Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 524: Can Aristotle be as smart as Brother Tian?

Guo Kang stood on the balcony of the cathedral and looked around. The black smoke ignited in the city has dissipated, and people are busy running back and forth everywhere. Except for the soldiers who were still patrolling around, it seemed from a distance that the place had returned to normal.

However, if you look around carefully, you can still find that the situation is not that simple. In the square not far away, a large group of citizens gathered. A group of soldiers escorted a dozen prisoners onto a makeshift platform. An official held a long document, read it to everyone, and then hung it on a shelf nearby.

After he finished his announcement, the soldiers pinned the prisoner to the wooden stake in front. The surrounding citizens were extremely excited, shouting and pushing forward, throwing stones and clods of soil at these people, and even hit the soldiers nearby. The people around to maintain order could only try their best to stop them, and finally managed to stop them.

Guo Kang didn't recognize these prisoners, and he couldn't see them clearly from such a distance. However, when he came to the church this morning, there was a concentrated execution of gang leaders, thugs, and backbones. These people should be the same group.

It's just that the prisoners are all very honest now, and some are even paralyzed by fear. They have to be grabbed to kneel upright. They completely lose the arrogance they usually have. No wonder they can't tell the difference clearly.

A priest came up and offered them the final prayers as usual, which caused a burst of curses from the people around them. However, this process is necessary. Soon, he finished praying and left the execution ground.

The executioners were not very professional, and even the torture tools were not uniform. Some were holding long swords, and some were holding large axes. It was obvious that they had brought the weapons they usually used.

At the execution site, an official from the Ministry of Punishment made a final check, waved a small wooden sign, and gave them instructions. Everyone then swung their weapons and beheaded the prisoner. The crowd immediately burst into a huge cheer, which could be heard clearly even in the cathedral.

Although they were not very professional, fortunately, the executioners' movements were quite crisp, and there was no such thing as failing to kill or failing to cut off after a few blows. Soon, handymen came up to collect the bodies. Some of the more diligent ones even quickly took out a cup, collected the prisoner's blood, and sold it to the onlookers.

"Even if there are some relatively high-level books, such as "Aristotle's Theology" that Tianfang Sect philosophers often like to quote, you can be sure that he did not write it himself. As for those works that are not very good in the first place, it is even more so I can’t watch it. There must be a lot of weird talk here, so just ignore it.”

"The theory of the four humors was first proposed by Hippocrates, and has been the mainstream of medicine for many years. The philosophical basis of this theory is generally considered to be the theory of the four elements. Some people think that Hippocrates followed the philosopher Democritus After studying it, these theories may have come from this. The master of the theory of the four elements is also Aristotle. Therefore, it does have some relevance after discussing it in this way."

"..."

Regarding this point, everyone agreed very much and expressed their support.

"Citizens think these people are too sinful and don't want to have contact with them." A monk told him: "Normally, there are still many people who are willing to buy them."

"We have to popularize some medical common sense to the people." Guo Kang couldn't help but said to the monks next to him: "It's okay this time. On weekdays, I see that some people actually drink it directly."

"How does this have something to do with Aristotle?" Guo Kang was a little surprised.

"Such metaphysical concepts involving the spirituality of life are all related to the soul. The human soul is a domain controlled by the Father Himself, and is not something that mortals can touch. How can ordinary people change and use it casually?" said To be honest, even if Aristotle was a figure before Brother Tian, ​​I don’t think that with his wisdom, he would really come up with such a strange theory.”

"Then what if it turns out to be Aristotle's point of view?" A person with good intentions asked curiously.

Of course, if the ancestors fight here, Ya Sheng probably won't be able to beat Brother Tian. Therefore, although this method looks strange, it does work.

Although people all over the world seem to tend to intuitively believe that the sages in ancient times were the smartest, surpassing those of today - or at least most people today. However, there were many sages in ancient times, and their opinions often quarreled with each other. Moreover, their status is also divided into high and low, which may not be the same in different factions.

"Aristotle is also a human being, and it is normal to make mistakes. Moreover, this was Brother Tian's teaching back then." Guo Kang retorted: "Can Aristotle be as smart as Brother Tian?"

Everyone probably didn't expect this kind of debate and were speechless for a moment.

"I have actually seen someone discuss this issue. However, they did not analyze such a mysterious thing, but started from the theory of four humors and extended it." The monk replied: "The general idea is that some diseases may lack blood, so they Let’s add this.”

Worship God is pretty good here. The Tianfang Sect next door, because it has not had a patriarch and a pope for a long time, has even more sects. There are even sects that believe that the prophet was just the forerunner of the king and Imam Ali was the envoy appointed by Hu Da. In such a situation, it's hard to say which ancestor is smarter...

