Established a millennium family since King Wu defeated Zhou

Chapter 996 God’s gift
"People are born with the right to pursue health, happiness, fairness and justice."

……

Xuanmen.

What kind of organization Xuanmen is has completely different meanings in the eyes of different people.

After the Xuanmen sect moved westward, it had a huge influence on the far west, almost unifying all beliefs. After all, even Rome and Persia converted to the Su King.

After entering the new era, the existence of Xuanmen began to be questioned. After one research after another came out, the light of reason flourished, and this light of reason naturally dispelled all religious ignorance.

Compared with the struggle between traditional conservatives and reformists, the struggle within Xuanmen was the most intense, with both sides attacking each other fiercely.

People's positions in the world will constantly change. The group of people who made the greatest contribution to the expansion of Xuanmen have now become the group that hinders the secularization of Xuanmen.

After the new academic reform broke out in Rome, the Xuanmen sect began to debate the scriptures all day long. If it were not for the prestige of the Holy See, the Xuanmen sect might have already started a civil war.

This kind of debate reached its peak after a debate in Rome was brought to the Holy Mountain of Xuanmen.

Rome is now the place where new schools of thought gather. All those new schools of thought are preached in Rome. The collision of theories makes various doctrines mature very quickly.

One of the most controversial issues within the Xuanmen sect was "Is the power of the monarch granted by heaven or by man?" The new school believed that the power of the monarch was granted by the people. There were many different branches of theory that gave explanations for this, but everyone agreed that the power of the monarch was granted by man.

But this naturally hit the vital points of many Xuanmen priests, who were furious and thought that such ideas were extremely treasonous.

Another thing that is very hard to bear is where do human rights come from, what rights come from, and whether God can decide everything for humans.

This issue is worth arguing about. In fact, it can be seen that many people within the Xuanmen have already sided with the new school.

Both sides accused each other of heresy.

The reason why anti-God speech appeared in a powerful religion was actually largely due to Ji Zhao.

As a supreme god, his biggest problem is that he is not a fictional god.

All the words of those fictional gods are fabricated, which is equivalent to telling a story. Naturally, you can tell a story with more rigorous logic in ancient times.

In those stories, various divine punishments and gifts are displayed, some seemingly philosophical words are said, and certain goals are achieved.

But Ji Zhao was not like that. He was a living person with great influence, and his words and deeds were recorded in history books.

Even though he was idolized and became the Supreme God, and many myths were fabricated in the process of spreading, his words and deeds are still there.

Although he established the patriarchal system, the feudal system, and a series of hierarchical systems, he was different from the Duke of Zhou in real history, and his heart was different.

Therefore, there was no cruelty in his words and deeds, but he only used "people" and "human beings" to refer to them.

During the Bang Zhou period, "min" and "ren" meant the people of the country, but Ji Zhao himself never said so.

His purpose is simple.

During the Bang Zhou period, it was impossible for him to liberate the slaves, so it was impossible for him to put himself in opposition to the entire ruling class of society.

But he also knew that with the advancement of productivity, these backward things would definitely be abolished, so when using these theories in the future, future generations would suddenly discover that the scope of "people" and "people" can be expanded and the theories can still be used.

When the people in the Xuanmen traced the origins and found out the words of Su Wang Shang Huangtian, they suddenly realized that these things were different from what they knew in the past, and the scope of "people" and "people" had been expanded.

In this situation, even among those who were followers of Ji Zhao, there were great differences regarding Ji Zhao's original intentions, and these differences became the points of contention.

……

The current Holy Throne of Xuanmen is the direct descendant of the Luo family. He took over the position of Holy Throne at the age of forty and has served as the Holy Throne for twenty years. He can be regarded as an old man and has a very high prestige in Xuanmen.

Of course he knew about the conflict that broke out in Xuanmen, but he simply limited the intensity and didn't say anything more.

This made his nephew and student Luo Qingfeng somewhat confused. After the debate between the two sides ended unpleasantly again, he finally couldn't bear the doubts in his heart and came to ask his teacher.

