Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 239 The Roman Ouroboros and the Acting Method of Blasphemous Civilization

For Joanna's suggestion, Guo Kang thinks it makes sense, but he may not be able to believe it all.Unlike Theodora, she was an outsider even if she thought about it seriously.

Theodora had talked to him about this sort of thing before.She warned Guo Kang that anyone's words will have a preset position.Because everyone's situation and interests are different, even if they think they are open and fair and are trying to provide help, it is impossible to get rid of this influence.

But conversely, just because this gap exists, all suggestions cannot be ignored.Because even people who are not too closely related can put forward valuable opinions in some aspects. As long as they analyze their own attitudes and needs, it is not difficult to find out the useful parts.

Therefore, she believes that although Guo Kang often makes various plans, this quality alone is not enough.He has to learn to recognize the information and suggestions sent by other people of all kinds, and decide how to deal with it, in order to become a qualified leader.

But this thing is much more difficult than researching Steam Brothers and making plans, because there is no set formula at all.Guo Kang sometimes even felt that he might not be the material for this job.

However, after seeing a lot, he still understood a little bit.For example, Joanna's statement is very frank.Although she is not considered one of her own, she is now relatively weak and needs others.Where she's happy to push, her advice will obviously be valuable.

In terms of navigation and trade routes, Guo Kang felt that she should know better than himself.

He thought for a while, and asked: "I understand the reason for this concern. But the problem now is that not only we are trying to find a new course, but others may also be trying. If we don't do it, others may also in a few decades." It will be found. So what shall we do?"

"If I guessed right just now, even if they succeed, they won't get huge rewards immediately when they start their business, and their national power won't suddenly increase." Joanna analyzed methodically: "During this period, it's also our opportunity to act."

"There are many ways to compete in business. It doesn't mean that everyone blindly competes for the efficiency of development. If you can't make your own profits higher than your competitors, then in turn, it's okay to make them unable to make enough profits." She narrowed her eyes slightly, and there was a trace of determination and viciousness in her long and narrow eyes: "As we said just now, it is much easier to destroy the route than to operate it."

"For example, England just mentioned. If there is a western continent, their location is really good, and it is estimated that they will soon be able to develop due to geographical advantages. But we can learn from the Vikings back then."

"Shall we also become pirates?" Guo Kang hadn't thought about this question before.

"Of course. Our history of being pirates is longer than theirs. And you have been talking about the Vikings, don't you know their traditions?" Joanna regained her charming look, but said cruel words, and chuckled.

Guo Kang hesitated for a while, thinking that this seems to be a way of thinking.

But at this time, Tuo Huan interrupted again.

"Your way of coping is too much like a sea merchant, too much like a pirate. This is not good." He shook his head: "It's not a good way to destroy people's business and prevent people from making money."

"Currently, Dadu is the most conducive place for business development. Therefore, it is also the most affluent place and the most suitable place for serious business. If the New World you mentioned cannot bring greater prosperity and the scope of influence is not large, then We can completely ignore it. Anyway, the minerals and wealth they get from there will eventually be given to us through trade."

"And if there really brings unprecedented prosperity there, making Dadu, the 'city of all cities', lose its greatest advantage, then we..." He shrugged: "Let's just move."

"At that time, most of them will not be Ketun. We don't want them anymore." He waved his hand and said indifferently: "The Khan Court, the Zhu Kingdoms, and the legions will all move to the most suitable geographical location."

"The superior geographical location, it is dead. But people are alive." Tuo Huan gave an example: "It's like the previous grassland is gradually dying. Do you want to hang around here and starve to death? Of course, find an aquatic plant In a more beautiful place, drive away or merge the tribes there, and then use it as a new pasture."

"If according to what you said, England has an advantage, then we will take a boat together, first rush down to Denmark, then go to England, and destroy the natives. After that, there will be our new tent."

"So, your pirate thinking is still not good enough." He looked at Joanna, shook his head and said, "It's too low-level to harass other people's business every day. You should just grab the whole storefront."

Joanna opened her mouth, but was speechless for a while.

In just a short while, he was speechless to Tuo Huan twice.This "fox", who has always been recognized as smart, was hit by the "Khitan Warrior Wolf" and seemed to be slowing down...

Guo Kang, on the other hand, suddenly remembered a more profound proposition.

As a time traveler, he has subconsciously taken it as a matter of course to reform society and promote the development of his own country within his ability.

And in which direction to develop, it has become one of the most important issues.

