Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 723 From Suiye to Ryukyu, from Jiaozhi to Xiongjin

In the afternoon, Tang Sai'er led his men to the vicinity of the target town.

Before, Zhu Wenkui asked her to take away all the cavalry except the scouts and duty personnel, as a temporary run-in and additional training. As a result, Tang Saier directly took away more than one-third of the people.

She believes that cavalry is not just what everyone thought before, those who brought their own war horses and received special training. On the contrary, as long as there is a mount that can walk, it can be used as a cavalry.

Along the way, she collected all kinds of pack horses, even donkeys and mules, and let those who could ride them ride them. After that, she took these people around every day to teach them how to follow the team. Zhu Wenkui thought that this kind of training was too hasty, would not be of much use in actual combat, and wasted horsepower - even donkey power. But Tang Sai'er still enjoyed it.

This time, she also brought everyone out and marched along the trade route in a mighty procession.

Tang Sai'er rode a tall horse, wrapped in a cloak, and walked at the front of the team. Since everyone knew that this was mainly a demonstration to scare people, they were in a relatively relaxed mood. Just like before, the two of them rode on the same horse and followed behind her, looking like they were just going out for fun.

When they were almost in the town, she slowed down a little, turned around and asked, "Where is our translator?"

Her deputy was Martin, a poor knight from Bohemia, and one of Jessica's old acquaintances. After the chaos in Dadu, Jessica gathered people to participate in the expedition, and the King of Wu specially sent him to lead the troops to support, which shows how much he valued him.

The number of cavalrymen under Jessica was indeed small, and he had always been the leader of these people. Perhaps because of these reasons, he was far from obedient to Tang Sai'er, the sudden appearance of his superior, but he temporarily gave her face because of Zhu Wenkui's order.

Tang Sai'er had gathered so many people, and he obviously had reservations. Therefore, during the entire operation, he led people and secretly protected little Jeanna from behind. He was obviously prepared. If the situation was unfavorable and the team was broken by Tang Sai'er, he would lead the little princesses to break through first.

In response to Tang Sai'er's question, he just turned around and greeted a boy riding a pony over, and then said nothing.

"Huh? Is it a different person?" Tang Sai'er asked in surprise.

"Uncle Karl is on his turn to rest. I will be with the team this afternoon." The other party was a little reserved, but after a pause, he quickly introduced himself: "My name is Johannes Gutenberg, you can just call me Hans."

"Huh? I don't think I've ever said hello to him before." Tang Sai'er thought about it and found that she didn't seem to have any impression of him.

"I just came here four days ago," Gutenberg said, "but don't worry, I'm not a new comer. My family has been serving the court for several years. My father is a registered craftsman of the Mainz Goldsmiths Guild and is quite famous. A few years ago, he was commissioned to connect with other merchants to help Your Majesty purchase and transport precious metals for the Ministry of Revenue to dispatch. I have met Your Majesty several times before. But I never had the opportunity to meet the prince before."

"Although we are from Mainz, for the convenience of business, our family's largest workshop has always been located in Strasbourg. Since I was a child, my father often took me to run business there. Miss Jeanne's family also has businesses there, so we are familiar with each other. We serve the court through her recommendation." He deliberately added: "Over the years, I have also been an intern in the court and received guidance from Mr. Huang. I am also familiar with the various systems and regulations of our Ming Dynasty. If you have any questions, just tell me."

Although he was young, Gutenberg looked like an experienced businessman. He specifically talked about his resume, obviously to show that he was a "family member" specially introduced by Lady Jeanne. Although he was unfamiliar, he could be trusted.

However, after hearing this, Tang Saier looked even more suspicious. Seeing that everyone was looking at her, she quickly put away her expression and pretended to be serious.

"Okay, you should have a lot of knowledge. You should also prepare yourself. After we arrive at the market town, you can help me explain it to everyone. You can speak this language, right?" She thought about it and got down to business.