"Teacher, why don't you stop the various arguments in the sect now? If this continues, Xuanmen will be divided."

The high priest groaned after hearing this and said, "The split of Xuanmen is a small matter, but the truth is a big matter. You have listened to the arguments these days. Who do you think is right?"

Luo Qingfeng whispered: "As a member of the Luo family, of course the reformists are right. We all know the thoughts of the Su Wang Patriarch, but Xuanmen..."

The high priest whispered, "Do you know what kind of problem exists between Xuanmen, no, I should say our entire Luo clan and King Su?"

Luo Qingfeng was at a loss, and the high priest said, "You are still young and have read few books.

There are two Su Wangs in this world. One is the saint who lived during the reign of King Kang of Bang Zhou, and the other is Su Wang Shang Huang Tian, ​​who was deified by his family tirelessly. This is the one you see now.

The relationship between these two Su Wang ancestors is naturally very deep, but they are also very different.

When King Wu of Zhou and King Su destroyed the Shang Dynasty, they rescued the people of China from the rule of ghosts and gods. The bloody and ignorant era of using ghosts and gods to intimidate the people came to an end.

King Su used rituals to reconstruct the world, but at that time, it was impossible to do without the sacred. However, they could not go back to the ignorant era of ghosts and gods. Because King Su's actions were like sacredness, the worship of gods centered on King Su developed rapidly under such circumstances.

This kind of Su Wang worship was not only the family's life-saving card, but also responded to the need for the unification of the various states of China. It made great contributions to the cohesion of the various states of China. It is very clear how much role it played until the Xuanmen unified the west of the Tang Dynasty.

But in essence, this is not what King Su wants.

He became God just because he knew that we, the younger generations, needed him to become God.

From the perspective of Su Wang Laozu himself, he does not want to be a god. He never interferes in many things. He believes that people should rely on their own efforts. Only what they have fought for belongs to them.

The ancestor and the family think differently in many aspects, and this is the problem between the family and the ancestor Su Wang.

If we want to solve this problem, we can only wait for Patriarch Su Wang to give us instructions again.

So now I can only wait, even if there are some things I want to do, I have to wait.

I don’t know why the young people of your generation don’t seem to know a lot of things.”

There was also confusion in the high priest's eyes.

Luo Qingfeng was shocked when he heard these things for the first time.

……

What the high priest said was exactly what made Luo Changqing most uncomfortable.

In the Luo family, there are several iron rules set by the ancestor Su Wang.

To ensure the continuation of the family line.

This is also to ensure the continuation of the family's direct lineage.

Can't become the Son of Heaven.

Every one of these rules must not be violated. More than a hundred years ago, the iron rule that one cannot become the Son of Heaven was abolished. The Luo family now has true freedom, but ensuring the continuation of the family's direct lineage is still something that must not be violated.

As the patriarch of the clan, Luo Changqing must enforce this iron rule no matter what he thinks in his heart, and he cannot violate it no matter what the cost.

In addition to the iron rules set by the ancestor Su Wang, as the patriarch of the Luo family, there are some things he is born to follow.

For example, regarding loyalty, no matter who betrays the Tang Dynasty, he will never betray.

For example, the great unification hidden deep in the Su Wang’s soul, doesn’t he know that the current Tang Dynasty may be a little backward?

But there are countless contradictions in this world, but no matter what the contradiction is, it cannot be at the cost of national division.

This can be said to be Luo Changqing's obsession, but it is his last wish in this life.

The world is too big and must not be divided. Otherwise, there will be continuous wars in the years to come. Only by unity can we maintain peace to the greatest extent possible.

"In a unified country, all contradictions are internal contradictions. External contradictions are always ultimately resolved by violent means of war, while internal contradictions are resolved by more flexible and varied means such as laws."

Now he doesn't know how to establish a new system to maintain world peace, but he knows that the current one won't work, so the Tang Dynasty must send troops.

As for the future, that is the era of young people, and perhaps there will be a better world in the future.

……

"The master has sent out troops."

"As expected."

A conversation took place within the Luo family. It was not surprising for everyone that Luo Changqing would agree to send troops.

