Compared with others, Guo Kang does belong to the kind of person who prefers to reason with others. Of course, he's not just talking about the Rus, he's also reminding Joanna.

Although her attempt to meddle in the military power seems a little ambitious, it really can't be blamed on her. In recent years, she is not the only Italian who wants to build up her own armament, and it can even be said that it is a trend.

Today's Italian peninsula is not proportional to its economic and military strength. This is actually a very dangerous situation, which is equivalent to telling others that they are all fat sheep here, and they can be slaughtered at will. Anyone with a little insight will not be willing to do this.

Both in this era and since, the locals have always envisioned ways to protect themselves in various ways. Unfortunately, almost all of these attempts failed. Things are even getting worse in Italy, and until modern times, there are few signs of improvement.

"I know that on the Italian side, there are many people who want to learn from the experience of ancient Rome and revive the military power. If nothing else, I've seen more than one case. This shows that this may not be an idea that only a few people have. Guo Kang said to her.

"After our rise, some people even think that our system combines the strong Eastern military system with the Roman tradition, and proves with practical actions that there is the same logic behind the powerful military system - this is not what I said, but an Italian scholar said it directly to Master Wang before. They believe that as long as they figure out this logic and follow this 'formula' step by step, they can get the same good results. ”

"But you see, the political, military, economic, and so on, all aspects of the elements, are closely integrated. Sometimes it is even related to geography and cultural traditions. Whether the 'formula' exists or not, and whether it can be used, I am not sure. He admonished.

"Then aren't you yourself trying to expand the scope of the military region, and want to build new legion farms everywhere, and promote this system in other places?" Joanna asked, "What's the difference between this and the locals doing it themselves?" ”

"The difference is that other people need to change so much to do this. They can easily touch the interests of various enemies, both internal and external, arouse their discontent, and thus be extinguished. Guo Kang replied: "For example, you are operating in Italy and want to control the army of the city-state. But it doesn't really mean much. The adversary can easily attract outside interference and extinguish your attempts. ”

"But we have a whole system in place, a group of officials who can implement policies – and most importantly, an army that is good enough to deal with all kinds of contingencies to guarantee the new military district. In this way, the situation is completely different. ”

This is also a very real problem, and the Florentines themselves will encounter it later.

At the beginning of the 16th century, Machiavelli, who was given the opportunity, trained a militia for Florence according to his ideals, following the methods of ancient Rome.

In the beginning, this army did a good job, winning the war on Pisa and successfully annexing it. However, a few years later, the Pope brought in a large Spanish army and defeated Florence without any suspense, crushing Machiavelli's efforts.

When facing opponents of different sizes, these training methods, organizational techniques and other problems are meaningless.

It is true that small countries are relatively easy to reform. But once a big country starts to act, it often doesn't have anything to do with a small country. Moreover, in the face of a truly difficult situation, the tolerance rate of the great powers is much higher.

Guo Kang was also a witness to this conclusion back then, and he knew how the Seris people tried almost all the methods they could try in the world in a hundred years—it was not a question of which method was better for other civilizations, but that no one could afford to try again and again, and of course there was no condition to find a more efficient method.

At the peak of civilization, there are many different ways to evaluate it. But what is most vital is its performance in the trough. This extremely resilient civilization is like an unkillable hydra. The enemy could only watch it in horror, and under the constant attacks, it gradually regained its form. And this may be the most valuable trait of a strong civilization.

Although Joanna has not experienced it, this conclusion is not incomprehensible.

"Well, it's so hard to start everything from scratch, especially in Italy." She sighed and said, "That's why I hope I can ask you for help." ”

"It's not the best to ask us for help." Guo Kang pointed out: "This involves a complex exchange of interests, and the slightest mistake will make everyone dissatisfied." ”

"If you want me to say, why don't you just join Rome. Anyway, Italy is the homeland of Rome, and it is not a shame to recognize your ancestors and return to your ancestors. ”

"On both sides of us, the sects are different, how can we recognize our ancestors and return to our ancestors?" Joanna said unexpectedly.

"There are too many people with different sects, and that's not a big deal." Guo Kang shook his head: "Rome is a universal empire, and what religion you believe in does not affect the organization of the empire itself. ”

"I've discussed this kind of thing with them before. If things go well on the Egyptian side, we can consider re-establishing the four patriarchates. Guo Kang has always liked to introduce his strategic plan:

"The Patriarchate of Constantine on our side, maintaining its current state, is primarily responsible for administering the Orthodox Church; the Patriarchate of Alexandria, with the Caliph as the Patriarch, who was primarily responsible for administering the Celestial Cult; The Patriarchate of Rome, with the Pope as the Patriarch, was mainly responsible for the administration of the Roman Catholic Church. ”

"Also, in Antioch in the East, the religious situation is complicated. There are Orthodox and Catholic activities, as well as many Celestial believers, and even ancient sects such as Nestorianism and the Armenian Church. We could set up a committee there, where they could elect their own patriarchs, to jointly manage and coordinate religious affairs, and to serve as a concrete testing ground for the idea of 'three religions in one'. ”

"......" Joanna was stunned again, and it took a while to react.

"Can the believers accept that?" She said in surprise.

"The vast majority of believers don't even care much about what's going on outside their villages. Just don't take away the priest or imam they like, they don't bother to pay attention to you. These measures were too high-spec, and they only needed to be leveled against the aristocracy and the high-ranking people of the Church. Guo Kang said.

As we all know, these high-level personnel generally cherish their property and lives and are very easy to speak. So just listening to the movement, in fact, nothing will happen. When these measures stabilize, we can go one step further and start to heal the Great Church Schism. ”

"Are you confident you can do it?" Joanna hurriedly asked.

"Of course. Wouldn't it be enough to bring the Bishop of Rome back to the capital and work with the Patriarch. Guo Kang said.

"Then someone else will fry!" Joanna still couldn't accept it: "The French didn't have such an exaggeration back then. ”

"It's okay, we can learn from the ancestors of the French." Guo Kang told him: "I discussed it with Tuohuan. If you can, let the Great Khan come forward and give the Bishop of Rome a territory. Didn't the Pope lose a few pieces of land before and send him back? ”

"Huh? Why? Joanna asked.

"If there is a gift, there must be a return gift. This is a formality, but it is actually a land exchange. Guo Kang explained: "We plan to exchange 500 miles of land for the Vatican. The Bishop of Rome would certainly have agreed. ”

"Once the exchange is complete, we will be in charge of the various institutions there, including the entire Papal State, in place of the Pope. But the bishop of Rome himself, after the change, there was no more cathedral. So, we took him to Dadu and gave him a new church. Wouldn't that fair, you see? ”

Joanna began to think hard. Although she seemed to be a very intelligent person, this ancient wisdom of Seris still seemed to be a bit out of the ordinary, and she had to react for a while.

Guo Kang is not in a hurry, waiting for her to think for herself.

At this time, the voice of password and response came from the door.

"It's coming." Guo Kang looked at the bell tower in the distance and couldn't help but complain: "It's almost two quarters of an hour." Is this going for makeup? ”

(End of chapter)