Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 686 Sigismund invaded the territory of Great Wu!
"Upon—"

After a shout, the ministers of the Wu State who were chatting in the open space at the entrance of the village stood up from their small stools, carried the stools, walked through the gate guarded by several guards, and entered the meeting place.

The meeting place here is the place where the village dries the grain. Now it is empty and no one is using it, so they use it for meetings.

In fact, the court of King Wu lacked special ceremonial officers and guards of honor. The guards of honor outside were actually part-time soldiers under King Wu. They had to take turns to suppress bandits on weekdays, so those who were idle stood guard here. The person in charge of shouting was not a eunuch, but a person with the loudest voice in the village. In order to save salary expenses, the guards of honor were also amateurs. After the meeting here, they had to go home to work. After a few days, they went to the next village and had to change people.

Of course, here, the King of Wu couldn't find a eunuch even if he wanted one - the locals didn't have the technology to do so. The Purple Tent Khanate was going for a retro style, cosplaying as ancient Rome everywhere, causing the Greek craftsmanship to be almost lost.

Moreover, the locals also talked about it behind the scenes, saying that the King of Wu was the grandson of the "World Restorer", but he finally did not get a fiefdom and did not know how to make a living; so he became poorer and poorer and was about to beg for food. He also had a bad temper, which was that he liked to reduce the power of the vassal states, and as a result, he was beaten by the great nobles. After reducing the power of the vassal states several times, the harem and family members had long been dispersed. Now he runs around by himself, and there is no harem that needs eunuchs to take care of...

Zhu Yunwen himself did try hard. Huang Zicheng had suggested before that now he had some wealth, unlike the beginning of his business. Moreover, the cultural level of the residents here was far lower than that of the Central Plains, and they still had many barbaric habits. They liked to follow their instincts, admire and rely on the strong, instead of paying more attention to etiquette. Therefore, there should be some majesty to intimidate them. Zhu Yunwen agreed with this, so he started all these ceremonies and planned to move towards formality step by step.

However, when they were preparing to further establish the ritual system, Huang Zicheng had an argument with others.

It turned out that Huang Zicheng had always been arrogant and looked down on the locals. He thought that even the so-called scholars here had very poor cultural level and were not worth mentioning. When he was free, he opened a school and taught students himself.

Zhu Yunwen and others thought this was a good thing, but Huang Zicheng attached great importance to the master-disciple relationship. After the Wu Wang court developed, it needed some civil officials. Zhu Yunwen asked him to select talents, and Huang Zicheng kept recommending his students; even if there were not enough people and other educated people needed to be recruited, they often had to worship him as a teacher first before they could get a better position.

As a result, many local educated people complained about him. But Huang Zicheng was a champion in the Ming Dynasty after all, and his cultural level was indeed very high, so there was nothing others could do. Moreover, the court was particularly short of people, and even if they didn't go out of their way to please him, as long as they went through the formalities and called him sir, he would be happy to arrange a position for them, after all, they would still have an official position.

Later, more and more people came to visit, and their dissatisfaction with the situation grew. However, because Zhu Yunwen treated the middle and lower class intellectuals well, they only complained privately and never made a big fuss.

However, a few years ago, a group of priests came from Bohemia to visit. Their leader was a priest named Prokop, who said that he came to meet the King of Wu. Apparently, he had heard of the reputation of this place, so he came to investigate and see if the actual situation was as rumored.

Zhu Yunwen was very welcoming when he heard that someone was coming, and he sent someone to receive them. A local monk who was serving here took them to visit several villages and towns in the nearby area under the jurisdiction of the King of Wu. In the town, the priests found a conspicuous sign with a notice on it, and asked what it was.

The monk told them that this was a list released by the court, which listed all the officials recruited this time for public display. The priests were amazed and thought it was a good policy, but the monk secretly said that it was just a formality.

Those who were ranked high on the list were all Huang Zicheng's disciples. Everyone was dissatisfied, but they didn't want to tear each other apart and destroy the court that had been hard to come by; and if they didn't make a big fuss, they didn't know how to oppose effectively, so there was no good solution. Not to mention that the people didn't even know how to read, so even though it was posted here for public notice, no one could say anything, it was just for their own self-inspiration.

The monks complained that Master Huang was fine earlier, but now he is becoming more and more arrogant. There is even a rumor that King Wu was a monk in a monastery, so he understands everyone. But the power to select officials is in the hands of pagans who worship idols. If this continues, it will not be good for the court.

There are some things that the officials in the court cannot say directly, but the Bohemian priests who are their allies can make suggestions, so they hope they can help hint at it.

