Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 680: Can Rome Build a Perfect City?

"I don't want to get involved too much right now." Guo Kang's attitude towards these things is very clear: "I understand their attitude, but in my opinion, it's too early to intervene directly now."

"Isn't this an opportunity?" Qiao Feng reminded, "Not only are we working hard here, but the kings of the Catholic world are also trying to take this opportunity to increase their influence. The fact that Sigismund is so active has already proved how great the benefits here are."

"Don't worry, there are benefits, but he can't eat them." After hearing this, Guo Kang became even more confident.

"Why is that?" Joanna also became interested.

"I have only heard of powerful monarchs relying on diplomacy to increase their advantages, but I have never heard of insufficient strength relying on diplomacy to increase their strength and gain an advantage." Guo Kang shook his head and said, "This so-called influence can only fool people. Who would be fooled by anyone with a little common sense?"

"The Alemanni Kingdom was established by the barbarians in the Black Forest through conquests. Logically, they should know that brute force is their most fundamental reliance, rather than high-sounding beliefs." He shrugged, "I don't think they will forget all this. Obviously, he is not strong enough, so he can only use this excuse to bluff everyone."

"So what are you going to do now?" Joanna asked.

"I told Master Wang that we can just watch the show." Guo Kang replied: "If he wants to perform, let him perform."

"If we also use our influence to put pressure on the Catholic world and hinder his plan, then they can blame us for any problems they encounter, saying that it was all caused by our mischief. So, I will not wade into this muddy water."

"In my opinion, not only should we not oppose it, but we should support it. No matter what happens, we should officially support the Catholic Church's attempts to resolve its internal divisions. We ourselves advocate unity, so we also support them in resolving their internal problems and work hard to find a solution that everyone can accept."

"Anyway, I'm sure that the chaos over there has long been beyond Sigismund's ability. If he insists on making a fool of himself, we certainly agree. When everyone has seen enough of his antics and been tormented by him enough, they will naturally know who is reliable. At this time, it will be the best time for us to make an appearance."

"Oh, I see." Joanna thought for a moment and nodded: "Then now we just need to accumulate strength, right?"

"Yes." Guo Kang nodded. "And to be honest, I don't trust the other churches. It is definitely more comfortable to be independent than to be someone else's subordinate. This kind of thing is not only thought of by secular rulers, but also by religions."

"But the ultimate goal of our church is to establish a kingdom of heaven on earth that corresponds to the kingdom of heaven. Just as there is only one Heavenly Father and one heaven, there can only be one kingdom of heaven on earth. This creates an unsolvable conflict with other church organizations. So, we may be able to cooperate, but I think it is impossible to expect to achieve the goal of integration peacefully."

"I think now, we should try to get in touch with more people, find sincere people and establish cooperation with them. Because this conflict is a conflict between organizations, not a conflict against an individual. If more people are willing to join us, it will be more beneficial to our cause."

"That depends on how you plan to build this kingdom of heaven." Qiao Feng thought for a moment and said, "If you can achieve it by relying on your country and your church, then you don't have to worry about others. Because if you succeed, other churches will have no way to prove their legitimacy. They don't have to do anything, their believers will come to you, and these churches will naturally collapse."

"However, if it is necessary to unify the beliefs of the world before the conditions can be met and the kingdom of heaven on earth can be realized, then there will be direct conflicts with other churches. In other countries, promoting the Roman state religion will probably be resisted by local secular lords. In this case, how to deal with it in terms of theology and organization, I don't understand."

"Oh, these two points are actually not contradictory." Guo Kang replied.

"Because there is a misunderstanding here, that is, Rome is not a country." He corrected: "Rome is our world, and the city of Rome is the symbol of our civilization here. What we usually call a 'country' is, strictly speaking, an organization lower than Rome. Theoretically, the two cannot be put on the same level."

"It's just that Rome is still too weak now, so in various practical scenarios, it is more like an ordinary country than the concept of 'Rome' itself. Even in the classical era, when Rome was at its most powerful, there was still a big gap between it and this ideal state."

However, as Rome revives, it will surely recover and get closer and closer to perfection. And ultimately, Rome in its perfect state will be the Earthly City itself.”

"Similarly, Rome itself contains the concept of unification, so our action to revive Rome is to recover the homeland everywhere, and even go to places that the ancient Romans had never reached. In the process of unification, we must definitely eliminate and annex those barbarian countries that do not obey civilization."

"So, in fact, there is no question of whether a country can realize the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. Because in the process of realizing the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, we become more and more perfect, and we become less and less of a country."

"Similarly, there is no possibility for different countries to build the kingdom of heaven on earth together, because only the Roman civilization has this condition. In the process of establishment, we must also gradually educate the barbarians and achieve unification. Therefore, before the establishment is completed, other countries will be gradually banned by Rome; the barbarian people will also be educated by Rome. In this way, there is a premise for building the city on earth." "However, this kind of thing is still too far away. The perfect city cannot be chanted by reciting a few verses, so we don't need to consider so much for the time being." He shook his head: "I think it is enough for everyone to reach a basic consensus."