"I know a little bit. Bohemia is the source of precious metal mines, and there are many merchants who make a living from this. We deal with them from time to time." Gutenberg hastily assured again: "Don't worry, although it is a bit far from here, Mainz and Strasbourg are both big cities, and we have seen all kinds of people coming and going from the south and the north. I can basically understand all the larger dialects, including the Bohemian language - although some people think that this is not Alemannic. Just tell me if there is anything I need to do."

"In one country, you have to bring interpreters for so many languages," Little Jeanne complained. "It's really not easy to work here."

"After all, the Alemanni are large and scattered." Tang Sai'er expressed her understanding: "And let alone them, even in China, if you go far away, you can't understand what the locals say. It's okay when the local dialect is close to Mandarin, but if it's too far away, the people still can't understand it, and we have to ask someone who knows Mandarin to translate it."

"I heard from the Yuan people that if we follow the standards of the Tang Dynasty, from Suiye to Ryukyu, from Jiaozhi to Pyongyang, they are all one country. If we take this into account, the languages ​​spoken by people in different places will be even more numerous. I'm afraid even a translator will not be enough."

"That's right..." Little Jeanna thought about it and nodded.

"At the moment, we don't need any translation, but we have to prepare." Tang Sai'er instructed Gutenberg again: "Once I have dealt with the Mongols, you will go directly into the town and tell everyone that the royal army has arrived and is currently looking for an opportunity to destroy the main force of the barbarians. We are a team specially sent out to inform and appease the people. We are here to inform everyone of this matter and reassure them - oh, if you can write, just write a notice to reassure the people and post it there."

"Yes, yes. I am good at this." Gutenberg agreed immediately. "Do you think it should be written in Chinese characters, Latin, or German letters?"

"It's all right. I asked before, and there's only one person here who can read, and he's not in town. I guess there aren't many people who can read, so it doesn't matter what you write." Tang Sai'er waved her hand and said, "For better results, you should write Chinese characters, so it looks more formal - don't worry about whether they can understand it or not, just let everyone see that you posted the notice."

“Oh oh…” Gutenberg didn’t expect this to be the case, but he still agreed.

"You know how to write a notice, right? You know the format, right?" Tang Sai'er continued to instruct, "Even though no one can understand it, you still have to make it look presentable."

"And this work needs to be done by you as a translator yourself, for the best results. If I, as a commander, have to personally issue these public notices, the people will think we are an illiterate, makeshift team. Can we do this ourselves?"

"No problem." Gutenberg agreed immediately: "Although I have never written it, I often helped print notices for the court before. I know what it looks like."

"Okay, let's do this." Tang Sai'er nodded.

"But what about the Mongols?" Gutenberg couldn't help asking, "They are still entrenched in the town. They are the biggest problem."

"Those people aren't a big problem." Tang Sai'er looked around and said, "Their scouts should be watching us in the woods. We can just walk over there."

Gutenberg didn't see anything unusual around him, but this wasn't his job. Since his boss said so, he stepped aside for the time being and began to think about how to write.

Tang Sai'er led everyone to continue riding for a while. When they could see the town from a distance, she turned around and ordered: "Those few people are staring at us all the way and they are not tired of it. Liang Laoer, go and grab one and let him lead the way. Don't worry about the others, let them go back and tell their Yan. Gu Liu, you go to form a team and set up a formation. But without my order, you are not allowed to rush in, understand?" "Okay." A strong man next to him responded and galloped out. Another tall young man picked up the flag, turned around and shouted to everyone, asking them to change the formation immediately according to the requirements of the last training.

Behind her, a drummer started beating the small drum on horseback, and the others also perked up. The originally lazy and scattered team seemed to have a different atmosphere.

"Are they going to capture their scouts?" Noticing the change in the situation, Little Jeanna asked curiously, "There must be more than one person on the other side, can he do it on his own?"

"Don't worry. Back in the army, Lao Liang's most famous nickname was 'Zhuang Po Tian'; Gu Liu was called 'Gu Tie Tou'. They were both well-known figures." Tang Sai'er said with some nostalgia: "In the first battle between us and the government troops, the two of them and Lao Zhang broke through the government troops in one round. After that, this nickname spread all over Shandong."