The Bohemian priests didn't take it seriously at first. In fact, everyone was very satisfied with the Wu Dynasty court, and in many aspects, it even exceeded expectations. So, although they verbally agreed, they didn't plan to really do anything.

However, in the following trip, as both sides decided to establish a cooperative relationship, the delegation began to hold frequent talks with higher-level officials. During a meeting with Huang Zicheng himself, Father Prokop couldn't help but ask about the list.

Huang Zicheng told him that he had always treated all candidates fairly, but the quality of the locals was indeed not good enough.

Moreover, he was not just talking nonsense. His hometown, Fenyi County in Jiangxi Province of the Seris Empire, was well-known for its literary talent. During the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, it produced many literati and poets, many of whom passed the imperial examinations and served in the court. He himself had studied hard since he was a child, which gave him the opportunity to serve in the court.

And what about here? The Wuwang Mansion had passed through so many places and recruited so many people, but the number of literati it could provide was not even enough for a provincial examination. He could see the difference between this cultural atmosphere and the average level of literati with his own eyes.

There are always people who say that the various affairs in the palace do not require a particularly high level of education, and therefore question whether he only cares about his own reputation and interests and ignores the future of the country. He is not deaf, so he naturally knows this kind of weird talk.

However, now that such a large territory in the country is under the responsibility of all cultural and educational affairs, he alone is in charge. He is not in the mood to fight with these villains. He has done these things with far-reaching considerations. This place has always been a foreign land, far away from the Central Plains. The people lack the education of Confucius and Zhu Xi, do not know propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame, and like to follow the strong and bully the weak. If they are directly appointed as middle and senior management personnel, not only will there be problems with their ability, but their integrity and temperament will also be unqualified.

The priests thought that what he said made sense. The areas controlled by King Wu were mostly relatively poor, and the cultural level was definitely far lower than that of the legendary Seris. Even if he didn't emphasize it, everyone would have recognized it. But the tone of his words was very offensive; and the subsequent direct and indiscriminate devaluation of everyone's moral level also made everyone very uncomfortable.

So, Father Prokop couldn't help asking, saying that most of us are indeed priests from the countryside and small towns, and our cultural level is not very good. But according to you, sir, you have been studying hard since you were a child. This is certainly commendable, but everyone has lived at the grassroots level and knows that this is not something that ordinary farmers can afford. It must be a wealthy family with a lot of money, relying on the labor of more ordinary farmers to afford this kind of life. Living by seizing other farmers' harvests, isn't that bullying the weak?

Moreover, you also said that people from your hometown were also officials during the Yuan Dynasty? Before the visit, everyone had a make-up lesson and knew that the Yuan Dynasty was a dynasty led by the Mongols and established by force. So, being an official for the Mongols, isn't that considered being dependent on the strong?

Since the scholarly families in your hometown also take advantage of the strong and bully the weak, what is the difference between their morality after they have learned these so-called principles of propriety and righteousness and our barbarians' morality?
Huang Zicheng probably didn't expect that others would have a way to refute it, and he didn't react for a moment. Father Prokop continued to question, saying that although some people attack you as a pagan, we admire the civilization achievements of Seris, so we dare not casually criticize your beliefs. However, is this the truth that Confucius and Zhu Xi taught us? Or has your church, like ours, also abandoned the claims of the saints? Although you still think you have the legal system, you have already become corrupt?
This was a very sharp remark - at least it sounded that way to Huang Zicheng, and it broke his defense. The two sides' words became more and more intense, and soon they started arguing, and finally they got too excited and started fighting.

Hearing the noise, Huang Zicheng's disciples also came over and cheered loudly for their master. However, Prokop had more people, so they surrounded Huang Zicheng and beat him up.

Later, the guards reported the incident, and Zhu Yunwen and others came to intervene, and Huang Zicheng was finally rescued. After that, he became much more honest, and was polite to everyone he met, and he no longer praised or criticized others casually during class.

Fortunately, after the official list incident, the rumors died down a lot, and there were no more pagan stories spreading around. Cooperation with other sects was also smooth.

Zhu Yunwen and others were quite pleased, thinking that there had been a lot of progress compared to the French, and that the beating was not in vain. However, there was no follow-up to the reform of the ritual system.

After the ministers arrived, they stood in order and saluted the King of Wu. People here don't know how to kowtow or bow, so it's a bit awkward to learn. In addition, the King of Wu's court has limited financial resources, and most of the ministers can't work together with the King of Wu, but have to eat separately, otherwise one village won't be enough for them to eat. Therefore, many ministers also rushed over from nearby villages and towns, coming to the meeting early in the morning and having to go back before the evening. If a larger-scale meeting is needed, amateur ministers must be summoned to participate, and their time is even tighter. Therefore, starting from this period of time, many procedures like this ordinary court meeting were simply cancelled to save time.

