Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 826 Only Nobles and Women Are Difficult to Raise

Along the way, Guo Kang had a rare moment of leisure. So, with his free time, he began to read various books and the letters he had received from everyone.

What surprised him most were the things Zhu Wenkui sent—Guo Kang felt that the development speed on his side was much faster than his own, so there must be no shortage of new things.

Of course, in reality, he's quite busy with work right now. Even if he doesn't have to worry too much about military matters, the other affairs alone are enough to keep him occupied.

Guo Kang is now beginning to doubt the stereotype of high-ranking civil officials as "weak scholars." Let alone Rome, where the distinction between civil and military affairs is blurred, even in the Ming Dynasty of the East, those who can maintain their positions in the extremely competitive central government are likely super workaholics. Because, based on his recent personal experience, in such positions, if you relax, there will be plenty of people eager to take over your work and seize your power.

Therefore, to reach the position of "King of Exhaustion," one not only needs exceptional intelligence and emotional intelligence, but also outstanding physical fitness. Otherwise, even a little pressure would probably kill them...

Zhu Wenku seems to do quite well in this regard as well. Perhaps inheriting his great-grandfather's genes, this guy is actually quite robust and incredibly energetic. Even when he was busy handling the tedious affairs of the Prince's mansion every day, he still had the energy to go to the blacksmith's shop to work on iron. He even told Guo Kang that he thought it was a good way to relieve stress and reduce mental pressure.

Even now, while he's active in Bohemia, he hasn't relaxed his efforts. Although the Wu Kingdom had some plans and systems in place, in many aspects, it was still largely left to its own devices. Many policies were arranged and implemented locally, with the King of Wu and the central government acting as a "coordinating committee," responsible for providing guidance and ensuring that resources flowed across regions in a rational direction through methods such as hiring, fundraising, and centralized procurement.

However, the "central power" exercised by the Prince's Palace has long been limited to road construction, and only recently has it begun to be integrated into military affairs. Therefore, their operations remain quite loosely organized.

Later, Princess Ma, citing the need for guards and ceremonial regalia for the royal palace, conscripted a group of guards from nearby Bohemia and other regions. However, while it was called a conscription, the Wu Prince's residence in Dadu was essentially just a facade; the vast majority of funds didn't pass through there. Therefore, everyone had been struggling financially for years, and any money they had was used to expand their ranks.

Most of the time, even with the guards working part-time for the Romans, the Prince's mansion barely managed to stay afloat, and they even had to rely on Zhu Wenkui working as a blacksmith to make ends meet. When the Imperial Guards first came to investigate, they felt these people were too poor to be of much interest—the Prince's mansion, where the Crown Prince took his guards to work, was honestly somewhat pitiful, making it hard to believe they had any particularly malicious intentions…

Perhaps because he had been terrified of poverty back then, Zhu Wenkui now placed particular emphasis on reorganizing local governments. Through his efforts and a series of victories, the local governments along the Bohemian route were finally somewhat unified. And around him, the first truly central royal palace was gradually taking shape.

After starting work, Zhu Wenkui collected a lot of local customs, traditions, and interesting stories, and wrote many about them. This was probably a way for him to relax.

This time, Zhu Wenku told him an ancient legend that was very popular in Bohemia.

According to the priests, the first ruler of Bohemia was a chieftain named Croc. He married a fairy, and they had three daughters: the witch doctor Kaze, the sorceress Tita, and the prophet Libus. Of these, Libus was the most intelligent, and therefore her father chose her as his successor.

However, this choice still provoked discontent among the tribal nobles, who did not want to be ruled by a woman. After Libs inherited the throne, she gained the ability to make prophecies, but the people still insisted that she marry so that her husband could rule.

Queen Libus then made another prophecy, and this time she saw a farmer wearing sandals plowing a field. She instructed her ministers to follow a loosely reined horse to find the man, and they eventually found him in a village called Stadis. The farmer's name was Pshemes, and the ministers brought him back to marry the queen.

