Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 802, a side story, provides explanations and guidance on important chapters of the Petrov edition of the Gospel of Constantine (seeking monthly votes).
[The Borjigin Nuss Dynasty] by Saint Constantine; [The Northern Borjigin Nuss Dynasty] annotated by Bishop Petrov; compiled by Professor Marlovvich's team at the Philosophy Department of Kyiv University.
editor:
Saint Constantine (official name: Guo Kang) is one of the greatest sages in Chinese history, an outstanding theologian, philosopher, politician, military strategist, and educator. His wisdom transcends his time and remains highly educational for young people today, helping them cultivate noble sentiments, strengthen their faith, oppose superstition, and strive for the strength and prosperity of their motherland.

Bishop Petrov (official name: Pi Baoguo) was an important thinker, educator, and military strategist during the Great Divide of North and South, and a Doctor of the Church. In his youth, he witnessed firsthand the devastation of the nation and the rise of barbarian tribes. Some treacherous and morally corrupt Greeks seized the opportunity, using the banner of "pursuing freedom" to deny fundamental social principles of justice and fairness, promote heretical theories, and openly slander Saint Constantine. Petrov felt deeply indignant about this and changed his name to "Baoguo" (meaning "Patriot"), vowing to dedicate his life to defending the true faith and promoting the principles of loyalty advocated by Saint Constantine. He went deep into the countryside to preach, criticizing heresies and emphasizing sacred order and social justice.

Later, as the local bishop, Pi Baoguo participated in the Petrograd Military District Uprising, elected Liu Zaixing, a member of the Borjigin Nuss dynasty, as consul, established the "Northern Rus' Republic," and personally presided over the oath-taking ceremony before marching south to suppress the rebellion. After the war, Liu Zaixing's power grew increasingly entrenched, and he began to plot to become emperor. Pi Baoguo was deeply dissatisfied with this but powerless to stop him, so he retreated to his hometown of Kiev, where he devoted himself to writing and leaving behind a large body of work. His commentary on the Gospel of Constantine (Petrov edition), popularly known as the "Pi-version Guo Jing," circulated widely among the people and had a profound influence. Studying this book is of great significance for young people to establish correct values, cultivate a sense of loyalty and honor, and understand the development of intellectual history in my country.

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Kang 11.1
Master Guo said: There is only one god in heaven, and only one country under heaven.

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Mr. Pi's note: God refers to the Heavenly Father. Nation refers to Rome. Some people believe that there are other kingdoms such as Seres and Persia, so it cannot be said that there is only one nation. This idea misunderstands the distinction between spiritual and secular kingdoms.

In "Guo Zi's Dialogue - Guo Zi Meets King Wen of Wu", Guo Zi tells King Wen of Wu: The world should be unified. The Ming Dynasty and Rome are of the same origin, and therefore are also a country. For a detailed discussion, please refer to "Guo Zi Xun".

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Editor's Note: This statement is a classic example of St. Constantine's "theory of universal imperial harmony" and a concentrated expression of Guo's thought.

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Kang 11.7
Tuohuan Taiji came to Master Guo's place and said, "I've heard Greek scholars say that there are as many emperors as there are suns in the sky. Emperors rule over all people like the sun bestows its blessings upon all things. They love only our Liu dynasty's emperors and are grateful for our benevolence, just as they love the sun. Master, do you think this is reasonable?"

Master Guo sighed and said, "This is flattery without knowledge! The sun is merely one of countless stars, and it is only because it is closest to our Earth that it was fortunate enough to receive the task assigned by the Heavenly Father to provide light and heat to all people. Are there no other suitable stars among the myriad stars? It just happens to be in this position."

A king is just one of countless human beings, only granted permission by the Heavenly Father to provide order for all people through the legacy of his ancestors' efforts. Weren't there any other suitable people among the masses? He simply happened to be in this position.

Therefore, a king must respect himself, for a king who does not respect himself will be despised by all people and will be hated by the Father; a king must also be humble, for a king who is not humble will be shunned by all people and will be abandoned by the Father.

Flattery may win favor, but it makes a ruler frivolous, and frivolity leads to a lack of self-respect; it also makes a ruler arrogant, and arrogance leads to a lack of humility. Therefore, a ruler must stay away from flatterers!

