Colonial Era: From Remnants to European Dominator

Thirty miles outside Yulin City, a large army stretching for several miles was marching in the predetermined direction, following a purchased map.

As for where the map was bought, that's quite amusing, since it was purchased by a local from Yulin.

To be precise, they were Shanxi merchants who traded in the Yulin area. They were the most shrewd merchants from the Ming to the Qing dynasties. They traded everything from goods to even military equipment; there was almost no one they dared not sell to.

It was precisely for this reason that a group of Shanxi merchants who helped the Qing Dynasty rise to power were later granted the title of Imperial Merchants, in the hope that this would serve as an example and encourage these merchants to continue to serve the Qing Dynasty.

The fact that Shanxi merchants are now selling maps to the Dzungar Turkic army can be seen as fulfilling the old saying:

"You will rise to power by this, and you will also perish by this."

*Smack!*

The whip lashed at the roadside branches, making a few dry, rattling sounds. Looking at the dusty official road all around, Li Yuanheng could only say that the Qing Dynasty's governance was truly terrible.

Or rather, ever since high-yield crops such as sweet potatoes and corn entered East Asia, the entire East Asian continent has been engulfed in immense environmental damage. This was especially true in most areas of the Qing Dynasty, where firewood was essential. Apart from private hilltops, almost anything that could be cut down, even a single blade of dry grass, was considered a good material to bring home for starting a fire and keeping warm.

When people imagine ancient times, they often think that modern society is heavily polluted, with exhaust fumes and sewage everywhere. In reality, in ancient times, especially during the Ming and Qing dynasties when the population exploded, many mountains were barren.

Only the gardens of nobles, even royal gardens, and the private hills of local landlords and powerful families could remain green. Why? Because the rest were all used by the common people for firewood.

You're talking about coal. Not to mention that its production is limited and mostly supplied to big cities, even if you were given it to an ordinary person like you, you couldn't afford the high prices in winter. In the end, you would have to go dozens of miles to cut firewood. Even the cowherds would pick up any dry firewood or hay they saw on the ground and take it home.

Even now, despite his imposing stature, he is bald. This explains why Li Yuanheng has struggled to adapt to life in the mainland. After all, the population of Altai is only tens of thousands, and the people under his rule all have coal for heating. Therefore, the mountain remains primitive, with people simply cutting firewood for cooking. The surrounding tribes also have cow dung, so the demand for firewood is manageable.

So, as soon as he entered Shaanxi province, Li Yuanheng uttered this remark:

"Ten thousand years of mountains and rivers turn to smoke and dust, and a few lines of imperial titles are all that remain."

"Brother, those bandit leaders are still lingering behind us. I think they're waiting for us to finish the fight so they can steal the credit."

Hu Wu rode forward and pointed behind him:

"If we let some Qing dogs over there, they'll be badly injured, if not killed."

"They'll have their turn to suffer. Once we've reorganized our troops and captured Yulin, it will be time to hold our heads high."

"The vanguard will follow me to survey the city, while the rest will set up camp twenty li away."

"Yes, sir!!"

Hu Wu clasped his hands in a fist salute and urged his horse to gallop backward. Li Yuanheng, having done all this, unfolded the newly purchased map, looked at the vast city of Yulin with five gates on the map, made some calculations in his mind, and then led the vanguard towards Yulin.

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Zhenyuan Gate, also known as the South Gate, is the only one of the five gates of Yulin with a triple barbican, and it faces the Guanzhong Plain, making it the true main gate.

However, Li Yuanheng, who had already arrived outside the city gate, did not even glance at the gate, but instead headed towards the Guangyu Gate on the north side.

Looking up, what came into view were twelve cannons wrapped in red cloth hidden inside the fort. They were fine in themselves, but the talismans drawn on them made Li Yuanheng laugh out loud.

"This is Guangyu Gate. Inside, there is a heavy gate with seventy-two hidden arrow slits that spray poisonous smoke. There are also three layers of protective walls, and it leads directly to Zhenbeitai, which is eight or nine miles away. It is used by cavalry to break through enemy lines and attack key routes. If you want to break through the city, you must first break through this gate!!"

A young man with a long braid, wearing a melon-shaped hat and a mustache stood up from his horse. He spoke with a thick Yulin accent, and you would think he was a local. In fact, he was from Taiyuan, Shanxi, and was a true Shanxi merchant.

That picture was drawn by him.

"The general's troops are extremely powerful; he must be confident of taking down the city."

The young man, Lin Huikang, lowered his head towards the boots on the horse's belly.

"How threatening are the cannons on the city walls?"

Looking up at the whip that Li Yuanheng had raised, Lin Huikang laughed:

"This is a Ming Dynasty red-coated cannon. Although it has been repaired, it was mostly used for ceremonial purposes. The last time it fired was in the thirty-sixth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. It is now a useless item."

