Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 796 Heavenly Father is an Android God

Although Guo Kang's statement was modest, Zhu Wenku and Tang Sai'er believed that his assessment of the current situation was quite reasonable. Zhu Wenku even regretted not bringing Guo Kang's movie projection truck to show the film directly to everyone. That would definitely have had a greater impact.

Of course, what he was most interested in was actually that steam-powered Tian Ge.

The monks of the Church did not use the pronoun "it" to refer to that enormous creation, but rather the respectful title "He." In their eyes, it was a divine machine, representing the image of the Heavenly Brother and the great power He bestowed upon humanity. Many priests therefore made a special pilgrimage to venerate it and actively studied mathematics and engineering, attempting to join Guo Kang's team. For this was undoubtedly the work that brought them closest to the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother, and best demonstrated their piety.

Guo Kang also explained that natural philosophy is a tool for understanding and utilizing nature, while religion is an ideology; these are not the same concept and do not conflict with each other. Therefore, he even plans to establish a research institution in Egypt, employing mathematicians and craftsmen from the Islamic world to conduct research in this area. This team will continue to expand.

Zhu Wenkui was also very confident about this. He even felt a little regretful because the war started relatively early and they couldn't wait for the steam engine to mature. He believed that if they could have developed the steam engine and managed to transport it to the battlefield, the Poles would probably have been scared away, and the war might not have even needed to be fought.

Of course, some people disagreed with this idea. Several learned priests told him that similar stories had actually occurred hundreds of years ago. It is said that Albertus Magnus, the famous 13th-century philosopher and alchemist, once created a machine that looked exactly like a human to serve him. He called this robot "Android".

This word originates from Greek; the prefix "andr" refers to humankind, and the suffix "oid" means "similar to." Therefore, this word roughly means "humanoid," used to describe machines that resemble humans. Clearly, this line of thinking has a long history.

Of course, some opponents argue that this view is too one-sided. The robots created by Albertus Magnus were merely poor imitations of humans. The name "Android" itself carries connotations of "degrading humanity." In fact, in Bohemian dialects, such errand-running machines in the story are called "robota," meaning forced laborer—a type of serf in Central Europe. Clearly, people treated these robots as inferior slaves, without assigning them any real value.

On the contrary, Guo Kang's machine imitated not man, but god. Many of these monks had visited Dadu in person and were deeply impressed. They remarked that this "divine machine" was larger than most rural churches. The decorations truly looked like a church adorned with a statue. Anyone who saw it even once couldn't help but marvel and revere it, as if they had witnessed the power of the Heavenly Brother firsthand.

Admittedly, human power is limited. Guo Kang's imitation of the Heavenly Brother could only have produced a "degraded Heavenly Brother." But for mortals, this was already incredibly remarkable.

Although they appear humanoid, the divine machines and the "Android" drudgery robots created by Albertus Magnus are clearly not of the same kind—according to the scriptures, humanity itself was created in the image of the Father. We can't therefore say that the Father, being human, is also an "Android" God, can we?
Zhu Wenku was very curious about this, saying he had always thought alchemy was something the Church opposed. But the priests said that Albertus Magnus was not only not a heretic, but also an important figure in the Dominican Order, renowned for his expertise in theology and philosophy, known as "Doctor of All Knowledge," and had served as a bishop. Moreover, one of his students was the even more famous Thomas Aquinas.

As Guo Kang said, alchemy is merely a tool; the key lies in who uses it and how. It's normal for a learned theologian like Albert to have a broad range of interests. Besides, can a bishop studying alchemy be compared to a folk sorcerer?

Zhu Wenku thought about it and felt that what they said seemed to make sense...

Of course, this kind of story was just something people chatted about casually. At the time, only Sir Hans, who was in charge of the work here, took it very seriously. He believed that if they could create robots that imitated Tianxiong, then they would definitely be able to produce "female androids" that looked like women. Wouldn't that be much easier than producing human women?

