Colonial Era: From Remnants to European Dominator

Jinshan Prefecture, also known as Altai City, is located near the Altai Mountains and has a history of 62 years. Its name, Jinshan, comes from the abundance of gold and silver in the area.

Since the founding of the city by the Li family's ancestor, over several generations and decades, the entire Jinshan Prefecture has grown from a few hundred people when it was first established to a territory of two thousand households, including one prefecture and three townships. In addition, more than 20,000 Turkic tribes from the surrounding area have attached themselves to it. Among the various forces under the Dzungar Khanate, it can be considered a local ruler.

The population of the directly administered municipality is 12,000.

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"Pfft!!"

As a faint whooshing sound cut through the air, accompanied by a mournful cry and cheers erupting from the crowd, the boy's right hand, which was drawing the bow, unconsciously trembled. A slightly immature, yet persistently restrained, smug look appeared on his face.

"We caught it! What a fat wild deer!"

Before long, a gray-brown wild deer, its limbs still trembling, its body riddled with arrows, and dripping blood as it cried out in agony, was dragged out of the woods by several servants dressed in coarse cloth and with slightly European features.

With the continuous mournful cries of the wild deer and the constant praise and cheers of the servants, this "autumn hunt," which was kept secret from the tribe and not entirely in accordance with regulations, came to an end.

"Second Brother is truly skilled in archery; he is probably no less than First Brother."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanli, who was still adjusting his hair ornament, instantly turned smug and shook his head in frustration.

"How can I compare to my elder brother? He is still fighting the Qing demons on the frontier at this time of year, while I can only shoot a deer when Father is on patrol."

"If people find out, I'm afraid I'll be served again!!"

Thinking of the whip he had been lashed with countless times since childhood, Li Yuanli couldn't help but shudder.

"Erlang, don't be discouraged, one day—"

Before the personal servant could finish his comforting words, a joyful roar came from not far away:

"He's back! He's back! Li Jia Da Lang is back!!"

Li Yuanli cracked his whip, leaned over, and spurred his horse forward, repeatedly slapping its belly with his legs. His previously worried expression vanished instantly, replaced by an admiration he had cultivated since childhood, and the speed at which his servants could not keep up.

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"Brother, what's so interesting about this water?"

Looking at Li Yuanheng standing by the "Golden Harvest Lake", Hu Wu threw a handful of pebbles with some confusion, stirring up several splashing waves.

[Later generations of Lake Zaysan]

The lake reflected a handsome face with a slight stubble, but between his brows was an inexplicable turmoil.

Li Yuanheng was born in the 92nd year of the Chongzhen reign, which is 1719 in the Gregorian calendar. At the age of 20, if he were in the countryside in that era, he would have been a grown man with children long ago. However, within this high-ranking family, he was still single.

For Zhou Heng, who had traveled to this world some time ago, the identity of Li Yuanheng was like a joke played on him by the heavens. He was the eldest son of the Jinshan Prefecture Li family, the eldest son with superb martial arts skills, and the Han family Jinshan Prefecture that should not have appeared in this time and space.

"There really are loyalists in the Western Regions!!"

That was my thought when I first transmigrated, but now that I've become the person I am, it doesn't seem so abrupt anymore.

"Han Chinese, Tartars."

The reflection on the lake swayed its head. For Li Yuanheng, these two words, like justice and evil, constantly filled his mind. However, these distracting thoughts were quickly stopped by shouts coming from afar:

"Big Brother, it really is Big Brother back!"

Several mounted guards escorted a middle-aged man dressed in a blue robe with a cross-collar and a square turban, resembling a scholar from the Ming Dynasty, to Li Yuanheng. Upon meeting, they exchanged pleasantries in familiar Shaanxi dialect: "I wondered who could cause such a commotion. No wonder I couldn't sleep this morning because of the birds; it's you, eldest son!!"

The scholar, named Wang Haizhou, speaking with a strong Shaanxi accent, sized up Li Yuanheng standing before him and couldn't help but step forward and give him a couple of playful pats: "Good lad, you've gotten even stronger!!"

"Master Wang, this is for you."

While exchanging pleasantries, Li Yuanheng took out several blue-bound books from the pocket on his horse and handed them to Wang Haizhou, who was overjoyed and jumped for joy as soon as he received them.

"These are the 'Suspended Sleeve Prescriptions,' the 'Renshoutang Pharmacological Mirror,' and the 'Extended and Expanded Annotations to the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic: Plain Questions'—these are all medical books that we don't have here. Many of them were collected after the fall of the Ming Dynasty—"

Wang Haizhou's hands trembled uncontrollably as he held the medical book, and his speech became somewhat incoherent. Li Yuanheng, sitting opposite him, seemed to have accomplished a trivial task, and curled his lip in disdain: "Perhaps that Qing demon is studious, even while fighting, he doesn't forget to read. Otherwise, Master Wang, you'd probably only be able to look at the illustrated Golden Vase in Hu Wu's hand----"

Hu Wu, who had been grinning and joking, blushed instantly and silently retreated to the back of the crowd.

"Golden Bottle----"

Wang Haizhou was about to say "learn from" when he ended up saying, "Hurry back to the city, or the old man will be getting impatient."