In addition, Queen Libus also planned to build a city. She told her ministers, "I see a great city, whose glory reaches to the stars." The ministers asked her where the city should be built, and she instructed them to find a man who had gnawed at a threshold with his teeth, and to build the city where that man stood. This city later became Prague, which in German means "threshold."

Later, Queen Libus and Psemmes had three sons. However, the eldest two died young, leaving only their youngest son, Nezamisl, to continue their lineage. Therefore, this branch of the family became known as the Psemmes dynasty. They ruled Bohemia until the early 14th century.

It is said that when Psemmes ascended the throne, he took off the linen shoes he used to wear while farming, kept them safe and treasured them, and ordered his subordinates to bring a pair of linen shoes to court as well. This was to remind everyone not to forget their roots and to admonish them that farmers are always the foundation of the country and that the value of the country's existence is to protect the farmers.

Linen shoes were thus regarded as sacred objects of the Psemmes dynasty, and were displayed when new kings were crowned. This became a tradition of the Kingdom of Bohemia.

Therefore, in the eyes of the locals, a king of peasant origin did not carry the connotation of lowly birth as Sigismund and the German nobles did; rather, he possessed a kind of sacredness. The tools and clothing used by peasants were also frequently used as symbols, which is why peasant uprising armies with shoes painted on their flags were so common.

Although this legend lacks verifiable evidence and origin, its meaning is relatively clear. Unfortunately, over the years, even if rulers could still grasp its warning, they found it difficult to truly heed the experience and advice of their ancestors. Having lost the protection and attention given to peasants, the dynasty simply couldn't compete with the more ferocious Germans and Poles. Finally, the last young King Wenceslas III was assassinated while preparing to conquer Poland. After four years of vacancy and internal strife, the Luxembourg family from the German region successfully seized the throne, establishing a new dynasty that continues to this day.

Zhu Wenkui was deeply moved by this, saying that the Book of Songs also says, "Nothing is without a beginning, but few can have an end." This means that people generally have good intentions at the beginning, but few can persevere to the end. When his great-grandfather established the Ming Dynasty, didn't he also start as a farmer and eventually succeed in establishing a country? It seems that the situations of different civilizations are surprisingly similar.

He also told Guo Kang that, in this light, the warnings from ancestors might have a rather subtle effect on future generations. If a descendant is intelligent enough, they won't need such ancient reminders and can find ways to handle things more suitable for the modern era; if a descendant lacks this ability, even if the ancestor truly manifests to punish them and forbid them from misbehaving, they will simply think it's the old man's doing again. There's no way to salvage such an incorrigible person.

However, upon further reflection, he felt there was no need to be overly sentimental or give up. Because the experiences of their ancestors would always be recognized. Unlike in Europe, in Seres, even if direct descendants were not capable, there was never a shortage of such "farmers"—there were plenty of capable people. The experience passed down from their ancestors would provide significant assistance to these individuals, reducing the difficulties they faced and helping those deserving of help to accomplish greater things.

In this way, even if the Ming Dynasty eventually decays and falls into ruin, and the Zhu family is abandoned by the people, there will still be people who remember their past efforts and contributions to future generations. In this way, they can preserve some of the family's reputation and be worthy of their ancestors; and they can also do some practical things to provide some wealth for the entire Chinese civilization. Only in this way can it be considered a complete success.

Guo Kang was also somewhat moved by this. However, after reading this section, he discovered that Zhu Wenku had also recorded another local legend.

This story is a sequel to the previous one. Queen Libus had a guard of young girls led by a woman named Plasta. After Queen Libus's death, these women, dissatisfied with the men's return to power, gathered and fled, occupying a castle called Devina. They invited Plasta to be their leader, making her their local tyrant. Psemes, out of respect for his deceased wife, ignored her. As a result, Plasta grew increasingly audacious and began to do all sorts of bizarre things.

