Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 491: No one who is not the Liu family can be called Khan, and no one who has not made military achievements can be called the Zhuguo

"However, this benefit is not so easy to reap. Many people ended up being killed by the natives." Luo Guanzhong said: "But my situation at the time was slightly better."

"These two tribes were originally one. However, the former county magistrate supported a tribal elder who had a grudge against the chief, established a separate tribe, and then instigated them to attack each other. In this way, both new tribes have something to ask of the county Here, we can only plunder locals in exchange for support from the county."

"In addition, the county magistrate also bought a group of Siamese slaves at a low price to compete with the natives working in the manor, encourage them to report each other, promote those who are loyal to themselves, and prevent them from colluding with each other and hiding their output. In this way Come, the county magistrate's job will be much easier. Even these old officials, he has told me to stay and help me, and get familiar with the environment before going to his new post."

"With his good preparation, as long as I follow Xiao Gui and Cao Cao, I can enjoy the success. In a few years, I should be able to be promoted to a better position. It can be seen that what the court official said is right - even though he was kicked out But this is considered a well-run place in various manors. Mr. Chen’s face is quite useful. "

"Then why did you leave again?" Li Xuanying asked.

"Hey, I'm not suitable for this." Luo Guanzhong waved his hand: "I like the story of the Three Kingdoms the most in my life. I think about how to tell Prime Minister Zhuge and General Yunchang well every day. After I got there, I also thought about whether I could use the experience accumulated before With the money and power of the county government, the policy gradually changed from conquest and looting to education."

"However, the court did not seem to like this idea. I investigated for several months inside and outside the manor, interviewing the elderly, exploring their sources of livelihood, witchcraft beliefs and relationships with each other, and finally wrote a report introducing my preparations How to carry out education. I think ten years is enough. However, the court does not want to wait even one year."

"The natives there are also very fierce and slippery, and more difficult to educate than I expected at the time. I originally thought that the worst I could do was to imitate Prime Minister Zhuge's Seven Captures and Seven Copes, but later I discovered that there might be even more barbaric and backward than Nanzhong. Much more. My assumption at the time was that not only the government was ungrateful, but the natives were also ungrateful. If we asked them not to kill each other wantonly, there would be no success."

"After three years of struggling, I am exhausted. About half of the taxes owed to the court are in arrears, and the manor has not been developed. In the evaluation, I was rated as the eighth-class 'lower middle school'. Fortunately, Dayuan is relatively lenient. Ren, I feel that it is not easy to train a county magistrate, otherwise I am afraid that I will be dismissed from office directly."

"I selected a few smarter natives and found an interpreter to teach them when I had time. In the end, my county magistrate said that these natives not only did not accept Wang's transformation, but actually learned it. There are many crooked ways and tricks. There is a man who is the nephew of one of the chiefs. Some natives reported that he was secretly preparing firearms and colluding with the natives on the next island, fearing that he was planning something evil."

"That man has always been very respectful to me. He was different from other barbaric natives. I didn't think it was like this, so I didn't care. The county magistrate used his family connections to privately hire a group of Siamese to raid the native tribes. , Sure enough, we found a lot of weapons and tokens of other tribes. I was very surprised, but in the end I didn’t ask anything. The man just saw that the matter was exposed, did not continue to pretend, and scolded him. I could only acquiesce to him to put those things away. A group of captured natives were executed.”

"To be honest, this incident has hit me hard. To put it bluntly, I don't have the wisdom of Prime Minister Zhuge, nor his military strength, and the Javanese court probably doesn't have the patience to capture and manipulate him. The whole thing is just me. I didn't understand the situation well enough, so I acted on my own and made mistakes. Fortunately, there was someone to help me, so it didn't make a big fuss."

"After that, I felt that I might just be suitable for writing novels, and don't worry about these things. So I resigned from my official position and prepared to continue traveling. The Chen family also enjoyed their leisure time. Everyone got together and relaxed. I spent some money and wrote some official documents, so I headed west and ended up here."

"You don't have to belittle yourself." Li Xuanying comforted: "If you are really capable, we will give you a chance."

"I lamented all day long, feeling that I could not stretch my talents. But in reality, it was not that easy to do things. Maybe in this world, although there are many literati who have little talent, most of them are actually people with great ambitions and few talents." Luo Guanzhong Shaking his head:

"Also, everyone has their own strengths. Just because they are good in this aspect does not mean that they are good in other aspects. Let me tell you the book honestly first. At least this one seems to be somewhat popular. There have been so many talented people throughout the ages. It is very rare to be able to leave a book behind. I compiled this story first, and I will have no regrets in this life."

