Mount and Blade Central Asia

Then the segment quickly fast forwarded to the battle record competition when they conquered the Black Sheep Tribe, and how beautiful the Black Sheep women were. The new recruits who were too young to have the chance to step onto the battlefield could only serve as a foil with envy, and were flattered by the veterans.

Hiltberg could only sigh and shake his head, feeling that his future journey might not be so smooth, because the people who had been ravaged by these Mongols on this land were not limited to the Black Sheep People themselves.

And the Armenians and Azerbaijanis they are about to visit are probably also victims of these Mongolian uncles...

But soon Hiltberg felt relieved, because he himself was also one of the victims. Those who were depressed and felt that they could not live have almost died in this great conquest that lasted for more than a hundred years, right?

Chapter 417 Moisturizing things silently

Li Rufeng admitted that compared to continuing to advance southward into the desert area to occupy Damascus, he would rather his power develop towards the northeast.

From the perspective of future generations, regions such as Turkey, Iran, and Iraq actually had quite good geographical resources. Their biggest mistake was that they missed the opportunity, were deeply influenced by the legacy of religion, and ultimately found it difficult to complete the reform towards secularization.

From the perspective of a time traveler like Li Rufeng, within the framework of this era, Christianity is actually as bad as Islam, or to be more precise, it should be said that Christianity is worse than Islam.

The reason why the descendants of Christians were able to develop better than the descendants of Muslims was because Christianity was so bad that knowledgeable people within the church continued to launch religious reforms.

Although most religious reforms were not aimed at secularization, the fact is that the continuous rise of religious reforms eventually led to the continuous division of Christian forces.

The most influential of these was in 1054 AD, when the two sides of the split were the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. The cause of this split can be traced back to the division of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires.

Although the Roman Empire is now on its decline and was badly defeated by the Ottomans, it is undeniable that its rise and fall had a serious impact on Christianity itself.

Islam, however, lacks such an empire to accompany it through a complete dynastic cycle. Those Arab countries that believe in and respect it do not have such accumulation for various reasons.

On the other hand, the Arabian Peninsula, where Islam was born, was too barren to support another great man like Muhammad. After his death, the combined reign of the four orthodox caliphs lasted only thirty years (Note 1)...

Moreover, anyone who looks at the foundation laid for Islam during the era of the Four Caliphs will understand why the Muslim world suffered so much later.

The first caliph, Abu Bakr the True, was the Prophet Muhammad's father-in-law. He reigned for two years and died of illness.

The second caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab, was a trusted assistant of the Prophet Muhammad. He was a skilled warrior and laid the foundation of the Arab world. During his ten-year reign, he destroyed the Sassanid Empire and annexed the Roman provinces in Asia Minor and Egypt. He was eventually assassinated by pagans.

The third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, was the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad and reigned for twelve years. He was the first caliph to die at the hands of a Muslim, marking the beginning of a period of internal strife among Muslims.

The fourth caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib (Note 2), was the last "pure caliph" recognized by the Sunnis and the only legitimate caliph recognized by the Shiites. He was nicknamed the Lion of Allah and was also the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad. He married the Prophet Muhammad's favorite daughter, Fatima. He fought three civil wars and was eventually stabbed to death with a poisoned saber on his way to the mosque.

Conquest, assassination, rebellion, civil strife, Muslims took thirty years to go through a journey that took other civilizations hundreds of years, giving the entire Muslim world a distinctive label, and later generations can be said to have learned from them.

Li Rufeng did not expect that the belief in Eternal Heaven would sweep across his territory or even the entire Muslim world like a storm. He hoped that it would influence people subtly in a silent way like the gentle spring rain that moistens everything.

The Christians had tried it before. They came like a storm and receded like a tide, leaving no trace except for the short-lived Crusader states.

Chapter 418 Shameless!

Although the Sufi community has forgotten Sayyid Kuda, it is heartwarming that Li Rufeng has not forgotten him.

