from Bogda Tohlil Tonga Zaisang's thousand households, most of them had between seven or eight hundred households. If we really talk about strength, Jinshan Prefecture, which has now added nearly four thousand people, has nearly two thousand five hundred households in its core population alone, and the population, according to the latest statistics, exceeds sixteen thousand people, forming an almost overwhelming situation with the other Zaisang.

[These calculations are based on the core population and do not include nearby subordinate tribes.]

This is why, even though Li Yanxing was a very cautious person, after meeting the other prime ministers, he still privately spoke with Li Yuanheng and Li Yuanzhen:

"Now, there are no rivals left in the vicinity of Jinshan. Even if they were tied up, they wouldn't be able to harm Jinshan Prefecture in the slightest!!"

Thinking this to himself, he was now inside the tent, toasting and drinking with the slightly tipsy Balkhash Nur Bolat Zaisan, and with great admiration, he took the other's hand and said:

"The person I admire most in my life is you, Brother Nur. When we were young, I couldn't beat you in wrestling, you were always the vanguard in battle, and I could even outdrink you."

"In my eyes, besides the Khan, you are the bravest man!!"

Perhaps he was truly drunk, for Nurzaisang, who was usually brave and aggressive, actually listened and boasted about his past in front of many other Zaisangs:

"Back then, I led less than four hundred riders and cut off the heads of all those Kazakh scum—a full nine hundred! Since then, the Kazakhs in the area have called me the God of Lake Balkhash, hahaha----"

Seeing this, the surrounding officials exchanged knowing glances, raised their wine cups, and shouted in Turkic:

"Homage to the gods of Balkhash, homage to the bravest people here!!"

"Ha ha----"

For a moment, the entire tent was filled with Nur's hearty and unrestrained laughter, as well as words of praise, as if this private gathering of Zaisang had turned into a ceremony of personal flattery for Nur Zaisang.

"It's time to check on the children. Otherwise, if someone's daughter is kidnapped, they might become a grandfather and still not know!"

As the host of the gathering, Arakel Gök Kaltar Zaisan broke the false flattery and instead suggested that everyone leave.

On the grassland at this moment, a group of dozens of riders were galloping in one direction. In their sight, the altar directly in front of them was their destination and the first competition.

The competition was simple: participants had to cross the grassland and the obstacle course made of fences and sand. The first person to reach the altar was the winner, and the rest were ranked in order.

This competition appears to be similar to horse racing in later generations, essentially testing the quality of the horses and the rider's skill. However, unlike the purely recreational and competitive sports events of the past, the grasslands of the 18th century were never geared towards competition.

Just like now:

"You little thief from the Arakel family, with your skills, if you were in our Bogda, a weak lamb like you would probably be cooked long ago, and there wouldn't even be any bones left."

The brown horse suddenly turned, and the strong, burly man on its back lashed the gray horse's rump with his whip. Tok heard a pitiful wail, and a few seconds later, unable to control the frightened horse, he fell to the ground.

As soon as Tok looked up, he saw that bastard named Jida whistling smugly, riding away on his horse without the slightest reaction, as if what he had just done was just a trivial matter.

"Damn beast!!"

Tok's cursing only made the passing men glance down at him a few times before walking away with mockery. After all, on the grasslands, if you're not strong, you're no good. No one will sympathize with you; they might even eat you up, skin and flesh, or even bones.

Such things were commonplace throughout the entire region ruled by the Dzungars. If no one starved to death, dismissing you from your post was already the greatest courtesy one could show.

Some distance from the altar, inside a fenced barrier, two tall, magnificent horses were carrying their master, constantly dodging the nasty roadblocks.

The black steed, with its snow-white hooves, nimbly and swiftly dodged the fence in front of it, leaping over the most difficult section in just a few seconds. Behind it, a tall brown steed, moving at a slightly slower pace, passed the obstacle it had previously traversed.

The owners of these two horses displayed completely different attitudes. Li Yuanheng, the former, only slightly moved the reins, allowing his horse Zidian to quickly pass through all the obstacles in front of him, without even breaking a sweat.

Behind him, the eldest son of the Balkhash family, Sha Jun, was covered in sweat, his hands gripping the reins were soaked, but whenever he saw Li Yuanheng ahead, the "fire" in his eyes could not be extinguished.

He refused to believe that the eldest son of the Li family was really as powerful as the legends said.

"Whoosh----"

The panting of the horses reached Li Yuanheng's ears. Perhaps a little agitated, he turned his horse around after crossing a sandy area and shouted to the sand falcons that were still scrambling to avoid him:

"You don't need to follow me. Just wait here. Once I get first place, you'll naturally be second."