"My uncle doesn't like ethnic consciousness. He thinks it will only divide the world. Compared to ethnic consciousness, he would rather choose Xuanmen to unify the world."

Luo Changqing really did not like strong ethnic consciousness. He was a man who had ruled the empire for decades and was well-versed in history books. He knew very well that such things were only useful in times of war, but this world could not always be at war.

"The head of the family believes that the various cracks within the Tang Empire are caused by the growing ethnic consciousness in various places. People from different ethnic groups have independent consciousness, which leads to the current situation. Therefore, he hates anyone who spreads this."

“But ethnic groups exist objectively, and they don’t just disappear. In East Asia, we all looked similar, so we were able to merge. But when the Far West appeared, it was no longer possible.

You can't point to a person with different hair and eye color and say we have the same ancestors. That doesn't make sense. Only by facing these things can we find a way to solve them."

"But it's right for the head of the family to seek unity. War will only increase hatred until it becomes difficult to unite. If some ambitious people deliberately instigate this, then there will be problems."

The power that erupted from Rome frightened many people, and the current situation of Rome left many people with lingering fears. A consensus was rapidly forming within Rome, which was a powerful centrifugal force against the central empire.

Now it’s not a big deal if there is only one Rome, but if one day it’s everywhere and this thing spreads, then there will be a problem.

The Luo family spent the first two thousand years trying to unify the culture, but in the end they went down this path, and that was when things got bad.

……

Rome, having won a great victory, was filled with a different kind of spirit.

When the Tang Dynasty's railway to the Far West was blown up, many people knew that the situation was not good. In ancient times, if the army could not enter the battlefield within three months, the cost of the empire's rule would increase greatly, and it would be difficult to control the local rebellion. In this era, the situation has changed. Three months cannot bring the power of a small country and the empire closer.

But even so, there is still a time limit. If this time is extended to one or two years, big problems will arise.

Especially for Rome, one or two years is enough for it to cultivate some allies in the far west, build fortresses and other buildings in key locations, replace Roman equipment and strengthen its army.

The land in Europe is also vast. As Luo Changqing said, compared with the vast Tang Dynasty, Rome is indeed a small place. But in reality, Rome’s land is not small, its population is not small, and its industrial output value is not low. It is a very strong country.

After trains were unable to reach the Far West, the Tang Dynasty realized that there were problems internally, and the empire's navy attempted to cross the ocean to Europe.

Rome began to prepare for war with the empire and export its reforms to other European countries. Previously, it was people from other countries who helped Rome survive, and now it was Rome's turn to give back. The ultimate goal was to overthrow all the monarchies in Europe.

If Rome was the only republic in the world, then Rome would be an outlier. But if the world was full of republics, then Rome would naturally not be an outlier.

……

This is an era of great change, not just political upheavals. What really drives all these changes is of course the change in productivity. The emergence of Rome was because the production relations could no longer adapt to productivity, which prompted the birth of political reform.

The change in productivity is entirely due to technological progress. Now, with the establishment of various industrial systems and the maturity of various theoretical knowledge, new theoretical knowledge is used to deduce some past phenomena, and new knowledge is beginning to flourish.

In this regard, Rome once again took the lead. As the first republic established in Europe and even in the world, many people, both Europeans and people living here, entered the academy in Rome.

Countless geniuses gathered together and it was actually comparable to the Royal Research Institute of the Tang Dynasty.

Rome replicated the Tang Dynasty's paper publishing process, and also offered more honors and bonuses, as well as patents for technological innovations. In short, the legal system was constructed entirely in accordance with the new academic theories, which was extremely attractive to people living under royal rule.

"I could have endured the darkness if I had never seen the light."

This is exactly the truth of this sentence.

The discovery of electromagnetic theory was a very significant event. This theory was discovered by accident at first. Because there were relatively complete scientific tools and mathematical tools were also complete, the theory grew rapidly.

Then electric motors and generators were manufactured. This new capability is exciting, but to know what it will actually do, it still requires technical application talents to gradually implement it.

