Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 672: Caesar, the head of the Qin system, destroyed democracy and caused human civilization to regress
In the following days, Guo Kang was busy every day. In addition to his original tasks, he had to leave the barracks from time to time to help Da Lama Wang deal with various matters in preparation for the meeting.

Because they were too busy, even Tuohuan couldn't stand it anymore, so he dragged Guo Kang out and said that he wanted him to play with him and Zhu Wenkui for a while, play a few games of chess, and asked him to take a break.

Tuohuan's residence was originally located in the "Cat Palace" in the city. But every time Guo Kang went there, he would inexplicably clash with various cats.

Tuohuan thought this was a nuisance and wanted to drive all the cats away. But all the Egyptians nearby came to protest and made a big fuss. Guo Kang also thought it was better to forget it, so the matter was left unresolved.

It just so happened that Zhu Wenkui and his men were in the city, clearing out a piece of land to be used as a shelter and temporary camp in the future. Tuohuan moved there, making it convenient for everyone to keep in touch at any time.

When Guo Kang arrived, Zhu Wenkui was playing Roman chess with Tuohuan, and Wang Da Lama and others were watching the game.

Roman chess is a game that emerged after the establishment of the Purple Tent Khanate. It is currently impossible to accurately verify who invented it, but we only know that it was improved by the civil servants in the early military and then spread from the legions.

The chessboard is divided into two parts, one side is the red Caesar side, and the other side is the black Senate side. In the center of the chessboard on both sides are the "Governor" and "Consul" as the commanders. Then from the inside to the outside, there are the "Guards", "Treasurers", "Knights" and "Chariots", two for each side, symmetrically placed on both sides.

In front, there are five legionnaires on each side. Behind this line, there are two "wild asses" of the red side and two "ballistas" of the black side. In the middle of the two sides of the chessboard is the "Rubicon River" that serves as a dividing line.

The rules of Roman chess are relatively simple. You just need to remember a few fixed moves and settings of the pieces. For example, as we all know, after Caesar crossed the Rubicon River, it meant that there was no way back. This story is used as part of the rules, which is what the saying "The legionnaires will not look back after crossing the river" means.

Therefore, for the Romans, these rules are also easy to remember, which further lowers the threshold and increases the entertainment value. Now, even outside of Rome, many people have started to play these games.

After Guo Kang entered the room, Tuo Huan looked up and saw him, and complained: "You came too late. Xiao Zhu wanted to play a game with you first."

"Someone from the church suddenly came to me and asked me if I wanted to reply to the letter from Kiev." Guo Kang scratched his head and said, "I thought about it for a long time and decided to wait a little longer."

"What's going on? Why do I have to come all the way to ask you?" Tuohuan asked in surprise.

"Some time ago, Master Wang told me that the Kiev church has also started to receive a lot of petitions this month." Guo Kang said: "Some local people don't like our actions and hope that we can stop in time and stop unilaterally developing the land. Instead, we should follow local customs and invite local prestigious people to form a parliament to discuss the ownership and use of these plots of land. Otherwise, we will have to face armed resistance."

"At first, they appealed to the local officials, but they ignored them, so they went to the church to complain. The church and provincial officials jointly sent a document to them."

"Who is so bold?" Zhu Wenkui's first reaction was to slam the table: "Is he tired of living? He wants to fight us with force?"

"Don't take the Slavs' words seriously." Guo Kang was very experienced: "If he scares you, it may be because he doesn't dare to fight you, so he is going to brag about himself and get some benefits from you. On the other hand, if he says he wants to cooperate with you, it may not be credible. He may be preparing to attack you. The diplomatic language of these people is meaningless. Just listen for fun."

"But what do they want?" Zhu Wenkui still didn't understand: "I can understand the European side. We divided up the lord's land, they must be unhappy, but what about the Slavs? According to our plan, the first targets we will start with are all in the wilderness, where no one wants them. The people we recruit are not runaway slaves who ran away from their territories. They will definitely care if we go to such places to open up new areas."

"You are thinking too superficially." Tuo Huan shook his head. "We have reached a consensus during the previous meeting. No matter where we expand, we must follow the teachings of Confucius. We must first make the locals rich, then educate them, and then let them join the regular army and fight against the barbarians with us, and promote the king's rule to more distant places. In this process, we are bound to offend people."

"On the surface, we didn't deprive some people of their property and land like they did in Egypt. However, the high and low status, the rich and the poor, are all compared. We let the peasants have land and live a stable life, so the wealth and status of the original masters have declined relatively."

"In fact, these local nobles are the ones who want everyone to live a poor life. Otherwise, how can they get a sense of superiority?" Tuo Huan fiddled with the chess pieces in his hand, shook his head and said, "They simply can't stand seeing others live well and don't want another group of people to become rich. The nonsense they said to the church are just excuses. Don't worry about it."

