Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 684: Tuo Huan only needed to beat people up, but Guo Kang had to consider a lot when he explained the sutra afterwards.

At night, Guo Kang finished packing up the minutes of the day's meeting and was preparing to go to bed when Wu Han suddenly ran over and said there was a letter for him.

"What's so urgent?" Guo Kang felt very sleepy after arguing with someone all day, and said weakly.

"It's a letter sent by Tuohuan Taiji." Wu Han said, "The messenger is still at the door, looking for you."

"Ah?" Guo Kang's first reaction was that something serious had happened. He jumped up and ran out with Wu Han. When he arrived at the gate, he saw one of Tuohuan's followers waiting at the door.

"What's going on? What happened in Cairo?" Guo Kang asked hurriedly.

"Several cases have occurred, and Taiji said he wanted to seek your advice." The messenger simply saluted him and reported hurriedly: "Soldiers from the Second Battalion went out for a stroll and got into a fight with the natives. One native was unlucky and fell to his death while trying to escape. Others said they killed someone and brought the matter all the way to Taiji. Taiji happened to be on his way, so he personally led people to investigate, and after questioning several people involved, he finally found out the truth."

"Since it has been found out, you can deal with it according to military law. I have no objection." Guo Kang said: "Tell him that in this kind of matter, we should treat everyone equally. He doesn't need to worry about anything just because he is my soldier."

"Well, it's not the main problem. There have been too many troubles recently, and the soldiers can't stand it anymore." The messenger told him helplessly: "People have repeatedly framed and blackmailed us, and everyone is very angry. People from other battalions are also unwilling to accept it. They think your previous orders were wrong and you spoiled these people too much."

"Are they making a fuss?" Guo Kang asked hurriedly.

"No, the Taiji went there personally this time, and they were in the wrong, so no one dared to make trouble." The messenger replied: "Those Russian soldiers insisted on sneaking out to find wine. Others told them that most of the winemaking industry in Egypt is run by Copts. But they thought the wine in the Coptic shops was too expensive, so they ran to the slums to find cheaper wine that the locals drink."

"How can we possibly find this?" Guo Kang said speechlessly, "We are really poor. How can we afford to drink wine? We can barely fill our stomachs. If we make wine and drink wine, we will probably starve to death."

"Maybe this is the custom of the Russians. As soon as they had two dollars in their pockets, they rushed to buy some beer. I don't know what they were thinking." The messenger couldn't explain it clearly: "They didn't know Egyptian yet, so they just learned a word for 'wine'. Even this didn't stop them from looking for wine. A few of them swaggered to District 4, stopping everyone they met to ask."

"The natives who were interrogated said that at that time, a few ruffians suddenly ran into the street and frightened them. Therefore, the natives did not like their behavior, but did not dare to say anything and just avoided them. Later, these people asked all the way to a priest's house on the street. The priest thought these outsiders were here to cause trouble, so he scolded them."

"Although the two sides did not speak the same language, their attitudes were very clear. The natives had long been dissatisfied, and the Russian soldiers were not happy to see them gesticulating. So, under the instigation of the priests, the natives quickly started to make a commotion and prepared to besiege them. The few of them were not polite, so they simply took the initiative and started fighting directly."

"Although the natives were numerous, they still failed to win the fight and quickly dispersed, with more than a hundred people running around. The deceased fell to his death while fleeing. However, the Ross soldiers were few in number and did not dare to pursue them, so they ignored the purchase of wine and slipped back in the chaos."

"The captain in charge of the camp was not there, so the person acting in charge was Deuterocanon Dmitri, whom you personally promoted. He was a Russian himself, and was familiar with those soldiers, so he asked about the situation. But when the Russian soldiers fled, they didn't know anyone had died, and they just thought it was a common quarrel and fight. So, neither side took it seriously."

"But the natives were wronged, and the more they thought about it, the angrier they got, so they prepared to file a complaint to vent their anger and extort some money. So they exaggerated the facts. But the local officials were busy preparing for urban transformation and had no time to deal with them. They had no choice but to look for help everywhere and make a big fuss."

"That's not how you make trouble." Guo Kang shook his head and said, "When it comes to blackmail, they cast a wide net. They blackmail every honest person they encounter, but they don't target just one person. And in this kind of situation, it's best to force the other party to settle the matter privately. If the incident gets too big, everyone will be on the hook, and there will be no profit. I don't know what they're thinking."

"The natives don't really understand, because this is their first time here, and they have no experience of causing trouble before." The messenger said, "The Mamluk who translated for us told us that he has worked here for seven years and has never seen anyone dare to come and harass him."

"..." Guo Kang was speechless for a while.

"We learned from the interrogation that it was the priests on their street who were dissatisfied because they were beaten badly, so they fanned the flames. When they found that the authorities ignored them, they used their connections in the seminary to find acquaintances in the next street to help complain, hoping to continue to push the matter up the ladder." The messenger continued:

"The acquaintance he found was the woman who had previously sought to see Taiji and you. She had many acquaintances in the Khan's court, so she helped to bring the matter directly to Taiji. As a result, this matter suddenly became important."