[1697.]

How many troops are stationed in the city?

"At most five thousand, or even less than five thousand."

How do you know that?

Meeting that suspicious gaze, Lin Huikang chuckled:

"The cook who buys vegetables and meat in the city is my sworn brother. Thanks to this old man, I've done business with all sorts of people. Even some of the military leaders still owe me money. I was planning to bribe the powerful and force them to pay me back, but the general saw me and I had to rely on him to collect the debt."

Lin Huikang made no mention of the so-called "arrest" throughout the entire process, but instead focused on collecting debts first, which pleased Li Yuanheng even more, leading to a reward:

"He who leads the way and offers warnings will be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver."

"Thank you for the reward, General. Thank you—"

Looking at Lin Huikang kowtowing to him, Li Yuanheng suddenly thought of something:

"If I were to write a letter urging them to surrender, I would have a fairly good chance of success."

"They will never surrender unless absolutely necessary. Not to mention the high walls of Yulin, they can't even get through to the imperial court. If we want them to surrender, we must cut off their retreat."

Li Yuanheng, breathing smoothly, gazed at the fortified city opposite and ordered his men to raise the Han flag bearing the character "Li," wanting to test the mettle of the people inside.

As soon as the flag was raised, Chen Tianzhi and Zhou Kaijie, who had been observing from the city wall, started arguing.

"The Li flag, I didn't see it wrong, did I?"

"It's Li, but why is he a Han bannerman? No, this must be a traitor trying to incite trouble by using the Han bannerman to sow discord among our soldiers and civilians."

"It's strange that this barbarian specifically chose the surname 'Li' instead of some other surname."

After much deliberation, Chen Tianzhi finally came up with a plan:

"We can send someone to ask for their names so we can get a general idea of ​​their situation. If the court asks about them later, we'll have an explanation if these bandits have already fled."

"Alright then----"

Zhou Kaijie nodded in agreement, but looking at the Li flag hanging high not far away, he became increasingly uneasy. He had a premonition that this Li flag was not as simple as they were discussing.

Soon, a fast horse left the city, and Li Yuanheng, relieved to see the horse, received the letter.

Unsurprisingly, the first sentence is:

"Why have you Dzungar barbarians violated the borders of our Great Qing? If you withdraw your troops, you may have a chance to survive; otherwise—"

After rambling on for over a hundred words, they finally got to the point, asking about the unit's name and even the commander's name.

"Hmph, utterly foolish. Asking for names at a time like this is a typical tactic to shirk responsibility."

While cursing, he included information about the Jinshan Li family and the origins of the former dynasty's border soldiers. As for whether it would attract Qianlong's attention or even lead to an attack, he joked that they had already entered the pass to raid the enemy's territory, so what was there to be afraid of?

The fast horse that received the reply quickly returned to the city and delivered the letter to Chen Tianzhi.

After opening the letter and glancing at it briefly, Chen Tianzhi burst into a tirade of curses:

"Turkic barbarian dogs, usurping the Han throne, fabricating lies, and even dare to ask us Han people to defect and join them. Bah! I am a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) of the 54th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, a third-class Jinshi, deeply favored by the Emperor. How dare a true barbarian pretending to be Han spout such nonsense? Not to mention you, even if a true Han person rebels, he is a traitor to the country, and everyone should kill him."

"With the Qing Dynasty as my mother, how can there be any talk of children rebelling against their parents?!"

Zhou Kaijie, having taken the letter, launched into an even fiercer tirade:

"Those Turkic beasts, how dare they be so arrogant! As a member of the Han army's Bordered Yellow Banner, I will naturally punish them on behalf of His Majesty, and I swear to defend Yulin City to the death, to live and die with the city!"

"Turkic dogs, so shameless, their tongues should be cut out and fed to other dogs."

"Brother Zhongli, you are a scholar who rose through the ranks of the imperial examinations and possess exceptional literary talent. Could you perhaps write a proclamation rebuking this stupid, pig-like Turkic dog?"

"Forget about inviting them, we should curse this Turkic fake Han dog right now!!"

As a genuine Han official, Chen Tianzhi was clearly more anxious than Zhou Kaijie, the fake Manchu. After all, the other party was at least bearing the name of the Han Army Banner, while he was a true Han. If anything happened, even just getting involved, he would not be able to escape suspicion.

The proclamation, hundreds of words long, was sent out of the city gates before the ink was even dry. It was then copied again and spread throughout the city, telling everyone how evil the Turkic barbarians were, even using the identity of a Han Chinese.

After reading the proclamation, Li Yuanheng showed no outward reaction, but deep in his eyes, like a volcano about to erupt, he glanced intently at Yulin City before leading his vanguard back to their camp twenty miles away.