Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 622: The Mighty General Zhu Wenkui
"How are your soldiers now, Hans?" On the deck, Captain Jessica asked while holding a notebook and taking notes.

"They are all vomiting." Master Hans answered simply.

"Is seasickness so serious?" Captain Jessica was a little surprised, but after thinking for a while, he nodded: "It's normal. This is everyone's first time going out to sea. It's understandable that they are not used to it."

As he spoke, he made a few more notes.

"This is a really good habit of the Romans," he said to himself. "I have thought about how to regulate these things in the army before, but I have never been able to find an effective way. Either many people cannot understand and always think that these requirements are too harsh; or everyone simply cannot do it well, so I can only let the older brothers who have been with me for a long time and understand some of my ideas supervise and manage others."

"But this is not a long-term solution. There are still too few people who can fully grasp these rules, and it is even more difficult to understand why these rules exist, or even to force everyone to do so. Many people listen to me not because they think I am right, but simply because I have always been the leader. Even if I lose every time, I can always lead them away..."

"Not bad." Master Hans replied with a bitter face.

"That being said, it's not a solution to keep doing this." Captain Jessica complained, "Besides, it's not easy to build trust and tacit understanding. After so many years of fighting, we only have so many reliable subordinates. We can't accomplish anything big at this speed. The King of Wu wants to speed up, but if we don't follow the rules now, I'm afraid it won't work."

"You can't even read." Master Hans reminded.

"That's right... Most people can't even read a few characters, and can't even understand scriptures, so how can they talk about morality, ideals, etc." Captain Jessica sighed helplessly, and then asked curiously: "Why are you so frugal with words today? Are you going to learn to speak like a Spartan?"

"I feel like vomiting too." Master Hans said honestly.

"……what?"

Before Captain Jessica could react, Master Hans ran to the railing and vomited over the side of the ship. This brief discussion had to be temporarily terminated.

After several days of hard work, the fleet arrived at the port of Rhode Island. Here, everyone finally got a break. The soldiers rushed ashore and began to build a camp to rest.

Rhodes Island is the territory of the Knights Hospitaller. Since the loss of Acre, the Crusaders have basically become a mere name, with no territory or troops. But the Knights Hospitaller still held on to this island, becoming the last remaining force, and doing quite well.

As a famous gang in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Knights Hospitaller still has a small but powerful fleet, doing some low-cost business on the sea. The Knights Hospitaller is also very flexible and has good relations with major countries, so they are not worried about facing the same fate as the Knights Templar.

In name, they were directly governed by the Pope of Rome, so they could fight against pagans and believers who did not pay protection fees under the banner of fighting pagans, and made a lot of money. They continued to exist due to their special status and financial resources.

When the Purple Tent became strong and began to move eastward, the Knights Hospitaller once again demonstrated their ability to take sides and approached the imperial court to accept the amnesty, and suddenly became friends of Rome again. After the negotiation, the Knights immediately paid for the expansion of the port and purchased a batch of armed merchant ships.

Sure enough, not long after that, the Purple Tent Khanate sent troops to Syria. Not only did the military exchanges become more frequent, but with the stability of Syria, the trade volume between there and the mainland also increased rapidly. Relying on the location advantage, Rhodes Island's status became increasingly important, and it made a lot of money by relying on the merchant ships coming and going. It can only be said that he is worthy of his pirate background - these days, if he is a good pirate, he will not be much worse as a sea merchant.

This time, the expedition also borrowed the port of Rhodes Island. The Knights were very enthusiastic about this. They not only provided a fleet, sent guides and pilots, but also arranged warships to escort them all the way. After all, this time, there were tens of thousands of soldiers passing through. Most of them had never experienced a long voyage, so they would definitely have to go ashore to rest and replenish supplies. With so many people, just providing food and drink would be enough to make a lot of money. Such a big customer must be taken care of.

The high-ranking members of the Knights also came out to greet them. Their Grand Master personally came out to accompany Zhu Wenkui and his party to visit the castle, and also held a banquet to entertain the purple tent officers accompanying them and the people from the Wu Wang Mansion.

