Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 581: Go all out on scientific research to solve the problem of key technologies being stuck by the Ming Dynasty

Tuo Huan actually doesn’t understand many of Guo Kang’s ideas.

However, his character has always been very generous and he also listens to advice. When I don’t understand something, I don’t really struggle with these issues. As long as the need is not too outrageous, I will basically help.

Guo Kang's elders liked him very much. The adoptive father told everyone directly at the beginning that Tuohuan clearly had a bold and generous chivalrous spirit, similar to the style of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty. On the contrary, Guo Kang's temper was too introverted, and no matter how you looked at it, he was not like them. A few looks from when they were young.

Of course, Guo Kang is an adopted son after all, so a little difference is normal. As for taking pleasure, it is unclear whether it is a character inherited from ancestors or formed by oneself. Because legally speaking, Tuohuan and his family are the Khan kings of the Jochi lineage. And Jochi was considered an anomaly in that family back then.

Genghis Khan's famous statement about "the greatest happiness in life" is said to have been reprimanded by Jochi. Legend has it that he asked Jochi at that time, what is the greatest joy in life? Jochi replied that his greatest pleasure was to go hunting on horseback and return home with a full load in the evening. Genghis Khan asked other generals, and everyone's answers were similar. Genghis Khan seemed dissatisfied with this and told him that the greatest pleasure in life should be defeating enemies, expanding territory, plundering wealth, etc. The ambitions of Jochi and others are too superficial and short-sighted.

But if we really talk about it, the thinking of people like Jochi is actually that of normal prairie people. Herdsmen on the grasslands are inherently short-sighted and easily satisfied. The harsh local environment and difficult living conditions make it easy for these people to get drunk now, because it is meaningless to consider goals that are too far away and ambitious.

In fact, some people have always believed that the Mongolian Plateau is an anomaly on the Eurasian steppe. The reason why large-scale and relatively well-organized countries often appear here is actually because the Han Dynasty in the south was the first to have a unified regime.

The nomadic economy is inefficient and fragile, and it must be robbed of supplies from time to time to maintain it. However, the group formed spontaneously by the herdsmen is too small, and when facing the powerful central dynasty, it can easily be slapped to death. In order to deal with this situation, we can only learn from each other, form a larger and more rigorous organization, and try hard to compete with the Central Plains regime. From this perspective, even if blood relations and geographical location are not considered, before the nomads have the opportunity to enter the Central Plains, they are already in their hometown and begin to be "over-militarized" and "highly organized" beyond the norm - isn't this " "Chinese"?

Therefore, the influence of a strong civilization even transcends the culture itself. Even if you have not learned Chinese characters and Chinese, the local civilization has begun to be "Chinese". And war is actually a competition of organizational capabilities. Therefore, when these herdsmen face their more "original" Western counterparts, they will of course show that kind of combat effectiveness that seems a bit incredible.

The real split of the Mongol Khanate had actually begun at this time. This is still the first generation.

So far, no one has publicly questioned Guo Kang's inheritance rights. The only person who objects to his identity is Guo Ponu - but her request is even more outrageous, so everyone else automatically doesn't take it seriously.

Their inheritance situation is closer to the fifth generation. Not to mention the blood relationship between father and son and the family, it doesn’t matter if the nationalities are different. Take the Later Tang Dynasty as an example - Li Keyong and his son Li Cunxu belonged to the Zhuxie clan of the chief of the Shatuo tribe. After Li Cunxu became emperor, he claimed that he was a descendant of the Tang Dynasty. After Li Cunxu overturned, the person who inherited the post-Tang Dynasty was Li Keyong's adopted son Li Siyuan. He was a lower-class tribesman with unknown origins. He was only known as Miao Jilie and did not even have a surname. After Li Siyuan's death, he seized the throne in the chaos. The person in question is his adopted son Li Congke, and Li Congke is a Han Chinese. His original name was "Wang Twenty-three". Looking at his name, you can tell that he is also a low-level person.

The Eurasian steppe, as a whole, becomes poorer as you go east, but it has always been the nomads from the east who have more scarce supplies and less dominant population, who have been beating the west all the way. But upon closer inspection, this source of combat power is not found on the grassland. So we can’t blame the herdsmen in the west for not working hard. It’s really the herdsmen in the east who are already using cheats.

Due to poor relations with several brothers, Jochi always wanted to go out and live alone. Genghis Khan promised to seal Yulong Jiechi, the former capital of Khwarezm, and the surrounding areas to Shuchi. For this reason, after Jochi led his troops to besiege the city, he negotiated with the people in the city many times in the hope of minimizing property losses.

The local Persians had a good impression of him, because Jochi was relatively benevolent and had little interest in entering Persia. He even boasted to the Persians that the Kipchak grassland was the best place in the world. There is no other land that is more fertile than this one, and no land has better air, sweeter water, and wider pastures and grasslands than the Kipchak grassland. After that, he really stayed on the grassland, leading his men to herd sheep and lie down. Genghis Khan asked him to go fight against Xixia, but he didn't even go...

This dynasty, with three bloodlines and two ethnic groups, was still recognized by the ruling group. Even the Later Tang Dynasty hired the descendants of the previous Tang Dynasties to serve as Zongzheng and manage family affairs. However, this messy relationship is also a choice forced by troubled times. The same situation is happening here now.