The great sciences of physics and chemistry are so fascinating that they have completely transformed the world. The power they have unleashed is greater than that of the past ten years.

New energy, new power machines, the era of steam may be over, no, the era of steam is destined to be over, with the emergence of smaller but more powerful internal combustion engines, coupled with the emergence of electricity, the world will change again.

What those young people of the Luo family have been saying all along has undergone unimaginable changes in some corners of the world.

The Tang Dynasty is the strongest now, but it may not always be the strongest. As science and technology continue to advance, the Tang Dynasty is destined to fall behind as long as it does not make progress.

But can the current Tang Dynasty afford a new technology?

After all, as the birthplace of the steam age, even steam has not been thoroughly implemented in every state and county in the Tang Dynasty, and there are still a large number of opposition parties.

This is completely different from Rome. The Roman Republic, which established a new system, changed almost every day. Traditional feudal landowners went bankrupt or transformed very quickly. On Roman land, no form of personal dependence on the land was allowed. The entire old land economic relationship had been completely destroyed.

New technologies have just emerged and are quickly put into production, which is driven by the government.

At this time, an invention appeared in front of a few people, that is, the telegraph.

When the telegraph appeared, anyone with vision knew that this thing would affect future wars.

Transportation and communications.

This has always been the main problem that plagued the army and even the entire empire. The so-called extreme wall of the empire is because it is inaccessible and communication is poor.

After the emergence of railways, transportation problems were effectively alleviated, and now the emergence of the telegraph may solve the communication problem.

Even though the current telegraph lines are very short, it is not a problem technically. If a telegraph line can be laid from the capital to the front line, the monarch sitting in the capital can even command the generals on the front line.

Of course, this is not recommended, as you may end up becoming the transport captain.

In fact, after the theory matured, these inventions emerged naturally like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. Companies were established one after another, and technical patents were registered one after another. Everything was so prosperous, just like the emergence of the steam age more than a hundred years ago.

When new technology emerged, technology more powerful than the steam age, people of insight realized one thing: the imperial system might really be in trouble.

The land aristocracy really can no longer resist the tide of the times.

……

The Tang Dynasty Navy, which came from thousands of miles away, would never have imagined that after crossing the Strait of Malacca.

On the one hand, the Tang Dynasty's army used traditional methods to march westward, and on the other hand, it had its engineers do their best to repair the railways so that supplies could be transported over.

As the army was marching, chaos broke out within the Tang Dynasty.

The internal purge of the Tang Dynasty originally started with a pre-planned rebellion, but now there is a real rebellion.

Although the scale of these rebellions was not large, the imperial court was still very vigilant, because the rebellious acts of these people were not mainly to incite rebellion, but to spread some ideas and spread news about Rome in the far west in the country.

This is a typical case of incitement, and the Tang Dynasty, with conservatives in power, will naturally not tolerate it.

Luo Changqing was waiting. He was waiting for a time when everyone would have to reform. This time would most likely come from the war that took place in Rome.

Victory in this war will be beneficial to the unification of the Tang Dynasty.

The failure of this war was beneficial to the reform of the Tang Dynasty.

As for the outcome of this war, Luo Changqing no longer had much hope after the railway bombing.

The enemies that the Tang Dynasty has to face are not only Rome, but also many people whose hiding places are unknown.

These people will make the Tang Dynasty pay a huge price.

But things have now reached a point where he is no longer able to control them. Even if he writes to the emperor to request a withdrawal of troops, it is impossible. This war must be fought.

……

For Rome, rebelling against its suzerain state was a terrifying thing. For any Roman, becoming an enemy of the Tang Dynasty was unimaginable.

But that was all in the past.

In war, the morale of modern nationalist republics is naturally much superior to that of monarchies. Even if they are afraid, they still have the courage to fight. Moreover, according to the battle report, the number of troops sent by the Tang Dynasty is not that large. With Rome's current mobilization capabilities, it will be no problem to fight a defensive war on its home soil and in countries that rely on its home soil.

Even if the Tang Dynasty's railway was repaired, the logistical pressure would be very great due to the long distance. As long as we could delay the Tang Dynasty, we would win.