"I haven't learned this systematically, so I don't really understand it..." Qiao Feng seemed a little confused and replied, "But don't worry, we're here to cooperate with you. I've already made it clear with them before coming. If there's anything you need to convey, just tell us."

"Okay." Guo Kang nodded and asked casually, "Is Professor Breton still teaching Greek mythology?"

"He is still teaching, but he has changed his research focus." Qiao Feng said, "He was studying Zoroastrianism before, and in the past two years he has read some Taoist books and started to study them hard. When he wrote to my eldest brother to thank him for his sponsorship, he also said that he now believes that the influence of Taoism is the reason for the success of your God Worshipping Society, and it is also the focus of everyone's study in the future."

"Ah? He knows quite a bit." Guo Kang muttered in surprise. But after thinking about it, he was a scholar who could leave his name in history, so he should have this ability...

"I also asked him if he wanted to go back to his hometown to do research, because you must have more information about the Central Plains there. Let his students lead the lectures here." Qiao Feng said, "But he didn't seem to be happy about it. He said his hometown is Mystras, not New Sparta, so he doesn't want to go back. I don't know what's going on."

"The old man is sulking." Guo Kang was not surprised: "His hometown, Mystras, was originally a city next to the ruins of Sparta. In recent years, 'Spartanism' has been very popular, especially among young people in the Peloponnese, who often move around, gather friends and promote this theory. Because Mystras is close, they call it 'New Sparta'. Over time, the local government itself accepted this name. This is inconsistent with Breton's research."

"Oh, there is a conflict of theories, right?" Qiao Feng suddenly realized, "But I see that he no longer insists that we are all Greeks, and has also started to talk about the issue of Roman identity."

"His theory is essentially for the service of the country. The smaller the country, the more dangerous the situation, and the narrower the scope of identity. Especially when there is no hope of recovering the homeland, scholars tend to expel the lost part from their own ethnic group in order to maintain confidence and unity." Guo Kang spread his hands: "This kind of thing is not strange, in fact, it is not the first time I have seen it."

"And when the scope of the country is not limited to Greek-speaking people, the concept of Romans becomes more important - you see, just like what I said before, Greece is just a nation-state, and Rome is Rome. When the return of Rome becomes a settlement, this theory can be upgraded."

"I remember he quarreled with someone over a similar issue." Guo Kang patted his head and thought for a moment: "Oh, yes, he did research and said that the people in their area were all descendants of the Helots. He even suggested organizing Helot soldiers in the way of the classical era."

"The main goal of this theory is to prove that we have been living here for thousands of years. This way, we have more solid evidence to prove the legitimacy of our rule here."

"After the establishment of the Latin Empire, many Western European scholars began to argue that the Greeks were actually Slavs who migrated here. In this way, their conquest of the Greek region was just a case of thieves robbing thieves, relying on their own abilities to seize territory, rather than bullying the original owners. The stigma they bore was much lower. Breton's theory can refute such claims. As for the military system and name, they are actually byproducts, basically used to encourage everyone not to forget their ancestors and to resolutely fight against the barbarians."

"However, the times are changing too fast. His theory soon became outdated. In the eyes of many citizens of the Peloponnese, Breton's arguments are somewhat incomprehensible."

"Especially the younger generation. When they were born, whether it was the invading Turkmen tribes from across the sea or the nobles and bandits left over from the Latin Empire, they had all been wiped out."

"Now, no barbarians dare to claim the sovereignty of the Peloponnese. Even if some Western European scholars really say so, no one will feel threatened, and will not be angry, but will quickly take it seriously and prepare for defense. On the contrary, everyone will just think it is a bit funny, like watching a clown performance, and will not take it too seriously. Their first reaction may not even be "the barbarians are still determined to harm me", but "is this idiot sick?" However, at the same time, the theory that the old man has worked so hard to construct is considered superfluous in their eyes."

"Moreover, people generally admire the strong and identify with the Spartans who were famous back then. Their demands are not what the old professor advocates, to mobilize all civilians, even the humble Helots, to unite and defend their homes. Instead, they want to be like the Spartans in literary works, not only to defend their homes like heroes, but also to go out and terrify the enemy, and even leave their footprints and reputation in the capital of the seemingly powerful enemy. In this way, Breton's statement is naturally a bit 'cowardly' and not easy to be recognized."

"So that's how it is." Joanna looked enlightened: "How do you know so much about it?"

"Oh, you'll understand once you gain more experience." Guo Kang waved his hand.

"So who is right?" Qiao Feng was also very curious.

"Spartan is just an identity, and there are not many Spartans after the city-state era ended. From the perspective of blood relationship, everyone should indeed be Helots. Professor Breton's research is more accurate." Guo Kang replied: "However, this question is already... a higher-level question. Therefore, it is impossible to make a direct judgment."

(End of this chapter)