Guo Kang feels a little reasonable about Joanna's suggestion, but he may not be able to believe it all. Unlike Theodora, she was an outsider, even if she thought about it seriously.

Theodora had spoken to him about this kind of thing before. She warned Guo Kang that anyone will have a preset position. Because everyone's situation and interests are different, even if they think that they are open and fair, and they are trying to help, they will not be able to get rid of this influence.

Conversely, however, all recommendations should not be ignored because of such gaps. Because even people who are not very close can put forward valuable ideas in some aspects, it is not difficult to find the useful parts as long as they analyze them in combination with their own attitudes and needs.

Therefore, she believes that although Guo Kang often makes various plans, this quality alone is not enough. He had to learn to recognize the information sent by various other people and their advice, and decide what to do with it in order to become a qualified leader.

But this thing is much more difficult than studying the Steam Brother and making a plan, because there is no set formula at all. Guo Kang sometimes even feels that he may not be the material to do this.

However, after seeing a lot, he still understood a little. Joanna's statement, for example, is very frank. Although she is not one of her own, she is now a relatively weak and demanding party. In areas that she is happy to push, her advice will obviously be valuable.

In terms of navigation and trade routes, Guo Kang felt that she should know better than herself.

He thought for a moment and took the initiative to ask, "I understand the reason for this concern. But the problem now is that it's not just us trying to find a new course, others may be trying it too. If we don't do it, others may find it in a few decades. So what do we do? ”

"If my guess is correct, even if they succeed, they will not be immediately paid a huge amount of money when they start their business, and their national strength will not suddenly increase." Joanna analyzed it methodically: "This time is also an opportunity for us to act. ”

"There are many means of business competition, and it does not mean that everyone blindly competes for the efficiency of development. If you don't have a way to make your profits higher than your competitors, then the other way around, it's okay to make them unable to make enough profits. She squinted slightly, and there was a hint of decisiveness in her narrow eyes: "We also said just now that it is much easier to destroy the route than to operate the route." ”

"For example, England was just mentioned. If there is a western continent, their location is really good, and it is estimated that they will soon be able to develop because of their geographical advantages. But we can learn from the Vikings of the past. ”

"Shall we be pirates, too?" Guo Kang hadn't thought about this question before.

"Of course. We have been pirates for a longer period of time than they do. And you've been mentioning the Vikings, don't you know their traditions? Joanna regained her feminine look, but said cruel things and chuckled.

Guo Kang hesitated, feeling that this seemed to be an idea.

But at this time, Tuohuan interjected again.

"Your way of dealing with this is too much like a maritime business, too much like a pirate. It's not good. He shook his head: "It's not a good idea to destroy people's businesses and prevent people from making money." ”

"At present, Dadu is the most conducive place for business development. Therefore, it is also the richest and most suitable place for serious management. If the New World you are talking about does not bring greater prosperity and does not have a large sphere of influence, then we can ignore it at all. Anyway, the minerals and wealth they get from there will eventually be given to us through trade. ”

"And if it really brings unprecedented prosperity there, so that the capital, the 'city of all cities', loses its greatest advantage, then let's ......," he shrugged: "Let's just move." ”

"When the time comes, most of them will not be Kedun. We don't want it. With a wave of his hand, he said indifferently: "The Khan's court, all pillar states, and all army corps have all moved to the most suitable place for the geographical location. ”

"Advantageous location, it's dead for. But people are alive. For example, Tuhuan said: "It's like the previous pasture is gradually failing, do you still have to stay here and starve to death?" Of course, it is to find a place with more abundant water and grass, and then use it as a new pasture. ”

"If, as you say, England has an advantage, then we will take a boat en masse, first rush down Denmark, and then go to England, and destroy the natives. After that, it's also our new sweat tent over there. ”

"So, your pirate still doesn't have a good idea." He looked at Joanna, shook his head and said, "It's too low-level to harass other people's business every day." You should just grab the whole storefront. ”

Joanna opened her mouth and didn't speak for a moment.

In just a short time, he has been speechless twice about Dehuan. This "fox", who has always been recognized as smart, was hit by the "Khitan Wolf Warrior" and looked slow......

Guo Kang, on the other hand, suddenly remembered a more profound proposition.

As a traverser, reforming society and promoting the development of his country within his capacity has been subconsciously regarded as a matter of course by him.

And in which direction to develop has become one of the most important questions.

