Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 202 Triumph

Little Rangna clicked her tongue, but Zhu Wenkui just smiled wryly.He has also stayed here for many years, and he is used to this kind of thing...

After the second team also entered the square, a large group of musicians followed.

"Only these two teams?" Little Rangna couldn't stop thinking.

"The whole regiment can't come." Guo Kang said helplessly: "The leader doesn't need so many people. And if they all come in at once, the other troops won't be happy."

The musicians were blowing and beating, and the sounds of suona and gongs and drums were extremely penetrating. It was inconvenient for everyone to chat, so they had to pause and wait for the follow-up.

Amidst the music, a group of people entered the square from the other side.The leader, Tuo Huan, first jumped off his horse, waved to the people on the viewing platform, and then walked forward to the square.On the carriage behind, the queen, Theodora and several noble ladies also filed out.

The audience cheered again, and when they also stood still, the band stopped temporarily.

"I only know Ke Dun and Princess." Zhu Wenkui said, "Who are the others?"

"My aunt, the wife of Prime Minister Mr. Wang, the wife of Uncle Zhang..." Guo Kang glanced at it and replied, "It's the family members of the generals who went to war."

"So..." Zhu Wenkui looked back and forth curiously for a while.He and Guo Kang were the most acquainted, so he didn't care so much, and whispered directly: "I always feel that your uncle looks more like a Greek, and your aunt looks more like a Han."

"Because it is." Guo Kang also replied: "Uncle Wu was adopted by my great-uncle Xiangong, and he is indeed from a local. Auntie is the daughter of the Wu family. It is true that his family does not marry many local people, so it is obvious It looks like a Central Plains person."

"so……"

"Uncle Yang next to you." Guo Kang pointed to the leader of the battle group who had just served as the leader: "He may be a Bulgarian—of course he may be a Serbian. Anyway, the descendants of the refugees here often don't know where their ancestors are. here."

"No wonder, I think they have different naming styles." Zhu Wenkui said after thinking about it.

"Actually, the name is not too accurate." Guo Kang laughed again: "Although Uncle Yang has an ugly name, he is a graduate of the School of Water Conservancy of Junbao University with the highest grades that year. Among this group of people, his education level may be the only one." Highest."

"After graduating, he worked in the Ministry of Water for a few years. He felt that he had nothing to do, so he joined the battle group. Because his engineering skills were so good and he worked hard, he stood out in a few years. His improved detection method is now used by the entire army. use."

"We all feel that when he becomes a prime minister, the position of Minister of the Water Department will probably be his."

"As for my fifth uncle..." Guo Kang said euphemistically, "He may be slightly less educated than my father..."

"..." Zhu Wenkui was dumbfounded for a moment.

After the band, came two more rows of riders.After they entered the arena, all musicians played their instruments simultaneously again.

There is no need for Guo Kang to explain this time, because the audience has already shouted.Bai Sai Khan, as a victor, finally arrived at the square.

John IX was tall and tall, and He Tuo Huan looked like a father and son at first glance.It's just that the long-term battle made his face look even thinner.

He stood on a chariot drawn by four white horses, his slender face was covered with red oil paint.She was wearing a traditional Eastern Roman dress inlaid with pearls and jade to form a mosaic pattern, and she was wearing a purple cloak.On the chariot, there is still a yellow umbrella cover.

Twelve foot attendants walked around the chariot.

The three people in the front left are wearing robes with five-color patterns, black boots on their feet, a big ax on their shoulders, and a bundle of sticks tied with a blue belt.In front of the three of them was a flag bearer, wearing a green robe and holding a red sun flag with a blue background.

The three people in the left back, wearing the same robes, soap boots, carrying a large axe on their shoulders, and a bunch of clubs tied with red belts.Before the three of them, they were also a flag bearer, wearing a red robe, holding a sweat room banner with gold letters on a red background and four "X"s drawn on it.

The three people in the front right were dressed in the same ceremonial guards, except that they were carrying sticks tied with black belts.The flag bearer before the three of them was wearing a black robe and holding a national flag with the Chinese character "Da Qin" written on a black background.

There are three attendants in the rear right, their sticks are tied with white belts.The leading flag bearer wears a white robe and holds the red moon flag on a white background.

