Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 196 Focus on the military

Theodora was somewhat concerned about Guo Kang's mysterious sponsor.

However, according to Tuo Huan, many people invested in the monastery at that time, and a large group of Greek and Italian businessmen participated in it. If you have to say which one is the most special, you can’t find it.Theodora was not involved in that event, and therefore has not been paying attention to the specific circumstances.

Guo Kang is busy all day long, and there are quite a few forces dealing with him.In the past, she didn't pay much attention to it.But today, for some reason, she felt something was wrong no matter how she thought about it, so she also secretly decided to investigate carefully to see what kind of power was behind this mysterious businessman.

But Guo Kang was still unaware of this, and was still selling his long-term plan to the Cao family.Judging from the current situation, the three generations of Cao's grandparents, except for Cao Jian who said nothing, are all very interested in the plan.

And Guo Kang is continuing to work hard to introduce his long-term plan to them.

"Our action will be a very long-term work." He told everyone: "Since the project will last for such a long time, of course we have to make long-term plans."

"The total amount of daily consumption on the construction site is huge, so we can't rely on transportation, right? Therefore, we also have to build roads, run farms, house craftsmen, and rely on these new settlements to support the manpower of the project."

"Through these methods, we can better save costs. Otherwise, no matter how much investment and cheap labor, it is not enough to spend so many years."

"In short, this kind of project with a huge amount of engineering and a long time requires a corresponding huge organization to carry out. It is no exaggeration to say that we have the richest experience in the entire Mediterranean world and the highest The level of technology. I believe we can convince investors without much effort.”

"Then we can talk to the Li family boy later." Cao Xun looked at the queen mother, "His family was engaged in water conservancy in the early years. I remember Borzhan, Minister of the Ministry of Water, who was also his father's subordinate back then."

The queen mother nodded.

Guo Kang probably understood that the "little boy from the Li family" he was referring to was Li Huawen, the current head of the Li family.

Li Huawen's father, Li Yinglin, was expelled by the Queen Mother of Greece together with Cao Xun, so the two families have always had a "difficult friend" relationship.In today's various families, the contacts between them are still relatively close.

As for the work of the ancestors of the Li family back then, everyone in the Purple Horde Khanate knew about it.His family didn't feel ashamed of it, instead they often publicized it, so as to shorten the distance with the legionnaires and enhance everyone's closeness to them.

Now, his family does not continue to do this kind of work.However, Borjan, who served as Minister of the Ministry of Water, was indeed promoted by the Li family.

Back then, when Basil reorganized the 13-member meeting, the bureaucratic system of the Purple Horde Khanate was gradually improving. However, due to the numerous wars, the traditional military family still played an important role, constantly providing Rome with new officers for use on various fronts. .

In order to solve this problem, Basil made a series of efforts.

For example, he has been encouraging big and small families, revived Roman traditions, adopted adopted children, and let the most talented heirs manage the family business.The inheritance rights of children born to concubines are further restricted on the grounds of religion and tradition.

At that time, the Purple Horde had already believed in the religion of worshiping God in name.The concubine room of the upper-class nobles belongs to the gray part of the family.Moreover, Basil not only came out on his own, but also asked Guo Di to cooperate, repeatedly affirming that "concubines are prohibited from being wives", and that concubines and concubines are not allowed to obtain the same inheritance qualifications as legitimate sons.

He also passed laws to detail the rights and responsibilities of adopted sons and biological children, and tried to enable them to achieve a win-win situation and live in harmony.In this environment, it is not as good as direct adoption to inherit by taking concubines and helping concubines to give birth to children.

In addition, probably due to the double influence of the late Tang Dynasty and Rome, the Purple Horde had a custom of adopting adopted sons, so many people can accept it.Like Guo Kang himself, even one of the beneficiaries.

In addition to family issues, Basil has also made adjustments to his public office.When changing the hereditary seats of each family to professional seats, he specially held an oath with the Zhu kingdoms in the Niangniang Temple.In front of the god ancestor, heavenly father, and heavenly brother, everyone agreed that those who have no military achievements in the future cannot become elders.