As the shaman of Changshengtian, Li Rufeng is also a religious person. As long as he wants to make progress in religious beliefs, his Islamic colleagues will inevitably stand against him.

So even if Mr. Li forgot the deep hatred between himself and the black wizard, he would never forget that there was a jurisprudence scholar in the city of Aleppo.

What's more, Sayid has been jumping around in recent months, never having a moment of peace, so it's hard not to notice him.

In fact, Li Rufeng could roughly understand Said's thoughts. He was a religious person who was both devout and extremely ambitious. He was a characteristic product of the bad habit of combining politics and religion in this land.

On the one hand, he wants to ensure his authority in the religious field, and on the other hand, he urgently hopes to have greater influence in the political field, wanting to do both well.

It’s a pity that Li Rufeng is a Kafir...I guess this incident will keep Sayyid awake at night.

The next day after the dinner, Li Rufeng enthusiastically summoned Sayyid Kuda to the lord's mansion.

He did find this man interesting, because if he were in Sayyid's situation, he would definitely not stay in Aleppo and try to confront him head-on.

After all, Aleppo is a "city of cowards". The most devout and brave believers were killed by Timur in the last war. Those who survived to this day are basically people with strong moral bottom lines and flexible thinking.

Another part is foreign businessmen. For these businessmen, faith itself is also a business. The only reason they believe in Islam or Christianity is to integrate into a certain circle faster or to avoid trouble.

Li Rufeng understood this well, because among the new believers who had converted to Eternal Heaven in the Arab city, apart from soldiers, the largest group was businessmen.

It was a wrong idea for Sayyid to find devout believers in this city to help him. He should go to the wilderness and do what a pioneer scholar should do, to educate those shallow believers who knew the facts but not the reasons behind them.

Perhaps after more than ten or twenty years of deep cultivation in the wilderness, Said will eventually become a threat to Li Rufeng, but it is obvious that even a pioneering scholar like Said has selfish motives.

Rather than educating hundreds or thousands of shallow believers who make a living from the land, Sayyid hopes to expand his territory in "big cities" like Aleppo. The reputation of rebuilding a mosque can instantly make him the most influential new star in the Sufi order in this land.

Moreover, the reputation of educating the Mongols is far more effective than educating the farmers. Like other pioneering scholars, young people like Said need "traffic".

"Good day, Shaman Rufeng." Sayyid had a false smile on his face, and in his heart he cursed countless times that should not be heard by the Prophet Muhammad.

How did Li Rufeng trick him back then? As long as he could bring back food and wealth, he would allow him to preach freely!

On this point, Li Rufeng really did not lie. In fact, he did not care who or what faith preached in his territory. In fact, there were already several half-baked Armenians in Aleppo who were spreading the gospel of God.

Chapter 419 Artillery Instructor

Said finally gritted his teeth and agreed to 500 dinars of war bonds and 500 dinars of pure aid. This time he learned a lot. Their industry has been sucking blood from the rulers for thousands of years, and this is the first time they have been fleeced.

He did have a few wealthy and devout believers in Aleppo and the surrounding villages and towns. Sayyid estimated that if he went to their homes to beg for alms in person, these people would feel embarrassed to be stingy. Two or three hundred dinars should not be a problem. As for the rest, he could only take it one step at a time.

If that doesn't work, Sayyid plans to take the 500 dinar war bonds and sell them...

That's right, Li Rufeng prepaid 500 dinars worth of war bonds to Said in advance. He was not afraid that someone would dare to owe him money and not pay it back. If such a good thing happened, Master Li would have thousands of fierce and ferocious soldiers under his command.

Li Rufeng's kindness in giving Sayyid a hard time was just a warning to him to be careful in the near future. If he fails to realize this, then if he dies in an accident one day, it will be purely God's fault.

Li Rufeng, who had already begun mobilizing his existing military forces, immediately became busy. Although he only had two armies of a thousand men under his command, the two cities under his rule were not resource-producing areas. Even if the Mongolian army could rob and plunder, it still needed to purchase a large amount of supplies from outside.

