Colonial Era: From Remnants to European Dominator

Who has written history for three thousand years? Who has been enfeoffed as a marquis five thousand miles away?

Gazing at the brilliant starry sky and the vast grasslands surrounding him, this short poem popped into Li Yuanheng's mind. Meanwhile, Salika, who had sneaked out for a secret rendezvous, held her beautiful, oval face and stared silently at her lover beside her, her eyes seeing no one else but him.

"Which star is Li Lang looking at?"

Lee Won-hyung looked down at Salika, who was clinging to his arm, feeling the warmth emanating from her. Under her expectant yet nervous gaze, he lifted his chin with one finger and leaned down to touch her red lips.

What came quickly also left quickly. Even as she departed, Salika was still savoring the mesmerizing touch, while the instigator continued to gaze at the enigmatic starry sky.

Meanwhile, inside a brightly lit tent, Gekezaisang was too happy to sleep, muttering to himself:

"My good daughter, you've really found me a wonderful son-in-law!!"

At this moment, Gekezaisang's mind was filled with ideas. Some were about uniting with Jinshan Prefecture to swallow up other Zaisang, some were about making money off others in the future, and some even had the idea of ​​marrying another daughter to the second son of the Li family. If he didn't only have two daughters, he would probably want to bring all four sons of the Li family, regardless of their seniority, to the Alakeer tribe to be his sons-in-law.

Be his good son-in-law!

"Oh, why did we only focus on having sons back then? We didn't have more daughters. Now we can't even eat the lamb that's being rushed out of the market. What a pity! What a pity!!"

First joy, then sorrow. If the other ministers, especially Bu Li, who had always been concerned, were to hear this, they would probably curse again:

"You filthy wretch, worse than a pig or a dog! Your insatiable greed will make you eat yourself to death, you little bastard!!"

Meanwhile, in another large tent, Li Yanxing was holding an oil lamp, illuminating the sheepskin map spread out on the table. He was constantly rubbing the map on the three large lakes and a small lake formed by the melting snow of the mountains. These three lakes and one area were the four horse-grazing lands where the four chieftains had been during the day, and the core of their livelihood and even the existence of their surnames.

The three lakes are Lake Balkhash, Lake Ebinur, and Lake Arakel, while the place refers to Bogda. The four Zaisan before them used these four lakes as their surnames, which not only demonstrated their authority but also increased the legitimacy of their rule over the territory. This was the case in the steppes and even in Tsarist Russia.

It may be named after the territory, or it may be named after itself as part of the territory.

Even the Li family's own Turkic surname, Altay, was named after the Golden Mountain. In that era, taking one's territory as a surname was a common trend.

Rough hands kept stroking the leather of the sheepskin map, and the oil lamp in his hand gradually lengthened his shadow, which occasionally overlapped with the human figure.

After a long while, he finally let out a sigh:

"If we can unite the three lakes into one region within ten years and gather all the barbarians under our command, why would we need to be mindful of the whims of the Tartars? We could easily carve out our own territory in Jinshan and establish ourselves as kings."

Li Yanxing's face flashed with anticipation, yet also some worry. After all, although the Jinshan Li family's power was now unparalleled in the entire Sanhu region, this was only on the surface. There were still many Turkic tribes around the Sanhu region that were dependent on them. These tribes did not seem to be very strong, sending only a hundred or a few dozen soldiers. But don't forget, there were many tribes. Just take the tribes that were affiliated with his own Li family, which together numbered 20,000 people. Although most of them were mountain people and herders, their fighting power should not be underestimated.

If placed on the Central Plains, it would probably require the military strength of the northern border regions to suppress them. After all, the people of the grasslands may not have much else, but their spirit of courage and bravery has remained unchanged for thousands of years.

Otherwise, given the ruthlessness of the Li family's successive patriarchs, they would have long ago incorporated these tribes into their household registration and brought them under their command. Why would they have simply allowed them to live in seclusion, herding livestock and gathering in the mountains, merely paying tribute and sending troops every year?

As Li Yanxing stared at the map, the fire in his heart burned uncontrollably. Even as he drifted off to sleep, the map bearing witness to the generations of the Jinshan Han people, and his ancestor's words, still lingered in his mind:

"Today we stand among the Western Rong, tomorrow we will surely restore the Han dynasty in the Central Plains."