"If the young master thinks highly of me, he can take me with him to read stories to people in the camp and learn about the situation here when he goes back to war. I will be satisfied. I have written about the Three Kingdoms, the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the residual Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. After the end of the Song Dynasty. Now, you can try other themes. But if you want to write well, in addition to collecting stories, you must also be familiar with the background of the story and understand the audience's preferences. If you don't learn more about it personally and contact more people, you won't be able to write well. of these works.”

"Of course. In fact, with your current reputation, you don't have to follow me." Li Xuanying said: "Go directly to the Ministry of War and say that you are the one who talked about the Three Kingdoms on the street recently. Now I heard that you are going to fight in Egypt, and you want to go with me. I'm going to tell you stories on the way, and I hope the camp officer can arrange a place for you. Don't worry, they'll have to give you extra money, so please come with me."

"Besides, if I lead a team on an expedition, I will probably be a vanguard. There are many things to do, the work is tiring, and the situation is dangerous. It is not suitable for you to follow me." Li Xuanying said, "You can just follow the army to carry the baggage."

"Young master, you don't have to work so hard." Luo Guanzhong advised: "My lesson is, don't do anything blindly when you don't understand the situation. This is especially true when you are going to the battlefield. This kind of thing will never happen again. You can never be too careful.”

"I can't help it. This is my natural mission." Li Xuanying didn't think there was any problem.

"When our dynasty was founded, the system was in chaos. Boyan Timur, the Great Khan, made an oath with everyone in the Khan's court and reiterated the basic rules. The oath of alliance stated: 'From now on, the Liu family cannot be called Khan and have no military merit. He cannot serve as the pillar of the country, otherwise everyone will attack and destroy him! 'All the Khans, generals, Nuoyan, and officials took part in the oath, and we still adhere to this rule to this day."

"This is following the example of the Han Dynasty." Luo Guanzhong said.

"Yes. Moreover, this does not conflict with our customs, and there is no problem internationally." Li Xuanying replied: "According to the custom since Genghis Khan, non-golden family members cannot be called khan, so this can also be obtained at that time. The support of each khanate. Later, when we marched into the Kipchak grassland, we also used this to reduce the power of each leader and split up their tribes."

"No wonder the Han surname is also called Liu." Luo Guanzhong suddenly realized and nodded.

"Well, maybe he had such a name because he worshiped the emperor of the Han Dynasty. As far as I know, the Great Khan already had a Chinese name at that time, and he often used it when doing business with people." Li Xuanying said: "Actually, they The meaning of that Mongolian name is very simple and simple, and it can be used directly when translated."

"Then, the Great Khan's name is Boyan Timur, which means wealth and iron?" Luo Guanzhong thought for a moment and said.

"Yes, but sometimes in Mongolian, modifiers and nouns are placed upside down, so his Chinese name is Liu Tiefu." Li Xuanying told him.

"This name...well, it has the style of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty!" Luo Guanzhong could only praise it forcefully.

"The reason why I am so desperate is because of this matter." Li Xuanying continued: "My family is one of the most prestigious families in Rome, but even when the system was not perfect and each family was the strongest, the family was still weak. After all, we are not independent princes, and the son of the head of the family is not the prince." "Because of the current situation, one family is not allowed to monopolize all the interests of a certain place, otherwise other people will not be happy. After all, we have too many foreign troubles here. If you are strong, you must give enough proof to let everyone see that you have the corresponding ability, so that you can convince others. Otherwise, your colleagues and subordinates will think that you are a Greek who only knows how to fight among himself, and cannot fulfill your mission of protecting Rome. Responsibilities.”

"Furthermore, it is the same within the family. There are many members of the Zhuguo clan back then who have continued to this day. The official position and power of the family head are not all passed down to the eldest son as a matter of course. Others always hope that You can get some more or less. There is national justice, and it is irrefutable that they demand that the most capable come first. Even if it is for the benefit of the entire family, the head of the family cannot be the only one to monopolize everything, otherwise it will only let others People turn away from their heart and their virtue.”

"In addition, in addition to the pillar states, there are many senators, ministers, and gentry leaders in Rome. After reaching the top, they want to maintain the power of their families, and even go further, basically relying on military exploits. But many people If we don’t have enough strength to organize a family on our own, we will let our own children follow us.”

"So, how you perform when you join the army or fight will not only affect your own future, but also affect those who follow you. If it seems to be mediocre or even a hindrance, then these people are likely to switch to others, or at least give more The resources are invested in the family children who follow other princes."

