Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 610 Niangniang Temple Event Limited Skin

As the Wu royal court continued to expand its power, it would occasionally send people to the Purple Tent Khanate. On the one hand, they went there to purchase supplies, seek sponsorship, or even work to support themselves; on the other hand, they also sent people there to study, especially to learn the cultural knowledge that was most lacking here. Therefore, there were always people coming and going from Zhu Wenkui's side, bringing various news along the way.

However, during this period, while the King of Wu was busy every day, Zhu Wenkui had a lot of free time. After all, the environment here was relatively simple. He himself said that as a person left behind, he only needed to maintain the operation here. The rest of the time, he could be busy with more important things.

However, some retainers believed that the core of the Kingdom of Wu was where the King of Wu was. Wherever the court moved, that was the capital. In European history, this kind of mobile court was very common. On Zhu Wenkui's side, although it was fixed, it was actually an outposted agency.

But Zhu Wenkui insisted that it was the tradition for the master to run around outside and leave the prince to guard the house. So until now, no one knows how it should be calculated in name...

Of course, these are just small matters at the moment. Now, Zhu Wenkui himself is also preparing to take people away from Dadu to join the expeditionary army. After the turmoil, although the Wu Wang Mansion in Dadu was razed to the ground and many people were lost, they still attracted the attention of many forces with their performance that night, and the various grants they received suddenly increased a lot. Various things here have also been put on the right track, so they are ready to let the officials of the palace maintain themselves.

That day, he routinely brought Captain Lucas and two soldiers to transport a box of weapon samples to Guo Kang's office at the Niangniang Temple. As soon as he entered the square at the entrance, he saw Tuohuan and Guo Kang, with a large group of followers, pointing and talking over there. There were also many people walking around in a hurry, and no one knew what they were busy with.

Zhu Wenkui was very curious and went forward to ask. When Tuohuan saw him, he called him over and said directly: "There is new news from Naples, saying that Lasdilao can no longer hold on. The king has no son, so he can only order the throne to be passed to his sister and ask the ministers to swear allegiance to her. But the various forces are obviously not convinced."

"This kind of thing has already happened once before, during the reign of Joanna I." Guo Kang also said, "The civil strife in Naples was only settled ten years ago. At that time, Lasdilao even asked us to intervene and mediate. Everyone still remembers this. Even those who don't understand history can now see that the previous civil strife is about to happen again."

"Their inheritance law is a bit too abstract." Zhu Wenkui complained: "When I was a child, my teacher told me that the eldest son inheritance system is the most reliable. For the stability of the country, it is best to stick to this system. If there is really no one, you can find other sons. In comparison, the rule of elder brother inheriting the throne is very easy to cause trouble."

"The Shang Dynasty had a tradition of the younger brother succeeding the elder brother, which led to nine generations of chaos. Later, the Song Dynasty also had many legacy of this, and each time it led to disputes. They are different now, and they even have the younger brother succeeding the elder sister. Are they just trying to prevent the country from being in chaos?"

"There's nothing we can do. This man has no descendants, not even a daughter." Tuohuan said, "I remember he did have an illegitimate son, but the ministers didn't acknowledge him, and he didn't build up any power, so there's no hope."

"No, how did you learn the term 'abstract'..." Guo Kang was more concerned about other things.

"I learned it from you."

"..."

Guo Kang had not realized the problem with this idiom before, and did not react for a while. However, Zhu Wenkui and others did not care much about it, just treating it as street slang and continuing the discussion.

"We have to speed up the progress here." Tuo Huan instructed: "Everyone will have to work harder recently. Now it seems that there will be a big change in Europe. We should set off as soon as possible and lay the groundwork over there. In this way, no matter what happens, we can face it more calmly."

"I don't have any problems here, and the progress has been quite fast." Zhu Wenkui said: "Brother Kang said that we need to check these muskets to see if they are powerful enough. But I don't think it's necessary to be so strict. If it's still not enough, just add more gunpowder, it won't explode."

"No." Guo Kang denied: "Firearms are still very dangerous. How can we be so careless with them?"

“I’m not using it recklessly.” Zhu Wenkui shook his head and said, “I was afraid that one time might not be enough, so I asked my apprentice Urban to test it for a while, and it was fine. This thing is much more durable than you think.”

