Colonial Era: From Remnants to European Dominator

"We need both people and horses, not just women, but men too."

Inside Yulin City, a "plunder" that may only occur once in a century is taking place.

"Get out of here, you brat."

"Please, sir, don't take it all."

Speaking in a strong Northwestern Jinshan dialect, the man rudely shoved the fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy aside, ignoring the old man kneeling and begging for mercy. He immediately ordered his men to swagger around and search all the valuables in the house. In the end, they even grabbed the boy by the collar.

"I'll leave you some rations so you can go on the expedition with the army."

"Sir, he's still young. Let him go, and I'll go with you."

The old man clung to the leg of the Turkic soldier before him, wailing and begging for mercy, but the soldier merely glanced at him up and down a few times.

"He's not too old, so we can go on the expedition together, lest this kid desert halfway through."

"Let's go, next one!!"

After those wolf-like figures left, the father and son, left on the ground, looked at the overturned bottles and jars in their home, as well as the few bags of their own grain in front of them. A sense of despair and helplessness crushed their last hope.

This same scene unfolded in other households in Yulin City. Almost every household with young men and women was ransacked, and even the forty-year-old men were not spared.

It has been said since ancient times that bandits pass by like combs, and soldiers pass by like hairpins. This group of "Jinshan bandits" who came from afar wanted everything: able-bodied men, women, farmers, craftsmen, and even cooks and storytellers in restaurants. In the end, the city was left in a ghostly state with half of its buildings empty.

It's even more ruthless than a full shave!

So much so that Luo Guisheng even advised Li Yuanheng:

"The benevolence of a sage lies in leniency and harmony, the benevolence of an emperor lies in governing the world, and Hu Qing's crime lay in the extermination of culture and race. Now, Your Excellency has plundered a place, leaving empty houses everywhere. How is this any different from Hu Qing's actions?"

Li Yuanheng simply replied:

"Jinshan is a vast land lacking manpower. We rejoice at the sight of able-bodied men and admire skilled craftsmen. The reason the Qing dynasty rose to power beyond the Great Wall is that each time they entered the pass, they prioritized the capture of people and the plunder of the populace. Only in this way could they grow large and ultimately seize the world. If I govern Yulin with womanly benevolence, when the main Qing army returns to reinforce, will these people belong to the Qing or to Jinshan? Do you know this? If we can enrich Jinshan's resources with the people of Yulin today, then the world can be saved and the Han dynasty can be restored. In that case, wouldn't benevolence at this time be considered petty and insignificant?"

From then on, Luo Guisheng never spoke much about looting again, but only asked that military discipline be strictly controlled to prevent the killing of soldiers.

Li Yuanheng readily agreed to all of this, and even introduced several ironclad rules regarding the harvesting of grain, including prohibitions against arbitrary killing and frivolous behavior towards women.

To this end, a group of local prostitutes and convicts' families were specially recruited into the army to wear down their morale.

If they were ordinary barbarians, they wouldn't care about so much. They would have done whatever they wanted and robbed whatever they wanted. Why would they set rules and restrictions for themselves?

However, Li Yuanheng was of Han Chinese origin. Even though he came from the grasslands and his methods were somewhat barbaric and cruel, he couldn't bring himself to kill his own people and cared more about his reputation.

Although the good reputation will be ruined after the looting incident, if we become lax in our self-discipline and the discipline of our subordinates because of this, then this army, which we intend to build into the pillar of the nation, will naturally become no different from the Dzungars in its recklessness.

"There are quite a few blacksmiths, more than fifty in total, only fewer than bricklayers. Yulin City is truly a treasure trove."

"Moreover, the treasury still has over 100,000 taels of silver. If this town is so wealthy, if we were to capture Baotou or even the capital, the silver would probably be piled up like mountains."

Hu Wu was overjoyed as he held the accounts. After all, who would have thought that the small city of Yulin had so many benefits? If the Dzungar people who came to supervise knew about this, they would probably ask for more than just money and goods.

"Yulin is, after all, a border town with a large number of soldiers and armored troops. There are also bandits in the vicinity, and every few years, the Dzungars invade and plunder. Many wealthy families in the area hoard weapons and keep servants. Most of these blacksmiths work for them."

As a local, Luo Guisheng knew all too well what Yulin City had to offer, and immediately followed up with his suggestion:

"The local powerful clans must also be taken away. They are currently hiding in the countryside, and we need to send troops to force them out, otherwise we won't be able to gather enough food for the journey."

"Furthermore, Your Excellency is currently more skilled in martial arts than in literature. If you could recruit some capable young men from prominent clans, it would also help to quell the barbarian arrogance in the army."

"You damn bastard, who are you calling a brat? I always address you respectfully as 'sir,' and you take it all as bullshit. But today, in front of Da Lang, I'm going to beat you up to vent my anger!!"

Hu Wu rolled up his sleeves and clenched his fists as if to hit someone. However, any smart person could see that although he seemed to be about to hit, he kept rolling up his sleeves and cursing, but his fist just wouldn't come down. It wasn't until he shouted "What are you doing?" that his fist finally struck Luo Guisheng in the abdomen.

"Ouch----"

Luo Guisheng immediately collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain, while Hu Wu was restrained by several captains nearby, including Liu Hongyi from the Fourth Battalion, who spoke up:

"Old Hu is right. If the army were full of poor, pedantic scholars like you, we would all probably die under the Qing devils' blades and become ghosts under their swords."

After exchanging glances with Yang Zhen of the Second Battalion, Lu Heng immediately spoke up to smooth things over:

"Mr. Luo is, after all, a scholar. Although his words were a bit harsh, Elder Hu, you shouldn't have hit someone. What about the young general?!"

