Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 663 Cairo Street Fitness Competition Begins!
On the south gate side, Tuohuan led a large group of people and gave orders on the city wall.

The Eighth Army had already entered the city from the west gate and the north gate. At the south gate, the Thirty-third Army had also arranged two battalions and were making preparations. The previously demolished gate had made the march much easier. At this moment, the vanguard had entered the city as planned and began to control various key points and block the traffic between different areas.

A lot of people also gathered on the city wall. The leader, with the help of an interpreter, was explaining something to Tuohuan by speaking and gesturing.

"He said that they had been suppressed by the Sheikh before, and that the Sheikh even used excuses to deprive them of their positions and fiefdoms." Idris helped translate, "They are very grateful that you condescended to entertain them and give them trust, so that they can have jobs again."

"These are all trivial matters." Tuo Huan waved his hand disapprovingly: "Ask him what else he wants."

Idris went to inquire again, and then told Tuohuan: "It's similar to before. He also hopes to restore the previous fiefdoms for him and his men. Because without the fiefdoms, his family's food income has been cut off."

"Plus, due to the recent war, he was not allowed to go to the battlefield, so he could not obtain spoils of war, and he did not receive any subsidies for going to war. Therefore, in order to make a living, he even had to rely on debt to get by during this period. The merchant brought people to collect debts from him a few days ago. If he has no more income, he will probably have to sell his wife and children, and even his warhorse."

"How did you end up like this?" Guo Kang interrupted.

"Well, you all know what happened in Egypt in the past two years," Idris explained. "Yesterday, I met some old university classmates. They said that it's not just the common people who are suffering now. Only the wealthy places are doing okay. In other places, even the mufti who can collect taxes and the Mamluks who have iqtas are having a hard time, not to mention those who have lost their masters and positions."

"Where is his fiefdom?" Tuohuan asked.

"It's in a village in the south, two days' walk south along the Nile River." Idris asked and translated.

"I thought it was a big village, but it turns out to be just a village." Tuohuan sneered, "What a promising village..."

He turned around and shouted, and an attendant came over with a box. Tuohuan took out a wooden seal, grabbed the ribbon, and threw it directly to him.

"You are now the acting captain - oh, in your words, you are the emir of a thousand-man team, directly under my command. I made this seal temporarily, it's not very formal. When things here are done, the court will issue you an official one, and you can use it during this period."

"Don't worry about your debts. Tell your men that I have 10,000 dirhams here, you can spend them as you like. Just help me get the job done, understand?"

Mamluk was still in a daze. After Idris explained to him for a while, he finally reacted, knelt down with a plop, thanked him repeatedly, and wanted to hug Toghuan's legs.

"Okay, okay, stop being so cheesy." Tuo Huan quickly pushed him away: "Get back to work!"

The Mamluks soon left happily.

"You will follow them and keep an eye on that side." Tuo Huan said to Guo Kang, "I have already told them that they will be responsible for the action and you will be responsible for the instructions. I knew that you would encounter a lot of trouble and probably would have to use force, so I specifically told them in advance. These people are very motivated and there will definitely be no problem."

"Hey, I've always felt that it's not a good idea to send the legion down and solve the problem violently right after arriving here..." Guo Kang said helplessly, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Don't feel like you've failed. And there's nothing wrong with your idea." Tuohuan shook his head and said, "It would be best if we can mobilize troops. Even if we do, it's best not to throw the legion in."

"The ancients said that the army seeks order and avoids chaos. If soldiers are asked to perform public security management work, they can only be dispersed to fight with local people, confiscate property, and arrest criminals. But this is not a good thing."

"The nature of most people is to like safety and hate risk; to like comfort and hate fatigue. Therefore, if soldiers can get more benefits outside the battlefield, they will definitely not be willing to fight hard; if they can easily gain benefits through their own means, they will definitely not be willing to abide by strict discipline; if they can cooperate with outsiders and get enough rewards, they will definitely not obey the orders of the army. These are all signs of laxity and even defeat of the army."

"So, the management of the army must ensure that profits are earned through one channel, ensuring that soldiers only have the opportunity to make profits if they fight well, and eliminating the opportunity for them to make profits through crooked means."

"If you disperse the soldiers, it will be difficult to manage them; if you let them search for property, actual benefits will flow through their hands. In this case, it will be too easy for those who have the force to get some extra benefits, and it will be difficult for us to supervise them. First, we can't take care of them; second, if you let people go to get the money by force and don't give them a share, it will be too offensive - and they are the most powerful people in the country. This kind of thing should be avoided as much as possible."

"So, we should try to restrain the soldiers and not let them directly participate in looting. When there are spoils of war, we should also send people to collect them and then distribute them in an orderly manner. Even when attacking a city, we should try our best to restrain the soldiers entering the city and not cause extensive damage. Not only is looting a city a case of draining the pond to catch fish, but it is also because it damages the army itself. Sending people to urge them to pay fines, or forcing them to do labor, and using the money to subsidize the soldiers is a more prudent way." "The same is true for what happened today. I specifically gathered these Mamluks because I wanted them to do this kind of work. The torture and search later can be left to them - these people look quite professional."