After this group of honor guards came the Nordic Guard of the Great Khan.They also wore armor and entered the arena on foot.It is also carrying a large number of streamers, buildings, banners, and flags. From a distance, it is densely packed and looks very lively.

"Is this also a Roman ceremony?" Zhu Wenkui asked in confusion.

"Maybe it has been... moderately modified." Guo Kang didn't know how to describe it: "I remember that it was a mixture of Tang Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty car and brine books. But I don't know exactly what was mixed. Here There should be quite a few original parts, and I even suspect that everyone may not be very clear about it when it was formulated..."

"Look at those banners of gods and monsters." Guo Kang pointed to the large banners carried by the Varyag people: "If I remember correctly, those banners should have things like evil spirits, dragon horses, and golden bulls on them. meaning."

"It's a pity that our craftsmen don't understand these at all. I suspect that those patterns were drawn casually. Otherwise, why would you draw a Chimera in the guard of honor..."

"Uh..." Zhu Wenkui was also a little embarrassed: "It should be simply regarded as a monster flag. You also said that in Rome, you have to do as the Romans do. Maybe even the monsters do as the Romans..."

Guo Kang was speechless for a moment.

"Brother Kang." Little Rangna immediately answered, "Why is Bai Saihan blushing?"

"This is really a custom in ancient Rome." Guo Kang said: "One theory is that the triumphant gained divinity on that day, so he should dress up like a god. Correspondingly, there will be a specially arranged person to remind him, Warn him that he's just a mortal."

"Huh? All gods have red faces? Why?" Zhu Wenkui asked strangely, "Are they all the same as Guan Gong?"

"I don't know." Guo Kang directly gave up explaining: "There is another saying that the victors will be too proud, so they need to use paint to cover up their expressions, so that everyone can see their self-satisfied appearance. You can judge for yourself which one is more proud. reason."

"I'm curious, why do they think triumph will bring divinity? Is this divinity bestowed by their gods, or by the Senate, or by the act of victory itself?" Little Jeanne seemed to be thinking. more.

"Mars is red." Zhu Wenkui objected: "I think the God of War descended to earth and descended on this person. So, like the God of War, he has to paint his face red."

"In that case, the paint used in this ceremony should be changed—what color did the Heavenly Father come down to?" He pondered.

"Doesn't Mars often lose battles? What is he doing down here?" Little Jeanna disagreed.

"It's because of this that I want to cling to the victorious general." Zhu Wenkui forcefully defended, "As the saying goes, you can think about what you lack. He is a god of war, and he suffers defeat every day. He must especially like to rub against others who can win..."

"You're still on the right track..." Guo Kang said in surprise.

Little Jeanne was also speechless.

Fortunately, the small dispute did not last long, and the ceremony proceeded to the next stage.The queen walked over with a group of greeters, ready to recite the welcome speech.The soldiers maintaining order urged everyone to be quiet and wait for her to speak.

But Bai Saihan jumped out of the car and strode over.

"Stop reading, those old pedants taught you nonsense, my dear Anna!" He hugged his wife and posted it directly: "We are going home!"

Queen Anna was obviously still dumbfounded, and after she realized it, she still looked at a loss.She tried to push him away and straighten her dress, but she also got a lot of paint on her face.

The queen is always thoughtful and looks like a city man. It is the first time Guo Kang has seen her so at a loss.The oil paint did exactly what he explained, it had the effect of covering up the expression.At least from this distance, she really couldn't see her expression clearly, so it wouldn't embarrass the queen too much.

In the team that followed Bai Saihan, someone also shouted: "Khan, you have seen your wife, and we want to see your wife too!"

"Yes, we want to see my wife too!"

"See my wife, see my wife!"

The soldiers shouted one after another.

John Khan put down the queen, turned around, stretched out his arms, and shouted: "Okay! When the triumph is over, everyone go home!"

"I am very happy to meet my wife today. Each person will send 5 more—no, 10 Nomisma, count me as a gift to your family. If you have a wife, go home and coax your wife, let this group Greedy girls like dragons have fun!"

"If you don't have a wife, use this money to find a temporary wife for yourself—find me a better-looking one. You are Roman soldiers, don't lead me like barbarians and ask me to pay the bride price! Do you understand!"