After that, the conflict between the two sides intensified. It is said that Jochi even complained publicly, accusing his father of losing his mind and blindly destroying cities and killing people, and threatened to find an opportunity to assassinate him. The true situation of this matter is no longer reliable, but what is certain is that Mongolia did receive news in this regard. Genghis Khan was also extremely angry about this and wanted to send troops to attack Jochi. Only at this time, news came that Jochi had died of illness, which prevented the Mongolian Civil War from happening so many years in advance.

But for Guo Kang and others, this is nothing. The situation of the Purple Horde Khanate was too bad, and there was really no room for choice of bloodline. There were five ancestors of Guo Kang, and only one of them died at the end of his life. The other two died in battle, one died of illness in the army, and the other died of exhaustion on the job. Of the four of his adoptive father and his three brothers, only two are still alive today. When the adoptive father discovered that the first two children were both daughters and the second child died soon after, he quickly formally adopted Guo Kang and declared him as the heir.

However, Chagatai and Ogedai kept complaining in front of Genghis Khan on the grounds that his progress was too slow, and finally dismissed Jochi and replaced him with leading troops to attack. Ogedei dug up the Amu Darya River and diverted water to the city. He quickly broke through the city, killed all the residents in the city, and looted all the craftsmen and treasures. By the time Jochi came back to accept it, all that was left of the place was a swamp and ruins. Jochi was so angry that the brothers were completely torn apart. After that, Jochi led his tribe to become a local bully in the Kipchak grassland, and gradually began to listen to orders rather than propaganda.

However, their line was also the first to have problems.

So, it’s really hard to say who looks like whom...

Therefore, in comparison, Jochi is actually a serious prairie man. On the contrary, it was Genghis Khan himself who was too ambitious and organizationally minded, and was too out of steppe.

After getting support from Tuo Huan, Guo Kang explained the previously planned plan to the two of them. Tuo Huan has no objection to these details. Theodora proposed that she could follow Guo Kang and help him handle these tasks outside of the war.

However, Tuo Huan pointed out that if she went, there would definitely be a lot of women who wanted to follow her, and they would be unable to stop her. You can't go to the battlefield with a group of female relatives like the Persians, right? So, it’s better for her not to follow. Theodora argued for a long time, but was unable to refute him effectively, so she could only give up temporarily.

However, Guo Kang said that he still prepared other gifts for her. He took out a bag of white pellets from his bag and gave it to Theodora.

"What is this?" the other party asked curiously.

"Try it." Guo Kang said.

Theodora stretched out his finger, twisted it a little, put it on his lips and licked it, and immediately realized: "This is also candy."

"Yes, after several years of research, we finally succeeded." Guo Kang said with emotion: "The color of the sugar last time was still not right, so it can only be added to canned fruits and the like to cover up the color. . But this kind of white sugar is enough to compete with Eastern products.”

"How is this done?" Tuohuan asked in surprise.

"Do you still remember the coconut shell I asked for before?" Guo Kang said.

"Remember, those Saracen merchants brought it last time." Tuo Huan said, "But that thing can't be used to make sugar."

"The shell itself is definitely not good, but you can make the adsorbent by burning the shell into charcoal, grinding it, and blowing it with some airflow from Brother Steam's boiler." Guo Kang said: "Last time After the cylinder was completed, I felt that it was a bit wasteful to just perform sawing wood, so I did this as well, and it turned out to be quite successful.”

"Then what kind of potion is this and what does it do?" Tuo Huan asked.

"It can absorb the color from the sugar water." Guo Kang told him: "The principle here is the same as the sugar making method of the Yuan and Ming families. However, we have never been clear about the adsorbent they used before. What, so I never did it well. Now I put aside the information leaked there and started researching again, and finally got the results."

"Is this our own technology? Isn't it the same as theirs?" Tuohuan was very concerned.

"It should be different." Guo Kang nodded.

Regarding the sugar production technology of the Ming Dynasty, his impression mainly came from the records in "Tiangong Kaiwu". It is said there that sugar can be bleached by rinsing it with yellow mud water. However, Guo Kang tried it many times, but it didn't work. I don’t know if Song Yingxing misunderstood it, or if they didn’t provide him with real technical information.

Finally, he decided to leave it alone. I don’t know what this technology is like at all, so it’s better to follow a clear path instead. Under the current conditions, it is completely possible to directly produce activated carbon and then produce white sugar. For this route, the technical threshold may be even lower.

The sugar estates under Theodora's name provided a large amount of income every year. If the technology in this area is more mature, it will definitely increase profits. It will be of great benefit to everyone.

And Tuehuan was even more excited than the two of them.

"We have another unique technology. And it is not a performance display like Brother Steam, but something truly practical." He said happily: "We will continue to work hard in the future and strive to have more of this good stuff." News, so that everything is not monopolized by others.”

"Okay, okay." Guo Kang nodded.

After these are discussed, the additional preparation work is basically over. Guo Kang invited them to attend the brigade assembly ceremony a week later, and they both agreed.

After that, Tuo Huan had to go to the camp to visit the new recruits, but Guo Kang had nothing else to do and planned to go home first. But Theodora was determined not to be happy and insisted on discussing the sugar issue, so she took him back forcibly.

Just like that, several people left separately.

(End of this chapter)