Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 125 The Empress Dowager's Persian Dilemma
After Kawad's son Kuslao I came to the throne, he became dissatisfied with the nobles again.In order to solve the problem of the army, Mr. Kus himself went to investigate, but found that his "army" was actually almost an empty shell.

In theory, the nobles should undertake the obligation to provide the country with troops, but they shoddy all day long and often used completely untrained peasants to make up the number, making the infantry extremely vulnerable.

Even the cavalry, which the Persians had always relied on, had various problems: Some soldiers received only one-tenth of their salaries, but were deducted by the nobles; I don't know where he went; there are also nobles who are cavalry in name, but Kus Lao went to check it himself, only to find that he can't even ride a horse.

Some nobles also hired cheap nomadic riders, and then transferred them to the king as "heavy cavalry" to earn the difference.The armored cavalry that the Persians have always been proud of has become like this...

Kuslao then tried to attack the nobles again.In addition to priests and emerging civil servants, he also successfully won the support of the lower military nobles, that is, "Dehegan", and obtained heavy cavalry through them.

With these supports, Kuslao surveyed the land of the whole country and made a list.He abolished the tax-free privileges of nobles and priests, and required landowners to pay taxes according to their estates.He also sent cronies to go deep into the provinces of the nobles, count the population, investigate agricultural and commercial income, and set up a unified tax.

Through the efforts of Kuslao and his successor Hormuz, this system was finally implemented.The father and son built some large-scale water conservancy projects and gave the reclaimed state-owned land to farmers.The tax burden of ordinary people has also been reduced in the process.

Of course, this once again aroused strong dissatisfaction among the nobles.

Everyone can still tolerate the military affairs before.But if the tax is moved, it will not work.The great nobles gradually couldn't bear it, and colluded again, accusing the "king of kings of expropriating the people's property" and plotting a rebellion to overthrow the king.

The contradiction between the two sides broke out completely during Hormuz's tenure.

Hormuz was much more determined than his grandfather. In order to suppress the rebellion, he did not hesitate to cleanse nobles and high priests on a large scale. It is said that more than 3000 people were executed.However, the king's army was too weak to fight and was again defeated on the battlefield, and Hormuz himself was later killed in a palace mutiny.

His son Cuslao II fled to Rome in a hurry, and later borrowed Roman soldiers to defeat the rebellious nobles before he was restored.

As a result, reforms were not fully implemented.The only good thing is that although many people think that Hormuz is a cruel and fatuous ruler, his reputation among the people is surprisingly good.Even in the era of Tianfangjiao, there are still many stories circulating.

The adoptive father complained that he wondered if there was something wrong with these Persians, why they lost the chain when it came to the critical moment.

But Guo Kang understood what Basil meant.

Although those tricks of the Queen Mother Helena look easy to use, they are actually facing the same predicament as the Kings of Kings back then.Of course, she can stir up the nobles' internal strife, use the contradictions of different forces to maneuver, and guide things in the direction she needs.But even if the nobles are dull and slow to respond, they will feel the change of interests sooner or later.

If you don't continue to promote it, you will have little effect, and if you continue to promote it, you will have to fight these people sooner or later.

But at this time, no matter what power was borrowed before, it was hard to say whether it was reliable or not.Being able to fight by oneself and suppressing the rebellion is the most important ability.

On this basis, if the combat power is stronger, it is of course better-the sooner the chaos ends, the less damage it will do to the country.It should be the same way of thinking to suppress this noble rebellion.

The adoptive father appreciated Guo Kang's analysis very much, saying that he was much better than he was back then.At that time, at the meeting, Basil asked him what he thought, but he couldn't say anything useful.Da Khan was very speechless, and wondered how the descendants of their family became like this.If Guo Kang was there at the time, he must have performed better than him.

Guo Kang always felt that his adoptive father praised him too much.But thinking about the things he said, it feels like there is no way.

Guo Gai, the ancestor of the Guo family, and Guo Di, the later leader, are all figures like "Zhuge Liang" in the Khan court.It can be said that his family has always been famous for foresight, maturity and prudence.

As a result, Guo Daxia suddenly appeared, and he was so sweaty that he couldn't bear it.It is estimated that Basil III was full of thoughts at the time, "Where is my cultural consultant? How did this happen?"

It is also because of this that Guo Daxia actually attaches great importance to "cultural people". For his family, his lifelong ideal is to have another educated and strategic person like Guo Gai in his family.

Guo Kang himself didn't have much confidence.He felt that his "traveler bonus" was too scientific, and his education level and intelligence were actually not outstanding here - when he was teased by his adoptive mother, his performance was not much better than that of his simple and honest father.

It can't be said that Bi Tuohuan's brains are quicker, so they are considered educated, right?Then this requirement is too low...

However, for Guo Daxia, this is enough.

