Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 710: Traditional Customs of Attacking the City in Women's Clothing

After another month, the plague in Egypt was finally basically over.

In places where the government can control the epidemic, the plague actually ended earlier. From Cairo to Alexandria, the country has been stable for a long time. After several meetings, Captain Jessica and others left Cairo and returned to Dadu in advance to report on their work, analyze intelligence, and prepare for subsequent actions. On the other hand, Tuohuan also sent someone over to organize an event as a commemoration.

This event was similar to a triumphal ceremony, or rather, the purpose of Tuohuan's promotion was probably to commemorate the victory of the war. However, this was not a formal triumphal ceremony, so it was much more relaxed. The crowd prepared for a while, and when the plague was over, they started the carnival.

They held a brief speech and sacrificial ceremony in the small square in the center of the Grand Bazaar.

This time, Guo Kang did not talk about his own experiences and lessons in dealing with the plague. Instead, he came up and told everyone that he had heard from some church historians that the rise of Christianity to become the mainstream religion among the people of the empire might be related to the Antonine Plague that began in the 2nd century.

Facing the disease, the nobles and priests were powerless and even took the lead in fleeing, while philosophers could only continue to condemn the moral corruption of society and could not provide any solutions. Doctors were also unable to deal with this phenomenon. Galen, the founder of Western medicine, also ran away. In the end, the plague caused Rome to lose nearly one-third of its population, and Rome's most prosperous era ended.

In the chaos and pain, people also lost confidence in the original upper class. In this desperate chaos, the Christian Church was the only organization that was still trying to maintain order, calling on people to help each other, and providing help to the lower class. These actions could not cure the plague itself, but they could largely avoid the secondary disasters caused by the plague and save those patients with milder symptoms. Therefore, many people began to support and even join the church, allowing them to develop faster.

But now, facing the same plague, the situation is reversed. He heard that many places in Europe are beginning to see all kinds of new ideas to oppose and attack the church. The Bishop of Rome is powerless to do anything about it and can only use violence to silence the opponents, but the experience of the past has shown that this method is useless.

Everyone's faith has not changed, but the offensive and defensive situation has reversed. This can no longer be blamed on the Father and the Brother in Heaven, but it must be the people's own problem, caused by the church's no longer practicing righteousness. This conclusion, now seems even more obvious.

He told everyone that everyone knew that the true God must be unique, and that His representative on earth should only be Rome. Therefore, on the one hand, Rome was the only regime qualified to receive the Mandate of Heaven; on the other hand, it should also be a universal empire that could represent all people with different customs and cultures.

This is both a privilege and a responsibility. Rome has the Mandate of Heaven and the power to transcend other countries, but it also needs to bear various responsibilities in the world, spread benevolence and justice to everyone, and let everyone enjoy the grace of heaven. Of course, the religion of Rome should also correspond to this.

However, now there are many different religious sects and different countries are governing themselves. This is obviously not a normal situation. The world will eventually be unified. So, who can get the approval of heaven and achieve this goal?

In the past, few people in the West thought about this problem. Either they were like the ancient Rome, who only knew how to be domineering and were not good at promoting the king's rule; or they simply knew how to recite scriptures and did not know how to deal with real problems. But from this incident, we can clearly see what should be done.

He believed that the key to success this time was to see the relationship between the Mandate of Heaven and benevolence and righteousness. Treating the people with a benevolent attitude would gain their support and the approval of Heaven, and he could implement various orders and require everyone to strictly abide by the order. If the order was followed, hidden dangers could be eliminated more quickly, the people would be less threatened and tortured, and the goal of treating people with benevolence could be achieved. When the people experienced benevolence, they would naturally support and respect the government more, allowing the Mandate of Heaven to continue to improve. In this way, a good cycle would be formed, and no matter how difficult the problem was, there would be a chance to solve it.

Therefore, he plans to continue to promote the integration of the state religion. Today, the world is far from the point where everyone has different names and different understandings of God, which is normal. But from the situation this time, as long as it can be done with benevolence and justice and care for the people, then any way of expression is acceptable. I hope everyone can realize this and join the action of building and developing Rome.

Under normal circumstances, such public statements would certainly be criticized by many people. No matter whether it is Christianity or the Islamic religion, there will undoubtedly be a large number of priests who do not agree with his statement and think it is heresy. But before, the results of fighting the plague were too shocking.

Not everyone understands or agrees with the historical events Guo Kang talked about and the laws he summarized. But one thing is certain, that is, the plague did cause huge damage, probably more than the casualties caused by floods and natural fires, and it is a recognized disaster that cannot be overcome by human power.

No matter whether it was the heroes and emperors or the famous doctors and wise men in history, they were helpless to do anything about it. Therefore, over time, everyone almost tacitly agreed that this was beyond the scope of human beings. Historically, plagues and the rise and fall of religions have always been closely related, and this is also an important reason.