The Grand Master told them that the two previous groups had safely passed through here and arrived in Cyprus. Moreover, there were even Templar Knights in the vanguard, which made everyone very impressed.

The Grand Master said that three hundred years ago, everyone set out from Constantinople and embarked on the journey to the East, which led to the recovery of the Holy Land. Wherever the Crusaders went, the believers welcomed them wholeheartedly. It can be said that they had the best timing. The state of vitality and development is still before our eyes.

This time, seeing that the surviving Knights Templar had participated in the Crusade, they could not fall behind any more, so they proposed to the Roman court that they also wanted to contribute. Not only to help with transportation, but also to send armed forces to participate in the expedition. Just yesterday, the court sent a fast ship to reply and agreed to this request. The two major knights joined hands again, and they would surely be able to revitalize the God Worshipping Society and make up for the regrets of their predecessors.

Everyone praised them and welcomed them to join. However, Zhu Wenkui didn't quite understand the story behind it, so after the banquet, he asked the priest who accompanied the army what this meant.

The priest was not very enthusiastic about this and told him that the knights were making inappropriate analogies and they did not realize it.

The two major knightly orders were formed after the First Crusade. They cooperated in the Second Crusade. Unlike the first one, this war was neither initiated by Rome nor achieved its strategic goals. Instead, it lost some of the land it originally occupied. Nothing they participated in was successful. Isn't it unlucky to say this?

But then again, this group of people are actually a group of pirates. Not to mention researching the origins of the Crusades, they probably can't even remember the deeds of their predecessors, and have to rely on other historians to help sort it out. Maybe, with their cultural level, they really think this is auspicious words... As for why they want to increase investment and participate in the expedition, according to the priest's idea, it is probably not because they are inspired or unwilling to be outdone by the piety of their fellow believers. They found that the Knights Templar rushed there, which means that there must be profit there. If they go too late, I'm afraid even the benefits will be gone. So, contrary to their usual behavior, they suddenly became so active.

Zhu Wenkui thought it made sense, but he didn't know what to say about it.

The banquet itself was well arranged. The Knights seemed to be experienced in dealing with the world. Under their arrangement, everyone rested for another day. After the guests and hosts had a great time, they left Rhodes as planned and headed east to Cyprus.

From Dadu to Rhodes, you have to pass through the Aegean Sea with many islands and reefs, and the sailing speed is relatively slow. After arriving at Rhodes, you go east all the way to Cyprus. The distance is not much shorter, but the speed is much faster.

They were also riding on a new sailing boat provided by the Italians. It was said that on open water, its load-carrying capacity, speed and stability were all better than those of traditional rowing boats. However, everyone was seasick on the sea. After two more days of swaying, they finally arrived in Cyprus.

Here, the soldiers regrouped, and Zhu Wenkui and others finally met Guo Kang again.

Guo Kang looked much better after not seeing him for a while. He said that Theodora had been settling accounts all along the way. After arriving on the island, she immediately went to inspect the sugar estates and collect supplies.

Obviously, there is a price to pay for being casual. She put a lot of effort into getting comfortable this time. After all, in this place, even someone like her who grew up in luxury knows that she can't just stand up the legionnaires. Guo Kang felt much more relaxed because of this.

Of course, he also had a lot of official duties to attend to. Now he was also a powerful officer. Although he had many people to help him, he still had to personally take care of the affairs of the entire brigade. However, for him, these tasks were very routine and not very stressful. Therefore, after returning to work and starting to work overtime, he became lively again.

Zhu Wenkui also had to start getting busy.

Like Guo Kang, he also had to lead the troops himself, actually participate in the battle and command. This was not a request from the Roman side, but an active request from the Wu Wangfu.