The Roman Republic was a type of enemy that the Tang Dynasty had never encountered before. It had high morale, strong mobilization, and a fierce momentum.

more importantly!
The war damage ratio that the Roman Republic can withstand is obviously higher than that of the Tang Dynasty’s army!

This made the Tang generals who went on the expedition completely unable to believe what they saw.

The casualty ratio that an army can withstand and how much loss it will suffer before being defeated are one of the most important criteria for elite troops.

Over the past thousands of years, the Temple Army and the Luo Clan Warriors, known as the most elite troops in the world, were listed as invincible armies because they could withstand 100% combat losses.

But apart from these two, the other armies are similar. In most cases, only 10% of them are elite soldiers. In special circumstances, such as being unable to escape, the maximum of 30% is a miracle that cannot be replicated.

The Tang army he brought now can bear nearly 20% of the casualties, and they are all real elite troops.

And now what about the Roman army?

Any army can withstand similar or even greater losses than the Tang Dynasty's army. This made the Tang Dynasty's generals think of those fanatical believers of Xuanmen. Only an army with faith in its minds can achieve this level.

What happened in Rome?
He actually knew what happened in Rome. After all, if these things had not happened in Rome, he would not be here now.

But he didn't think those things were the reason why the army became stronger. He was more inclined to believe that Rome cast some magic on these soldiers, making them fearless and unafraid of death.

The result after the two warring parties touched each other shocked both sides and those who observed the war.

"The result of the war shocked everyone. The strength of the Tang army is beyond doubt, but if a strong army encounters the Roman army, in just two years, the Roman army has become much stronger than when the Republic was just established. They advance and retreat in moderation, and most importantly, they are fearless, have the courage to sacrifice, and are determined to fight to the end."

"A new army should not only use guns and cannons, but also be equipped with new ideas. This is the warning that the war between the Tang Dynasty and Rome brought to countless people."

Those countries that had fought against Rome in the First Anti-Roman War watched as Rome became even more powerful than it had been two years ago, and all they felt was fear.

If the Tang Dynasty could not defeat Rome, what kind of era would Europe usher in?

That would be a future that no monarch wants to see.

"The monarchs of all Europe and Asia united again, gathered under the banner of the Tang Dynasty, and launched an attack on Rome again, like a surging wave, bound to extinguish this fiercely burning flame."

In fact, Rome’s current strength is still far inferior to that of the Tang Dynasty, but the Tang Dynasty has too many negative aspects.

The first is the expedition. It is impossible to send out all the domestic troops. The navy and the army sent by the Tang Dynasty have a total of more than 600,000 combat troops, which is already quite a lot.

There aren't many countries in Europe that have such a large army.

If the Far West did not have allies everywhere and supplies were not available at any time, the Tang Dynasty would never have been able to send out so many troops.

Then most of the allies of the Tang Dynasty were useless, with a lot of domestic affairs and problems. Except for Persia and Qin, most countries could only send a few thousand or ten or twenty thousand people to participate in the war.

Finally, the Annan Province in the Tang Dynasty started some small moves again. The Annan Province has always been like this. It is useless to rectify it. The entire cultural atmosphere has been formed. They have always been thinking about breaking away from the imperial system of the Tang Dynasty. Many people sent their blessings to the establishment of the Roman Republic.

Their intention to establish the Republic of Annan in Annan has been made clear. When the Tang Dynasty attacks Rome this time, they will naturally cause trouble in the background and hinder the Tang Dynasty's army.

But unfortunately, the five provinces of Penglai, Annan, Lingnan, Liaodong, Western Regions, and Tianzhu are the ones that the Tang Dynasty will never give up. They are the real base of the Tang Dynasty. Even if it takes everything, it must ensure that these five regions are in its hands.

In this war between Rome and Tang Dynasty, to everyone's shock, Tang Dynasty did not win, but instead showed signs of gradually turning into a disadvantage.

This astonishing fact became increasingly clear as the war situation gradually changed.

More people realize that innocence is about to change!

(End of this chapter)