Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 612 The Prince Consort Leaves Town
After the beginning of spring, preparations for the war accelerated significantly. The number of ships gathering at the port of Dadu increased significantly, and Guo Kang and others were ready to set off to the south at any time.

According to the plan, they were to go to Cyprus first and then to Syria. Guo Kang himself had to set out ahead of the army because Theodora insisted that he visit her plantation in Cyprus.

His parents were very supportive of this, thinking that Guo Kang was too tired during this period, so they should go there to relax. But Guo Po Nu was very dissatisfied with this, saying that Guo Kang was now the commander of a unit and could not leave the army easily; the Russians she was training were also reluctant to let Guo Kang leave and supported her opinion.

However, their opposition was useless. Soon after, the imperial court officially announced the arrangement of the southern expedition. Guo Kang also had to set off.

At the grand court meeting of the Senate, Baisai Khan issued an edict, and in the military field, he also formally announced the plan to form an expeditionary force, recalling the Eighth Legion and forming the Thirty-third Legion.

The Eighth Army is an old unit. It participated in the battle against Poland two years ago. After that, the battalions were disbanded and returned to the original organization. It has been repaired until now. The Thirty-Third Army is a temporary number, which is based on a battalion of the Crimean garrison and the newly recruited soldiers.

On the basis of these two corps, the Cairo Road Marching Marshal's Office was established, with the prince Tuohuan as the marshal. Zhang Wu, the former commander of the Eighth Corps, was transferred from the War Marshal's Office and continued to serve as the corps commander and concurrently the marching general manager. Guo Zhaowen, the former commander of the Fifteenth Corps, was appointed to be the commander of the Thirty-third Corps as the direct superior of Guo Kang and Zhu Wenkui.

In addition, in order to reward the surrenderers, the Khan gave the Caliph the title of "King of Egypt" and specially praised the Syrian warlord Hafez, appointed him as a general, and conferred him the title of Duke of Damascus and the title of Kaifu Yitong Sansi. The Ministry of Rites will soon prepare the relevant talismans and seals, and will send a special envoy to deliver them soon.

After announcing these, the Khan announced publicly that Guo Kang, the son of the warlord Guo Wen, had acted decisively and made great contributions in the previous turmoil in Dadu. After careful discussion between the Khan's Chamber and the Guo family, it was decided to arrange for Guo Kang to marry the princess and grant him the title of "Gu Lie Gan".

According to the tradition of the consort being sent to the garrison, the Nanhai and other places were set up as the Executive Secretariat, which governed all the lands south of the Mediterranean, from Egypt to Spain, that could be recovered and willing to submit. The seat of government was scheduled to be located in Alexandria, which was the only place that Caliph Mustain could temporarily control with the help of merchants. Lu Decai, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Water, was appointed as the provincial governor, responsible for responding to the future management needs of the province; Guo Kang was appointed as the Darughachi to supervise various local affairs.

Guo Kang was still a little nervous when he heard this arrangement in public, even though he had been hinted at privately. On the contrary, the people in the Senate were all experienced and were not surprised at all. After the meeting, they came to congratulate him. Guo Kang could only thank them politely.

At this point, there wasn't much for him to do in terms of official business. The army was like a huge, heavy machine. Once it started to run slowly, he no longer needed to watch over it every day.

The same is true for the church. Although everyone knows that the Egyptian Caliph is just a puppet of the warlords, he is still a big name. Moreover, this is the first time that the Purple Tent Church and the Muslim sect have cooperated at this level, which is of great significance, so the church attaches great importance to it.

Lama Wang personally selected a group of capable priests and prepared to set out with Guo Kang and others. Therefore, he did not need to worry about the church either.

His next most important task is actually to get married.

His parents had talked to him about this several times before. Guo Kang thought that time was too tight and he was about to go to war, so he really had no time to take care of this, and business was more important.

However, the adoptive father said that, in comparison, marriage is a more serious matter. Because the princess's marriage is not only a private family matter, but also a national event. Guo is also an important official of the Khanate, so this matter has already become a political event. Rome is not short of wars, and the impact of such a marriage is much greater than one or two military campaigns, so it is not possible to be careless.

His family also understood what he was worried about. In the next few days, his grandfather, Mr. Huang, would also come. His stepmother had already asked him to take Guo Po Nu away first. She would not be allowed to run around during the wedding, so as to avoid any outrageous incidents.

After the family members persuaded him, Wang Da Lama also came specially. On the one hand, he told him about the wedding arrangements: the wedding of Princess Khan Ting was large in scale and the process was complicated, so it had to be rehearsed in advance; on the other hand, he also tried to comfort him first, so that he would not be in a bad mood at that time and perform poorly.

Lama Wang told him bluntly that the wedding could not be delayed any longer. Everyone in and outside the palace knew that the princess had been looking for him every night. After such a long time, everyone knew what would happen. If he continued to waste time, the princess would probably have to attend the wedding with a big belly, or even hold the child. Although the requirements in Europe were not that strict, Rome was a big country after all, and the Khanate had to pay attention to the impact.

Da Lama Wang said that he also knew that this time was so tense that Guo Kang did not have enough time to prepare mentally. It was indeed too hasty. But what he needed to participate in this time was related to national affairs, so even if the situation was more difficult to handle, he hoped that he could hold on. Anyway, it would only be tiring for a few days, and it would pass if he endured it.

Lama Wang was indeed a very good talker. After hearing what he said, Guo Kang almost understood.

Although Guo Kang's godfather and godmother had somewhat strange personalities, they were both decent people and treated him very well. He also had a good relationship with his other relatives and friends. Moreover, there were more people who loved him here than in his original world... Therefore, he had little resistance to this world, except that he felt that the material conditions were still too bad. Marrying someone and raising children was also acceptable.