"If I punch him, he can naturally punch me back. Stand here, and if I can knock him down, I, Hu Wu, will acknowledge him as my grandfather!!"

Hu Wu stood up straight arrogantly, patted his stomach, and acted as if he could beat someone at will. This made Luo Guisheng, who had just gotten up, stumble and almost fall back down.

"You scoundrel, you barbarian scoundrel!!"

"You're the real scoundrel! You keep calling yourself a scoundrel all day long. Everyone knows you have a lover in the city, and you want her to be your concubine. So what? You can't even have her as a wife? You're just afraid that her background as a singer and dancer will tarnish your good reputation, Master Luo."

"You scoundrel—you're spouting nonsense!!"

Luo Guisheng, of course, could not admit it here, so he could only keep making excuses and refuting, which amused the few officers from Jinshan who came to the camp, and made them even more contemptuous of him.

Li Yuanheng, who had remained silent until now, looked at the two men still arguing after reviewing the accounts. He had no particular reaction, but he felt that he would probably have to devote some of his energy to dealing with the relationship between Jinshan and the scholars of the Central Plains and the North.

He had anticipated this day, but he never expected that Luo Guisheng, who had come to recommend himself, would cause such a situation. He feared there would be a lot of trouble in the future.

"Leave half of the money to the people sent by Nayan, and put the rest into the military treasury as a reserve for military pay. As for the civilians who are traveling with us, those with families should stay with their families, and orphans should be directly conscripted into the army. If there is not enough food, it must be supplemented."

"If they are unable to move, let them stay. Don't take their lives. They are all Han Chinese after all, and we can't bring ourselves to kill them."

Li Yuanheng eventually took pity on the people and did not choose to drive them into the pass like the Qing army did when they entered the pass, which resulted in only half of the population being driven away when they reached the pass. Countless people died of exhaustion and starvation along the way.

"As for the food, if we don't have enough, we'll demand it from those powerful clans. If they don't leave, hmph—"

A cold snort delighted Hu Wu and other Jinshan barbarian generals. In their eyes, Dalang was still the same Dalang who killed without blinking an eye in Jinshan, and still the young general in their hearts. He had just been misled by Luo Guisheng and other scoundrels. Now he had come to his senses a little. If they said a few more words later, they were afraid that these "southerners" would take the place of the locals.

In the eyes of the people of Jinshan Prefecture, the Central Plains have no north or south; everything is south.

Luo Guisheng, however, was filled with sorrow and didn't know how to speak. Only after all the officers had left did he muster his courage and look at Li Yuanheng, who was sitting in a chair preparing to work:

"Does Your Excellency know of the merits and honors bestowed upon Ming of Huaixi in the past?"

"Of course I know."

"Does Your Excellency know about the powerful clans and aristocratic families of the Sui and Tang dynasties?"

"Of course I know, but what does that have to do with me? Are you going to talk about the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms or the Five Barbarian Invasions next?"

Li Yuanheng put down his wolf-hair brush, his sharp eyes piercing Luo Guisheng across from him, startling the latter into quickly explaining:

"It's not that I have bad intentions, but the military is too powerful and cannot be controlled by civil officials. Sooner or later, this will surely cause trouble."

"Our Jinshan has been established for over sixty years, and we have always taken pragmatism as our foundation. Jinshan City has both scholars and warriors. Sir, please do not misunderstand everyone based on the views of a few."

"Besides, the gentleman is a scholar, while they are warriors. True skill lies in each fulfilling their respective duties. Don't try to manage everything. The gentleman is not Zhang Liang, much less Xiao He, and they are not Fan Kuai or Zhou Bo—"

After saying this, Luo Guisheng's back visibly bent considerably, and his "prime minister complex" dissipated considerably, forcing him to soften his tone:

"Besides arresting people in Yulin, the most important thing for you right now is to make a name for yourself."

"Once you have a reputation, those who will come to your aid in the future will not be me, but the real Xiao He and Zhang Liang. At that time, your hegemony will be accomplished."

Li Yuanheng continuously traced characters on the edict with the tip of his wolf-hair brush. If you looked closely, you would find that many of them were Arabic numerals. This was something he had promoted on various documents since his transmigration. At first, not many people could understand it, but after writing it many times, almost everyone knew that Li Yuanheng had learned a symbolic script that was even simpler than Chinese characters.

Many of the literati in Jinshan had experience as martial artists, so they quickly accepted this change in writing style. If they were all traditional Confucian scholars like Luo Guisheng, it might take three or four years to make the change.

"I'm not considered famous enough for destroying Yansui Town??"

"Yulin is a small city in a remote corner, and even if it has one, it is not very big. Only the large cities in the north can compare."

Which major city?

Li Yuanheng continued to trace the number nine, and Luo Guisheng's words reached his ears:

"It must be Guihua or Rehe. The former is an important border for the Qing army to counterbalance the Mongols, and it is also a treasure trove for trade in the north. It is a prosperous place with a large population and countless caravans passing through. If Baotou is captured, the Mongols will be alarmed and the city will be famous throughout the world."

[Later generations have used Baotou as a place name.]

"Rehe is a separate palace for the Qing imperial family, and also contains imperial mausoleums and palaces. If we can capture it, the Aisin Gioro clan will be terrified, the Han people throughout the land will be in awe, and followers will flock to us!!"

"Go back now, and I'll deal with this later."

Luo Guisheng immediately swallowed the suggestion he was about to make, and could only bow and leave the general's mansion, which had been converted from a government office.

While still processing official documents, Li Yuanheng stood up and walked to the window after finishing writing the order regarding the deployment of military personnel. Looking at the flowers, plants, and fish in the courtyard, he suddenly had some plans in mind.