Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 827 The Pope: Clerks Must Understand Doctrine

Of course, Zhu Wenku also has his own understanding of these stories.

In his view, the various stories circulating among the people were actually a reflection of the public's mentality. And the stories he recorded, although on the surface about a group of crazy women, truly reflected the peasants' discontent with the nobility.

In earlier versions of the story, and in the various ancestral myths officially promoted, King Pshemes was portrayed as a wise and virtuous figure. However, in the more absurd stories that circulated among the common people later, he became a cowardly and incompetent character.

The whole affair was actually caused by his inaction. Whether it was out of personal feelings or because he himself was a "son-in-law" with limited power and dared not offend the "former officials" behind Plasta, he tacitly approved and condoned this matter from beginning to end.

The other nobles were the same. Faced with the accusations and requests of the people, the nobles completely ignored them, and not one of them was willing to step forward and solve the problem. It could even be said that although the conflict between the local men and the "girls' army" already existed, it would never have escalated to such a large extent if they hadn't deliberately let it run its course.

In different stories, the "Girls' Army" is portrayed differently in combat, but they are clearly not a particularly skilled fighting organization. In various versions, they can only attack lone men by ambushing them, and even have to take advantage of the other party's goodwill to get an opportunity to ambush them.

In the most popular version of the "Battle of High Castle," they were completely incapable of direct combat. Forget the kingdom's regular army; the force that ultimately wiped out the "Girls' Army" wasn't even a proper army. It was simply a group of local farmers who managed to wipe them out…

The role of the nobles in this process is equally questionable. Initially, they ignored the matter, but their attitude suddenly changed after a noble was murdered. Clearly, Plasta had become increasingly arrogant, even daring to attack the nobles—were they people she could afford to offend?
As a result, the villagers, who had been disorganized and constantly sending themselves to their deaths, suddenly formed an armed force and directly solved the problem.

So, who exactly was preventing the angry local men from organizing ahead of time? The story doesn't say, but what the storyteller is trying to convey should be quite obvious.

Therefore, Zhu Wenkui lamented that the real irony of this story probably lies with the nobles and the king. Everyone understands perfectly well who is behind these mad women, tacitly approving their actions, or even intentionally or unintentionally fueling them. And are women the only ones encouraged and indulged by these people, daring to recklessly provoke others despite their limited strength?
Zhu Wenkui also said that he now feels that these nobles are actually the "difficult to deal with" petty people that Confucius described.

During this period of interaction, he discovered that many nobles, like women, always had inexplicable demands on others. If you got close to them and treated them as one of your own, the nobles would speak rudely, saying that you did not respect them enough; if you ignored these nobles and went to seek refuge with others, they would complain, feeling that others had betrayed them—this kind of temperament only appears in women.

However, Europeans lacked a sense of resistance and didn't understand whether these skills were truly scarce. As a result, they were unwittingly extorted without realizing they had been tricked. In this light, Confucius's assessment can be considered remarkably accurate, even applicable across civilizations.

Upon seeing this sentiment, Guo Kang felt a strong sense of empathy. He thought for a moment and decided to write a reply to Zhu Wenku later. Then, he put the letter away and began to read other news.

Besides messages from these friends, there were also messages from the church. In addition to progress reports from the "Holy Light's Wish" chapel, there were also letters written to him by various friends in the church.

Perhaps due to the nature of their work, these people encountered far more outrageous individuals and organizations than those in the Purple Horde. Consequently, they often had some astonishing experiences, making their letters a "collection of divine and human behavior."

Reading these stories was a form of entertainment. Therefore, Guo Kang frequently collected them. He would even exchange some of the supernatural tales he knew with them.

Guo Kang lived in an era of greater scientific advancement. However, in Europe during that time, religion still played a significant role, essentially serving as an integral part of daily life.

There is a European joke from later generations that goes like this: one day, a group of priests were gathered in a church for evening prayers when suddenly the lights went out.

As a result, the Benedictine monks continued chanting from memory without a single mistake, because they consistently adhered to their doctrines, upholding celibacy (abstinence from marriage), celibacy (abstinence from personal possessions), and celibacy (strict obedience), and their daily collective recitation of scripture and diligent study had become a habit; the Franciscan monks took out their instruments and composed a hymn to thank God for the gift of the "dark sister," because they emphasized "love"; the Dominican monks focused on the concept of "light," and thus continued their discussion on light as an important medium for divine knowledge; the Jesuits, established by the Church for reformation, then proposed that the sudden going out of the lights might mean that evening prayers could be abolished...

Then, the parish priest arrived. Seeing that the light was broken, he ignored the others' discussion, found his toolbox, brought a ladder, and replaced the broken light bulb.

While clergy members in different religious orders have their own theological theories and value orientations, for grassroots clergy in various places, fulfilling public duties may be the most important part. And these people are the true foundation of the church.

Europeans often encounter various problems in their daily lives that require religious assistance. While God the Father and God the Brother may not concern themselves with such details, the Church is a tangible entity present everywhere, offering a range of services to the people. Therefore, religion is often seen as more "practical," and the Church opposes outlandish folk beliefs that could disrupt or damage the functioning of society, dismissing them as "superstition" and requiring clergy to educate their followers and combat these backward superstitious practices.

