Chapter 2: One Dragon, Two Tigers, Two Leopards

“Brother, let’s go home~”

Hearing the shout, Li Xiao turned his head slightly. It was a young teen, about thirteen or fourteen years old, riding a large jujube-red horse.

While shouting at Li Xiao, he galloped toward the flock of sheep with the other children.

This boy had thick eyebrows and big eyes, a burly and very robust physique, almost catching up to an average adult.

Moreover, if one observed carefully, they could find that his face was somewhat similar to Li Xiao’s. However, Li Xiao’s face was slightly lean and resolute, while this boy’s was tough and rough.

“I know, Erhu, I’m coming,” Li Xiao responded loudly.

This was Li Xiao’s biological younger brother, Li Erhu. He was thirteen years old this year, two years younger than Li Xiao.

In addition, Li Xiao had a third brother named Li Sanbao, who was only ten years old.

As for Li Xiao?

His uncultured father had unceremoniously given him a domineering name: Li Dalong.

Da Long (Big Dragon), Er Hu (Second Tiger), San Bao (Three Leopard).

These were the names of the three Li brothers. A bit earthy, but they reflected their father’s expectation for his sons to become successful, like dragons.

…

Li Xiao withdrew his gaze from Erhu and looked once again at the eastern sky shrouded in dark clouds.

He stared for a moment, then walked directly toward a large rock not far away, where a big black horse was tethered.

This horse was about three years old, with strong limbs and a tall stature. Its coat was pitch black, except for a patch of snow-white on its forehead. It was a very beautiful and strong young mare of the Northern Border.

The Han people living in the Northern Border had gradually broken away from traditional farming, their lifestyle moving closer to that of the nomadic peoples.

Horse riding was an essential skill for every Han person in the Northern Border.

Very young children would practice riding with the help of their elders, just like learning to ride a bicycle in childhood.

In his previous life in the Northern Border, Li Xiao had practiced exquisite horsemanship. After transmigration, he immediately picked up the skill again. Riding on the horse felt completely familiar, as if he were born to do it.

Soon, Li Xiao rose nimbly; his posture was vigorous and light. He bent his legs slightly to accumulate power.

Then, like an agile cheetah, he made a beautiful leap and mounted the horse. The movement was smooth and clean, fully displaying his extraordinary skill.

Sitting on the young mare, Li Xiao lightly clamped the horse’s belly. It understood immediately, spreading its hooves and galloping toward the flock of sheep.

“Drive the sheep together and head back to the village slowly!”

Li Xiao shouted loudly, taking out his whip and striking a ram that wanted to stray, driving them together.

Once gathered, the dozen or so children each drove their own herds of cattle and sheep, returning in the direction of Hexi Fortress.

With so many cattle and sheep moving together, the scene looked quite chaotic.

But these youths had been herding horses and sheep since childhood and were long familiar with this routine.

Although it was chaotic, everyone handled it in an orderly manner.

Under the driving of Li Xiao and his two brothers, their family’s more than two hundred cattle and sheep returned slowly and orderly toward Hexi Fortress.

The flock slowed down their speed. It took nearly half an hour before Li Xiao saw the outline of Hexi Fortress.

Looking from a distance on the hillside, it was like a lonely giant on this grassland, standing quietly for more than fifty years.

Looking to its left and right, one could see vast stretches of farmland extending endlessly to the east and west.

These were the lands of Hexi Fortress.

Even after coming to the Western Regions, the Han people had not forgotten the skill of farming. It seemed to be an instinct carved into their bloodlines, an innate ability.

Wherever they went, they farmed.

Hexi Fortress was like a natural dividing line, separating the agricultural area from the grazing area.

The land to the south was reclaimed for planting crops.

The land to the north had lush water and grass and was a natural pasture for cattle and sheep, so it continued to be used for grazing.

After all, the traditional nomadic way of life had poor risk resistance; a heavy snowstorm could wipe out the herds.

But grain was different. The heavier the snow, the more beneficial it was for the growth of crops.

Moreover, the Northern Border had abundant rainfall, so drought was basically never encountered.

The only issue was the cold weather in the Northern Border. Even in summer, it was chilly. The lack of sufficient temperature difference meant that crops could only be harvested once a year.

But even if the grain harvest wasn’t much, it was enough to keep ordinary families fed and warm.

Coupled with drinking hot sheep’s milk every day and eating beef or mutton from time to time, the lives of the Han people in Hexi Fortress were quite nourishing.

“What fine farmland!”

“What a pity. After the Mongols come, it will turn into wasteland again.”

Li Xiao looked at the farmland from a distance and sighed with emotion in his heart.

The cold weather in the Northern Border meant the growth cycle of grain was different from that in the Central Plains. The fields were planted with spring wheat—sown in spring, harvested in autumn, and lying fallow in winter. There was only this one season a year.

It was now early summer, and the wheat seedlings in the fields had sprouted tender buds. From a distance, it looked like a green grassland.

But after the Mongols arrived, these farmlands would cease to exist, turning into wasteland growing sparse weeds.

After all, the Mongol dream was to turn the whole world into their pasture.

The Mongol Yuan dynasty’s rule over the Central Plains was overthrown after ninety years, certainly due to reasons like corruption and exorbitant taxes.