"Ah? This is the first time I've heard of this." Little Jeanne looked very interested: "So there is still a custom of giving generals nicknames?"

"The kings and lords in our hometown also have nicknames, right?" Jeanne of Domremy interrupted, "It doesn't seem so strange..."

"Some famous leaders will have nicknames, sometimes more than one. Generally speaking, the greater the reputation, the more appropriate the nickname, and the wider it will spread. So in the end, it will even be more well-known than the real name." Tang Sai'er shook her head: "Alas, but now, we are embarrassed to call it that."

"Why? I think it's quite interesting." Little Jeanne said without hesitation.

"He lost the fight." Tang Sai'er said helplessly, "Later, during the decisive battle, Lao Liang ran into a fierce general of the government army. It should be your... cousin, right? In the end, he lost the fight and was beaten half to death. He passed out directly. The others took a lot of effort to get him back. Later, he lay in bed for several months and recovered from his injuries."

"After that, we are too embarrassed to call them by those names anymore. How can a defeated general boast about his bravery..."

"Victory and defeat are common in the military, so there's no need to be so discouraged." Little Jeanna advised.

“The people over there are very concerned about their reputation. If they lose a fight, they will feel really bad. Apart from other things, are you worthy of those brothers who followed you to fight? How can you still brag about this?” Tang Sai’er waved her hand: “But the government may not care. The prefectures and counties over there always win and always report their achievements to the higher-ups. You really can’t learn to be so thick-skinned - no wonder they can become officials…”

"Is that so..." Little Jeanna understood: "Then sister-in-law, what's your nickname? You are the leader, so you must have one too, right?"

"Don't shout." Tang Sai'er's face turned red and she reached out to cover her mouth.

"Yes, yes, what's your nickname?" Just after holding down little Jeanne, Jeanne from Domremy behind her also asked curiously.

“Stop talking, stop talking.” Tang Sai’er shook her head repeatedly: “Everyone says that a hero doesn’t talk about his past achievements. I can’t talk about it anymore…”

"Hey?"

Fortunately, the awkward moment didn't last long. In front, Liang Laoer came back trotting with a man wearing a fur hat and a horse. When he came in front of Tang Sai'er, he threw the man to the ground, causing him to fall and scream.

"Don't pretend. How could I not know whether you are injured or not?" He shouted to the man on the ground, pretending to raise his whip: "Hurry up and get up! Our leader wants to question you."

The other party probably didn't understand what he said, but the meaning of these actions was still very obvious. Seeing that he couldn't escape, he had to roll and crawl to his feet again, timidly looking at the people around him, then quickly bowed and said something.

"Translate!" Tang Sai'er turned around and shouted.

"Uh, this..." Gutenberg was stunned.

"Ah? You don't understand?" Tang Sai'er was a little surprised: "Didn't you say you know all kinds of languages ​​here?"

"Then Mongolian is not the Alemannic dialect..." Gutenberg defended with a look of injustice.

"..."

Tang Sai'er was dumbfounded when she saw the confused Mongolian scout waiting for their response.

"What's the matter?" asked Jeanne of Domremy.

"We came from the Roman Khanate, but no one here speaks Mongolian," little Jeanne muttered.

"After walking through this journey, I feel that there are not many people in the Khanate who can speak Mongolian..." said Jeanna from Dongremi.

"Uh……"

"They may not be speaking Mongolian. It sounds like Cuman to me." Martin, who had been silent, couldn't help but interrupt and said, "As far as I know, many of the 'Mongolians' here are not actually Mongolians. They are the Kipchaks from the grasslands of the Rus region. They don't speak Mongolian, but the language of the Kipchaks and Cumans. Although I don't understand it either..."

"Then, what should we do?" asked Liang Lao Er.

"Let's keep moving forward." Tang Sai'er had no choice but to say.

(End of this chapter)