As one of the most powerful popes, Innocent III once ordered that clergy receive training in logic. This was to ensure they could clearly explain doctrines without rambling or incoherent statements, thus enabling them to perform their duties effectively. However, by the time of Guo Kang, science, as a theoretical system, had already accomplished many things, replacing many of the functions of religion. Therefore, the remaining aspects of religion lost their need for practical application and began to indulge in unrestrained speculation, becoming even more "superstitious" than in the Middle Ages.

In Guo Kang's view, the various "superhumans" who emerged under the protection of this industrial society can be considered a kind of religious infantile. Their behavior is, of course, extremely outrageous, with an "upper limit" that would be enough to startle the Church in Europe at that time.

When he shared what he had heard with people in the church, it amazed them. They found his "miracle worker" persona and the assumptions these people had made quite remarkable, enough to provide a source of amusement for them...

As for the change in religious influence, in his view, this is mainly due to education rather than science itself: society has formed a more complete and specialized personnel training system, no longer like medieval Europe, where the number of intellectuals was too small, forcing priests to do all sorts of things; nor like in ancient times, where it was even necessary to write educational content and even engineering specifications into doctrine in order to maintain the dissemination of knowledge.

This might sound strange, but a comparison reveals the truth: Many places in the world, even in the so-called "scientific age," remain heavily reliant on religion. In fact, some powerful technological nations, from top to bottom, are undeniably religious—and not just any religious religion, but the kind that medieval clergy would have condemned as "heresy" and "superstition"...

This phenomenon stems from two main reasons. First, within monotheistic systems, science is merely a tool for explaining the world, and its conflict with religion may not be so pronounced; in fact, the idea of ​​adopting science itself as a religious tenet can even emerge. Second, the local people genuinely cannot find anything to replace the church. Their government remains largely unchanged from ancient times, utterly ineffective in addressing critical livelihood issues, even relying on the church for disaster relief. As for public education, its performance is dismal, similarly dependent on the support of religious organizations.

Thus, it is clear that the environment Guo Kang found himself in was essentially a victory for the "humanities." An extremely rich historical foundation and cultural traditions that had withstood repeated calamities continued to drive society, squeezing every last ounce of potential from new technologies to improve the efficiency of talent cultivation and the quantity of talent produced. These cultural advantages are the reason why science and technology could be utilized so efficiently in this place.

As for what people thought at the time, it didn't really have any impact.

In this context, it would naturally be vastly different from the Mediterranean world.

Moreover, to put it bluntly, even in Seris during Guo Kang's time, the religious atmosphere of society was very strong. This reason can probably be traced back to the cultural background and social organizational traditions of the Seris people.

Every civilization needs a set of theories to persuade its people to obey. For the Seres, the traditional method of authorization was through the mediation of "Heaven." On the one hand, the Confucian scholars believed that Heaven was the source of the legitimacy of the regime and would grant legitimacy to the monarch; on the other hand, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, the sages proposed that Heaven was a reflection of the collective consciousness of the people. Heaven observed the ruler through the people and expressed their joys and sorrows on their behalf. The monarch needed to protect and nurture the people to gain Heaven's support.

After receiving divine authorization, or "divine mandate," the monarch would then pass on these powers to his subjects. As Seres was a rare theocratic state, while the monarch held the positions of high priest and secular leader, officials at all levels also effectively held both roles.

This resulted in Seres' local officials, especially the chief officials at various levels, effectively holding the positions of local bishop and diocesan priest. Compared to their European counterparts, their status was far more "important," and the public's expectations of them were much more serious. While the king's tax collectors and agents could be jovial, a bishop presiding over ceremonies with such a lack of decorum was unacceptable. This was the price to pay for the greater authority brought by dual roles.

After receiving authorization, officials would then govern ordinary people. This created a system where people authorized Heaven, Heaven authorized the Emperor, the Emperor authorized officials, and officials governed people, thus achieving a relatively balanced situation. Therefore, this seemingly contradictory system gradually improved starting from the Han Dynasty and continued to operate.

However, compared to other civilizations, this was far better. At least, the emperor always held supreme power at the central level. And in most other places, things were quite different.

For example, the Eastern Roman Empire once continued the traditions of ancient Rome and Persia, incorporating priesthood into the political system and making the ruler a god-king. However, this process was interrupted after the Christian era. The Church was completely separated from the political system and became a separate entity. Although in its heyday, the emperor could arbitrarily control the Patriarch, these two roles were ultimately separate.

Therefore, the Church repeatedly failed at crucial moments, even harming the empire. In the later years of the Palaiologos dynasty, the country was already in dire straits, and in order to seek help from the West, it had to exert all its efforts in diplomatic activities. However, the Church remained unwilling, defying Bartholomew's orders, leading to the failure of peace talks. In this respect, he had actually regressed.

Similarly, the kings of England and France in the early modern period actually controlled the church, but they only controlled the church through power, and did not serve as bishops or church leaders themselves.

The only entity that fits the bill is probably the Papal States. The Pope, as its leader, is both a religious leader—he has retained the title of High Priest inherited from Roman times—and a secular leader—the Pope has a group of secular vassals. Europeans understand that this is the standard template for this "Roman legacy."

On paper, medieval European states should have been built according to this ideal template. For example, for a long time, the only true "empire" was actually the Holy Roman Empire. If it were truly in an ideal state, it would be a regime that possessed all three elements: "sacred" (religious divinity), "Roman" (a universal state combining religion and politics), and "empire" (military and secular power).

Of course, as everyone knows, Shinra has never actually achieved this... and its national power has therefore been fragmented.

(End of this chapter)