The King of Wu ordered everyone to take a seat, and the ministers took the small stools they brought with them and sat down obediently - this kind of threshing ground was covered with loose dust when the weather was dry, and was covered with mud when it rained, so it was impossible to kneel and sit, so they could only make do with this.

After sitting down, everyone began to report on their respective responsibilities and exchanged the intelligence they had recently discovered. The first person to speak was "Master Craftsman" John. He was the leader of the blacksmith guild in a nearby town. Because of his good skills, the orders from the town could no longer meet his needs, so he often traveled around with his apprentices and was hired to work for others. Because he was good at socializing, he had close contacts with blacksmiths in several places.

When Zhu Yunwen established official positions according to Zhou Li, he appointed him as the head of craftsmen, called "craftsman", and also carved seals and made official uniforms for him. John worked very hard, not only actively paying tribute, but also reporting any news he received.

According to him, several lords around him are making unusual moves again. To the north is Count Steinberg, who seems to have received orders from Sigismund himself and is ordering weapons and armor. I wonder if he wants to take action again.

Several other people also agreed with his judgment. "Mr. Market" Baker was the first to express his support and told everyone that many merchants in Bohemia had received orders to quickly purchase food and deliver it to designated locations. It seemed that trouble was about to start again.

Baker was the president of the local Chamber of Commerce and was well-known in several nearby cities. As his last name indicated, his family started out as bakers, and later their business grew bigger and bigger, involving grain, pottery and other fields. However, although he had some money, the nobles still regarded him as a nouveau riche and ordered him around. When they had no money, they treated him as a fat sheep and forced him to borrow money. His property and caravan were also extorted by the nobles many times, and his life was very uneasy.

In the Zhou Li system that Zhu Yunwen was obsessed with, the status of merchants was actually not low - at least much better than it is now. Although they could not directly hold high-ranking official positions, many industries in the Zhou Li official system were also divided into feudal systems.

These "X people" and "X officials" who specialize in managing a certain profession often have a scholar-official title and are appointed by the monarch. They represent their industry in government affairs, report work regularly, provide opinions and feedback; they issue tasks on behalf of the monarch and manage the craftsmen in their industry. This system can be seamlessly connected with their current guilds.

Although the rank was not high in theory, it was a legitimate status and had great appeal to these small city merchants who were not strong enough. Moreover, with the existence of the "underground kingdom" of Wu, small merchants who were originally unable to maintain large armed caravans could also share safe trade routes by joining the King of Wu.

Therefore, although the King of Wu and others kept talking about "focusing on the basics and suppressing the details" all day long, industrial and commercial groups were still his important supporters.

These small merchant groups were not as powerful as their counterparts in Prague, Dresden and Nuremberg. Many of them only had a few carts and a workshop. But they were numerous, active, and widely distributed. After being organized, they could often provide intelligence quickly and help transport supplies when needed. Whenever there was a change in the external situation, the court would know it even earlier than the relevant lords.

Therefore, as soon as there were signs of war, the news was immediately known here.

"The enemy this time is of high rank. Steinberg has had a good relationship with Sigismund in recent years and has been entrusted by him to help collect taxes from nearby estates." The counselor "Baldy Thomas" said, "He must be here to lead the way this time. He is probably targeting the rumors that we are cooperating with the Bohemians. It seems that he can't escape."

Thomas was originally a wandering mendicant monk, well-informed. He had been recruited by the King of Wu for several years. He always made accurate judgments on the situation, so he was given an important position and was appointed as the bookkeeper. When he said this, others also agreed, thinking that Sigismund must be going to invade the territory of the Great Wu.

"This is too much!" Zhu Yunwen, who was sitting on the chair, slapped the armrest, and the chair swayed with a creak. "We spent money to bribe him last time, but this old guy is probably taking advantage of both sides! I think this guy will not stop unless he is beaten up."

"We can gather our best troops and go to the outer lines." Right Chief Clerk Qi Tai suggested, "We should strike first before he has finished his preparations. Otherwise, if he breaks in, we will burn, kill, and plunder. Even if we win in the end, we will have to pay a high price, and the people will suffer heavy losses, which will hurt the country's strength."

"This is not a good idea." Zuo Changshi Huang Zicheng hesitated and said, "Others are still waiting and watching. If we act first, it will give them more reasons and may cause the local princes to attack us like before in France. This will not only make the situation difficult, but also make it difficult to preserve our foundation."

"Before, they didn't make any moves, and we took the initiative to reduce the power of the feudal lords, so we attracted the enemy instead; now others have begun to organize large-scale armies, who else could it be if not to fight us?" Qi Tai shook his head and said.