A small city like Mersin obviously could not bear such a difficult task, so Li Rufeng turned his attention to the neighboring Kingdom of Cyprus.

Although they were at odds with the Muslim world, Li Rufeng was not a Muslim. He felt he could take advantage of this loophole. After all, he and the Crusader captain were close friends, and he had even given him a large sum of gold as a "friendship fee." This money could not be wasted.

So Li Rufeng directly sent people to visit the captain's family in an open and aboveboard manner. Why should he be secretive about a business that requires delivering money to the door? He had to let others see that the Aurelio family had connections in Syria!

Friends are meant to be sincere and support you at the critical moment...

Of course, Li Rufeng will not forget his Venetian partner Antonio. Although the Chamber of Commerce they are cooperating on is still in the planning stage, it does not mean that there is no business to do.

Li Rufeng directly placed a large order for food and weapons in the name of the lord's mansion. Antonio immediately realized Li Rufeng's wealth and prepared to set off almost that day.

Being a Venetian in this era is like being a British person in the Victorian era or an American after the Cold War. You are truly the protagonist of the era, the darling of the world, and you have face wherever you go.

Antonio didn't need to go back to Venice to fulfill the few orders placed by Li Rufeng. He could just go out and visit the eastern Mediterranean port area and talk to his fellow villagers who were doing business there, and he could complete most of the tasks.

The only thing he needed to go back to Venice to purchase was the cannon.

Li Rufeng has a Genoese artillery squad under his command. It is a technical branch of the army that Li Rufeng paid a high price to keep. Although he is rich, he never spends money in vain. Those Genoese people are naturally not in Aleppo to retire.

What's more, the Genoese led by Diobia Contreras only look old, not really old.

The cannon in Diobiya's hand has been worn out more severely recently than during the war. Li Rufeng found a group of young people to learn how to fire the cannon from Diobiya and others every day.

Chapter 420 Prepare for a rainy day

As an experienced gunner, Diobbia only needed to take a look at what Li Rufeng was doing and immediately understood the principle. In the past, the defenders used catapults to perform simplified calculations in the same way.

Diobbia knew that there were skilled mathematicians who could calculate the range and impact of catapults and cannons, but he knew nothing about that and relied entirely on instinct and talent to complete the process.

Li Rufeng himself can calculate parabolas. On the basis of quantifying all data, he can accurately calculate where these shells will fall after firing, but the problem is that data quantification itself is a false proposition.

He did have a small workshop in Aleppo that produced gunpowder, but the mix of gunpowder produced each time varied considerably due to the raw materials. The average production cost of that stuff was currently equivalent to a quarter of its weight in silver per kilogram...

Even if these differences were ignored, Li Rufeng would not be able to help these people who didn't even know Arabic numerals quickly learn the parabola calculation formula.

So Li Rufeng planned to use the simplest method to quickly mature his artillerymen, the first of which was to standardize the explosives.

The reason why this step was delayed until today was that Li Rufeng had just recently found a foundry through Antonio's connections that could cast cannons that met his needs. It was a foundry far away in Florence, and it was said that it had provided dozens of cannons to the French king's troops and had superb craftsmanship.

Li Rufeng's requirements were not high. He did not need the Urban cannon that the Ottomans would use to intimidate Constantinople decades later. What he needed was a small cannon that could be mounted on a carriage and move quickly with the cavalry.

If Li Rufeng planned to capture the city by bombarding it with cannons, he would probably have to wait for a hundred or eighty years. Before that, he only hoped to ensure the cavalry and rely on those small artillery to effectively threaten the defenders in the city.

To truly shake the city walls and blast open the city gates, engineers can dig underground and use gunpowder for directional blasting. Moreover, for now, there are not many enemies in front of Li Rufeng who would choose to defend the city. His enemies are basically the same as him, belonging to a semi-nomadic people whose roots are on the grasslands, among the herds and tribes.