"You two, stop it." Guo Kang shook his head speechlessly: "That guy is crazy enough. If you two get together, those things in your house will explode sooner or later."

"Impossible, impossible." Zhu Wenkui said firmly.

"Alright, alright." Tuohuan interrupted them quickly: "If there is really no time, just take whatever you have. The court is now discussing whether to recruit five more legions to prepare for war. This little trial weapon will not affect the overall situation."

"Add five more? That's a lot." Guo Kang said in surprise, "We just said that we would send a lot of officers and soldiers to Kiev for training, and then cooperate with the locals to open up the wasteland. The troops in Asia Minor and the Caucasus cannot be moved, and we have to transfer people to Egypt in the south. We fought a lot of battles last year, and the previous batch of troops just disbanded and went home. If we increase the number of troops, the burden will be too heavy. I don't know if it will affect farming."

"There will definitely be a burden, but we have already contacted the merchants. This spring, we will try our best to dispatch supplies and transportation capacity. In the summer, in addition to wheat from Crimea, we will also purchase an additional batch of food from Syria. If we really need to send troops to Naples, we will also purchase military rations from Italy and France through the merchants there."

"However, if a war really breaks out, our enemies will be the forces of Italy and southern France." He added: "Even if we can buy it, the merchants will definitely raise the price. Therefore, if conditions permit, it is best to prepare it yourself and use these as supplements. Of course, if it really doesn't work, we can use our reserve gold and silver. This is not the time to be stingy."

“Alas, although it’s not my own money, I feel sad when I think about it being taken away by unscrupulous businessmen,” Zhu Wenkui commented.

"If he really has this ability, then let him make money. Anyway, as long as the first merchant succeeds in making high profits, others will take the risk and flock to it. At that time, the price will be reduced due to their mutual competition." Tuohuan told him: "The money is originally spent here. If the war does not go well, the loss will be more than this."

"It seems so..." Zhu Wenkui thought for a moment and nodded: "I really don't understand much about doing business."

"You have been working hard to run the palace, so you should know these basic principles." Tuo Huan said, "In principle, they are similar."

"I'm not a businessman. But the money in our country, the treasury and my family are actually separate. For example, the bounties given to soldiers before had to be paid out with my own money, otherwise why would they recognize my family as the Khan." He shook his head: "So, I also have to learn to run a caravan and do business from places as far away as the Ming Dynasty. These things may be more important than war, and I have to be involved. If you think about it more, you should understand."

"I feel that doing business is not decent after all. So, I would rather work than use my status to find channels to buy low and sell high, or to hoard goods at a high price." Zhu Wenkui said with emotion: "You may not care, but my family is here, and to put it bluntly, only face is worth some money." "Besides, even if I go into business, can I really do it well and make the palace rich? I don't think I have the ability. Besides, face is only valuable when it is held high; if I put it down and do things that are not in line with my status, then the lost face will not be exchanged for the same value. I can still think clearly about this principle."

"Although blacksmithing is tiring and not a noble job, it is a way to earn a living. When I am tired, I can relax my mind. By comparison, I might as well stay in a blacksmith shop."

"Are you sure you are tired and want to relax?" Guo Kang pointed out: "Little Jeanna told me that you would not go home for several days when you went to work as a blacksmith. All the affairs in the mansion are helped by your girls and the appointed 'assistants'. There is a shortage of manpower, and you temporarily give people official positions. They all think you are addicted to playing..."

"No way." Zhu Wenkui replied quickly: "Last time we got into a fight for no apparent reason, I realized that I was still far behind. Although I seldom participate in battles, the situation in the west is not peaceful, and I will have to go to the battlefield sooner or later. If I continue like this, I will definitely suffer when fighting against bigger enemies in the future. I will probably be looked down upon by my relatives. You can ask Tuohuan Taiji, he also urged me to practice martial arts more."

"I did say that, but don't let your imagination run wild." Tuo Huan quickly reminded him, "It's just self-defense training, not a competition with relatives. Do you want to compete with your fourth grandfather in martial arts?"

"Yes, and it would be most useful if you learned some skills. How come you ended up doing blacksmithing in the middle of learning..." Guo Kang also said.