Tuohuan Taiji rose to apologize and, upon returning home, distanced himself from the Greeks, sending them to Crete and the Cyclades to engage in archaeological work.

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Mr. Pi's note: This is a direct statement of Master Guo's ideas on monarchy. Unfortunately, sages are few and far between, and good rulers are even fewer. If the disasters brought by the sun outweigh its benefits, then all people should, as Master Guo said, seek a new sun;

Even without a suitable sun, with the capabilities of our time, we can still survive and establish a nation. Therefore, it would be appropriate for everyone to abandon all suns. As Guo Zizi said, the sun is not a necessity, but merely a functional provider.

If we no longer need the sun, it's not disobeying our Heavenly Father. On the contrary, a father would be happy if his child could become independent and didn't need special support! This is a sign of our development and progress!
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Editor's Note: This passage is Guo Pu's discourse on the relationship between the monarch and the people. Bishop Pi, as an anti-monarchist, actually held a negative attitude towards the monarch, even more radical than Guo Pu.

Within the Church at this time, there were also voices supporting the monarchy, and he engaged in numerous debates with them. Details can be found in documents such as "The Collected Papers of Bishop Piborg" and "The Open Letter from Kiev University to Bishop Piborg on the Question of the Roman Restoration."

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Kang 13.4:

Master Guo said: Recently, someone in the church left a space before my name. This is not good; even the Heavenly Brother would dislike it.

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Mr. Pi's note: The rituals of the early church were rather chaotic. When writing the names of Master Guo and Heavenly Brother, etc., one should use a larger half-size New Roman font, rather than spaces, to show respect.

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Editor's Note: The Church's detailed regulations on printing standards began in the time of Guo Fuzi. Before that, it merely imitated the administrative authorities and adopted standard classical document formats. Later, as printing technology became more advanced, Guo Fuzi's era saw the large-scale adoption of printing machines improved by Mr. Gutenberg of Wu, leading to more detailed regulations and laying the foundation for modern document models.

What Bishop Pi described was the standard practice in the Ross diocese during his time: using larger fonts within movable type blocks. However, in our computer age (commonly known as the "brain of God"), to ensure standardization and aesthetic display, and to avoid inconsistent line spacing, italics have been adopted.

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Kang 16.1
The people of Ross all went to Master Guo's place, following him day and night, recording his words and deeds. At night, seeing the believers perched on the wall, Master Guo said: "If you continue to treat my complaints as sacred teachings and record them, I will unleash my fury!"

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Mr. Pi's note: "Tucao" refers to expressing a viewpoint on something with a playful tone; "Baolun" is similar, but with a stronger sense of absurdity and playfulness. Both are Guo Fuzi's personal habitual terms.

Master Guo was consistently humble, refusing to be hailed as a prophet or saint by his followers, and even unwilling to become a monk. He reasoned that if he joined the church, he would inevitably become the most prestigious and powerful Patriarch, at which point many things would be beyond his control, potentially detrimental to national stability. Clearly, Master Guo was incredibly farsighted! Shouldn't those who claim, "Having reached this position, I must continue to acquire greater power, otherwise I cannot protect myself or live up to the expectations of my followers," feel ashamed?
Furthermore, the term "Hearth" was an impromptu expression by Guo Fuzi and does not align with the Islamic concept of Hadith. The currently accepted interpretation is that of Brother Mamin of the Alexandrian Islamic Church, who believed the Gospel of Constantine should be classified as scripture. Only later works, such as Guo Fuzi's Dialogues, are referred to as Hadith.

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Editor's Note: Bishop Pi's annotations are already quite straightforward and easy to understand. As for the latter half, it mainly expresses his own dissatisfaction with the political situation at the time, and the quotes he cited were Liu Zaixing's explanations to him when he was preparing to become a lifelong dictator.

During his southern campaign, Bishop Pi had a very good relationship with Liu Zaixing, even often saying that they should be like Master Guo and Constantine XI. However, Liu Zaixing later clashed with him, leaving Bishop Pi disheartened. Therefore, he repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction in his works through methods such as "complaining." Readers should view this objectively.

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Kang 16.2
Master Guo said: Brother Tian is gay.

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Mr. Pi's note: This passage uses a classic metaphorical meaning. It is a common way of arguing in doctrine.

