Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 707 After the Decisive Battle
About half a month later, the situation in Cairo had clearly eased. There had been no cases in the city for some time.

In Egypt, the plague occurred so frequently that even the poor citizens who did not have much cultural knowledge could easily see the difference between this situation and the previous ones.

Moreover, the Black Death was too deadly, and the mortality rate of those infected was very high. Whether there was infection or not, and whether there would be losses, could be seen at a glance. Therefore, even those who had questioned it before could no longer raise the issue.

When we first entered Cairo, the situation in the city was very complicated. Just like the conquerors who came and went before, the local Egyptians did not have a strong desire to resist, but they also had no motivation to cooperate.

The various measures taken by the government were met with the hypocrisy of the powerful and big businessmen, as well as various open and covert resistances from the people. As you can imagine, it would take a long time of effort and huge investment of resources to change this situation.

Historically, few people would try this - everyone conquered this place to obtain resources. But managing these things is too troublesome. Not only does it take time and effort, but it also costs money. So what's the point of conquering here? Therefore, from the Macedonians back then to the Mamluks today, few people have really considered how to implement management. There is not even a precedent to refer to...

However, in the process of dealing with the plague, many things that were difficult to advance actually went very smoothly, even beyond many people's expectations. Every day, people in the government praised Guo Kang, saying that he was as good as a god and could seize the opportunity to turn a disaster into a good thing. But in Guo Kang's view, this was actually not difficult to understand.

He has always told everyone that responding to the plague is not an ordinary measure to govern the people, but a war, because both the various organizational methods needed to fight the plague and the mentality of society during the period are similar to a state of war.

Of course, considering the current situation in Europe, this metaphor is not quite appropriate: to say that the fight against the Black Death is a war is a bit of an overstatement.

In the scriptures of the Christian religion, there are the White Knight, who represents the plague, and the Red Knight, who represents the war. However, considering the current level of war in Europe, it is highly unlikely that the Red Knight would be able to sit at the same table with the White Knight...

In the process of fighting the Black Death, this kind of extensive organizational mobilization and militarized management of the whole society was not surprising to the Orientals, and according to the Romans' understanding, it was not something that was too far ahead of its time. But at this moment, the state of the countries around the Mediterranean... forget it.

Therefore, all these measures are an eye-opener for the locals. After seeing and experiencing these, the locals naturally know what to do.

More importantly, in this kind of "war", you can't choose your side. When the Romans fought the Sheikh, most Egyptians didn't care about it. But the Black Death didn't allow anyone to stand by, and never accepted surrender. Now, many people had no choice but to stand on the side of Rome.

At the beginning, even with Guo Kang's previous publicity campaigns, everyone was not confident that they could succeed. But what else could they do if they didn't listen to them?

Even if the Romans were really no match, the plague would just continue to rage, and everyone would continue to gamble their lives. Anyway, most people in the city were so poor that they couldn't even afford a wooden stool, and the Russians just shook their heads when they saw this. To be honest, they didn't have much more to lose.

On the contrary, if it really succeeded and allowed more people to survive, and the Romans also gave everyone better treatment as promised, then they would make a lot of money. This kind of business with almost no capital would definitely attract many people.

By dealing with a deadly problem like the Black Death, many measures can be accelerated in advance. And when the plague is over, things will be much simpler.

Therefore, the religious issues that the government had previously considered the most difficult have now been eased. Although some local priests still feel dissatisfied, they can't say anything.

Previously, some people did claim that the plague was gradually easing because Hu Da had compassion on the people, and it had nothing to do with what Guo Kang and his friends had done. But Guo Kang was not worried about this kind of talk, and even looked forward to it.

In fact, in more serious academic institutions and orthodox religious groups, people tend to avoid using this kind of rhetoric. On the one hand, this statement is a bit of a trick, and as we all know, the situation here is that all the tricks must be used on the church members first.

No matter what the result is, the church members will definitely be the first to be targeted and will suffer the most persecution. So it is best for everyone to hold back.

On the other hand, there is a big problem with this statement, which is that for hundreds of years, this place has been ruled by the Mamluks. As the saying goes, many things are afraid of comparison. You say Huda has mercy on everyone now, but why didn't he do anything before? Are these Romans more favored now? Or are the Mamluks before so wicked that Huda didn't want to have mercy on them?

Of course, whether the Mamluks are immoral is actually another issue that can be discussed separately. Because although the dynasty in name has ended, the Mamluks are still a military force, and many of them are still serving Rome. So in the current situation, the key to the matter is not whether Huda likes the Mamluks, but whether the Mamluks like the priests who said this. If they really offend them, the Romans will not care about this matter...

Soon, other clergy took action and told the man to shut up. Several elders from Al-Azhar University also came out to clarify the situation, saying that there were too many different kinds of news recently, one saying that a saint had emerged from the Christian church, the next saying that a miracle had occurred and the plague had been cured. These were all things that needed to be discussed carefully, and people should not make comments rashly. In this way, they tried their best to suppress the storm.

Apart from that, there was nothing major. In Guo Kang's opinion, this was also expected. Just like a regular war, there would be winners in the plague war, and they could enjoy all the benefits that the winners deserved.

