After saying it, Guo Kang was forced to give up.

It seems that everyone is so impressed with the Egyptians that people like Wang Da Lama, who have always trusted him, think that this idea is too outrageous.

However, Egypt is really attractive, and it's not that people don't want to run there, but they just need to explore whether these methods are efficient enough. After all, there have always been many enemies around the Purple Horde, and I am afraid that it will not be able to maintain a large army presence there for a long time.

"We've been on good terms with churches in other places." Grand Lama Wang said: "Whether it is in Egypt or further south, there are local churches. We've had a lot of contact with them before. With this relationship, everyone can at least find someone to help. ”

"I always felt that the Orthodox Church in Egypt was not very reliable." Cao Jian said: "When the Saracens attacked Egypt, the local church sided with the invaders because of a doctrinal conflict with Constantinople. The Saracens were able to play so smoothly without their support. Later, they were oppressed by the Heavenly Sect, and they were to blame. To be honest, I don't think these people can be trusted. ”

"We can get close to them, but if we really want to run the territory over there, we still have to do it according to our own." He suggested.

"That was hundreds of years ago, and I think they have suffered so many losses, so they should have a longer memory." Grand Lama Wang hesitated and explained: "Moreover, when I contacted them before, I heard them complain that they were often oppressed by the government with excuses, and their lives were very difficult. As far as we know, what they say is indeed not a lie. ”

According to them, there are now less than half of the worshippers in Egypt. If this continues, it is estimated that one day, the church itself will perish. This kind of thing that is related to survival should not be fake. ”

"What? There are so many? Guo Kang was a little surprised.

"Yes, I see that in other places, such as Syria, there are obviously not so many believers in the local worship of God, and many of these sects were formed after the Crusaders." Cao Jian was also curious: "As for Xiaoya's side, it has changed faster, and now it is estimated that there are no believers in worshipping God, right?" How did the Egyptians hold on? ”

"There aren't many people on Xiaoya's side, so it must change quickly. And I've talked to some of the clergy of the Celestial Sect, and most of them, and they don't think that those believers in Minor Asia are very strict about their beliefs - just look at how many grape drinks they import from us every year. The Great Lama said, "I feel that these people may not care much about this, so they change quickly." ”

"On the Syrian side, there are many commercial cities, and for a long time, the economy was relatively prosperous. The locals are good at business and are used to doing business everywhere. These slippery people must be quick to change their beliefs. He commented:

Of course, there is also a historical reason for this: Syria was a base of the Umayyad dynasty and was a favored region. Locals convert to a new religion, and there is a lot of room for improvement. I guess that's why. ”

"I always thought Syrians were Arabs." Pronsky said curiously: "It turns out that they are actually converted natives." ”

"The definition of Arabs is confusing." "According to the original definition, only those inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula are Arabs. In fact, they are the only ones who are "true believers." As for the congregations other than the Arabs, they were all called 'freed slaves' and were called al-Mawari. Syrians and Persians, both in this range, should theoretically be a lower level. ”

"However, when the Celestial Sect established its empire, the internal contradictions were too intense. The Umayyad family began as the largest serpent in Mecca, persecuting the first group of Celestials and driving them away. Later, when he saw that he couldn't beat him, he turned his head and decided to join the other party. In order for the Order to grow, it must also accept them in order to make it easier for them to expand. As a result, many such old nobles also entered the upper echelons of the Order. ”

"By the time the Celestial Order began to fight among themselves, the Umayyad family had taken the position of governor of Syria and ran their own base there. Syria was much richer than the Arab region, and with the support of the Syrians, the Umayyad family relied on their greater military power to defeat other forces in a series of wars. At this time, the core of the so-called Arab Empire was already in Damascus. ”

"So I have to say if they are Arabs or not...... Uh......" The Grand Lama was also a little confused: "Anyway, the Arabs can't beat them." Later, the Umayyad army returned to the Holy Land, raided all the old nests of the Arabs, and smashed all the black stones. At this time...... Then he said that he was an Arab, a true believer, and the original Arabs could not object to anything. ”

"Now even the Turks call themselves 'true believers.'" Cao Jian complained: "I don't think the Arabs can do anything. After all, those Turkic warlords are not very good-tempered, and the jurists can't beat them......"

"yes." Wang Da Lama nodded: "As a result, the Syrians are very active in the Umayyad Dynasty. After all, as long as you join their regime, you really have a chance to be reused. ”

"The entire Umayyad dynasty, from Samarkand in the east to Iberia in the west, was full of Syrian armies fighting for the empire. On the other side of the river, the backbone of the confrontation with the Tang Dynasty vassal states on the front line in Samarkand was mainly the Syrian army of the Umayyad. The Arab tribes who migrated to the local area often rebelled against the rule of the Umayyad dynasty, and even united with the Tang Dynasty and the local Persians to create a rebellion against the caliphate. ”

"It's the same with the West. After the Persians overthrew the Umayyad dynasty, the Syrian army sent to Spain remained loyal to the Umayyad family. The local post-Umayyad dynasty was founded by the Syrian soldiers there who supported the fugitive family members. ”

"You see, in this case, the Syrians will be happy to follow them."

"That's understandable. Isn't this the 'Han Chinese' of the Umayyad Dynasty? Cao Jian commented: "No wonder it always feels a bit familiar." It is estimated that before Yuan Shizu, there were many people who did this kind of thing. ”

"That's true." Guo Kang also said: "In addition to the return of Han Gaozu and Yuan Shizu, the Umayyad family also returned to their hometown and returned to Mecca......