In other words, it is basically impossible for these people to hold senior officials in various ministries, nor can they enter the highest decision-making body in Rome.

This decision made the legion and the family quite satisfied, and it was a concession to the previous reorganization.In this order, it is tantamount to acquiescing to each family to give more opportunities to their children and old ministries.Compared with direct hereditary and appointment, there is another threshold.

But having said that, the most basic requirement of "being able to win" is actually not low.The enemies around the Purple Horde Khanate are becoming more and more ferocious one by one, and it is difficult to find a place where people can enjoy their military exploits with peace of mind.The screening process is also much harsher than the exam at Junbao University - if the "test" fails, it is very likely that the body will not be found.

In fact, even in Basil's era, when the Purple Horde had truly become a first-class power in Europe, the status of the descendants of princes was still a very high-risk status.There are nearly 20 of Guo Kang's uncles including his parents and adopted sons, but now his adoptive father is only in his early forties, and there are only seven brothers left.

Guo Kang still remembers that the youngest son of his uncle Guo Xian was attacked by the Poles not long after he joined the army.The adoptive father and others found a familiar Italian businessman and tried to redeem him.

Half a year later, the businessman brought back a simple coffin.Guo Kang's last impression of this cheerful uncle who even brought him snacks was a leg preserved in coarse salt in the coffin, and half of an arm with wolf dog teeth marks.

He later learned that after the popularity of gunpowder, officers on the northern front line often liked to hang an iron shell to shake the sky.They jokingly called this thing a "Polandball", which means that if you are about to be caught by the Poles, it is better to just hit it.

He didn't understand at the beginning why some princes would rather let their adopted sons inherit the family business, but let their own children regard them as the head of the family instead.Could it be that everyone is so selfless and doesn't care about blood relationship at all?

After seeing this kind of thing a lot, he realized that if his son is incapable, it would be better to keep him away from military duties and power.

At least, laws and customs are relatively perfect in this respect.Including Guo Kang himself, he was also educated by the people around him since he was a child, and he will take care of his sister in the future.

Under such circumstances, instead of insisting on dying in vain, it is better to be a rich man honestly under the protection of others.

Up to now, this system has been generally accepted by everyone and has become a customary rule.

For example, Borzhan mentioned by Cao Xun, although he looks like an ordinary old pedant, when he was young, he participated in several wars under Li Yinglin's command.

When participating in the attack on Hungary as an engineer, he cleverly used the seasonal swell of the river to guide the river to wash away the enemy's strong camp, so he made a contribution.Li Yinglin thought he was talented, so he recommended him to the newly formed engineering brigade.

During the years he worked there, Borzhan spent most of his time away from the front lines, but was stationed in a new military compound west of Kiev.

There used to be a village there, but it was plundered many times during the previous tug-of-war with Poland and Lithuania, and then abandoned.The legion secretary did not go to the site to investigate carefully, but only read the official document, and casually counted it as "cooked land" that had been reclaimed.

The officials in Dadu only read the paper report, thought for a while, and felt that it would be much more convenient to deal with the reclaimed land, so they decided to make this place the center of the new military mansion with a swipe of a pen.

When the resettled soldiers and their families came here, they discovered that although the local Slavs had been farming for several generations, according to the standards of the Purple Horde, the condition of this "field" was not much better than that of the wilderness.

The time of abandonment here is longer than expected, and the fields have been deserted for at least several years.The side of a small river with "stable and abundant water" in the document is not a fertile land that can be cultivated directly, but only a large swamp-like muddy land.

The so-called "recooked land" is now full of vitality, and it is useless without cleaning it from scratch - because the previous residents seem to have no concept of water conservancy, and the small river can even flood at any time.

The veterans who had migrated were strongly dissatisfied with this, and threatened to go to Galich to report their interests to the provincial officials face to face.The province urgently issued a document to add money to them, and transferred Borjan's brigade to ask them to solve the infrastructure problems of the entire military palace as soon as possible.

Borjan and others spent several years planning water conservancy projects in the entire region from scratch to solve the problems of flood control, drainage, and irrigation.