He only has requirements for Guo Kang's practice, and basically does not restrict other things.For Guo Kang's equipment, steam and so on, I also think this is a good thing.

In the mind of the adoptive father, uneducated people who engage in other messy research are not doing their jobs properly; but his family, Kanger, is at least the same level as his father-in-law and wife, and doing some theological research is called elegance.Moreover, he is so smart, maybe he can really be useful?
In fact, Guo Kang's older sister, Guo Ponu, is more like his father.She is also the kind of person whose mind is... simple, but who can fight well.It's a pity that Guo Daxia doesn't pursue children's "self-like" feelings much, but thinks about being educated every day.

Guo Kang even suspected that the conflict between his sister and him was just like this.

He didn't have any prejudice against these people.For the Zizhang Khanate, being able to fight is the foundation of everything. If they can't survive, there is no culture at all.

The final solution to the "An-Da War" was the same as what Basil said, relying on absolute force.

Thanks to the previous full preparations, it took more than three months for the army from Dadu and New Romania to completely destroy the ragtag coalition of nobles.

Everyone in the Khan court believed that the Persian problem faced by the Queen Mother ultimately required a Roman solution.Basil planned to use extremely cruel methods to deal with these former "Anda" who had betrayed their oath.The nobles who participated in the rebellion were all hung upside down and strangled to death with stones hanging from their necks.

In their family, all those who were higher than the wheel were declared guilty and crucified according to the teachings of the Zizhang state religion and the God-worshiping religion.

Khan Ting believes that the sins committed by these people again made the brother Tian who had redeemed them die once in vain.Therefore, they must use the same method to wash away their sins with their own blood before they can be forgiven by Brother Tian.

After the war, legionnaires erected thousands of crosses on the road to Belgrade, shocking the people around them.These relics could still be seen until Guo Kang was traveling around with his adoptive father a few years ago.

On the other hand, the Great Khan was very generous to those who surrendered in time.As a result, dozens of fast-legged nobles were pardoned, and were rewarded with manors near the capital, and moved to this richer place.

Moreover, the Khan court has been propagating everywhere, only targeting these rebellious state-level nobles, and not pursuing the knights and civilians who were held hostage to participate.Knights could even retain their territories and privileges as long as they were willing to abide by the rules.

Basil, Guo Di and others formulated a set of detailed rules, stipulating the knight's administrative and military powers, as well as the obligations of serving and obeying management.

They were awarded the title of "Roman Knight" uniformly, without any lord as an intermediary, and received the title directly from the Khan.In normal times, it is under the jurisdiction of the local state officials.

Knights who perform well can be transferred to richer fiefs, or even directly serve in the Dadu Khan.Since many people are not rich in their territories, as compensation for reducing some tax privileges, the Khan Court will carefully examine the output of their territories, reduce the number of retinues and infantry that need to be provided according to the original laws, and reduce their financial pressure.

According to their performance, the state government will also conduct assessments, and pay salaries as subsidies according to the level of their contributions.

In order to reassure the locals, Basil, who was not yet married, married the daughter of a Serbian knight directly on the way to march.This is also the only queen who is not a Greek in the Zizhang history.

She is not very conspicuous in the Khan Court, and has been taking care of her husband and children in obscurity, and rarely participates in political affairs.It is said that when Guo Di died, Basil was still on the front line in Syria.The ministers invited the queen out and asked her to preside over the court meeting.

As a result, facing the documents sent up, the queen looked at Guo Di's previous seat, and cried directly on the throne, saying that old Peter was not there, and what should I do if something so important went wrong.

Later, the incident spread and even became an allusion.Everyone used "Old Peter is not here" to describe the dilemma that no one can make a decision.

However, the queen lived a very long life.After Basil died, she moved into a convent in Dadu for retreat.It may be because of her calm personality and good temper, she has been living a peaceful life since then, and she is still there until now.

Judging from the results, the reform in Serbia was indeed very successful.As the tax was reduced by more than half, the local people even had the slogan "Remove the nobles, Rome is great", calling on everyone to lead the way to the legion and arrest those nobles who tried to escape into the mountains.

The profit-making new knight class has also become the most staunch supporter of the Khan Court - they know very well that as long as the nobles fight back and carve up the nobles' territory, they will definitely be the first to die.

Of course, other hostile countries are not so welcome.

The treatment of the nobles shocked the surrounding Poland and Hungary.Afterwards, Khanting analyzed that this kind of punishment frightened the barbarians, and felt that Rome had returned.

The countries once again formed the Crusades, threatening to capture the capital and eliminate heresy.However, this only made the Khan court more united after the civil war.Even the Greek nobles were so frightened that they joined the army one after another to defend their homeland.

Basil himself, when he counterattacked into Hungary later, made a name for himself and proved his theory.

　I never knew how to break the chapters, so I had to write a little longer this time...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)