For example, in Lower Egypt, especially around Cairo, because of the experience of the Black Death, everyone is already in the same camp, facing deadly threats and fighting side by side. So there will be fewer obstacles when doing many things.

More importantly, the previous measures did achieve the desired results, that is, "winning the battle." The people may lack education, but they are not stupid. It is impossible for everyone not to see such an obvious result.

After the victory, many things do not need to be specially publicized, people will start to think about them on their own. Because just like the war, this is the simplest and most straightforward thing.

Of course, on the other hand, if you had high hopes before but ended up losing, there would definitely be a lot of disadvantages. However, since it is a war, there are definitely risks, and Guo Kang is also mentally prepared.

He had told Tuo Huan and others before that whether to organize and respond was a test for the ruler. Just like on the battlefield, if there is an opportunity but you just avoid it, or if you fight but cannot win, it can only mean that the commander is incompetent, and you can't blame the enemy for being too strong - Rome and the citizens spend so much money to support you, just to let you take responsibility and risk at this time. If you can't do this well, it's better to pack up and leave, and don't talk about anything else.

Then again, in addition to the two situations of victory and defeat, there are actually some cases that are more complicated. For example, in the Sino-French War, he knew that after achieving a campaign-level victory and causing the enemy's entire theater of war to collapse, due to a serious diplomatic misjudgment, the result of defeat was accepted.

However, this situation is only an isolated case and cannot be generalized. If it were not for the late Qing Dynasty, when internal contradictions were particularly acute and the demands of different groups were difficult to reconcile, it would not have occurred.

And just like the analysis beforehand, the plague is not a war after all. There is no clear boundary between the front and the rear, the impact is huge, and the difficulty of mobilization is one level lower. If we cannot reach a consensus in the face of the plague, then our ability to face the war is probably useless, and we are afraid that we will not be as firm as the Qing Dynasty. This kind of thing is also very rare in history, so there is no point in discussing it.

Now that the overall situation has become basically clear, Guo Kang has begun to prepare for post-war affairs.

At present, the people who need to be settled most urgently are not the Egyptians, but the Bohemians under Zhu Wenkui. Zhu Wenkui himself was forcibly sent back by Guo Kang. According to Lady Jeanna, he was in Cyprus before. However, this week, a new report was delivered. Tuohuan wrote to Guo Kang, saying that Wu Fan had another problem, and Zhu Wenkui had already returned to Dadu urgently.

To be honest, Guo Kang was already somewhat numb to the incidents that happened to Wu Fan - and Zhu Wenkui himself should be the same. According to Tuohuan, there was news before that Wu Fan had suffered a defeat and the old King of Wu was missing. Some of the people who were scattered ran to Rome for help, so they knew the news before Sigismund announced it.

According to the news at that time, the Ming army suffered heavy losses, losing dozens of thousand households in one battle, and it was estimated that only Lao Yang was left among the three commanders. Tuohuan himself was very surprised, because in his impression, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it seemed that there had never been such a loss in a defeat. If this happened in the Central Plains, Zhu Tianping would be so angry that he would jump up...

However, on Wu Fan's side, the data on paper may not necessarily reflect the real situation, and Zhu Wenkui himself was very calm, and he comforted Tuohuan, saying that it was not surprising that his father lost the battle with his command level. However, Wu Fan has gathered many capable people in recent years, and the communication there is not good, so he can still win the battle in places where he cannot command. Anyway, his father has always been a good runner, and there should be news in a while. It is a pity that Father Hus was also defeated.

After a while, the Jinyiwei finally found the old King Wu and found out the situation. At present, it seems that it was because King Wu and Huang Zicheng and others sent people to attack wherever they saw benefits, which led to the soldiers being divided into more than a dozen groups and fighting in a mess. Moreover, among these three or four major directions, the one he personally led was the weakest one.

At present, the troops he sent to the east have arrived near Prague after half a month of marching and have connected with the local Hussite armed forces. With the banner of King Wu and the call for revenge, many people have come to gather, and now they have formed an army of more than 10,000 people, which is very powerful. In western Bohemia, the elite troops he sent also occupied the key points around Kutenberg before the noble coalition army and repelled the enemy. At present, the local nobles are urgently asking Sigismund for help, otherwise they are unwilling to march. This mining center has also stabilized.

In short, except for the fact that he was constantly losing battles, the other directions that he let go were progressing relatively smoothly. It seems that the father is known best by his son, and Zhu Wenkui's words at the time were all guessed correctly...

However, Princess Ma and the others were still quite anxious, so they called Zhu Wenkui back to discuss the matter. But after discussing it with Tuohuan, he felt that it was nothing serious, so he went back to have a meeting first.

Rather than discussing how to respond, it was more like appeasing the Jinyiwei: Zhu Wenkui felt that the current situation was still within expectations. Sigismund still didn't know the strategic intentions and main attack direction of the Wu army - because the King of Wu himself didn't know either.

Besides, their trump card is still in Egypt. But the Jinyiwei has been tormented a lot during this period, so we still have to thank them...

Cyprus does not need two-way quarantine like Egypt, so the information is flowing smoothly. If there is anything else, Tuohuan will send someone to notify us.

(End of this chapter)