If his enemies chose not to leave a certain city, Li Rufeng would be so happy that he couldn't sleep...

After fixing the size of the artillery, Li Rufeng was able to develop a standardized model for gunpowder usage on this basis. Each time the gunpowder was loaded, it was mixed on-site using separate leather bags and filled into the barrel. This eliminated the problem of new recruits missing or overloading gunpowder.

Accompanying the artillery training are hundreds of war horses. Like those inexperienced recruits on the battlefield, the war horses on the grassland also need to gradually adapt to the thunderous sound so that they can remain as still as a mountain in war.

This is the third batch of war horses that have come here for training. Generally speaking, these war horses that have been strictly screened have extremely strong psychological qualities and courage. After only 3-5 days of adaptive training, they will no longer be afraid of this weapon that is not so powerful.

Ironically, most recruits can't do this...

According to Li Rufeng's own calculations, if he put all his efforts, he could probably add 20-30 cannons to the entire army and maintain the normal operation of these cannons under low firepower density. This was based on the fact that there were many qualified stonemasons in Aleppo itself. In addition to being able to carve qualified stone bars, they could also create sufficiently round stone bullets.

Chapter 421 The Black Sheep King’s Plan

While Li Rufeng was trying to build his own medieval-style "armored force", the small teams under his command that were clashing with the enemy had already entered into their roles.

The Black Sheep King Carl Yusuf sent his spies into Li Rufeng's territory disguised as bandits to hinder his development. This was undoubtedly a provocation to Li Rufeng.

After all, in this regard, if the Mughals admit to being second, no one in this land dares to claim to be first. They are the real professionals in burning, killing and looting.

Although Abelji only had twenty people under his command, after a few days of development, the team has gradually expanded to fifty people.

Although the land occupied by the Black Sheep People is their homeland, considering that the Khanate migrated a large number of people to this land during the occupation of Timur the Conqueror, it is hard to say whose home ground this is.

At least in the minds of many immigrants who moved here, the Timurid Khanate was the orthodox empire, and the Black Sheep People were speculators who took the opportunity to usurp the throne and rise to power.

Moreover, after the Black Sheep people regained their dominance, they needed to redistribute resources. Moreover, this resource division was a division with a fixed direction of interests. Only the Black Sheep people were the new vested interests, and everyone else was a victim.

The sudden appearance of the Mughals in this situation immediately gained widespread support from the immigrants, as exemplified by the thirty newly recruited soldiers behind Abelji.

If they had not had enough war horses, this number could have doubled.

This made Abelji's heart burn with excitement. He felt that if he worked harder, he could become a centurion. This was almost the dream of every Mongol. A cavalryman who didn't want to be a centurion was not a good Mongol.

In order to fulfill his dream, Abelji rudely raided a Black Sheep tribe of 300 people yesterday. That tribe might be a home-guarding tribe with relatively more adult men, so they suffered some losses.

The final result was good. Abelji stole more than a hundred horses, a dozen women, a large amount of furs and food, and set a fire as usual before leaving.

Unfortunately, they did not defeat the tribe in one go. Until the end, the young people of the tribe still held the last line of defense of the tribal camp.

In order to prevent himself from being bitten to death, Abelji could only taste the delicious tribe and then quickly left the battlefield.

His goal is to continue to penetrate deeper into the land of the Qara ...

At this time, Kara Yusuf, the Black Sheep King with Tabriz as his capital, was still unaware that Li Rufeng's people had appeared in his territory. Although he was also a ruler, he was obviously much busier than Li Rufeng.

Maintaining a dynamic balance with the emirs on the border of the Timurid Khanate is undoubtedly an art. The Timurid Khanate was never a centralized and autocratic country, and the great conqueror liked to appoint those ethnic leaders who had surrendered as his regional agents.

So many times the conquered people only maintained their submission in name, and then they had to pay taxes every year according to Timur's requirements, and provide manpower when he needed soldiers.