"I heard that Mr. Hu, the leader of Bohemia, was detained by Sigismund." Huang Zicheng thought for a moment and said, "At this time, they will definitely take advantage of their leaderlessness to suppress the Bohemian mob in one fell swoop. They may not be able to launch an offensive against us at the same time."

"If the Bohemians can't hold on, and Tabor Stronghold is captured, we will be in danger." Qi Tai said, "I think it's best to take the initiative."

Zhu Yunwen wanted to continue asking for their opinions, but when the other ministers heard the saying "the lips and teeth are cold", they became excited and stood up one after another, waving their small stools to express their support for taking the initiative to send troops.

Zhu Yunwen quickly asked the guards to maintain order. However, it seemed that there was no way to discuss this matter. Although he was a little hesitant, he still made up his mind: "Let's fight once!"

Everyone cheered immediately.

Immediately, everyone began to divide the work. Zhu Yunwen personally wrote a letter and sent it to the Great Qin State, requesting reinforcements. He also asked "Bald" Thomas to translate it and send a letter to the Bohemians. Beck had a friend who did business in Prague and knew many local talents. Zhu Yunwen entrusted him to secretly send the letter to Tabor Dazhai, and then go to Father Prokop who was in charge of defense there, asking him to send troops to respond. Qi Tai was also responsible for gathering the army, Huang Zicheng was responsible for evacuating nearby residents, and the engineer "Stonemason Hans" gathered people and transported military equipment.

His order spread quickly along the roads. Soon, countless people from the villages of Lorraine to the mines of Bohemia got the news. The officials of the royal palaces who stayed in various places began to collect food and distribute weapons.

Without the lords' knowledge, or without their daring to know, large carts carrying grain and fodder, and teams of farmers and miners armed with spears, flails, and even pickaxes and sickles, were flowing rapidly across the long strip of Wu territory, like a sudden surge of water in a river.

A week later, Zhu Yunwen discussed with the ministers and believed that the military establishment of the palace was sufficient, but the administrative establishment was completely insufficient. Since it was wartime, there was no way to be too particular. Therefore, the Chief Secretary's Office was expanded and six departments were added to handle the complicated affairs of wartime. Above the three guards, a governor's office was added to unify the management of the army. The local governors and county officials would not be adjusted for the time being.

After the adjustment was completed, the enemy's situation was basically understood. A farmer reported that Steinberg was leading his troops out of the city to collect food and grass. Zhu Yunwen immediately sent the Right Guard Captain "Blacksmith Henry" as the vanguard, led 300 selected soldiers, launched a surprise attack, annihilated the enemy in one fell swoop, and killed Steinberg in battle. The Ming army took advantage of the situation to seize the fortress where he stored military equipment, and also captured two towns in the earl's territory. However, Steinberg's wife led her trusted servants to protect the mountain stronghold, and it was not possible to defeat it for a while.

However, the Ming army continued to arrive. Every day, teams with different clothes, weapons, and even different languages ​​came to the town to gather. The number of people was so large that it even exceeded Zhu Yunwen's own expectations. But on the other hand, the Great Qin Kingdom said that they were not ready yet and asked him to wait. There was no reply from Tabor Village, and no one knew what was going on.

But after Zhu Yunwen discussed with Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng and others, they thought that things had come to this point and they could not wait any longer. Apart from other things, they had gathered so many people beyond their expectations, and they could not sustain themselves for too long just by eating food. They could not follow the example of Emperors Huizong and Qinzong and disband the people who came to support the emperor, could they?
Zhu Yunwen also believed that among the many vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty, his fourth uncle was the most capable fighter for the time being. Every time he went on an expedition, his fourth uncle led the team personally, so the soldiers were always ready to fight. Although his fourth uncle seemed to be unfriendly to him, it was better for him to learn from him, so that he would have a chance to surpass him.

Since he has not yet received recognition from his father, he will first perform the duties of a vassal prince - although the distance is far, he also wants his father to see that being a vassal prince is a waste of his talent, and of course he will also be the one with the greatest achievements.

Now that there are no allies to help, it will be more difficult. But Zhu Yunwen and others have not been beaten in vain along the way. They already know that war is a thing that will inevitably lead to countless accidents. It is definitely unrealistic to expect everything to go according to plan.

Moreover, the strength of Wu State now exceeds expectations, and it can make up for many deficiencies in the plan. They can fight alone and destroy the Barbarian King Sigismund in one fell swoop.

Soon, Zhu Yunwen announced that he would personally lead the army to fight, leading the three guards of Western Wu, claiming to have an army of 100,000. With flags stretching for dozens of miles, they headed straight for the heart of the Alemanni.

(End of this chapter)