"Old Zhang, hand out the money and deduct it from my booty!" He waved his hand and shouted to Zhang Gongliang, Marshal of Nanya who was following behind the team.

The soldiers cheered in unison, a cheer that surpassed all previous sounds.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, John Khan walked up to Tuo Huan and slapped him hard twice, and both of them burst out laughing.He went to Theodora again and said something to her.

Just after the cheers, Lama Wang came out of the temple wearing a patriarchal attire and leading a few assistants.

"The main event has begun." Guo Kang reminded.

"What is the main event?" Little Jeanna asked.

"Sacrifice." Guo Kang said.

A group of servants moved over a set of wooden planks and began to assemble them on the spot, and soon formed a disc-mounted wooden platform.John Khan waved his hand and shouted, "Bring the Poles and the spoils!"

The line moved aside, and a large group of prisoners was brought up from the end of the line.Disdainful ridicule and abuse came from the soldiers and citizens on both sides.

After the captives came several carts.A long pole is inserted on the car, and the pole is surrounded by tree-like branches, with multiple layers of horizontal branches, and each "branch" is covered with densely packed heads.The soldiers pushed the prisoners into the square and put the carts in front.

Finally, several servants came and a cow, a sheep, and a pig also stayed in the square.

"According to the Roman tradition, some of the captives will be executed in front of the temple, and the rest will be spared." Guo Kang explained: "We generally execute the Poles, and release or sell others depending on the situation."

"Oh, that's what it means to sacrifice the prisoner's ancestral temple." Zhu Wenkui understood.

"Then how much should be executed?" Jeanna asked.

"I don't know." Guo Kang said helplessly: "When we researched the Triumph Ceremony, we found relatively limited information, and we couldn't figure it out. So we can only refer to records such as "Spring and Autumn" to let everyone have a general idea. number."

"According to everyone's understanding, the more the better. After all, the triumphal ceremony is to commemorate the victory of the battle. It must be that the more prisoners there are, the greater the victory. But on the other hand, you can't kill all the prisoners. Who dares to surrender to you this time."

"Considering the end, the result is that only the Poles were killed. Because they never surrendered, and they deliberately killed our people every time. Even if this is put back, it will not help. It is just used to sacrifice Brother Tian, ​​and it is considered a thing. Make the most of it."

"Is that so..."

Guo Kang nodded.

When he first learned about these rituals, he always felt that they were too cruel.But after seeing the remains of Guo's relatives, he didn't care about those heads and sacrificial ceremonies.

"Where is Marcus? Let him come over." John Khan greeted.

Not long after, a huge man with a thick back came out from the crowd and bowed to him.

The man was extremely tall.John, who was already a tall and strong man, was bumped next to him.He moved his body, then unbuttoned his shirt, took it off and put it on the side, showing his muscles to the crowd.

Many Greeks, male and female, screamed.

"Bring out the Polish nobles," the Khan ordered.

Soldiers untied a few Poles who were chained together, and others.The five men were chained together and rushed to the middle of the field.

"Kill them!" shouted the townspeople.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" The crowd shouted repeatedly, and some soldiers also joined them.

John Khan stretched out his hand and pressed down, signaling for everyone to be quiet.

"Citizens, I know you hate these people. But we have our own laws and moral rules, and if we wantonly violate them, we are no different from them." He said in a deep voice, "So, I need you to control your anger, Don't judge them based on momentary emotions, but by rules."

"This time, we captured five Polish nobles. According to tradition, we cannot let these nobles shed their blood. Of course, warriors will be treated at a higher level, so I will give them a chance to choose."

"Or, get into this bag." He pointed to a sack opened by the servants beside the round platform, and turned to a few Polish nobles: "I will stuff you under this wooden platform, just like Sain Khan's old practice, Give you a decent home."

"Or, wrestle with my rabbit, Johannes Macris." He pointed to the giant man next to him: "If you can defeat him, you will get my respect for the warrior and be cast unconditionally. Even if you can't win, Nor will I execute you with the sword."

“This is the limit of my benevolence — my citizens may already be unhappy with that. Pick one yourself,” he said.

(End of this chapter)