Traditionally, the traveler generally learns from the "West". Although the scope of this Western concept is not clear, the basic practice is relatively clear. For example, to promote the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, to promote the development of capitalism, etc., in short, it is to refer to the various codes and policies of the West in his original world, and develop along their path.

And the history of Ceris itself is also learned step by step, the more he learns, the more he learns, the stronger he becomes.

But with this model, there is a problem: which step do you have to learn?

Some people think that it is enough to learn the Western weapon and military system, while others think that it is not enough and that it is necessary to learn the Western political system.

Some people think that it is enough to learn the Western political system, but others think that it is still just a formality, and it is necessary to learn Western ideology and culture, such as democracy, science, and so on.

A lot of people think that this is the end of the road. But the problem is that some people believe that this is still not enough - Western civilization is more advanced than Eastern civilization, so the more thoroughly you learn, the better.

Where is the foundation of Western thought? The answer is religion. Therefore, if you want to be more advanced, it is best to study it along with religion, and everyone should believe in Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother. Although this is more difficult, the transformation is indeed more thorough.

Is that enough? Of course not. Seris's writing is an outlier in the world. There are also many people who believe that this script is not advanced enough, and it is necessary to learn from the West and change the script. This is more difficult, but it is also closer to the West after the change.

And above the text, there is a bloodline that is more difficult to change. Some people believe that the blood of the East is not good, and the roots will not be as advanced as the West, so the blood line should also be improved through conscious intermarriage.

These are really not extravagant deductions, but suggestions that have indeed appeared in history and even caused widespread discussion at one time. Some topics are still being mentioned until Guo Kang's time.

Because the logic in this is the same as before:

At that time, the Qing Dynasty was only willing to learn weapons and military affairs, and was not willing to learn the system of Western civilization, which led to backwardness and beating; Now, if we only study the ideology and do not study the religion and writing of Western civilization, does it mean that we are as conservative and backward as the Qing Dynasty, and we will suffer the same fate?

If we do not recognize the West as an advanced civilization, then the process of "learning from the West" in modern history will not know how to narrate;

If we admit that the West is an advanced civilization, then on the question of which point it is advanced and which step it learns is considered advanced, all kinds of "heretics" will arise and endless quarrels will occur because of the problem of defining concepts.

In other worldlines, this may have been a theoretical controversy, but in the Purple Horde, these issues did affect Guo Kang's plans.

Many of the common ways of development did not work in the Purple Horde. For example, the most classic "constitutional monarchy" is not very feasible here - the pendulum of the Purple Horde is more similar to the head of the Roman era, and in fact the largest military head. Basil III, the most authoritative emperor in the past dynasties, mainly relied on his military exploits and resourcefulness. To put it mildly, no one else is reliable, so the power is given to him.

The institutional power of the Khan is not as big as that of the British king after the constitution, and the laws of the scholars to restrain the monarch are equivalent to restraining them......

What's more, the laws on both sides are not the same situation at all.

The basic laws of the Purple Horde were adapted from Roman law by a group of Greek jurists recruited by Guo Gai. Later, the Empress Dowager Helena and Basil III continued to organize scholars to revise and improve it. It is fundamentally incompatible with English law.

The legal scholars of the Purple Horde did know the laws of other parts of Europe, but they did not look down on others at all. In their eyes, Roman law was the greatest property of civilization. Compared with it, those very crude and backward barbarian customary laws are not worth mentioning at all.

To tell these people that English law is the most advanced and to ask them to learn from it is the ultimate insult to Greek jurists. Later generations of Seris may have been more receptive to English law than they were......

And this situation will lead to more troublesome questions: Britain and Rome, who is the advanced civilization of the West?

Or, one could go one step further: Rome, is it the West?

At this point, we come to the most problematic place in the usual traversal model.

If Guo Kang had traveled to his contemporaries, he would have come to the Ming and Qing dynasties. At this time, he can try to transform the Seris society according to the knowledge and experience of the advanced Western civilization, so as to take the right path and let the Seris civilization continue and become advanced. This is also the most orthodox and common way.

But the problem is, he has traveled to Rome.

According to the orthodox path, he should try to transform Roman society according to the knowledge and experience of advanced Western civilization, so as to take the right path and let Roman civilization continue and become advanced.

But the result itself forms a paradox.