"Our family has served as the pillars of the country for generations and is known as Shihou. In addition to our own power and military exploits, it is also largely because we have fought side by side with them all year round and have our own influence in the middle levels of the court. If these people do not follow If you do, it will have a big impact."

"The accumulation of so many things puts a lot of pressure on us. My parents push me every day, either to practice martial arts or to learn the art of war. In short, if I stop for a moment, I feel unsafe. I go out to play Whenever I play, I often don’t agree with them..."

"This is all understandable." Luo Guanzhong advised: "Think about it, how many people want to have this kind of wealth but have not yet had the opportunity. And to put it harshly, this can at least eliminate a large part of the real dudes. Yes. For the country, it’s actually a good thing.”

"Brother Guo Kang said the same thing." Li Xuanying said and sighed: "Hey, it turns out that this guy persuades me to study hard every day, but he just fails - every time I look for him, he is playing these games The messy equipment and mechanisms, what do you mean..."

"Then what are the arrangements at home?" Luo Guanzhong asked.

"He is the adopted son of the family, but the family values ​​​​him very much. This guy is indeed quite capable. Many people knew it when we were young." Li Xuanying complained: "He actually has no military exploits until now, but Everyone just thinks highly of him. There is no way, even the things he wants to play are things that everyone thinks are beneficial to the national economy and people's livelihood, and he can come up with some magical inventions from time to time. Hey, why is the gap between people so big? "

"My father even thinks that I am not as good as Xiao Zhu. Although he begs for food every day, forges iron, and tinkers with all kinds of strange things, he is indeed versatile and energetic."

"I used to do morning exercises. Every day I would see him taking his sister to the Empress Temple in the morning. Then he would go home to contact his retainers and deal with household chores. He would go to blacksmithing in the afternoon and modify the design drawings of Brother Guo Kang in the evening. He was busy from morning to night. I have never seen him complain that he is tired, nor have he asked for any entertainment."

"I think this person may be even more outrageous than Guo Kang. Guo Kang can also be attributed to his talent. He is simply an overtime maniac. He works hard. How can normal people resist doing this every day and not doing anything? Resting? Even the donkeys in the manor are exhausted..."

"In the end, because they are here, my parents have a reason. They compare me with them every day." He shook his head repeatedly: "Oh, I shouldn't say too much about this kind of thing, but anyway, during this period of time, I We’re about to go on an expedition, but I can’t stand it anymore.”

"Young master, after all, you really have a responsibility." Luo Guanzhong could only continue to console himself: "As the saying goes, only by suffering the most hardship can one become the best. No matter what other people are like, in order to outperform those competitors, this is not necessary. Don’t do it.”

"I could have beaten them." Li Xuanying muttered: "Those people at home can't beat me together. I don't know why they don't let me go out to play... Don't let them know about my music score. When the time comes, you can just say it was written by Xiao Zhu. My parents will beat me to death if they know that I study musical instruments and military songs."

"I just wanted to ask, what are you singing?" Odosia asked.

"This is a song that Brother Guo Kang copied from somewhere. It talks about General Yue's ambition to launch the Northern Expedition and regain his homeland." Li Xuanying replied: "I think the theme is quite good and the tune is nice. We are four generations of Romans. , aren’t you always trying to regain your homeland?”

"The lyrics are with me." Luo Guanzhong also picked up the manuscript paper on the table: "This word is written in vernacular, and the emotion is very full, but the lyrics are too white and don't fit in with our commonly used rhymes. I'm wondering, how Can I change it?"

"Thank you for your hard work, sir." Eudocia thanked him politely again.

"I think you still have something to do here, but it's not easy for me to meet Li Lang once." She glanced at Li Xuanying shyly, and said with a smile: "Please let him and I meet later tonight. Let’s chat.”

"Oh, please, please." As a veteran, Luo Guanzhong understood the meaning immediately. He opened the door and asked Eudocia to leave, then pulled Li Xuanying who had not yet reacted, drove him out several times, and closed the door again with a bang.

Outside the door, Odosia pulled Li Xuanying to the roadside, looked back and forth, breathed a sigh of relief, and her expression immediately became anxious.

"How could that old man just now be so ridiculous-"

"He's just a storyteller, so of course he can..."

"Don't interrupt." Eudocia immediately interrupted: "Listen, we don't have much time now. You must remember every word I say. Later, just do as I say, understand?"

"what?"

(End of this chapter)