Upon hearing this, the sand falcon, which had just emerged from the sand, instantly turned bright red with sweat, its eyes fixed on the arrogant "fake Turk" with a determined yet fierce gaze.

"You worthless bastard, you're probably out of your mind, daring to spout such nonsense in front of your grandpa!!"

"I'll cut out your tongue, and even your father wouldn't dare say a word—"

"Hmph," Li Yuanheng snorted coldly, his eyes blazing with uncontrollable killing intent. Just a few days ago he was killing people in Kobdo City, and now someone dared to challenge his authority.

"You filthy, stupid pig, how dare you bark like that?"

Having said that, he spurred Zidian forward without even drawing his sword. Sha Jun, seeing this, was both shocked and furious. Perhaps fearing being looked down upon, he tried to draw his sword several times, or perhaps fearing the immense power of Jinshan Prefecture, he simply raised his whip, saying a lesson, and lashed out.

*Smack!*

The sound of the whip whistling through the air came, but it missed. The falcon on horseback had a sinister look in its eyes and lashed out at Li Yuanheng, who had dodged again. The latter dodged once more, and the whip was still hanging by the saddle. There was no fear on his face. Instead, he looked at the whip in Li Yuanheng's hand with amusement, clearly looking down on him.

"You scum, how dare you underestimate your grandpa?!"

Despite this, Sha Jun did not put away his whip. Instead, he drew his sword, held the sword in his left hand and the whip in his right, and charged forward in an instant. He showed no restraint whatsoever and instead made a move to kill Li Yuanheng.

Li Yuanheng pulled on the reins, drawing only his unsheathed sword. Using the fine iron scabbard, he deflected the force of the slash from the other side, then used the scabbard to pull away the whip beside him. He then changed his evasive stance, and his Zidian horse instantly accelerated, rushing to the side in the blink of an eye, startling Sha Jun into dodging repeatedly.

Sha Jun was covered in cold sweat. He had just caught his breath when he was forced to fight again. After only a few rounds, Li Yuanheng used a trick to knock him off his horse with his scabbard.

As soon as Sand Falcon landed, he tried to pick up his battle sword to continue fighting, but before he could even stand up straight, he was kicked heavily to the ground by Purple Lightning's hoof. He was in so much pain that he couldn't get up, but he endured the pain while cursing under his breath.

"You scoundrel, who do you think you are? You only managed to win a few battles by luck. I lost today, but I'll definitely get my revenge one day!!"

Sha Jun's words were filled with jealousy and resentment towards Li Yuanheng's glorious achievements in Kobdo City. He had been tired of hearing the name of this thief at home these days. Even his father said that if he could do that, he would be willing to die. So today's anger was not due to the competition, but rather the venting of long-standing grievances. Otherwise, the reason why the others avoided Li Yuanheng but he followed him closely was because he wanted to vent his anger and defeat the other party's prestige.

Of course, the most important thing is to make a name for oneself by taking advantage of the other party and create a heroic story for oneself!

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanheng merely scoffed, then urged Zidian to unleash his power, kicking up dust that slammed into the opponent's face. Within minutes, the sand falcon was completely covered in sand, lying in the sand pile, unable to speak. If no one rescued it, it would likely die of heatstroke in the sand in a few days.

After finishing all that, Li Yuanheng didn't look back again. He focused on passing the remaining obstacles and then stood on the altar, drinking the mare's milk wine that had been prepared and eating the beef and mutton offered to Tengger, quietly waiting for the others to arrive.

Soon, the second person arrived. It was Jida. When he saw Li Yuanheng eating meat and drinking wine on the altar, he snorted heavily and then led his horse to pick up the meat and wine and started eating by himself. However, his eyes kept darting around to Li Yuanheng, who had already eaten and drunk his fill, and no one knew what he was thinking.

The third and fourth arrived quickly, namely Bohu, the second son of the Abinor family, and Tuk, the eldest son of the Arakel family. Upon seeing Jida, Tuk immediately picked up his scimitar and challenged him to a duel to uphold the reputation of the Arakel family. Jida wanted to accept the challenge, but Bohu stopped him, and thus the fight did not break out.

As more and more people arrived, the "riding skills" test ended with Li Yuanheng coming in first place. When the news reached the main tent, the waiting officials congratulated Li Yanxing. Only Nurzaisang, unlike his previous enthusiasm, sharply questioned him:

"Brother Li keeps talking about unity, but is this what unity truly means?"