Prasda harbored a deep-seated hatred for men, wantonly abusing and murdering male villagers in the occupied territories, completely overturning local customs and demanding that local men obey women. However, she was also militarily trained and possessed basic combat knowledge. Therefore, she organized these young girls, enforcing discipline and forbidding them from drinking alcohol to maintain alertness. She also sought out girls who were abused by their fathers, instructing them to steal horses and join her, bolstering her power.

Some local men dismissed the threat, believing the travelers to be weak and incapable of fighting, and continued on their way, bypassing the vicinity of Devina Castle. As a result, most of these scattered travelers were killed in the ensuing conflict. The others were astonished and immediately requested the king and nobles to restore order, but no one came to their aid.

Meanwhile, Plasta's methods were escalating. She specifically selected beautiful young female soldiers, feigning distress to lure passing men, then kidnapped and murdered them. She would also send people out claiming she was different from other madwomen and willing to escape the army, using this to lure men into her traps and kill them. This further terrified the locals, who gathered in a castle called "High Castle" opposite Devina for self-defense. But the kingdom's upper echelons remained unresponsive.

Later, a nobleman named Setiradil passed through the area. Setiradil was a renowned and noble knight. Traveling to Prague with several servants, he passed through a forest near Vyörgüe Castle and discovered a young girl tied to a tree. The girl, who claimed to be named Sharka, had set a trap. She said she was the daughter of a nearby village chief and had been attacked by a crazed army of girls for refusing to join the trap, hence her imprisonment. Setiradil, captivated by her beauty and overcome by a sense of justice, rescued her.

However, Sharka was actually a captain under Plasta, and this "chivalrous rescue" was a pre-arranged scheme. She deliberately offered Setiradid and his party mead under the guise of gratitude. After drinking it, they were quickly drugged and rendered incapable of resistance. Sharka then summoned her accomplices, who killed them all and displayed Setiradid's body by tying it to the wheels of the castle.

After news of this spread, the local men's anger finally reached its limit, demanding that Psemes order revenge. Without orders, large numbers of men spontaneously armed themselves and went to defend the fortress, killing every woman they encountered along the way. This enraged Plasta, who then rallied her troops and launched a preemptive attack on the fortress.

After the battle broke out, Plasta charged ahead. She called for her men to follow, but these girls had only ever attacked unsuspecting travelers or rescued their men; they had never experienced a real battle. As a result, the others hesitated and refused to advance, with some only shooting arrows from a distance. Plasta was immediately surrounded, pulled from her horse, and hacked to death by the men.

Seeing Plasta killed, the other girls quickly lost their will to fight and tried to escape back to Dvina Castle. The men pursued relentlessly, and many were killed along the way. The remaining girls escaped back to the castle, but the men soon stormed in. Realizing they could not escape, the remaining girls quickly laid down their weapons and looked for their brothers and relatives on the men's side, kneeling down to beg for their protection and forgiveness.

But these men, having been fooled multiple times, had learned their lesson. They considered the girls' army cunning and vicious, and refused to forgive them, instead throwing them all out of the castle windows. Finally, Plasta's body was chopped up and fed to the dogs, while the other corpses and Dvina Castle were set on fire. Thus, this place ceased to exist.

Zhu Wenkui told Guo Kang that he had seen several versions of this story along the way, all compiled by priests from various monasteries. However, after careful examination, he found that it might be a fictional story, because many details did not match the actual geography, and there were no reliable historical figures or records.

The priests showed him these things, presumably as a satire, advising him against relying on women to manage the army. However, he felt the story was actually a satire of the nobility. A closer look revealed that the nobility possessed all the flaws of women. In fact, the absurd atrocities in the story were deliberately condoned by the nobles. Without their well-timed assistance, this whole affair probably wouldn't have happened, leaving one speechless.

If we had to summarize a lesson, we could only say that nobles, like women, are really difficult to get along with.

He was particularly impressed by this story, so he collected these documents and compiled them into a book so that Guo Kang could also enjoy it.

(End of this chapter)