However, the priests told him that this was incorrect. An "Android" can only be a robot that resembles a male. A humanoid robot with a female appearance cannot be directly called a "female Android."

They explained that "android" means "like a human." However, in Greek, "woman" and "human" are completely different words. Since it means "like a human," it cannot be further qualified by "like a woman." Therefore, "female android" as a term is self-contradictory.

There's a specific term for robots that resemble women: "gynoid." It's the prefix "woman" plus the suffix "resembling." However, this term is rarely used, making it quite obscure—because women are, in essence, a degraded version of humanity created by the Father. Robots are already degraded from humans; there's no need for them to degrade further. Therefore, philosophically speaking, female robots are meaningless.

Sir Hans thought it was just a joke—he said he wanted a woman—but they insisted on spouting philosophical nonsense, and he didn't understand what they were thinking. The priests, however, insisted that he was now an important official in the court and should have some cultural knowledge. How could he learn more advanced subjects if he didn't even understand basic Greek?

As a result, Hans found these people too boring and found working with them tedious, so he left after handing over his tasks. Zhu Wenkui and his group only learned about Hans's situation later when Hans caused trouble again.

As for Zhu Wenkui, although he ultimately failed to get a chance to join Steam Brother, he still managed to persuade quite a few people through Tang Sai'er's organization.

At the meeting, the nobles, both high and low, unanimously decided to form the "Jingnan" alliance and elected the late Prince Wu, Zhu Yunwen, as its leader. Since the late Prince Wu could not be found, Zhu Wenkui was appointed as the "Gateman"—roughly equivalent to the war generals of various Eastern European countries.

After the system was established, many people who were still hesitant joined in.

Initially, Tang Sai'er demanded that they hand over a certain amount of money and grain as collateral for joining the alliance, which could also be considered as providing them with food. Zhu Wenkui thought this measure was a bit too harsh, especially since they were still at war. But Tang Sai'er said that only by firmly controlling these resources, especially grain, could these nobles be kept at ease. Even if they couldn't seize everything, they had to control most of the resources. If they kept the grain for themselves, they would definitely lose their will to fight and start watching the outcome of the battle.

However, she later discovered that this operation was indeed unnecessary. The vast majority of minor and medium-sized nobles simply lacked reliable granaries. When food ran out, they had no choice but to plunder. Even in such a prosperous region, the few granaries they possessed were managed by foreign merchants recruited by Sigismund's father. Therefore, the nobles, fed up with the chaotic political situation, had little incentive—nor the resources—to engage in such schemes. On the contrary, they hoped that by joining the alliance, the Wu Prince's Palace, as the leader, would provide them with some subsidies.

Tang Sai'er originally thought that mercenaries and conscripted serfs were actually the poor and displaced people in this area. Therefore, she should take her personal guards as the core, along with the mercenaries she had recruited, to these nobles who were exploiting the wealthy, and then explain the pros and cons to them so that they would join in.

As she got to know them better, she discovered that the lower-ranking nobles here were essentially large-scale vagrants. Selling their skills, robbing, and working as mercenaries were all essential parts of their lives. Contrary to her expectations, many nobles treated Tang Sai'er like a "wealthy household," taking advantage of the alliance meeting to come here every day to freeload. Some minor nobles who lived nearby, seeing that they were being fed, even brought their entire families along.

These people feasted and drank lavishly in the camp every day. In the last two days of the alliance meeting, over a thousand minor noble families attended. Their food alone consumed dozens of cattle and hundreds of "Taizu roast chickens" daily, and they even drank all the fine Roman wine that Zhu Wenkui had brought from Dadu. Finally, Zhu Wenkui and Tang Sai'er could no longer bear it and had to hastily announce the end of the alliance and lead everyone to fight the enemy.