So, he had no way of refusing, and just nodded and agreed to Wang Da Lama's request.

As a result, not long after Wang Da Lama left, Zhu Wenkui also came. As soon as he came, he asked, "I heard that you don't want to get married because you haven't decided who to marry. Is that true?"

"Don't talk nonsense. This is... a political event!" Guo Kang was shocked and quickly spoke using the words he had just learned.

"Oh, the rules here are so weird, I'm a little confused." Zhu Wenkui waved his hands and explained, "I met your sister outside, and she told me. I'm not sure what's going on, so I thought it would be best to ask you yourself."

"Meltem? Don't listen to her nonsense. When she brags, she's like an old Persian scholar. She's totally untrue." Guo Kang quickly clarified, then asked, "What else did she tell you?"

"She asked me to persuade you to finish the wedding as soon as possible. She said...Princess Liu's wedding ceremony was too long and too slow. There are other people waiting." Zhu Wenkui repeated to him.

"..." Guo Kang didn't know what to say for a moment.

"To be honest, I don't know what system you have here." Zhu Wenkui complained: "Is this the Han system, the Qin system, the Muslim customs, or something else? It hasn't even started in the past few days, why do people say different things..."

"We are located at the intersection of various cultures, and our customs are... mixed." Guo Kang had to explain: "As for the different sayings, they may be different understandings of different people."

"The princess has a different story. Tell me, the custom here is that you can't take concubines. Is this similar to the French?" Zhu Wenkui thought for a moment and told him, "Of course, I don't understand why the king has illegitimate children. In this day and age, it's easy for people to die out, but they force only the queen's son to count. What's the idea?"

"How would I know..." Guo Kang couldn't explain clearly: "The customs of the barbarians are influenced by Rome, but also have their own culture. They are extremely complicated. I can only ask specialized scholars."

"What about the other guys? What are you going to do?" Zhu Wenkui asked bluntly, "Your sister Mei will definitely not give up. She has spoken frankly now. Your sister is training soldiers there every day. Everyone in the barracks knows about this anyway. How do you deal with these two? Should we discuss this with Khan in advance? If we don't make arrangements in advance, there might be trouble in the future."

"How can I explain this..." Guo Kang felt guilty: "It's hard to tell which side it was given to."

"Just tell me one by one." Zhu Wenkui immediately began to stir up trouble: "According to the ancient system, if a man has made contributions, he can take more concubines. The system in the West is definitely not as strict as that in the Central Plains, so there shouldn't be such harsh requirements. You have to fight for it yourself."

"This……"

"We are Han Chinese, we should be more spirited. How can we lose face in front of a Greek woman?" Zhu Wenkui patted his shoulder and encouraged him, "Just speak boldly, I will help you. Although I am not talented, I am also a member of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty. I can speak up and support you in this regard, there must be no problem."

"It's normal that you find those etiquettes difficult to accept. I would feel uncomfortable too." Seeing that Guo Kang was still hesitating, he took the opportunity to say, "If the Liu family is not willing to change the rules, it doesn't matter. Don't we still have the Zhu family?"

"Our daughters have the best upbringing in history. From princesses down, there are no overbearing ones. Moreover, the requirements for sons-in-law are not that harsh. The Qin Kingdom said that it copied the Tang system, but the Tang system of marriage had some problems. Don't you think that if a husband unilaterally pays respect to his wife every day, isn't that against the will of heaven?" He advised: "Just tell them this and see if they will give in."

"I talked about etiquette mainly because I thought it was too troublesome to learn, not because I was bothered by it." Guo Kang said, "I can't explain etiquette clearly."

"That's because you know too little. Recently, professors from church universities have come to me several times, wanting me to help convey these things to the higher-ups on their behalf," said Zhu Wenkui.

"What did they say?" Guo Kang asked curiously.

"They said that Rome has been an order based on patriarchy since ancient times. Every family in society is a basic unit. To establish a new family is to build a new unit. So after the family is established, the woman is separated from the original father's jurisdiction and enters the jurisdiction of another father - the husband." Zhu Wenkui said: "They think this is in line with the basic spirit of Rome and the logic of Roman law."

“Roman law was the most important asset of the country and the cornerstone of the state. But at the end of the classical era, the monarchs arbitrarily changed the law, distorted the intentions of the sages, abandoned the vital patriarchal principle, and the state gradually declined and disintegrated. Rome’s glory has not been restored for a long time.”

"The country has finally risen because it values ​​order and rewards military merit. People have been educated by the previous Khan and wise ministers of past dynasties. They are loyal, honest and simple, and have the legacy of the classical era. We must never give up these virtues."

"The mixing of men and women and the lack of discipline were the reasons for the decline of Rome in the past; the emphasis on farming and warfare and the emphasis on discipline are the foundation of Rome's strength today. Fathers should hold the sticks and axes tightly in their hands, control the women in their families, and don't let them ruin the country again. And this should start from the top, and they should set an example. That's why they are anxious to find channels and want to persuade them."

"How can you carry such a long thing?" Guo Kang was a little surprised.

"What they said is similar to what I read in books before." Zhu Wenkui said, "It's actually about obeying your father before marriage and obeying your husband after marriage. It seems that the theory is the same all over the world, and it's easy to remember."

"Okay. But it's no use looking for me." Guo Kang spread his hands and said, "Let them go and write to the Khanate directly."

Zhu Wenkui seemed to be thinking about something, but after thinking about it, he stopped himself.

"That's it for now. I have to persuade other people when I go back..." He sighed helplessly and said goodbye.

"Why is this person acting so strange today?"

Guo Kang muttered something, but didn't understand the situation, so he sent him away anyway.

(End of this chapter)