But a more important reason was that the Mongols turned large swathes of farmland in the Central Plains into pastures, and the remaining farmland faced land annexation by warlords and landlords.

This left the bottom-tier peasants with no land to farm, forcing them to rise up in rebellion because they truly could not survive.

If the villagers of Hexi Fortress lost these fields and relied only on cattle and sheep, they would probably return to a state of starvation.

“Even if just for the sake of the common people having enough to eat, I can’t let the Mongols ravage the Northern Border,” Li Xiao thought to himself.

Then he turned to look at a young man not far behind him.

“Dahu, is Second Uncle going to continue clearing wasteland this year?” Li Xiao asked.

“Your family only has a few people, and you already have so much land. can you handle farming it all?”

This young man looked fourteen or fifteen years old, with a tall stature and an honest face. Between his brows and eyes, there was a faint resemblance to Li Xiao.

He was Li Xiao’s cousin, Li Dahu (Big Tiger).

Fourteen years old this year, one year younger than Li Xiao and one year older than Li Erhu.

He was the eldest son of Li Xiao’s biological uncle. He also had a younger brother named Li Erbao (Second Leopard), who was eleven years old this year, one year older than Sanbao.

One Dragon, Two Tigers, Two Leopards—these were the five brothers of the Li family’s current generation.

Their ages were fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, eleven, and ten.

In addition, Li Xiao had a biological sister named Li Dafeng (Big Phoenix), who had married into Hedong Fortress, twenty li (approx. 10km) away.

There was also a younger sister and two female cousins, all unmarried maidens.

All in all, the Li family had quite a few members.

Although two years ago, presided over by the old master and the old lady, the two brothers (Li Xiao’s father and uncle) had separated their households—with Li Xiao’s family as the eldest branch responsible for caring for the elders—the relationship between the two families remained very good. The cousins were also very close to Li Xiao.

“Can’t help it, my dad just likes farming.”

“He always says the more land we have, the more at ease he feels,” Li Dahu said with his head down, driving his family’s more than one hundred sheep along with his brother, following behind Li Xiao’s flock.

Compared to the tiger-headed, tiger-brained, and slightly impulsive Li Erhu, Li Dahu seemed a bit dull in character. He didn’t like to talk and spent most of his time working with his head down.

“Second Uncle has an honest and thick character; he is a man who can hold down the fort. He is also thrifty and manages the household well. He will definitely save up a foundation for you two in the future.”

“It’s just that it will definitely be hard work for a few years.” Li Xiao shook his head gently.

He lamented inwardly that the Chinese people’s love for land was simply carved into their bones. They were not afraid of hardship or fatigue; as long as conditions permitted, they would work themselves to death in the fields.

In reality, it came down to three words: scared of starving.

For thousands of years, how long had the bottom-tier commoners of China truly been able to eat their fill?

Very, very rarely.

Most of the time, they hovered on the edge of not being full but not starving to death.

Nowadays, there was a large amount of wasteland south of Hexi Fortress waiting to be reclaimed. As long as it was reclaimed, it belonged to one’s own family.

Who wouldn’t be moved by this opportunity to benefit their descendants?

Anyway, as long as Second Uncle had nothing else to do, he would go to reclaim wasteland. Currently, his family’s land was even a bit more than Li Xiao’s family’s.

“I’m not afraid of hardship, as long as my dad is happy,” Li Dahu said with a gentle smile, whipping the sheep forward.

It could be seen that he was a filial child, and his character was similar to his father’s—honest, thick, and the type not to stir up trouble.

In contrast, Li Xiao’s biological brother, Li Erhu, who was a year younger than Dahu, had been an energetic fellow since childhood who couldn’t stay idle.

Hearing their conversation, the impatient Erhu turned his head from the side of the flock and shouted, “Anyway, we are fighting the Karluks.”

“When the time comes, let Dad and Second Uncle catch more Karluks to come back and farm for us.”

“As long as there are many Karluk slaves, it won’t be a problem no matter how much land Second Uncle wants to open up.”

Li Erhu shouted enthusiastically. Speaking of fighting the Karluks, his face was full of excitement.

On the other side, Li Sanbao poured cold water on him: “Second Brother, the Karluks don’t even farm themselves, how can they farm for us?”

“They don’t know how to farm at all, okay?”

Sanbao was only ten years old, but he was wise beyond his years and much shrewder than Erhu. His favorite thing was to retort against his second brother with words.

Li Erhu was clumsy with speech and often suffered losses in arguments, but he never backed down when it came to fists.

Clenching his fist and gesturing at Sanbao, he huffed, “If they don’t know how to farm, teach them.”

“If they refuse to learn, or can’t learn, then beat them.”

“Use whips, use sticks.”

“They’ve become slaves, would they dare rebel?”

Sanbao shook his head and said, “How are Karluks easy to catch? They are very fierce.”

“Even the Royal Court’s Pishi Army has suffered quite a few losses at the hands of the Karluks!”

“That’s because the Pishi Army generals are trash~ If I were commanding the army, I would have killed those Karluks until not a fragment of armor remained,” Erhu boasted, craning his neck.