According to Western Taoism, "Western civilization" should be transmitted in the order of Greece, Rome and Western Europe. Now, however, the Roman patriarch declared that he was not dead, and suddenly jumped out of his coffin and beat up the filial sons and grandsons of Western Europe who were trying to inherit him.

In this case, Western Europe could not inherit "Westernness", and there was no need to learn from Rome itself.

But on the other hand, theoretically, Rome could not have become the most advanced without learning from the more advanced civilization of the West. This seems to contradict the previous conclusion.

In this discourse, the "Western civilization" that had developed linearly was suddenly unveiled by Rome, which made mistakes.

To use an analogy, it is equivalent to the fact that in Rome, the long river of civilization's destiny no longer continues to advance, and Western Europe, which is destined to be powerful, is strong. Instead, it was stuck here in Rome, like an Ouroboros, and began to spin in place.

As Theodora said, Guo Kang really attaches great importance to theoretical planning, and has always believed that this is where he is most valuable as a traverser. But when it comes to planning, choosing the direction of development and the specific model, he has to face these problems.

And the statement of Dehuan made him open his eyes at once.

Guo Kang, enlightened!

He realized that learning advanced civilization, in the final analysis, is not just a means?

Isn't the real purpose to make oneself an advanced civilization?

To use a metaphor, the process of development and learning is actually the process of non-Western civilizations trying to play the role of advanced Western civilizations.

Historically, there have been many states of varying degrees of depth in the process of learning. In order to summarize the rules, a rough grading can be carried out according to the level of their digestion and absorption.

For example, in the Qing Dynasty, only foreign guns and foreign cannons were successfully digested, and the higher ones were not learned well. This kind can be classified as the ninth level.

And if you go further, not only will you use foreign guns, but also digest and absorb Western production lines, and you can initially develop the industry by yourself, then you have achieved qualitative improvement and entered the eighth level.

And so on, the more and more advanced you digest the various characteristics of the advanced civilization of the West, the stronger you will be and the closer you will be to the goal itself.

And the ultimate goal, of course, is to call itself "advanced Western civilization".

It's just that people in the past have ignored one point. That is, religion, writing, and so on, are not the key. At the upper level of the civilization sequence, there is also a geographical location that plays a more decisive role.

The geographical location is different, the climate, mineral resources, production methods, ...... will be affected. Obviously, this is the more advanced feature.

For example, it is impossible for an East Asian civilization to truly "break away from Asia and join Europe." Only by expeditioning to Western Europe and replacing the local forces can the geographical digestion and absorption be completed.

This was the case with the Purple Horde.

Now, the Greek language is spoken within the khanate, the state religion is also a cross religion, and even the Great Khan's family looks no different from the Greeks because of their long-term intermarriage. But even so, Western European civilization would not recognize it, but considered it an Eastern country.

So, the last step, it's obvious.

The advanced civilization of the West is unique, and it is impossible for two to exist at the same time - because at the top of the civilization sequence, only one of the most advanced civilizations can exist!

Therefore, at this point, what needs to be done is to kill the original advanced Western civilization, seize its uniqueness, and replace it yourself!

If you reach this level, you can call yourself the West, call yourself an advanced civilization, and reach the top of learning.

In an instant, Guo Kang vaguely comprehended this way, the true core.

It must be said that this is a rather profane path. People worship the advanced civilization of the West, but it is not actually a god - and it can be replaced!

The so-called gods, but that's it!

Of course, this road is also difficult and dangerous. Not only is there a constant struggle, but there is also a risk of getting out of control.

Because there is another very important point: that is, the method of playing, after all, is just playing!

The Mongols, who were strong back then, lost themselves because the spiritual strength of civilization was too weak, and they lost themselves.

In a high-level situation, how to maintain oneself while playing the role of Western civilization is also a relatively difficult task, and I can only work my own.

Guo Kang suddenly felt that his thinking suddenly became clear.

"Brother Kang, Brother Kang, what are you thinking?" At this time, Joanna's worried voice came to her ears.

Guo Kang came back to his senses, turned his head, and saw her and Tuohuan looking at him.

"Ah, I suddenly thought of something, and my mind wandered." Guo Kang didn't have time to care, how could she use such an intimate title, and hurriedly explained.

Joanna still looked a little concerned, but Dehuan probably confirmed his status.

"Well, he's got a lot on his head. Smart people are like that, and we don't have to worry about it. He reassured.

Joanna glanced at Guo Kang deeply again, and finally nodded.

(End of chapter)