Therefore, no one dares to refute or question his statement. In fact, many people wonder why he did not take the opportunity to claim that he was a prophet or saint chosen by God, or even a god on earth. In the Mediterranean world, such people have always appeared in an endless stream, so much so that the church often has to warn people not to be superstitious and not to believe in false prophets.

However, in the past, most people boasted a lot, but could not show the corresponding actual performance, so they were often seen through. Guo Kang had achieved amazing results, but he insisted that he had nothing to do with divinity. He even often told everyone that Brother Tian was not the kind of "God" they imagined. He advised everyone to pay more attention to the human world and the free choice of the soul, rather than what God asked me to do. He said that this was what the Father and Brother Tian expected. This kind of situation was really rare in the past...

Therefore, other religious people don't know how to deal with his situation. Everyone can only agree with the theory he puts forward. Otherwise, if he abandons the concept of benevolence and righteousness and really tries to seize the right to interpret the doctrine, it will be a big trouble...

After the speech, everyone started organizing celebrations. Someone made a large flag with a picture of a long sword that cut down the white knight on it and put it on Guo Kang. The excited crowd sang and danced everywhere, and the government, according to the previous plan, used the remaining funds to purchase cakes and meat and distributed them to the citizens who participated in the celebration. The city soon entered a carnival atmosphere.

At this time, in the south, outside a town, a group of people were resting in a shed.

The leader was Meltem. In the team, there was Old Sea Urchin, his student Idris, and several other local scholars. In addition, there were two messengers sent by the government following them.

Egypt's climate is always hot, and now it is summer, the sun is even hotter. At noon, it is not suitable to continue the journey, so everyone huddled in the shed, ate something, and rested, preparing to continue in the afternoon.

"How far are we from Bahnasa?" asked a messenger while drinking water.

"It's not far. We should be there this evening." Idris replied, leaning against the camel.

"That's good." The messenger heaved a sigh of relief. "I've never been afraid of a war, but this trip was really nerve-wracking."

"Alas, it will probably take at least ten years for them to recover." The old sea urchin was very depressed: "What a pity! If we could control more areas, perhaps fewer people would die."

Everyone was silent for a moment. After a moment, Idris asked, "Teacher, have you been here before? Was this place prosperous before?"

"This road has always been very prosperous, because it was originally an important road connecting Upper and Lower Egypt, and there were many merchants and travelers coming and going." The old sea urchin said: "There are some famous temples and martyrs' cemeteries in the city, so there are also some pilgrims who come to worship. In the past, this place was considered a densely populated area."

"Ah, I have no impression at all." Idris thought for a moment and said.

"This is not a religious holy place, so no one from our place comes here on purpose." The old sea urchin said: "Bahnasar is called the 'City of Martyrs'. The temples in the city were all built for this reason."

"During the time of the Orthodox Caliphate, the Arab army and the Romans fought a great battle here. At that time, the main Roman army in Syria had been defeated in a field battle, and part of the Egyptian garrison withdrew southward and stationed here. This place was a large city in ancient times, and the Greeks called it 'Oxyrhynchus'. The Romans built a large number of fortifications here for defense." "At the beginning, the commanders thought that the battle would not be too difficult, because from previous experience, the resistance in the Egyptian region was not strong. The local officers and officials were basically outsiders from Greece. They valued their own future and interests more, and often attacked each other. There were intricate factional struggles and personal grudges between them, and few people prioritized the interests of the empire."

"Many of the soldiers in the army are local Copts, and their faith is in the Coptic Church, which is greatly influenced by local culture. However, although they are all citizens in name, their promotion has always been suppressed by the Greek nobles, and it is difficult for them to get ahead. Moreover, in the previous sectarian disputes, the Coptic Church was suppressed and excluded, and was expelled from the Ecumenical Council. Therefore, many people are quite dissatisfied with Rome and have no will to fight."

"So, many previous battles were finally resolved through negotiations. The Egyptians would rather submit to the new outsiders than continue to obey Constantinople. The Caliph's army promised that as long as they paid the giaz tax, they would not harass them. In this way, from Alexandria to the inland, many places surrendered."

"However, those who gathered in Oxyrhynchus to resist were probably those who were unwilling to surrender no matter what. The previous appeasement was equivalent to screening out these rare people who firmly supported Rome. They also sought help from the south and received support from the Nubians, and then built a large-scale project near the city and turned it into a military fortress."

"After finding that negotiations were not working, the Caliph sent his most combat-savvy general, Khalid, to personally lead the siege. But the Roman fortifications were too difficult to deal with, so they could only attack bit by bit. Therefore, even with the best soldiers, the losses were huge." He shook his head. "There are different opinions on how much the losses were, but the Martyrs' Cemetery in the city alone buried tens of thousands of fallen soldiers."