"What is the current situation?" Guo Kang asked.

"Those Russians entered and left the camp without permission, and they were punished according to military law. Dmitri failed to control his men, so he was dismissed from his post as acting centurion and returned to his post as decapitation captain." The messenger replied, "The Muslim priest who caused the trouble and the woman who filed the complaint on behalf of others were both arrested by the government and interrogated to see if there were any other plots."

"I'm afraid this won't scare them." Guo Kang pondered, "And I guess these people won't be able to confess anything. How could they have such a high ability to organize a conspiracy? I'm afraid they are just tempted by the money and want to take advantage. This kind of criminal motive is not big, but everyone has it, and it's even harder to suppress..."

"Taiji said that he didn't know how to deal with this group of people, so he arrested these two people who had some status and property." The messenger said: "However, he still wants to consult your opinion on the follow-up handling, so he asked me to come here quickly to report." "What is his current thinking?" Guo Kang asked hurriedly.

"He thinks that these unruly people are shameless and it is not only laborious to deal with them, but also ineffective. However, their leaders have property and status, which can be used to restrain them, and then use punishment to force them to restrain ordinary unruly people." The messenger told him Tuohuan's idea: "We don't know how to deal with these unruly people. But these leaders are all old local tyrants. They know best how to control the unruly people."

"It seems possible..." Guo Kang thought for a moment: "I'll think about it and get back to him."

"More specific information is in the case file." The messenger took out a tube of documents from his horse and handed it to him: "Taiji said there are a few other things. Please take a look at them as well."

Guo Kang took the document and asked the guard at the door to take him to rest. He also asked Wu Han to turn on the lights and read it directly on the table.

"Is there anything else I need to do?" Wu Han also looked like he wanted to sleep. Seeing that Guo Kang started working overtime without saying a word, he quickly took the initiative to ask.

"No, I'll just look at the details myself." Guo Kang raised his head and replied, "According to the messenger, he has almost finished dealing with this matter, so there is no need to rush overnight."

"It's really my fault this time." He sighed. "Now that I think about it, it's actually a good thing that these Russians got into trouble. If we continue like this, and we meet someone who has done nothing wrong, the natives will still target him and pester him, and I'm afraid we won't be able to convince the legionnaires to stay calm."

"From what I heard, the other legion soldiers are indeed dissatisfied and want to help them." Wu Han thought for a moment and replied, "But this is not entirely a bad thing. At least, it can be seen that other people in the legion also regard Ross soldiers as their own."

"Ah, this method is really outrageous..." Guo Kang muttered and shook his head: "You should go and rest first. I have read the other things in the letter and it should be nothing - my God!"

"What's wrong?" Wu Han was about to turn around and leave, but quickly turned back and asked.

"He said that in a fit of rage, he shut down all the brothels in the city." Guo Kang leaned back in his chair: "This is too radical..."

"Then, what do we need to do?" Wu Han didn't seem that shocked - or maybe he cared more about sleeping than the new policy.

"Think about how to explain it." Guo Kang spread his hands. "If I were here, I could still persuade him to take it easy and take it step by step. First, tidy up these places and make the flow of people under control, and then consider the follow-up measures. But since he has already taken action, there is no point in saying these things."

"Anyway, even if they are open now, they will be forced to shut down once the plague comes. In this case, let's just cut it off across the board and shut them all down first." He threw the paper in his hand on the table: "Hey, it's just that he beats me up, which is great. I have to stay up late to help him think of excuses."

"Isn't it a good reason to fight the plague?" Wu Han asked curiously.

"The plague won't last long. We also need to consider what to do after the plague." Guo Kang held his chin and thought, "We must do it once and for all. Since the brothel has been closed, we must come up with a more complete statement that is suitable for any time. Otherwise, if it is closed and opened, everyone will definitely relax. When the plague really comes, some people will probably lose their fear and commit crimes against the wind, harming more people."

"It's not easy to find such a reason these days. Even the doctrine doesn't work very well... But it's not like we don't have a reason to use."

He thought for a moment and said, "You see, since the classical Greek era, professional prostitutes have a characteristic, which is that they are outside the family."

"The laws of Athens already stipulated that women could not exist as independent individuals in the city-state, but must exist as members of a family. The Roman law was the same: before marriage, women were under the guardianship of their fathers; after marriage, guardianship was transferred to their husbands; if the husband died before her, guardianship was transferred to her sons. Even if there were no direct male relatives, there must be a closest male guardian for her."

"But unlike decent women, prostitutes do not have a fixed legal guardian. According to the law, they even have to pay taxes to the state, which means they are independent individuals just like men. Therefore, they are actually a group of people who are free from patriarchy."

"Our Roman state is built from patriarchal families and patriarchal organizations, from the bottom up. The emergence of such a large number of people outside the system will undoubtedly hinder social stability. This violates the foundation of our country, so it must be cracked down and suppressed - what do you think of this statement?"

After Guo Kang finished speaking, he looked at Wu Han, waiting for him to express his opinion. However, after a while, the other party did not respond.

"…Then let's go to bed today."

(End of this chapter)