Now this dream has come true for his generation, but it remains to be seen whether the dream territory can be realized and whether the Han dynasty can be restored.

Everything was accompanied by a cry of "Dad," and then I woke up.

"Why is Father sleeping so soundly today? You should know that today is the last day of the gathering. After the hunt, we will go home tomorrow."

When he opened his eyes, he saw his eldest son. Li Yanxing rubbed his forehead, which was heavy with thoughts, and dressed and washed up with Li Yuanheng's help.

Chewing on the willow twig in his mouth, Li Yanxing took the tea that was handed to him, rinsed his mouth four or five times, and then spoke:

"I had too many dreams yesterday, which made me late getting up this morning."

"The book says that having many dreams is caused by overthinking and worrying. A father carries the burden of the people of Jinshan on his shoulders. No matter how busy he is, he must take care of his own health. If he feels tired, he can hand over some things to his son. It is the natural order for a son to work hard for his father."

Li Yuanheng's words deeply moved Li Yanxing, but due to the sternness he had displayed in daily life and since childhood, he could only nod in agreement. Instead, he brought up the topic of marriage:

"Did you go looking for Alacrel's eldest daughter last night?"

"Father----"

Li Yuanheng nodded somewhat embarrassedly, then said:

"At least the Alacell family didn't pass on the word 'treacherous' to their own children. My son tried for half the night before he finally felt at ease."

"Anwen, isn't he just impatient and restless?!"

Li Yanxing glared at Li Yuanheng, who was still laughing it off. The latter awkwardly covered his face and simply admitted to the matter. Li Yanxing did not dwell on it, but simply said, "Don't be greedy and hurt your body." Then he dressed neatly and went to the venue with Li Yuanheng.

At this moment, the venue was filled with almost all the skilled archers and horsemen, all vying for the title of Tarbagatai Warrior, a title that was awarded only once every five years.

As the celebrity of the past two days, Lee Won-hyung has naturally received far more attention than others, even to the point of having "fans" supporting him.

Looking at the grassland women who were flirting with him and calling out "My lord," "I'll be waiting for you tonight," and "I'll stay with you someday," even though Li Yuanheng had grown up in Jinshan and was used to seeing Hu people, and had the memories of two lifetimes, he was still intimidated by their fierceness. Especially when he felt a hint of "resentment" in their eyes, he could only reflexively straighten his chest, pull on the reins, and take the lead, leading a dozen or so attendants into the depths of the southern foothills of the Tarbagatai Mountains.

Seeing this, the others also found their own direction, gathered their servants, and prepared to use the blood of wild beasts on the mountain to pave the way for their ascension to the throne of warriors.

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Hunting, as the name suggests, is hunting on horseback. This tradition began to flourish as early as the Yin and Shang dynasties. On the grasslands, hunting is not only a traditional game, but also an important test of whether a person can survive on the grasslands.

Whether you're incredibly strong or skilled in warfare, if you can't even ride or shoot properly, in the simple mindset of the grassland people, you're just a weakling, you're just no good, a noob is a noob, and there's absolutely no reasoning with that.

"Young master, there's a fine deer here, shoot it quickly!!"

The entourage's warhorses galloped across the path, driving the unfortunate deer toward Li Yuanheng. Upon hearing this, the latter drew his bow and nocked an arrow. The veins in his wrist instantly opened, and his eyes saw nothing else. With a mournful cry, the robust male deer fell to the arrow.

The moment it fell to the ground, the surrounding squires immediately surrounded it. They saw that a sharp arrow was deeply embedded in the carotid artery of the deer, and blood was stuck in it and could not come out. It could only tremble and moan. Before long, it stared blankly and died.

Seeing the deer die, several attendants rushed forward and cut off its ears as proof. As for the large deer carcass, they could only light a smoke signal and leave one person to receive it, to be divided up later. The rest, including Li Yuanheng, continued to run into the mountains, trying to shoot more prey.

In several other locations, although the timing varied, each group harvested its own prey, ranging in size from a wild goat to a moose.

This moose was hunted by Bogda's Jida. After the hunt, he even stood triumphantly on the dead deer, disdainfully addressing his servants:

"Even if that scoundrel from the Li family came, he would have to call me ancestor."