This work is very complicated, and the local Slavic villagers can't do it.Everyone was afraid that they would collapse the dam, so the engineering brigade and the garrison could only do it themselves.After a lot of hard work, the preliminary construction was completed.As for the facilities of the entire military mansion stipulated by the province, then take your time and deal with your boss at the same time.

However, everyone has also seen his credit.

Because of his quick response and proper handling of the incident, whether it was professional skills in water conservancy or dealing with the regiment's assassins, he had shown reliable abilities. The provincial military district recognized his outstanding contributions and recommended him to be promoted to a higher official position.He first returned to Li's shogunate as a staff member of the legion, and then turned to a civilian position and took up a post in the provincial department of Serbia.

During this period, princes often also served as civil officials.It's just that Rome's education system has been perfected, and the bureaucratic system has gradually matured. The quality of hereditary chief officials is increasingly inferior to that of talents selected from the grassroots, and it is difficult to take care of both jobs at the same time.They occupy the title of civil servants, but they are often unable to work, so that the various ministers have become empty positions,
After Li Yinglin's death, the title of "Shangshu of the Ministry of Water" that he had always held was vacant.Li Huawen thought that since he didn't have the prestige of his father, he might as well concentrate on military work, equating his status with the Minister of Industry to someone who was good at it.

At first, it was Guo Di's eldest son, Guo Ru, who took over.However, Guo Ru did not live up to his name, and he was very concerned about administrative work, and he was unwilling to stay in the post after one year. Therefore, this position was completely opened to ordinary officials.

Because of his close relationship with the Li family, Borjan was regarded as an important official in the transition period, and entered the central organization of the Ministry of Water, and ten years later, he became the highest official of this department.

It can be said that the Li family and the department in charge of water conservancy are still inextricably linked.

Cao Xun already understood that Guo Kang said that he wanted to dig a canal, but he was actually planning to use this plan to run a new military palace in Egypt.Because of the construction of water conservancy, the organization of manpower, and the development of farms... This set of processes is very familiar to the Purple Horde Khanate.From the beginning, he knew what he wanted to do.

To implement this plan, it really needs the support of the Ministry of Water and the help of the army.Lee just happened to have influence in both aspects. If the plan is implemented, they can also take the lead in extending their hands to Egypt.It can be said that Li Shi is also a potential ally of Guo Kang in this matter.

As for the Cao family, although they are far away, Cao Xun can still help with his reputation.Guo Kang already had a good relationship with the Li family. On such a major event, with the support of the Empress Dowager and Old General Cao, it was not difficult to get the support of the Li family and the Ministry of Water.

After thinking about this, Guo Kang expressed his gratitude to Cao Xun.

"I think our first task is to operate slowly and strive to lay a solid foundation." He said: "In this process, we must deal with various forces. Not only local Egyptians, but also European and other Tianfang religions. world."

"This time, our greatest advantage over the Mamluks actually came from 'knowing the enemy'. For a long time afterwards, in order to allow our test area in Egypt to develop stably, we needed to understand possible enemies and their forces. Trends are also very necessary." Guo Kang said: "I don't have much diplomatic experience, and now I understand many of these situations through Tuohuan. In the future, I still need your help if I want to obtain information in a timely manner."

"We will try our best to help." Cao Xun also said directly: "However, I am also curious, why is Mr. Guo obsessed with this matter? If you want to intervene in the Tianfang Sect world, then negotiate with the Caliph to control the situation in Egypt , that’s enough, you don’t need to spend so much effort.”

"Native Egyptians have been treated like Chinese for more than 2000 years. Persians, Macedonians, Greeks, ancient Romans, Arabs, Turks... everyone comes and goes, but they all have a common understanding, that It’s just that the Egyptians can only engage in some low-level labor and are useless. It’s probably a very...novel idea to organize them into a military government.” He said euphemistically.

"I hear what you mean. These new military mansions are valuable both in the military and in the religious issues you mentioned." He accurately judged Guo Kang's meaning and asked: "Military matters I can understand, religiously, you think it's important?"

"Of course." Guo Kang said with a smile: "No matter what aspect it means, it means a lot.

(End of this chapter)