"If they keep some for themselves, you don't have to worry about it. This is our tacit understanding. As long as they work hard, it's fine. I have other work to do for them later."

"What are you going to ask them to do?" Guo Kang asked.

"I found that the forces in Egypt are not on the same side as each other. Those who monopolize the materials are not even colleagues of the Mamluks. And there are many factions within the Mamluks." Tuohuan told him: "Moreover, because of the previous chaos, many Mamluks have been in a state of being unwanted after their masters died or lost power."

"The reason why there are local tyrants in these places is because the government is short of manpower and can only entrust them with the task. Now, with our limited number of people, we certainly cannot take over all the affairs in Egypt, so many places are actually no different from before. We can only turn a blind eye to their tricks." Tuohuan shook his head and said, "But these people have gone too far and have threatened our basic goals. We can only find a way to deal with them."

"During the past few days when you were investigating, I have been thinking about what to do - because to be honest, I don't have much confidence in solving the problem peacefully. In the end, I thought it would be better to recruit these Mamluks who have nothing to do and let them kill those who hinder us. After these local tyrants are gone, the positions left vacant can be used to accommodate them."

"Can the Mamluks do it?" Guo Kang looked a little skeptical: "Can their administrative capabilities meet your requirements?"

"They don't need any ability." Tuohuan replied: "As long as they can force merchants to give up their stored grain and escort the grain and cloth for transportation, that's enough. If they still have excess energy, it would be best if they could go to the surrounding villages and kill the local tyrants there. Once they finish these tasks, we can arrange the subsequent construction work."

"Huh? Is that so?" Guo Kang really had never thought of this method.

"Yes, I think that even the confiscation and redistribution of land in the previous plan can be carried out in advance." Tuo Huan nodded seriously: "Before, you said that we need to organize people in the name of construction, and then train and select people with leadership ability, and finally use this organization we have established ourselves to replace the original local forces and establish a new order. I think there is no problem with this order, and I also expressed my support."

"But now it seems that the situation in Egypt is different from what we thought. The people here are very different from us Romans and even the Slavs. These people are sophisticated and much more cunning than the Slavs. But when they encounter problems, they don't have much determination to resist, and they often bully the weak and fear the strong. If you persuade and teach them, they will think too much; but if you use force, they will be obedient. So, we have to think the other way around."

"Moreover, to establish an organization, you have to invest resources. It's not like just raising a few retainers and paying some money. According to the plan, we have to get people from the entire region to join. It's impossible to maintain such a large scale by relying solely on external investment. We must obtain resources from the local area so that they can support themselves."

"The Slavic land is too vast and the population is too scattered. Even the most organized Russians are only at the level of a gangster. So we need to establish an organization first. In Egypt, various organizations have already controlled them very tightly. At this time, we can't establish our own organization first. Instead, we have to destroy some organizations first before we can pull people out."

"Similarly, the Slavs have a lot of land and resources, but the locals themselves are not good enough to exploit them. So as long as we show our ability to explore, we can directly establish a system outside the local organizations. But in Egypt, it has been cultivated for thousands of years, and the available resources have long been occupied. If we don't eliminate some of them, we will have no room to display our capabilities."

"That's true. I underestimated the overcrowding here." Guo Kang admitted, "I heard that they were suffering from war, plague and famine, and the population had decreased a lot. I thought it would be easier to deal with."

"During the plague, the upper and lower classes of their society died together, so the entire system is still not out of balance." Tuo Huan guessed: "But don't worry. Compared with other places, this place is relatively easy to deal with."

"The biggest problem we encountered when conquering the barbarians in Europe before was that the local cultural level was too low. Almost all the people with some cultural literacy and leadership skills were local tyrants. They especially hated our policy of granting land because it would harm their interests. Therefore, after occupying a place, sometimes we had to spend a lot of energy to clear out these gangs."

"They are generally familiar with the local terrain and conditions, and will fight hard to defend their lair. Therefore, suppressing bandits often takes more time and energy than fighting in the field."

"But the situation in Egypt is much simpler. The people who actually manage the situation at the grassroots level do not have military force, and they are not actually in the same group as the Mamluks. Especially these impoverished Mamluks, they are even hostile to them." Tuohuan finally said: "The various factions here are too complicated. I haven't figured it out completely these past few days. You should ask them yourself and you will know."

Guo Kang nodded to show that he understood.

Tuohuan looked down and told him that he could set off, then gave him an order with a big seal. At this time, although it was already dark, the city became lively instead, and shouts, collisions, and fighting sounds could be heard nearby.

Seeing this, Guo Kang quickly followed the remaining Mamluks and ran down the city wall to take action.

(End of this chapter)