According to tradition, traversers generally learn from the "West".Although the scope of this Western concept is unclear, the basic conventions are relatively clear.For example, promoting the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, promoting the development of capitalism, etc., all in all, referring to his original world, various laws and policies of the West, and developing along their path.

And the history of Serris itself is also learned step by step in this way, the more you learn, the more you learn, the stronger you become.

But this model has a problem: which step should we learn?
Some people think that it is enough to learn Western weapons and military systems, while others think that it is not enough, and they must learn Western political systems;

Some people think that it is enough to learn the Western political system, but others think that this is still just a formality, and that one must learn Western ideology and culture, such as democracy and science.

Many people think that this step is enough.But the problem is that some people think that this is still not enough - Western civilization is more advanced than Eastern civilization, so the more thorough the study, the better.

Where is the foundation of Western thought?The answer is religion.Therefore, if you want to be more advanced, it is best to learn religion as well, and everyone should believe in Heavenly Father and Brother.Although this is more difficult, the transformation is indeed more thorough.

Is this enough?of course not.Siris's writing is an anomaly in the world.There are still many people who think that this script is not advanced enough, and they need to learn from the West and change the script.This is even more difficult, but it is closer to the West after the modification.

And above the text, there is a bloodline that is even more difficult to change.Some people think that the ancestry of the Easterners is not good, and they will not be as advanced as the West at root. Therefore, the pedigree should also be improved through conscious intermarriage.

These are really not deduction out of thin air, but suggestions that have indeed appeared in history, and even caused widespread discussion at one time.Some topics were still brought up until Guo Kang's time.

Because the logic here is the same as before:

At that time, the Qing Dynasty was only willing to learn weapons and military affairs, and was unwilling to learn the system of Western civilization, which led to backwardness and beatings; now, if it only studies ideas and does not learn the religion and writing of Western civilization, does it mean that it is also the same as the Qing Dynasty? Conservative and backward, stagnant, will encounter the same fate?
If the West is not recognized as an advanced civilization, then the process of "learning from the West" in modern history will not know how to narrate it;
If one admits that the West is an advanced civilization, there will be all kinds of "heretics" and endless quarrels over the issue of which point is advanced and which step he has learned is considered advanced because of the problem of conceptual definition.

In other world lines, this may only be a theoretical dispute, but in the Purple Horde, these issues will indeed affect Guo Kang's planning.

Many commonly used development methods will not work in the Purple Horde.For example, the most classic "constitutional monarchy" is not very feasible here-the Bai Sai Khan of the purple tent is more similar to the head of state in the Roman era, and is actually the largest military leader.Basil III, the most authoritative emperor in all dynasties, mainly relied on his own military exploits and resourcefulness.To put it bluntly, other people are unreliable, so all the power is given to him.

The institutional power of Sai Khan is not as great as that of the British king after the constitutional constitution. Learning from other people's laws to restrain the monarch is equivalent to restraining him back...

What's more, the laws of these two sides are not the same situation at all.

The basic law of the Purple Horde was adapted by Guo Gai on the basis of Roman law by recruiting a group of Greek jurists.Later, Queen Mother Helena and Basil III continued to organize scholars to revise and improve it.It is fundamentally incompatible with English-style law.

The legal scholars in Zizhang do know the laws of other parts of Europe, but they don't look down on them at all.In their eyes, Roman law is the greatest property of civilization.Compared with it, those very rough and backward barbarian customary laws are not worth mentioning at all.

Telling these people that English law is the most advanced and asking them to learn from it is the ultimate insult to the Greek jurists.It may be easier for the Serese people of later generations to study English law than them...

And this situation will bring more troublesome questions: Britain or Rome, who is the advanced Western civilization?
Or, you can go one step further: Rome, is it the West?
At this point, we have come to the most problematic part of the usual traversal model.

If Guo Kang travels to the contemporary Seris, he will come to the society of Ming and Qing Dynasties.At this time, he can try to transform the Seris society according to the knowledge and experience of the advanced western civilization, in order to go on the right path and let the Seris civilization continue and advance.This is the most orthodox and common way.

But the problem is that he traveled to the old place of Rome.

According to the orthodox path, he should try to transform Roman society according to the knowledge and experience of advanced Western civilization, in order to go on the right path and allow Roman civilization to continue and advance.

But this result itself constitutes a paradox.

