Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 290 Guo's Three Principles
Hearing Guo Kang's advice, little Rangna said nothing, but Zhu Wenkui was very interested.

"Then can you understand other civilizations now?" He asked curiously: "After all, you have stayed for such a long time, and you have been in contact with both ends, so you should have the experience of 'translating' each other."

"In fact, we often can't understand." Guo Kang said with a wry smile: "When we were in school, we had to study not only the history of Seris, but also the history of Rome and modern Europe. As a result, people often complained that these three courses should not be taught at all. Juxtaposed. The history of modern Europe is too thin..."

"European history? Did you compile the textbook yourself?" Princess Jeanne asked.

"That's right, it took a lot of work." Guo Kang said with emotion: "My uncle presided over the compilation of this book, and left a special order, saying that it will be reviewed every five years and replaced every ten years. ...be sure to remember that this is only an outline, and there are likely to be many mistakes."

"Why is that?" Princess Jeanna was a little surprised.

"Because the information is too complicated, and its credibility is also questionable." Little Jeanna, who has read the book, took the initiative to explain: "Many historical materials are the records of churches in various places, and there is no clear official history book like Serris. As an outline. It's a big deal."

"Although the content of the official history book may not be credible, it provides a whole framework. The overall timetable, sequence of events, and chronology of the characters can all be determined. Even if some achievements are exaggerated and some events are belittled, The impact on the overall context is also limited."

"That's the trouble here." She shook her head and said, "In terms of historical materials themselves, there are actually quite a few. After all, every church has to be engaged in work such as counting church members and calculating taxes. Even if it is a monastery in the countryside, There's been a lot of record accumulated over a long period of time."

"But the biggest problem is that these records can't be strung together. It's like only a bunch of pearls, but the thread is missing." She compared: "In this case, if you want to write a general history, you have to find the information from scratch. , and then verify the connection between them. This is too much trouble."

"That's right." Guo Kang agreed: "What's more difficult is that these materials still exist in different places. For example, if you want to write the history of a place, you can only go to the local place to search for records. If you are lucky, the local priest may have written Some chronicle works, but these books are also regional, and they may not care about other places at all. Everyone's records may not match up."

"It's really like fragments. It takes a lot of effort for local scholars to sort out, let alone outsiders like us. The local lords and churches may not welcome us to check the books."

"Because we can't go to many places, we can only entrust some scholars and businessmen to inquire - but this kind of inquiry is very inefficient. As the princess said, their historical materials lack context, and after a few generations, they may be I don’t even know when important events happened and where they were recorded.”

"It's like studying the war at the end of the Sui Dynasty, but you only know that during that time, all the churches said that the world was in chaos, and you don't even know how long the war lasted or who was fighting who. Because various records are full of priests who are the most My favorite theological metaphors and prophecies, some people’s descriptions will make you think that Satan is going to attack heaven.” He gave an example.

"However, because of the great influence, some more reliable church historians also paid attention to this war and recorded many details. You learned that a famous battle took place at Hulao Pass, and General Li, who was blessed by Heavenly Father, received Victory. But church history generally only writes so much, and you have to find the rest by yourself.”

"If General Li's family is still there, then you are lucky. You may be able to find relevant personal biographies from their family records and get more detailed information. If you can't find it, it will be even more troublesome. Hulaoguan The diocese where it is located may also have some records from other perspectives. If the author of church history is reliable enough to accurately record its location, and the local diocesan monastery happened not to be destroyed by the war, then you can go there again and complete the records. .”

"So far, we have only found this one person. Who are Lord Dou and Lord Wang of the enemy? Whether they are human beings or some kind of strange evil creature, we have to continue to research."

"Don't laugh, this kind of cursing is very common in describing wars with heretics." He shrugged and said to little Jeanna: "Considering that the struggle for hegemony in the Central Plains is also a legal battle related to sacrificial rights, its counterpart in Europe , It may be more exaggerated than this level. And in view of the habitual exaggeration of European recorders, we have to personally verify the size of the enemy—anyway, it is impossible for all enemies to have as many as 500 million.”

"What I said is the most basic. When it comes to real operations, even a single issue of duplicate names can make history writers collapse. As I said before, they don't have a clear timetable. John Li of Jingzhao The Second King, John Lee III of Wannian, and John Lee III, the son of John Lee II of Jingzhao...will be mixed together. The famous big nobles are better, and can be distinguished by nickname and lineage order. If it is that kind People who are not particularly famous may not be able to tell who is who at all."

"That's it..." Princess Jeanna couldn't deny it, she could only nod her head.

"At that time, we selected some events and formed a simple history book. We tried our best to include major events in various countries, such as the establishment and disintegration of Frank, so that students could have a preliminary understanding of it." Guo Kang replied.

"It's just that we couldn't organize too much at the time, so we could only entrust others to collect it slowly, and then gradually supplement it. But even so, the content of this part is still much thinner than the other two."

"Returning history." Zhu Wenkui complained: "Is there a need to learn this thing? Isn't it just..."

He originally wanted to mock the barbarians, but Princess Ma gave him a glare.Zhu Wenkui froze for a moment, then looked at Rangna's mother and daughter again, hesitant to speak.

"It is still necessary. Especially our hostile countries in the north. It is more difficult to understand them, but we still need to work harder to study." Guo Kang said: "Only by understanding the enemy can we defeat them more efficiently."

"Didn't you just say that these people are hard to understand?" Little Rangna asked: "Then is it useful to learn this?"

"You don't need to understand, you just need to know the general logic of their behavior." Guo Kang told her: "Like us now, we have summed up three basic rules for combat."

"What is that?" Little Jeanna asked curiously.

"If you can fight and make peace, then fight; if you can punish or pardon, then punish; if you can attack or attack, then attack." Guo Kang said: "This is also what my uncle concluded back then."

"Although I myself often can't understand their way of thinking, the experience summed up in response to the behavior of the enemy is obviously very useful. It is called the 'Guo's Three Principles'. We still use it until now."

(End of this chapter)