Master Guo has always told everyone that Rome was a patriarchal country, and the Roman Church, as the representative of the Roman spirit, should also be a male figure, not a weak woman controlled by barbarian kings like the barbarian church. The relationship between him and the Heavenly Brother cannot be simply summarized as a male-female relationship, hence this argument.

This metaphor is very apt. Our church clergy should all keep this teaching in mind and stand up to fulfill the duties of the father when secular power has problems and harms the people.

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Editor's note: Bishop Pi's argument is quite clear.

When analyzing doctrine, it is crucial to distinguish whether the argument is literal or metaphorical. This ability to differentiate is a fundamental requirement of theology. Unfortunately, it is quite common for scholars, like the "Greeks," to deliberately extract fragments from the words of past sages such as Guo Zizhi and offer lengthy interpretations completely unrelated to the main theme, in order to promote views they wish to gain acceptance but dare not express directly due to concerns about their authority.

The "Greeks" love to use sophistry and manipulate definitions. If something aligns with their interests, they call it progress; if it doesn't, they say it's unfree, too conservative, or backward. These people are nothing more than followers of false prophets.

This has frequently occurred in historical church debates. We modern people must be extremely cautious when analyzing and interpreting these statements!
(Author's note: This is a satire of clergymen who misinterpret and forcefully interpret people's angry words. Historically (and in modern times), the church frequently uses the term "metaphorical meaning" to explain various issues; even just seeing "metaphor" is enough to know they're about to start interpreting the scriptures... It shouldn't need to be stated directly, but it seems mine is being taken literally. So, although it's awkward to write it out directly, I'll explain it anyway...)

Anyway, it's too late now, and I'm not counting on the monthly rankings, so I won't be issuing any monthly ticket chapters this month. Just take a look.

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Kang 17.7
Princess Theodora urged Guo Fuzi to return home every day, forbidding him from attending evening prayers. Guo Fuzi, concerned for his followers, ran away one night and went to the cathedral. The princess pursued him, demanding, "Is your beloved here?" Guo Fuzi replied, "Among all the people here, who is not my beloved?"

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Mr. Pi's note: The princess appears multiple times in the scriptures, generally questioning Guo Fuzi's actions. Therefore, some believe that Princess Theodora in the scriptures is not Guo Fuzi's wife in history, but rather a kind of "image" representing some factors based on worldly desires that hinder our pursuit of beauty.

The real-life Princess Theodora consistently supported Guo Fuzi's cause, providing him with substantial moral and practical support when he was overwhelmed with other commitments.

The princess consistently opposed those who slandered Master Guo, and resolutely fought against those who advocated for emotional "freedom" even at that time. She was a model of a virtuous wife and loving mother. However, because of this, she has been frequently attacked by various people since then, and even to this day. When reading scriptures, we must also analyze and distinguish these concepts.

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Editor's Note: Regarding Master Guo's family issues, Bishop Pi's viewpoint is limited by historical constraints and is somewhat one-sided. For details, please refer to the direct description of the situation by Master Guo's son, Guo Nan, in the "Guo Family Instructions."

In addition, there are many related records in documents such as "My Brother's First Half of Life" (narrated by Mrs. Meltem and compiled by Ali ibn Bursani) and "The Rise and Fall of the City-State and the Roman Age: The Rise and Fall of the Medici Family - The Rise of the Family - Joanna da Medici" (by Niccolò Machiavelli).

Based on these documents, we believe that Bishop Pi sided with Princess Theodora primarily due to the political needs of the time and his sect's emphasis on family. Therefore, he was eager to cultivate an image of a noblewoman who "supported her husband and the people's voices" in an attempt to gain the support of the upper class, especially women, for religious reform.

However, the situation at the time was extremely complex, and each party had its own perspective and evidence to offer. Of course, this also included subjective opinions expressed intentionally or unintentionally by those involved, as well as exaggerated propaganda deliberately employed to gain an advantage in public opinion. When studying history, we cannot blindly trust these "first-hand sources."

Even now, we cannot fully understand the circumstances of that time or reach a conclusion that can convince everyone. We believe that in the future, with richer data, more sophisticated academic research methods, and the wisdom of future generations, we will be able to analyze the true state of Guo Ziyi's family structure.

(End of this chapter)