"One of the main tasks of our church is to enlighten people's wisdom and eliminate ignorance. If possible, we need to educate ordinary people as much as possible and teach them enough rational knowledge so that they can clearly understand the world given to us by Heavenly Father, so that they can Identify those basic heresies on your own and stay away from superstition." Guo Kang warned everyone: "This kind of thing cannot be done in a day or two, everyone still has to work hard!"

"There are too many counterfeit works of Aristotle on the market now." He shook his head: "I heard that as early as the time of Justinian, some people complained that there were works named after Aristotle. There are so many books that Ya Sheng himself would probably never be able to finish them all in his lifetime. This habit is widespread from Seris to Greece, so there is nothing to be surprised about."

"Why do you have such an idea?" Although he knew that everyone really liked to believe some random things, Guo Kang was still a little unwilling and muttered.

"There are many folk sayings." The monk said: "For example, some people believe that a person's life is a process of gradual exhaustion of vitality. Therefore, people who die before reaching the end of their life have excess 'vitality' in their bodies. Through By drinking blood, you can replenish this vitality to yourself. I don’t know where this statement comes from, but some people have always believed in this and said it was said by Aristotle.”

According to traditional European medicine, drinking the blood of prisoners directly can treat diseases such as epilepsy. This time, however, the audience seemed to hate the tortured person too much. Everyone yelled angrily again. It seemed that they could not accept drinking this kind of thing. The seller could only pour out the blood angrily and quickly drag the body away.

"I think the gap between the theory of four elements and this theory is a bit too far. I will study it carefully later." Guo Kang thought for a while and said, "As for the theory of vitality, it must be a fallacy."

After saying this, Guo Kang stopped observing and returned to the corridor, ready to continue working.

As he passed the hall, he happened to see a group of people gathered around.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Those French people came just now and said they were looking for someone." A monk told him: "Their princess hasn't been found yet. I heard that Prince Wu often comes here, so I waited here in advance to ask about the situation. "

"He won't come until he has a meal. And he's very popular outside these days, so he might not eat here." Guo Kang said.

"It doesn't matter, Mr. Luo is here." The monk pointed to the middle of the crowd: "Those French people had a good chat with him. In fact, everyone prefers the story of the Three Kingdoms."

Guo Kang nodded.

This is quite true. Compared with political tasks and work demands, listening and speaking books are definitely more interesting. But they all came here to listen, and they were quite enthusiastic.

Thinking of this, he leaned over to see what these people were talking about. As a result, as soon as he walked over, he heard Luo Guanzhong say: "You don't understand. In fact, Prime Minister Zhuge is the smartest. His words are his understanding of worldly knowledge. It is also very useful for us to learn now. valuable."

"In this story, this is indeed the case. But there are many eras beyond the Three Kingdoms." Someone questioned: "Is it true that after so many years, Prime Minister Zhuge is still the smartest?"

"It's boring to compare like this..." Luo Guanzhong muttered, and then explained: "Look, Brother Tian Yishu was a person from the time between the two Han Dynasties. If you have to say it, it has been so long since then , is there no one who is more divine and understands the truth of the world better than him? If there is, why do you all still listen to him?"

"No, it's not like that." All the French people shook their heads.

"Yi Shu is also our god, not an ordinary historical figure. We are not very clear about it, but you can find a priest and ask him to tell you about the Trinity." Someone suggested. "The Greeks say that you are the best bard in the East, with wide knowledge and high knowledge. As long as they ask you these questions, you will definitely understand." Others also agreed.

"You guys want to talk about myths, I've heard of them too." Luo Guanzhong also teased them: "Did you know? We also had a cross religion there back then. According to them, Prime Minister Zhuge was actually Yishu's brother. So. , His understanding of worldly knowledge exceeds that of Yishu. Speaking of which, he must be smarter!"

"what?"

Not to mention the French people, even Guo Kang and everyone in the Roman Church looked at a loss.

"Brother Tian is older than Prime Minister Zhuge, right?" A priest was surprised and confirmed smoothly.

"That is the time of descending to earth, not the order of heaven. This does not count." Luo Guanzhong shook his head and said: "It is said that Brother Tian could not defeat the Jewish priests in his life, and he could not be reused. Even the work of appeasing people was not enough. But his strength was not enough. The Heavenly Father felt that this son was too unsatisfactory, so he sent Prime Minister Zhuge to come. Although he could not fulfill his wish, his fighting power was much higher than that of the Jews, and he was also good at attacking people's hearts. He was very popular, and both Han and Yi people still worship him. I miss him very much. Can’t you see it directly?”