The old King Wu always hoped that his son could be more motivated and do more things, so as to avoid being like him, who lacked experience for a long time and suffered setbacks at critical moments from the Central Plains to France. However, although he had been tortured by reality for so many years and had calmed down a lot, the old King Wu still didn't know how to develop such ability. He could only urge him to learn more about the principles of governing a country and practice it as soon as possible.

Princess Ma also felt that Zhu Wenkui was not doing his job properly. If he continued to do this, he would become a joke just like his father. Now there was no man in the family to rely on, which made his mother very worried. She always hoped that her son would quickly get back to work.

Although Zhu Wenkui likes to play, he is very clear about the situation at home and knows what he must do. In this atmosphere, if there is a need, he is also willing to learn. After all, he has been doing his best to support various things in the palace before, and he doesn't mind a few more things.

This time, after learning of this opportunity, Zhu Yunwen took action immediately. According to the earliest plan, Captain Jessica and others would end their trip in Dadu before the end of the year. According to the schedule in the contract, they could return to their hometown in Bohemia to spend Christmas. But because of changes in circumstances, they changed their plans and stayed.

Zhu Yunwen did not urge them to go back, and even sent another group of people to Zhu Wenkui, saying that these were the key talents he had recently recruited, and asked him to take them with him to participate in the expedition. Seize this opportunity to let these people, including Zhu Wenkui himself, experience the real war and accumulate experience for the future. Moreover, with more people, they can have some say in the army, and they can no longer be used as vases, but can truly enter the command level and learn more.

Zhu Wenkui had some doubts about this. He discussed with Captain Jessica and others, saying that he did not object to the expedition, but his father's side was the place that needed the most manpower and troops. Now the situation in Shinra was getting more and more tense, and it was unknown when the fighting would start. Even if all the backbones were sent out, they would not be able to return in ten days or half a month. What should we do if the situation got out of control and a fight broke out?
However, Zhu Yunwen was not worried about this. He believed that the Shinra side would not be able to fight. Because there were many vassal states here, the conflicts between them were fierce, and everyone was wary of each other. It was not just Bohemia that had problems. In this environment, no one dared to take the initiative to provoke a war.

Moreover, even if a war really breaks out, they have enough strength to protect themselves. Because it is impossible for the vassal states to guard against the Great Qin State while mobilizing their main forces to deal with it. It is not the first time that they have fought with those local lords. Zhu Yunwen and others are very familiar with their strength, so there will be no problem.

Therefore, he told Zhu Wenkui not to worry and just do it. Zhu Wenkui no longer insisted and set off with everyone.

With the help of Guo Kang and others, the Purple Tent court also agreed to his request. However, they thought about the position.

Because Zhu Wenkui has a special status, he feels a bit embarrassed to be appointed as an ordinary officer with a lot of people in charge of him. After all, he is still relying on him to do business. But in a serious battle, it is necessary to enforce orders. Even if their legion is a third-line legion temporarily assembled with new recruits, there must be basic discipline and command levels. Besides, these people are here to study and train, so it is meaningless to leave them aside.

After discussion, everyone decided to continue to command as usual, but they could give him a high-sounding title to show respect. Before the expedition, the kurultai came forward and specially established an Eastern-style, not Roman-style, title of "Mighty General", and appointed him as a general. In this way, it seemed that there would be no problem.

Of course, regardless of the title, the work of a mid-level officer is still very tiring. He has to attend all the meetings of the corps and take care of his subordinates. Zhu Wenkui thinks that he is an energetic person, but sometimes he feels troubled. He doesn't know how Guo Kang can take the initiative to work overtime and enjoy it...

According to the meeting arrangements, everyone organized their soldiers and distributed supplies. During this time, Theodora actually sent people to deliver the promised candy. The soldiers were very encouraged and took more active actions. After packing up, they boarded the ship again and prepared to leave Cyprus and head to the next supply point: Damascus, Syria.

Cyprus and Syria are not far apart, trade is frequent, there are many ships traveling back and forth, and the shipping capacity is sufficient. Everyone did not carefully plan the batches, but went to Syria together. A few days later, they finally landed on the mainland again.

(End of this chapter)