"Then how should we tell the people in the church?" Guo Kang asked, "I just wrote a draft, and I'm going to tell them to stick to the original plan and ignore these people." "You're right." Tuo Huan nodded, "These people are very boastful, but their power is limited and they are not united. Don't take them seriously. We have just made it clear why they jumped out to cause trouble, so next, we just need to prescribe the right medicine and find a solution specifically for this group of people."

"Many of the various forces in the land of Ross are friendly with us and support this action. Because the situation there is quite special, the princes and nobles all live in the city."

"These cities are basically spontaneous settlements that grew up relying on geographical advantages and trade. The income of the city dwellers depends largely on trade. We have developed land along several major rivers, gathered villages and towns, built ports, and planned water conservancy projects, which are conducive to increasing the prosperity of the riverside areas and improving the efficiency of shipping routes. It is very beneficial to the city dwellers."

"In addition, their main source of income is the tribute from the surrounding villages. Because of the backward system, this kind of collection is sometimes very rough. Because of this, the Russians in the city and the Slavs in the countryside often have tense relations, and even armed conflicts occur."

“So, even if we really fight with some rural chiefs in the future, the people in the city won’t care too much. Even if we really run to the edge of the city and beat up their subordinates in the future, this is also a matter of negotiation and trade. They didn’t regard these people as their own people in the first place, they just took the opportunity to bargain with us.”

"Moreover, in the countryside, in addition to these secular tyrants, there is also the power of the monasteries. But although they are all local forces, the priests of the monasteries are much closer to us. Because the church is at least nominally a unified organization, when we deal with them, we will directly accept these rural priests. This means that as long as they cooperate with us, they will automatically become one of our own, and they will also obtain the establishment of regular priests and the channels for advancement to Kiev and even Dadu. Isn't this more interesting than the rotten land over there?"

"So you see, after this analysis, although the other side seems aggressive, there are not many who are determined to oppose us." Tuohuan said to Zhu Wenkui: "Guo Kang'anda's feeling is correct. There is no need to take them too seriously."

"Once this idea is clear, we can consider what to do specifically." He thought for a moment and continued, "There's actually nothing much for us to do."

"This matter should be handled by the newly established provincial departments. After reporting to the court, there will be someone specifically responsible. Moreover, the people who come to make trouble this time are of too low status and offer too little benefit. The officials on our side have just been transferred to these departments and are eager to do something and show their achievements. They will not take them too seriously. Therefore, we don't have to worry about them colluding with this group of people. On the contrary, it is not good for us to intervene in the affairs of the court from a distance."

"They came all the way here to send a letter. I don't think they really don't know how to deal with it. These people are smart. How could they not know about the things we just thought of? They came here specifically to ask, they must be testing the church, especially you, do you have any special ideas for dealing with the wild church organization over there?"

"We all know that the church organization in the land of Russia is also very loose, and it is estimated that we can meet all kinds of people. It is inevitable that there will be those with heretical colors, those who have fallen out with Kiev, and even those who claim to be members of the church but there is no such person in the archives, and no one knows where they came from... These are the issues they are concerned about." Tuo Huan specially reminded:
"When you reply, you don't have to give instructions on everything. Our people are not Slavs or Egyptians, so they have the ability to do so. They are at the front line and know more about the situation. In this case, they should be allowed to do it freely. Just give those people personalities and express their opinions on this matter, and that's all."

"Okay." Guo Kang agreed; "Then I won't bother with the rest."

"We should have talked less nonsense." Tuohuan shook his head helplessly, "But there's nothing we can do about it, because nonsense is also part of official documents. In my opinion, these Slavic leaders who are making trouble may also be pawns of others. Of course, I can't be sure now, it's just a guess."

"I think they were taught by others. Where did they learn this? If we give in this time, they will definitely become more demanding. We have to negotiate everything with them in the future. We might as well not do anything. If this is the case, Caesar should have followed the tradition and not gone against the Senate. Would there be the Rome later?" Lama Wang pointed to the "Rubicon" on the chessboard and agreed.

Guo Kang wanted to add a few words, but hesitated. After all, among the various opinions he had seen, there seemed to be quite a few who believed that the Senate's rule was better and that Rome's move toward dictatorship was a step backward. After all, this issue was also the "horse liver theory" of the Mediterranean world, which would cause many theories to fight each other...

"But the ideas of Slavs are often strange, and it's hard to say whether they really came up with it on their own..." He thought for a while and said.

"Then you should think about it again. I will contact the church and ask them to do as you say." Lama Wang promised.

"Don't let him think about everything." Tuo Huan quickly stopped him and said, "I asked him to come here today just to rest, but you are assigning him a task... You are the Patriarch, and these things, including the arrangement of the meeting, should be done by you personally, right?"

"Well, I am not good at debating." Da Lama Wang waved his hands repeatedly: "Let me go first, I am really afraid of losing face. I think we should let the young talents come first."

"You are so cunning. You just bully honest people." Tuohuan was helpless and smiled bitterly.

(End of this chapter)