"Hey, can this still happen?"

"Which sect did you say this? It's too heretical..."

The Roman priests were also talking about it.

"Yeah, it's too outrageous..."

"Their churches think you are too heretical. I think you are really a heretic."

A group of French people also commented.

"Who are you calling a heretic?" Some priests reacted sharply and immediately became unhappy.

Soon, everyone became noisy.

Guo Kang had no time to care about him, so he hurried over to break up the fight, pulled everyone on his side away, and asked Luo Guanzhong and the others to continue chatting outside. After finally separating everyone, we quickly went to do business and prepared to go to Wang Dalai Lama.

******

On the roof of the small building next to the street, Sun Shiwan and his entourage looked at the surrounding construction site with satisfaction.

"Master, we have calculated the accounts." A man dressed as an accountant handed him an account book: "The money for purchasing this land, as well as the various expenses for hiring craftsmen to build the warehouse, are all included. "

"Okay, I'll take a look."

Sun Shiwan said, took the account book, looked at it, and then frowned.

"Why hasn't the labor price changed at all?" He asked while flipping through the pages: "Did you directly find the craftsman?"

"Yes, sir." Next to him, another clerk bowed: "The construction workers' guild has basically collapsed. The day before yesterday, some soldiers came over and said that their president and several big businessmen were involved in the rebellion. , and caught them all in one fell swoop.”

"Now that there is no guild to control it, the craftsmen have begun to take over the business on their own. But because there is no one to protect them, they can't maintain high prices. Moreover, without someone taking a commission in the middle, it is logically easier to negotiate the price. So it is easier to negotiate the price. , we came here specifically to recruit workers at this time.”

"Yes, there is no problem with this idea." Sun Shiwan nodded and closed the book: "On the one hand, the guild will squeeze these people, but on the other hand, it will also provide them with protection, especially when facing outsiders. Most of them are like this now. Guild organizations have been banned by the government and their properties have been seized. They should be very sad. Why is the asking price still too high? "

"Because there are rumors now that the government is going to reorganize the guilds and it will be more fair in the future. Many people are not in a hurry and are ready to wait for the new guilds to be organized before taking big orders." The clerk told him.

"What about this period of time? What do they eat? We finally waited for this opportunity to lower the price..." Although he already understood that this opportunity could not be seized, Sun Shiwan was still a little unwilling.

"There is an Italian businessman who hired a lot of people to do work, and many of the masons went there." The accountant said, "The salary there is not bad, almost the same as before, so they are in the mood to raise prices."

"The local colleagues are too rude." Sun Shiwan complained: "Isn't this the time to lower the price? This person doesn't understand business knowledge? Ah, that's not right -" He immediately reacted: "Isn't this the time to lower the price? It takes people’s hearts.”

"What's the use of winning people's hearts here?" The guys didn't quite understand.

"I don't know either. But some people have done this to steal business. So we can't lower the price yet..." Sun Shiwan thought for a while: "Well, let's recruit unemployed victims to work for us."

"Then the price will be based on what they quoted?" the accountant asked.

"It's OK to open a higher price. Now is not the time to worry about money." Sun Shiwan said decisively: "My Sun family has been kind all my life. During the Song Dynasty, I was a well-known benevolent person in the countryside. I have to use this sign to put pressure on them. .When the Italian is crushed and no one else competes, we will lower the price."

"Sir, you're smart!" The guy flattered quickly: "Our funds are much higher than theirs. We can definitely win."

Sun Shiwan smiled and stroked his beard, which was very helpful.

At this moment, a large group of people came out from the corner of the street. They all had red cloths wrapped around their heads and sang strange songs as they walked past the construction site.

"What the hell!" Sun Shiwan was startled.

"Oh, this was also organized in the past few days." The waiter said: "They are also doing charity. They seem to have raised a lot of money from wealthy families in the city. They have been providing disaster relief these days. There are more people now. They also go to maintain order and help arrest prisoners. I heard that the Great Qin State wants to recruit these people as soldiers, and is now establishing an organization."

"Why are you wearing these monster things..." Sun Shiwan said in surprise.

"I don't know either. They were organized by the little King Wu, maybe it's just a personal hobby." The guy didn't quite understand either: "I heard from passers-by that just to distinguish themselves from ordinary people, they temporarily found this rope as a mark. . Anyway, they are good people just like us. You see, if we don’t offend each other, there should be no problem.”

However, Sun Shiwan was a little uneasy.

He circled twice, quickly led the people downstairs, and ran away quickly.

(End of this chapter)