"It's still not the same." Wang Da Lama distinguished: "According to the literature I have read, the combat enthusiasm of the Han army in the Yuan Dynasty can only be regarded as average in the world. If you are a little farther away, you don't want to go, and you have to bargain when you go. Although the Han army was often used as the main force during the conquest of the Mongol rebels, it was difficult for these armies to sustain themselves in the steppe for a long time. ”

"During the entire Yuan Dynasty, the northernmost Han army went north from Dadu to the line of Yanran Mountain; The easternmost part also started from Dadu to conquer Liaodong; The westernmost point was from Guanzhong, and the garrison was stationed in Beishu Bali, which was Tingzhou in the Tang Dynasty. I was probably a little further south, and I went to Java, but I didn't stay. ”

"The route of march and the range of operations that they could accept were not much larger than those of the previous dynasties. Out of range, start to be unhappy. Compared to the Syrians who are fighting all over the world, it is obviously much more troublesome to mobilize. It is better to say that if the Han people of the Yuan Dynasty can devote themselves to the Syrians, I am afraid that this great yuan will have to be a lot bigger. ”

"I see. It is understandable that the Syrians will be favored. Pronsky nodded: "What about the Egyptians?" Do they have no appointments? ”

"Well, it's much worse on their side." "I have heard that the Egyptians are not actively converted, and perhaps there is also a factor of treatment. The rulers of the Celestial Sect did not attach importance to missionary activities, but restricted the conversion of the people, just to have a reason to squeeze out a little more religious tax. In this case, the conversion is naturally very slow. ”

"There's a difference, too. This negative tax gap is already a world of difference for the real bottom. Cao Jian said: "I also went to the slums to find helpers. The people over there often think about it to the point of being unbelievable. It's not because I'm stingy, but I really don't have much to spare, so I can only try to save any little expense. If this were true, it wouldn't have been so slow to convert. ”

"Not really." Pronsky shook his head: "You're in this city. Here, although it is difficult for people at the bottom, the general environment is relatively orderly. A little difference in policy can indeed have an impact on ordinary people. But in most places, this should not be the case. ”

"Although I don't know much about the situation in Egypt, I grew up in the Rus region and have seen the real situation there, and by analogy, I can probably understand the situation of the Egyptians."

"What's going on over there?" Cao Jian was a little curious.

"To put it simply, it's a tax system, a policy, or something, and it doesn't make sense to the common people." Pronsky told him: "In the land of Rus, in many cases, the task of the tax collector was not to settle accounts and measure the fields, etc., but to find holes in the ground. ”

"Why are you looking for this?" Wang Da Lama is not very clear either.

"Because farmers always hide their harvests, like hamsters." Pronsky analogized: "When the tax is levied, the sum of all kinds of items must have long exceeded the limit of what the peasant can bear, and it is certainly impossible to pay it." Therefore, when the actual tax is collected, it depends on whether he hides the grain well, or whether the tax collector has a stronger ability to find things. ”

"Even torture and interrogation sometimes have no effect - anyway, as long as the grain and seeds are found, the whole family will definitely die, so even the effect of torture is limited. In this case, the proportion required by the tax system is meaningless at all. ”

"In some villages, the society violently resisted taxes, and the rulers would gather men from the cities and form armed tax collection teams to fight them. More often than not, the relatively weak village society chooses various soft ways of resistance. In this case, it's often the search for something competition just mentioned. ”

"I even wondered later, is this the case all over the world?" He shook his head and said, "When I first came to Dadu to pay tribute, I took this opportunity to borrow a lot of books from the church. It seems that the situation is similar for everyone. ”

"This thing is not so much a figure carefully calculated by the imperial court according to the economic situation, or some far-sighted national policy, but rather the result of a fight. Those who run the country always want to overcharge; And the people who are managed, of course, want to pay less and pay less. Since ancient times, I'm afraid there have been no exceptions. ”

"So the result is that the more the upper echelons can fight, the higher the effective tax rate of the farmers; The more the lower class can fight, the lower the effective tax rate of the farmer. The so-called tax rate is probably such a simple result. ”

"The Egyptians and the Slavs on our side, the level of combat effectiveness is one level - if they are not worse." Pronsky spread his hands: "Then their rulers, if they have the opportunity to collect an extra sum, will naturally not let it go." ”

"That makes sense." Grand Lama Wang nodded: "The Egyptians' combat effectiveness is too low, so whether they convert or not, the local rulers will still try to loot as much as possible." In this case, it is natural for each religion to be more ...... Alike. When everyone is scraped to the limit, it really doesn't make a difference......"

"My God......" Even Guo Kang couldn't help but sigh.

"As far as I know, the worship of God in Egypt can be 60 to 90 percent of the tax burden on paper alone. The actual tax burden must have exceeded the limit, making the tax rate meaningless. Wang Da Lama introduced: "Although the local Tianfang farmers are nominally less than one religious tax, there are still too many other harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and the burden will still exceed the limit." ”

"That's really worse than us." Pronsky admitted: "On our side, the state territory in the hands of the prince is only half of it on paper. The nobles themselves are more so, and that's all they have to say. In some ecclesiastical territories, only a quarter is collected, so much so that some clergy believe in this rule, and when they collect this number, they can recruit a farm out of thin air. ”

"You see, even if it's all looting, it's more or less good than theirs. These people are really shameless......"

"Uh......" Guo Kang didn't know how to answer for a while.

"And I feel that the Egyptians are really honest but stubborn, and the character of the Syrians is quite different. To be honest, I feel a little deaf like Zheng Zhaosong, and I don't know if it's similar. The Grand Lama shook his head and said, "I feel that their words are still credible on the whole. ”

"Okay." Guo Kang finally chose to give up directly: "Then let's follow the results of your investigation." ”

(End of chapter)

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