Of course, in hindsight, these costs were worthwhile. While the local nobles weren't as morale-boosted or organized as the Hussites, they had combat experience and were competent cavalry. Looking back, their poor performance was probably mainly because the people of Prague didn't know what they were supposed to be doing. Bohemia has long suffered from fragmented governance, and everyone lacked a common goal. In comparison, following the Wu King's rebellion would be easier to understand…

Although Tang Sai'er felt somewhat uncomfortable, after all, this was the first time she had been robbed by a local powerful figure, and it was a bit of a loss of face, Zhu Wenku was still quite satisfied.

He secretly told Tang Sai'er that Guo Kang had been telling him to keep an eye on Monk Yao, saying that the man was incredibly clever, a modern-day Zhuge Liang or Wang Meng. However, after observing him for the past few months, he found the old monk constantly being tormented by Europeans, suffering setbacks every few days… Clearly, that's just how things are here. Tang Sai'er's performance was already quite good.

He also specifically praised Tang Sai'er, saying that she had recently discovered that Tang Sai'er's organizational skills were becoming increasingly refined—it seemed that she was approaching half the level of the Kang brothers.

As a result, Tang Sai'er became even more unhappy and said to Zhu Wenkui, "If you like him so much, why don't you marry him?" Zhu Wenkui was dumbfounded and didn't know how to answer her. He didn't dare to bring up these things again after that.

Fortunately, these setbacks did not affect the war itself.

Tang Sai'er's cavalry fought even more aggressively than she had anticipated.

During the battle, she didn't dare place the Bohemian noble cavalry in key positions. When they were arrayed, on their right were the German knights who had served the Wu king longer and had participated in several local conflicts. On their left were various ragtag cavalry units led by Lili, Glei, and others, as well as the cavalry of the Hussite "orphan army." Although these people were either ragtag or few in number, their role on the battlefield was actually more important than the large group in the middle.

However, seeing Lili and his men willingly go to be surrounded by the enemy, the Bohemian noble cavalry actually became excited.

They seemed to believe the enemy had succeeded, and that their own side, due to poor command, had failed to issue orders in time. Furthermore, Don Sai'er hadn't planned this tactic beforehand—unlike Jessica, she didn't particularly like meticulously planning and executing everything. Therefore, the anxious Bohemians, while sending men to inquire about Don Sai'er's situation, rushed forward without waiting for orders, ready to fight the Poles to the death.

This completely disrupted Tang Sai'er's original encirclement plan. When she launched her attack, she had also planned to mobilize others to begin an outer encirclement. She believed that the Poles, who had been constantly attacked and humiliated, would not give up the opportunity to wipe out a portion of the Ming army; they would definitely launch a coordinated attack, hoping to take a bite before leaving. Taking advantage of this time, they could then encircle the enemy from a more outer line.

The core of this game is whether Riley or the Poles can hold out longer.

Tang Sai'er was quite confident about this. Although Li Li's group wasn't very skilled at horsemanship, they only rode horses for battlefield mobility. Once they arrived at their destination, they would immediately dismount and fight, leveraging the density and breakthrough advantage of infantry to launch proactive attacks and disrupt the enemy. Their tenacity was also a key factor in her assessment.

Li Li himself was quite experienced in such sieges. Back in the East, he was constantly besieged and attacked by Ming troops. He was chased for over a year, eventually forced to flee into the forest, almost becoming a savage, but he wasn't killed. Instead, he successfully escaped and established contact with Java. Within Tang Sai'er's team, he was considered one of the most resilient.

Therefore, Tang Sai'er wasn't too worried that something would go wrong on his end.

But now, with the Bohemians coming out in full force, the battle lines were thrown into chaos again. The Polish-Lithuanian cavalry, who had originally planned to besiege Leli, rushed towards them instead.

The Bohemian cavalry, numerous and powerful, surged forth in two massive wedge formations almost instantly, charging towards the enemy. But the enemy, in turn, immediately turned in droves, quickly forming a line and blocking their path—the leading group of Poles, utterly unafraid of the Bohemian knights, instead hurled insults and contempt at them. Both sides quickly became enraged, and a fierce battle ensued.

(End of this chapter)