"In our doctrine, it is generally calculated this way." He thought for a moment and explained: "Followers who have seen the Prophet himself are called 'Sahaba', which is the first generation of disciples; believers who have studied with at least one of the first generation of disciples are called 'Tabi', which means successor, and this is the second generation of disciples; the apprentice of the second generation of disciples is called 'Tabi-al-Tabi', which means the successor of the successor, and this is the third generation. These three generations are collectively called 'Salafi' and have extraordinary importance in jurisprudence."

"In the cemetery of this city, there are 5,000 first-generation disciples buried. Among them are the brothers of the fourth caliph Ali, several sons and a grandson of the first caliph Abu Bakr, the son of the third caliph Uthman, and the brother of Muawiyah, the first caliph of the Umayyad dynasty."

"How did they squeeze in so many people?" the messenger asked in surprise.

"It may be caused by the strong attack on the fortifications. For a long time, the Arab army lacked the ability to attack and conquer large cities, and the capture of large cities often depended on the enemy's own early collapse." The old sea urchin speculated:

"The reason why we were able to conquer the city in the end was probably not purely military. There is still a 'Seven Maidens Dome' mosque in the city. It is said that when the city was attacked, seven Coptic girls risked their lives to run out of the city and show the Arab army the way. This mosque was built to commemorate their contribution to the conquest of the city. Otherwise, it would have been even more difficult to conquer."

“There are so many historical stories.” Idris exclaimed.

"There are anecdotes everywhere in Egypt," the old sea urchin replied. "These histories are valuable treasures, so we have to study them to gain knowledge and experience. But this time, the attacking side should be the other way around."

"I think there is nothing left to rely on for resistance. However, we should try to reduce the losses as much as possible."

“I just don’t know if they will listen,” Idris expressed doubt.

"The Sheikh doesn't know, but the Emir in the city is likely to have heard it." The old sea urchin said, "We have already contacted them. When the time comes, we will sneak in and talk to them, and then we can discuss the follow-up matters."

"Bringing a bunch of women's clothes, is that what you mean?" Idris asked in surprise.

"Yes, there are still many people who are still swaying, so we should keep a low profile." Meltem told him: "When we set out in the afternoon, put on those turbans and robes."

Idris looked reluctant, but in the evening, they each put on the black robes prepared by Meltem, and wrapped their heads tightly with turbans and face scarves, leaving only their eyes exposed. The weapons and documents they carried were hidden under their clothes.

"This women's clothing is quite convenient..." a messenger complained in a low voice.

"Yeah, it's just too boring." Idris also commented: "It is said that our Berber tradition used to be the other way around. Come to think of it, with clothes like this, who can tell if it's a man or a woman..."

"Oh, by the way, teacher, you said that this kind of clothes should be too easy to disguise, right? Has there been a history of men dressing up as women to attack cities before?"

"Yes. There are quite a lot of them." The old sea urchin was also wrapped up tightly, and said in a low voice: "It's not just us. From Seris to western Europe, there are endless cases of disguised sieges."

"Our clothes are quite special. They may not be easy to hide other parts of the body. They can be seen, right?" Idris asked curiously.

"Anyway, Seris does have it. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Li Mi also had soldiers disguised as women to attack the enemy. It's also mentioned in the storybook." The messenger told him, "But it may not be as convenient as here."

"Yes, the main reason is to smuggle weapons. It is said that when the Buyid Dynasty attacked Baghdad, they were always unsuccessful, so they used this trick. Later, when the Seljuks attacked the Buyid Dynasty, they did the same thing by having soldiers put on long robes, disguised as women, and carry weapons into the city. Everything you can think of has been tried by others, and it has happened more than once or twice." said the old sea urchin.

"Then why can't we ban people from wearing this? It's really too dangerous. At least we should control it during wartime, right?" Idris shook his head.

"I don't know about that... Maybe it's the same as what happened this time. The guards have already colluded with each other. They just want to avoid being noticed on the surface and not make too big a fuss." The old sea urchin guessed.

"Okay, stop talking, we're almost there." Meltem, who was at the front of the team, wearing Persian-style short-sleeved clothes and a veiled hat, turned around and reminded.

"Hey? Why doesn't she have to wear this women's clothing?" Idris still felt that it was a bit unfair: "Our props shouldn't be made so thick. I'm so hot at this moment..."

"Because she is really a woman, you idiot!" The old sea urchin couldn't help but hit him from behind: "Shut up now!"

Idris was silent now.

In this way, everyone wrapped in robes came to the city gate, where the flow of people was obviously much less - I don't know if the guards could see it, but they let them in smoothly. After that, they had to start negotiations.

(End of this chapter)