Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1606 Roman Customs

Shangluo witnessed firsthand the unfathomable depths of Roman law.

To some extent, this was actually Roman "customary law." If one was unfamiliar with Roman customs, ordinary business problems could drag on for three to five years, potentially bankrupting a company.

However, if it conformed to Roman customs, these problems could be resolved in the baths.

However, Shangluo was clearly not suited to negotiate slowly with Amun-Zeus in the bathhouse—he simply wouldn't come, and the matter would inevitably be delayed for the longest possible time. If it really dragged on for five years, then there was no point in doing it anymore. Because what was being done now was non-violent measures, aimed at reconciling the conflict as much as possible.

After all, the relationship between Rome and Amun-Zeus was quite complex. He was supposed to appear as the sun god symbolizing the Senate, but Amun-Zeus's seclusion made it impossible for this to continue. Amun-Zeus also did not create his own demigods, which put the Senate at a disadvantage in Rome's internal struggles for a time.

However, considering that the main conflict among the six branches of Rome was between the virtualists and the transcendentists, each side constructed its own "City of Light".

They hoped to set an example with their City of Light, thus competing to see who should steer Rome's future.

The City of Light constructed by the Virtualists is Cybernia, which has become the future of all Rome. The City of Light constructed by the Transcendentalists is actually Neo-Antioch, the center of all practices. In a sense, the current Automata of Columbia has already realized the Transcendentalists' vision, only in a way that is not what they desired.

Rome is numb. The Western Empire's solo actions led to the Neo-Antique explosion and the birth of the Colombian Automaton, completely stripping the Western Empire of its voice. As the Western Empire's technological backbone, corresponding to the Muse Palace, Syracuse can now only sit at the same table as Lanfang.

It's not that Lanfang was bad, but Lanfang was ultimately just a regional branch in the Ming Dynasty and couldn't really have a decisive impact on the entire Ming Dynasty. The cooperation between Syracuse and Lanfang also shows that they had lost their representativeness to the Roman Empire in past struggles.

The virtualist approach thus achieved an absolute victory, but at the cost of the Western Empire's demise. This was hardly a gratifying outcome; while it wasn't a case of killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of your own, it was still a Pyrrhic victory.

The virtualist approach was achieved only after expending enormous human, material, and financial resources, and Shangluo played a significant role in its advancement. It has now become a decisive national policy.

All of Rome must convert to virtualism, even if everyone in Italy dies—after all, we were going to Cyprus anyway.

Now that things have come to this point, the matter of Amun-Zeus can no longer be delayed. The root cause of the escalating conflict between the two sides lies in the fact that the path to ascension of Cintaman has been determined. If Rome doesn't salvage its dignity, someone else will step in to do so for them—thus, like almost all reforms before modernity, the purpose of the reforms is not to plan for things decades or centuries later, but to solve the problems of the present.

For example, the State of Chu was the first among the Seven Warring States to begin county-level reforms—in fact, this actually started during the Spring and Autumn Period. This wasn't because the people of Chu had some kind of divine insight that revealed the final answer, but rather because Chu's feudal system was so highly developed. Chu utilized a system of lords and vassals to practically create a small kingdom within itself, while the distance between vassals and lords grew ever wider.

This wasn't actually a problem for the Western Zhou Dynasty itself, but it was a critical issue for the State of Chu. Firstly, the King of Chu wasn't the Son of Heaven, and his authority wasn't as sacred, which increased the difficulty of governance. Secondly, and this is a fundamental problem: the Zhou Dynasty lacked a systematic external pressure system, while Chu did. Furthermore, other surrounding states were also eyeing Chu, inevitably creating a need for strong border defenses.

These border regions already had weak ties with the Chu capital, and were often newly conquered territories. If powerful feudal lords, such as "border vassals," were to emerge from these areas, they would pose a significant threat to the Chu royal power and might even turn against the Chu state when enemy troops arrived.

Therefore, in the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period, although they correctly predicted the last major question, Chu's solution was to regard "county" as an important border town, a legion ruled by officials, and an army with land.

This can't be considered a scoreless one—history doesn't assign scores. But the State of Chu didn't establish counties because it was an advanced system; rather, it established them because people would die if they didn't.

Throughout history, few have been able to foresee events two or three steps ahead. To take the right step in the present is already the mark of a capable minister in governing a nation. To take two or three steps ahead is to be an "immortal" whose wisdom is beyond anyone's comprehension. Such immortals typically appear in the military, because politics requires persuading others, and rambling, outlandish pronouncements cannot convince anyone. In military matters, victory is the only requirement; no one demands that the commander-in-chief convince everyone before taking action. Therefore, there have been many military geniuses throughout history who fought battles with uncanny skill, such as Han Xin and Li Jing, whose strategies were completely incomprehensible to others. Immortals elsewhere, those with the ability to foresee the future, are extremely rare.

Rome wasn't among those who could foresee the future. Or rather, those who actually saw one step ahead were considered madmen. Only those who saw exactly how to solve the problem at the current step were seen as having the correct answer.

"Tsk tsk tsk." Shangluo sighed, "Actually, from a long-term perspective, the automaton route is the right one. It can indeed take Rome to the stars."

Yes, but it has already happened. Because those who are destined to die will die in this generation; there's no way to wait two or three generations. Anyway, it's not necessarily a bad thing for the Ming Dynasty, right?

"It's no longer just 'not a bad thing.' From my perspective, it's a good thing. It's absolutely a good thing," Shangluo answered truthfully. "Everything we're doing right now is actually to bridge our differences, right? I don't want to see humanity fighting each other for dominance on Earth; it's pointless. If Rome really had a 'madman' who chose a path two or three steps ahead, we would see him as out of touch with reality. Admittedly, this person is indeed a great man for Rome, and I respect such people. But I won't hand over the future just because I respect him."

(End of this chapter)