Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 775 Only a universal people can have a chance to achieve unification

While the fierce battle raged outside the camp, the others were working hard to get the soldiers in the camp into formation and out as quickly as possible.

While waiting, to prevent everyone from becoming overly excited or nervous and causing accidents, some officers started singing loudly with their men.

Singing is a common form of entertainment, and it had long been practiced in European armies. However, consciously composing songs and teaching soldiers to sing them as a means of propaganda or morale boosting was still a relatively new concept. In the Ming army in the West, this method was something Zhu Wenkui and Jessica had learned from the Romans during their trip to Egypt.

In the beginning, these kinds of cultural activities in the army weren't singing, but storytelling. This hobby probably originated from the common people.

In a city where culture flourished, this phenomenon became even more widespread. Initially, it was just a few soldiers who enjoyed listening to stories who would go to the streets to listen during their leave. Later, as more and more people joined, they pooled their money to hire several storytellers to take turns setting up stalls near the military camp, saving them the time of having to travel in and out of the city each time.

These storytellers worked in the city during the day and would leave before the gates closed in the afternoon, setting up their stalls at shops next to the military camp. After get off work in the evening, many officers and soldiers on leave would gather there.

The storyteller would continue his tales until nightfall, after which everyone would return to camp. They would then stay overnight at a shop and head back to town early the next morning. Several people would take turns performing, so there was a performance almost every day, and the show was very popular.

Li Xuanying told Zhu Wenkui and Guo Kang about this. Guo Kang was unexpectedly happy and said that my country's culture had finally developed to this point.

He told everyone that educating the people couldn't rely solely on schools and churches to formally indoctrinate them with various theories. That approach was inefficient. Instead, often a popular and engaging story could be more effective than a hundred sermons and preachings.

The praise of heroes and the condemnation of villains in these stories serve as a form of moral propaganda. If these stories can spread to many places, they can create a shared morality that transcends geographical boundaries.

Guo Kang argues that in the Central Plains, since the time of Shennong, there has never been a large-scale population replacement, thus the composition of ethnic groups can still be linked to bloodlines. However, in Europe, as far as we know, there have been wave after wave of migrations. After continuous migrations and upheavals, the plight of those who remained is easily imaginable.

Therefore, in the Mediterranean world, the concept of ethnicity can be considered purely a cultural classification. If a group of people share common moral standards, venerate the same heroes, and adhere to similar values, then they belong to the same ethnic group.

In Europe, many people subconsciously believe that religion plays a crucial role in distinguishing individuals from one another and classifying ethnic groups. Different religious sects ultimately give rise to different ethnic groups.

However, in Guo Kang's view, this cannot be considered a "theorem," but rather a kind of "phenomenon." And the reason for this phenomenon is that Europeans are too uncultured.

In Europe, the work of promoting high moral standards and publicizing role models is almost exclusively done by the church. In other words, without religion, people can't even establish a moral code. Therefore, religion naturally becomes the primary factor distinguishing different ethnic groups…

In reality, even with differences in language, writing system, and religion, it depends on the specific circumstances. Take the Swiss, for example. Even if some speak French, some German, and there may even be different religious sects in the future, as long as they fought against the Habsburgs together and served as mercenaries, they can share a common identity—perhaps because the impact of war was so powerful that the shared memory of serving together directly outweighed those "cultural factors."

Therefore, these well-known stories, universally admired heroes, and universally accepted moral standards become the cultural cornerstone of a shared nation. And this is precisely what Guo Kang constantly thinks about.

Zhu Wenkuai wasn't particularly interested in this; even when he taught soldiers to sing, his main goal was to boost the army's morale.

Many of the songs we're singing now were composed by Li Xuanying during the previous training camp, and everyone learned to sing them. He and Jessica, among others, learned them and then taught them to everyone. Many of their rules have a similar origin. As for the rest, I haven't thought about it too much.

But in Guo Kang's view, this was a case of a well-fed man not knowing the hunger of a starving man.

He always believed that one of his most important tasks was to foster a Roman national identity that could be accepted by the majority, and to unite a stable group that first and foremost identified themselves as Romans. Only then could he consider the higher-level task of achieving lasting unity and entering the historical cycle.