According to Western orthodoxy, "Western civilization" should be passed on in the order of Greece-Romans-Western Europe.But now, the ancestors of Rome declared that he was not dead, and suddenly jumped out of the coffin, beating the dutiful sons and grandchildren of Western Europe who were trying to inherit themselves.

In this case, Western Europe cannot inherit "Westernness", so there is no need to learn, just learn from Rome itself.

But on the other hand, in theory, Rome can't be the most advanced without learning from the more advanced Western advanced civilization.This seems to be contradictory to the previous conclusion.

In this kind of discourse, the "Western Civilization", which was originally developed linearly, made an error because of the sudden unveiling of Rome.

To make a metaphor, it is equivalent to that in Rome, the long river of civilization's destiny will not continue to move forward, so that Western Europe, which is destined to be strong, will become stronger.Instead, it was stuck here in Rome, like a ouroboros, and started to circle in place.

As Theodora said, Guo Kang really attaches great importance to theoretical planning, and has always believed that this is where he has the greatest value as a time traveler.But when planning, choosing the development direction and specific model, he must face these problems.

And the words of Huan Huan suddenly opened his eyes.

Guo Kang, I got it!
He realized that learning advanced civilization, after all, is not just a means?
Isn't the real purpose of making oneself an advanced civilization?
To use a metaphor, the process of development and learning is actually the process of non-Western civilizations trying to play the role of advanced Western civilizations.

Historically, there have been many states of varying depth in the learning process.In order to summarize the rules, a rough classification can be made according to the level of their digestion and absorption.

For example, in the Qing Dynasty, only the foreign guns and cannons were successfully digested, and the higher ones failed to learn well.This kind can be classified as the ninth level.

And if you go a step further, not only know how to use foreign guns, but also digest and absorb Western production lines, and you can initially develop industries by yourself, then you have achieved a qualitative improvement and entered the eighth level.

By analogy, the more you digest the various characteristics of advanced Western civilization, the more advanced you are, the stronger you are and the closer you are to your goal.

The ultimate goal, of course, is to call himself "Western Advanced Civilization."

It's just that people in the past have overlooked one point.That is, religion, writing, etc., are not the key.At the upper level of the civilization sequence, there is also a geographical location that plays a more decisive role.

The geographical location is different, the climate, mineral resources, production methods... will be affected.Obviously, this is a more advanced feature.

For example, it is impossible for an East Asian civilization to truly "leave Asia and enter Europe".Only by going on an expedition to Western Europe and replacing the local forces can the geographical digestion and absorption be completed.

This is the current situation of the Purple Horde Khanate.

Now, Greek is the prevailing language in the Khanate, and the state religion is also Christianity. Even the Great Khan’s family looks no different from Greeks because of their long-term intermarriage.But even so, Western European civilization will not recognize it, but consider it an Eastern country.

So, the last step, is pretty obvious.

The advanced Western civilization is unique, and it is impossible to have two at the same time—because at the top of the civilization sequence, there can only be one most advanced civilization!
Therefore, at this point, what needs to be done is to kill the original advanced western civilization, seize its uniqueness, and replace it by itself!
When you reach this level, you can call yourself the West, claim to be an advanced civilization, and reach the top of your studies.

In an instant, Guo Kang vaguely understood the true core of this method.

It has to be said that this is a pretty sacrilegious path.People worship the advanced Western civilization, but it is not a god—and it can be replaced!
The so-called God is nothing more than that!
Of course, this road is also difficult and dangerous.Not only do we have to constantly compete, but there is also the risk of losing control.

Because there is another very important point: that is, the method of acting is, after all, just acting!

The tyrannical Mongols back then, because the spiritual power of civilization was too weak, played out of control and lost themselves.

In high-level situations, how to play Western civilization while maintaining yourself is also a relatively difficult task, and you can only work hard on your own.

Guo Kang suddenly felt that his thoughts suddenly became clear.

"Brother Kang, Brother Kang, what are you thinking?" At this moment, Joanna's worried voice came from her ear.

Guo Kang came back to his senses, turned his head, and saw her and Tuo Huan looking at him.

"Ah, I suddenly thought of something, and my mind was distracted." Guo Kang didn't have time to worry about it, why did she use such an intimate address, and quickly explained.

Joanna still seemed a little concerned, but Tuohuan probably confirmed his status.

"Hey, he has a lot of things on his mind. That's what smart people do, so we don't have to worry about it." He comforted.

Joanna took another deep look at Guo Kang, and finally nodded.

(End of this chapter)