Li Yuanheng, who was still deep in the mountains, was unaware that someone was using him as a basis for arrogance. He simply led his entourage from the Eagle Division Camp, constantly searching for the bloodstains they saw along the way.

"The reason this blood is dried is strange; it seems to have been licked by some wild beast."

The attendant, who was crouching on the ground, turned and shouted to Li Yuanheng on horseback:

"Young master, we found a few hairs, they seem to be from a bear."

Li Yuanheng took the hair handed to him from under the horse's back, examined it carefully, and then remembered the bloodstains from the dragging and the claw marks left on the tree trunk. He instantly understood:

"It's not just bears, there might also be tigers and leopards."

Upon hearing this, the entourage immediately erupted in chaos. After all, bears are inherently human-like, and even more cunning and treacherous. Now that there's a tiger and leopard involved, wouldn't they be even more difficult to deal with? Some people tried to dissuade them, but Li Yuanheng stopped them all.

"Even if it's a dragon, we must capture it today. Give instructions to those around you to cooperate and defend against each other."

Li Yuanheng's Zidian leaped aside the weeds blocking his way, and the rest of his entourage scattered around, their eyes scanning the surroundings, afraid of missing any details.

After all, bears, tigers, and leopards are the most cunning of beasts. Don't be fooled by the many stories in novels that portray a hero as being able to subdue a tiger or leopard with overwhelming strength. In reality, most of these stories are fictional. If an ordinary person were to face a tiger or even a leopard, they would simply have to throw themselves into the Yellow Emperor's grave and wait for the next life. Even those so-called tiger-hunting warriors would not agree to fight again if asked.

Sutai, who had become a eunuch, had a great reputation for killing three tigers. In reality, those who knew the inside story knew that it was just a coordinated attack. The so-called "three kills" was just like those videos in later generations with terrible picture quality and shaky camera, but each person claimed to have seen dragons and ghosts. They were all self-aggrandizement and exaggerated descriptions.

"There's a smell of urine, I can smell it too. It's in this woods, not far away. This is that beast's territory, he won't leave easily."

As the attendants' conversation reached his ears, Li Yuanheng had already nocked an arrow into his bow. With a gust of wind, a beast's roar erupted from a crevice in the rocks eighty paces away. Everyone present except Li Yuanheng was stunned when they looked in that direction. Even Li Yuanheng felt a sense of geographical confusion.

For no other reason than that the beast roaring and threatening before them was a lion, or more precisely, an Asiatic lion.

At this time, Asiatic lions were mostly active in Persia and India. They were not absent in the Western Regions, but were extremely rare, and were mostly individuals that had migrated there.

Even though he had prepared himself mentally, Li Yuanheng originally thought this was just another tiger from the Western Regions.

The Xinjiang tiger, which has since become extinct.

Even with all his thoughts racing, Li Yuanheng's composure had snapped. After all, discovering an Asiatic lion deep in the Western Regions—how could it not be called a "miracle"?

"Capture him alive! Capture him alive!!"

Thinking of this, Li Yuanheng was filled with ecstatic joy, showing no fear at the sight of the rare and ferocious beast, but rather a sense of delight at the unexpected windfall.

"Set up a net and surround the enemy from a six-sided angle. The rest of you retreat to the rear and switch to long spears."

Soon, a hexagonal encirclement appeared not far from the Asiatic lion. Driven by its wild instincts, it immediately tried to pounce on the squire on its side, but before it could get close, it was frightened by several spears falling from the sky. However, the instincts of a top predator told it that it could not let these monkeys continue.

So he charged straight towards the place deepest in his intuition, which was where Li Yuanheng was. The other guards saw this and immediately stepped forward to stop him.

"roar!!"

With a lion's roar, one of the henchmen dropped his spear in fright and was immediately tackled to the ground. With his first and last panicked scream, his neck was clamped tightly. Li Yuanheng, who witnessed all of this, immediately shouted:

"Take this opportunity and surround them!!"

The retinue, having recovered from their earlier panic, brandished their swords and spears and charged at the Asiatic Lion, who was still being held by the throat. As for the life or death of the dying retinue, no one from top to bottom cared.