What Zhu Wen-kui took for granted, he saw as something that would require the entire country to work hard for generations before seeing the light of day.

Unfortunately, on this side of the Mediterranean, the cultural level of ordinary people, and even many in the upper-middle class, is simply too low to be described. It's a blessing to have a shared faith like God-worshipping Society. Forming broader cultural consensus is virtually impossible.

By the late Middle Ages, the Romans had indeed developed a certain sense of national identity, which perhaps lasted for several centuries longer than the Roman state itself. However, this consensus formed too late and was too weak. Ultimately, it had little impact and faded into history.

Of course, in hindsight, the barbarian tribes' ethnic construction was not very successful, and they couldn't even provide Guo Kang with much successful experience.

In Guo Kang's time, people generally believed that universal religions like the God-Worshipping Society corresponded to universal empires like Rome; while faith in one's own nation and country corresponded to modern nation-states. As times "progressed," the power of religion gradually declined, and outdated universal empires gradually disintegrated, replaced by secular nation-states.

However, after encountering various phenomena, Guo Kang began to increasingly doubt this conclusion.

First, the power of religion did not decline linearly. On the contrary, beginning in the latter half of the 19th century, many regions, led by the United States, experienced a religious fervor known as the "Great Awakening," with mainstream religions initiating a new round of reforms and vying for the remaining followers. Those religions that missed this wave—such as Seres' indigenous religions—are the ones that give the impression of decline and loss of vitality.

In fact, with the development of communication methods, the power of religion has actually increased compared to before. The influence of clergy is no longer limited to the local area; they can even bypass oversight and have consequences in distant foreign lands. This was unprecedented. Therefore, this important precondition may not be accurate. Secondly, nation-states are not without their own religious beliefs. On the contrary, the "awakening" of many nations after the Industrial Revolution was closely related to religion. Because the barriers to religious practice are relatively low, it is actually beneficial for people in underdeveloped regions to organize and mobilize through their own unique sects. These sects, although bearing the banner of mainstream religions, are often very localized, and even regarded as heretical by the mainstream—this was common in peripheral regions such as North Africa and Central Asia during their resistance against powerful nations.

On the other hand, even in developed regions, citizens of nation-states often attempt to establish their own unique religions. For example, in Europe, movements known as "neo-paganism" emerged, attempting to replicate local primitive religions that existed before the arrival of God worship. Among the more famous examples are various religions that were supposedly "believed by ancient Germans" and were popular in Germany from the late 19th century until World War II.

Due to the scarcity of historical documents, much of the original content of this religion remains unknown. Many of its pagan imagery is a reconstruction by later generations. Moreover, much like the attitude Europeans had towards ancient Greece and Rome at the beginning of the Renaissance, this behavior was less a revival of the past and more a form of reinvention—because the God-Worshipping Society was too universal and lacked "national character," so even if it had to be fabricated, a version had to be created.

Later, this trend spread beyond Europe to the Middle East. Similarly, some began to champion the unique ancient civilizations of their regions, viewing later Abrahamic universal religions as invaders. This ideology became even more prevalent in places with ancient civilizations, such as Persia and Egypt. Some argue that just as Europeans opposing the Second Religion were engaging in a neo-pagan movement, Middle Easterners opposing the Third Religion were doing something similar.

It's clear that nation-states are not opposed to religion; in fact, they may even desire a religion and actively seek to capitalize on its popularity. It's just that this religion has a different guise; it's not the universal religion that was popular in the past.

Of course, if we broaden our perspective, some Europeans also believe that the most successful neo-pagan movement was not "Germania" or "Persian Revival," but rather Seris's Hanfu movement.

In their view, the latter possessed all the elements of a neo-pagan movement, such as close integration with nationalism, advocacy of classical indigenous civilization, having its own clothing, attire, and symbols, and opposition to the universal values ​​of the Fourth Religion, etc. Moreover, unlike other movements that remained within a small group, this ideology quickly spread to the general public and was widely accepted, demonstrating far greater vitality than other revivalist movements.

The reason Seris's ideas succeeded was actually quite simple—because people genuinely believed their ancestors were their own. This meant they didn't need to invent many things, nor were they afraid of being questioned and debunked by meticulous researchers; in fact, they didn't need to rely on verification to promote themselves. Therefore, their spread was naturally very rapid.