"My family's martial arts originated from the folks, so it has something to do with these jobs." Zhu Wenkui defended himself: "Blacksmithing... People in the Zhu family work hard, not blacksmithing."

Guo Kang and Tuo Huan looked at each other, not knowing what to say for a moment. They could only nod and deal with it.

"What are you doing here?" Zhu Wenkui asked, "What's new here? Look around here."

"Oh, I was thinking about changing the decoration." Tuohuan said, "In fact, at the beginning, we hoped to get food from Egypt. That place was a granary in the classical era, which would definitely be very beneficial to our situation. But Guo Kanganda asked the envoys and merchants from there, and they said that the current chaos in Egypt was caused by the previous drought and plague. After all the trouble, there is no surplus food there now."

"If you want to occupy a place, you can wipe out the enemy completely if you are very powerful. But Egypt is a place with a large population and rich people, and our power is also limited. I think we should try to be gentle and not requisition food from there. Whatever we capture, we can use it as military supplies."

"This is indeed good governance." Zhu Wenkui nodded. "It would be great if the locals could understand. I'm afraid they will become afraid of power and not have moral integrity, and then it will be impossible to subdue them."

"It's unlikely that the Egyptians are docile and afraid of fighting." Tuohuan said, "Look, back then, we Romans dealt with barbarian tribes differently. Sometimes, the border generals would take the initiative to stir up trouble, letting the scattered and difficult-to-control barbarians gather together to rebel, and then we would take the opportunity to wipe them out. That's how Britain was pacified back then."

"I don't know much about this matter," said Zhu Wenkui.

"When you go to the temple to take over, just ask the monks to tell you about the suppression of Boudica's rebellion. They study history." Tuohuan replied: "Basically..."

"Do you know what happened to Lady Shexiang during the Hongwu period?" Guo Kang reminded him, "It's similar to that. It's just that Lady Shexiang held back after being provoked by the border generals, but Queen Boudica couldn't hold back, so she was eliminated by the legion."

"Oh, I think I've heard of this. It's said that my great-grandmother came to see me..." Zhu Wenkui thought for a moment and said, "It seems that the troops on both sides have similar ideas. The ancients said that Rome is similar to China, and this is indeed true."

"Thank you, thank you." Tuo Huan was very pleased and quickly bowed, saying modestly: "We still need to learn a lot from each other."

"This time, we also want to promote it more." He introduced: "In Egypt, since there is no direct profit, we plan to make some souvenirs. Do you remember the obelisk at the entrance of the Colosseum?"

"I know." Zhu Wenkui nodded.

"Back then, Emperor Theodosius brought this stele from Egypt to record his achievements, and it has been there ever since." Tuohuan said, "Of course, this is not the oldest one. The earliest one was brought back by Augustus after he conquered Egypt, and it is still in Rome now."

"We didn't have the conditions before. If we succeed this time, we will get a few here." He pointed to the four huge Sulu Dings around the Niangniang Temple. "Some people have been complaining to us, saying that these Sulu Dings are different from the style of the temple and look too strange. They are not old or spectacular enough, and they don't have the heaviness and momentum of ancient large buildings. After all, these are modern things, and their history is much shorter than the temple itself. There is nothing we can do."

"I thought about it and felt that we could make an accommodation like this: if this expedition is successful, we will hold a celebration. At that time, we can move four obelisks here and temporarily replace these Sulu ingots." He gestured, "Obelisks are large, tall, and very old. They also have a direct propaganda and commemorative significance. They can promote our dynasty's military achievements and follow Roman traditions. It feels quite appropriate to put them here."

"Why don't you try to persuade him?" Guo Kang, who was standing beside him, spread his hands and said to Zhu Wenkui, "I don't know how he came up with this idea. I always feel that it's not good to rob other people's things like this. Besides, this style of painting is also very strange. Why do we have to put a few pillars around the Niangniang Temple..."

"How can this be called robbery?" Tuo Huan did not admit it: "Egypt is also the former territory of Rome. After we recover it, it will be our own territory. Can the central government's allocation of cultural relics from local areas be called robbery?"

"Uh..." Guo Kang couldn't come back.

"I think there is enough open space here. We can investigate the site later." Tuohuan said happily to himself, "You go and do your work first."

Zhu Wenkui didn't know what to say, so he could only nod and go deliver the things first.

(End of this chapter)