The Asian lion, driven by its wild instincts, released its squire. As blood dripped from its sharp teeth onto the squire's lifeless face, its beastly eyes scanned the approaching monkeys. A roar echoed in everyone's hearts once more, and in the blink of an eye, the four-clawed beast pounced on Li Yuanheng.

"Young master, be careful—"

"Guards!!"

At this moment, panic appeared on Li Yuanheng's face for the first time. He instinctively pulled on the reins to avoid the attack. But before he could stand still, the Asian lion, which was like a madman, pounced again. This time, its target was not him on horseback, but Zidian.

In the blink of an eye, Zidian let out a neigh, its front hooves leaping into the air, and it kicked the oncoming madman hard. Accompanied by a "wailing", the Asian lion that had just been like a demon seemed to be seriously injured. It lay on the ground kicking wildly with its four paws and letting out painful growls.

But Zidian, the instigator, raised its head and let out a long hiss, the pride in which even its followers understood.

Li Yuanheng bent down, pressed his face against the mane on the side of the horse's head, feeling the proud neigh and the horse's dependence on him. He had never shed a tear since his transmigration, but for the first time, a few tears of emotion fell onto the mane. Then, taking advantage of the gap when the guards spread the net, he wiped it with his sleeve and returned to his usual demeanor, as if nothing had happened and everything was destined.

"Send out the signal fire to say that the hunt is over, and tell them not to waste their time and kill animals."

As the mountain wind blew, the precious beasts struggling in the nets came into view, and the black-maned steeds proudly leaped into the air to celebrate. It also reflected the aloofness and pride of the horsemen. As the smoke from the hunt dissipated, the hunting teams that were still hunting only peeked out once before continuing what they considered to be an unfinished hunt.

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"Four deer and one goat----"

"One lynx, two wild boars----"

"One moose, one bear----"

Jida proudly raised its head, its arrogance almost visible to the naked eye. Li Yuanheng, who witnessed the dead bear, immediately understood: the beast had escaped into Jida's hands, no wonder he couldn't find it no matter how hard he looked.

Just as everyone was astonished by Jeddah's bravery, a shout rang out, and almost everyone, except for the Zaisan who had been the first to know, was in an uproar:

"Two deer, one lion-----"

"A lion! It's a lion! It really is a lion!!"

"How come there's a lion? Isn't that a legendary auspicious beast?"

"With a mane encircling its neck, it resembles a cat more than a tiger. What else could it be but a lion? What did this eldest son of the Li family do? Why is Tengger showing him such favor? How unfair! How unfair!!"

Some people exclaimed in shock, while others looked up at the sky with heartache, as if trying to find some evidence of injustice in the white clouds and blue sky.

The female fans didn't care about any of that. All they knew was that their most handsome and capable man had won, and with a lion they had never seen before. How could they not be proud and celebrate?

For a moment, all the cheers could be described as "in the bedroom."

"It seems that Li Jia's eldest son really has Tengger's protection. Otherwise, how could he find such rare and exotic beasts? Wouldn't that mean that the Li family of Jinshan is truly blessed by heaven?"

As Li Yuanheng's future father-in-law, Ge Ke immediately came out to promote his "theory of destiny" that he had specially come up with after hearing the news about the lion.

"Hey, don't think that just because he's your son-in-law you can brag like this. You still don't know if this lion was bought and kept in the mountains before, or if it was hunted. After all, in the vast mountains, who can say for sure?"

The first to object was Bu Li, who had completely given up hope. Although the other Zaisangs remained silent, their disbelief was evident in their eyes.

As for Nurzaisang, with whom he had already made a complete enemy, he was currently lying in the main tent cursing "a hypocrite." In any case, the only way to get him to admit the miracle of Li Dalang's lion hunt was for him to die!

But rumors eventually stop with the wise. For the men and women of the four tribes who witnessed everything firsthand, the shocks Li Yuanheng brought them during this period were one after another. They would believe it even if he pulled down a dragon from the sky, let alone hunted a lion today.

As one infatuated tribal girl once said:

"No matter what, Li Jia Dalang is the best man, the bravest warrior, and I will love him for the rest of my life!!"

When the discussion ended, the title of Warrior of Tarbagatai Mountain officially fell into Li Yuanheng's hands. Even he himself gained several more titles because of this grassland matchmaking event:

"The warriors of Tengri, the steel stars, and the lion king of Altay."