But this is exactly what Europeans lack.

In Guo Kang's view, European nation-states were nothing but uncultured wretches. The theoretical systems they constructed were extremely weak—otherwise, even prehistoric paganism wouldn't have been so prevalent. They didn't use universal religions not because they didn't want to, but simply because they lacked the ability.

Throughout its long history, the Church of God has been closely intertwined with Rome. The Church itself was a vast legacy of the Roman Empire; and the Church also served as a political enlightener for barbarian tribes, leading anyone with a European cultural background to associate the two.

Therefore, any barbarian tribe that attempted to justify its nation's legitimacy by using God worship would face the question of "Are you Rome?" In response, many barbarians tried to emulate Rome and demonstrate their connection to Rome.

However, such a false sense of kinship is ultimately unsustainable. And despite their apparent longing for Rome, if Rome were to actually break away, these barbarians would be the most anxious.

So, ultimately, what they feared wasn't universal religion, but Rome, which was linked to religion. Therefore, in the end, they had no choice but to break off relations and declare themselves independent nations, not seeking to establish a universal empire, lest Rome truly rise from within them and devour them all.

This proactive retreat, suppressing their own organizational capabilities and physical strength in order to maintain the existing ruling order, also severely limited the potential and future of European countries, making their fighting capacity extremely worrisome when facing a truly universal empire.

Basically, they can only fight opponents of the Holy Roman Empire's caliber. Even the Red Horde, with its rather primitive cultural heritage, could exert a huge impact on them on the level of faith by relying on the Fourth Religion, which is relatively recent and whose theories are not as complete.

By the time of Guo Kang, the Red Horde had long since disintegrated, but European nationalism had essentially been killed off. In many European countries, it was even seen as a monstrous threat, struggling to gain popular support. As a mainstream ideology, its lifespan was ridiculously short. And what defeated them were precisely some variations of the Fourth Religion.

As for how the legitimacy of the state will be maintained after this belief collapses—whether it will be forcibly reverted to a previous version or a newer, more chaotic "new Protestantism"—it's hard to say.

Therefore, in Guo Kang's view, universal religions and ethnicities are not actually in conflict, nor are various universal concepts contradictory to the characteristics of ethnicities. Ethnic groups like the Han Chinese and the Romans can reconcile ethnicity and universality very well. It can even be said that, just as the Church is essentially the son of Rome, universality itself is a cultural product created by this kind of "universal ethnicity."

Some European intellectuals have repeatedly argued that the notion of universal empires being "backward" is nothing more than sour grapes. They only resort to such mystical pronouncements because they are not a universal people and cannot achieve true unification.

As someone who frequented church daily, Guo Kang felt he had at least a basic understanding of religion. Even someone like him, with some theological knowledge, was sensitive to terms like "advanced," "backward," "ignorant," and "awakened." Because these are commonly used theological terms…

When we mention that something is advanced or a new idea is emerging, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's more efficient and therefore advanced; rather, it's more likely that it's advanced because it conforms to doctrine, so we should look for its advantages. After all, when theologians mention a concept, what comes first is probably not logic, but faith.

As for the debates and arguments between the two groups of theologians, they are often meaningless, because in the end, they are all fighting for the right to define whether or not everyone has awakened. For Guo Kang, this is of no interest.

In his view, the theory wasn't so complicated, and there was no need to argue about nonsensical doctrines every day. The reality was that to achieve a unified Mediterranean world, the universality of the nation-states needed to be maintained; to ensure the stability of the Roman state, a strong national core was essential. However, these two weren't contradictory, and currently, they still had the Central Plains as their best teacher.

Therefore, although it was a foreign art form, Guo Kang was still very happy about it, because it proved that Roman culture still had vitality, at least it could be used for literary creation and dissemination.

Guo Kang himself joined in, writing some vernacular novels. However, not long after, Luo Guanzhong arrived in Dadu (Beijing) and began introducing his new works. Suddenly, stories of the Three Kingdoms were being told everywhere, and Guo Kang's Roman novels flopped completely. His subsequent plans were abandoned.

(End of this chapter)