Chapter 422 Unexpected Friendship

Compared to the Black Sheep People and Li Rufeng's tribe who are beginning to compete, there are people on this land who are in an even more dangerous situation.

Although Sultan Khalil, who was trapped in Samarkand, recruited a large number of knowledgeable people from the middle and lower levels, it was obvious that this top-down, sudden personnel appointment and dismissal could not provide long-term stability except for solving problems at the initial stage, especially when his side was at a disadvantage.

If the conquered Timur had tried the same policy, the transition might have been smooth because all those who opposed him would have been hanged on the city walls.

But Sultan Khalil...obviously he does not have such a high prestige, and at this time of internal and external troubles, there is not much room for him to carry out such a major personnel change.

The conflict between Khalil Sultan and the aristocracy was that he distributed all the wealth in Timur's treasury to the army. If he had not done so, he would have had no chance of ascending to the throne of Sultan. At that time, he urgently needed to maintain the existence of the army recruited from all over the place, and it would be headed by him.

After that, Khalil, who had emptied Samarkand's wealth, took a second wrong step in order to maintain the normal operation of the city. Between the army loyal to him and the nobles who had an ambiguous attitude towards him, he chose to believe the former.

He sent his troops directly to the city, using a semi-looting method to plunder a large amount of wealth and food from the wealthy families in the city and the nobles outside the city...

In fact, it cannot be blamed on Khalil for making the wrong choice. He was Timur's grandson and the son of Maharaja Miran Shah. He was a young man, so young that Timur had not yet begun to teach him how to govern a country.

All he was taught by his grandfather and father was how to speak with a knife.

Khalil is Timur's most heroic descendant. He is an eagle on the battlefield and a champion on horseback. He studied under the best generals of the empire and has been by his father's side since he was a child. He learned how to lead an army to defeat his enemies and how to establish an effective logistical support to maintain the existence of this army.

From a soldier's perspective, Khalil's first reaction after Timur's death was perfect. Before all other heirs could react, he led his army back to Samarkand, the administrative center of the empire, and completely controlled it.

He then used the vast wealth of Samarkand to ensure the army's loyalty to him, and Khalil did not make any mistakes until then.

But then Khalil fell into a stalemate. Compared to other lands conquered by the great conqueror, the Transoxiana region centered on Samarkand was the pearl among pearls, the jewel in the crown, it was the empire itself.

To treat such a gem, you need to gently and delicately figure out its thoughts, sort out its structure bit by bit, and then hold it in the palm of your hand and let it bloom in your hand.

Khalil's brutality provoked a counterattack from the nobles and also tarnished the reputation of Mingzhu.

By today, his uncle Shah Rukh had been making cautious moves and had gained absolute advantage in the political situation, causing Khalil's military deployment to be constantly frustrated. Although there had not been a large-scale war between the two sides, those warriors who had left their homes and originally gathered to conquer the Eastern Empire were now unable to move forward.

Chapter 423 The Power of Money

Through a dinner, Hiltberg learned that the Urartu family was not an ancient family with a long history, but a new family that began to prosper after the Mongol Empire's westward expedition. They had maintained friendly relations with the Mongols for a long time, and in the chaotic era of the Crusades, they relied on their Christian faith to maintain relations with the Crusader states, making the most of both sides and earning their first pot of gold.

The word "Erzurum" comes from the Persian "arz-er?m", which means "place of the Romans", and Armenians have lived here since the Roman era.

Here they served the Romans, Persians, Arabs, Seljuk Turks, and then the Mongols...

Hiltberg knew that Timur had massacred Armenian believers in some cities in the name of eliminating heretics, but that was just an excuse he used to silence religious people.

One of the reasons why Timur launched the war against the Golden Horde was to monopolize trade. To this end, he completely destroyed the Golden Horde's capital, Sarai, and forcibly led the caravans back to the south of the Caucasus.