At the entrance of the Niangniang Temple, a priest was already waiting for Guo Kang. Soon, he was led to the Archbishop's office.
Inside the room, Wang Da Lama, wearing the Archbishop's crown and holding a fly whisk, was directing a young man to pack things.
"May Aroha Heaven Lord bless you!" Seeing Guo Kang enter, Wang Da Lama greeted him with a smile, "Guo Gongzi, you look radiant. Has something good happened to you?"
"Nothing, just practiced a bit more than usual." Guo Kang ignored the overly Nestorian greeting and resisted the urge to ask Wang Da Lama where he learned it. He just waved his hand, "Master Wang, is there something you need me for?"
"The Emperor wants Tuohuan Taiji to draft the national letter, but I think he and the others are really not up to it. You know my own cultural level; I'm just worried and can't help much," Wang Da Lama said truthfully, "Young General, you are the most cultured among us and most familiar with the Ming Dynasty. I think you should do it."
"Master Wang, that's not appropriate." Guo Kang decisively shook his head, throwing the troublesome task back, "Trade with the Ming Dynasty is the most promising source of wealth for the future of our Roman Empire. It's a matter of great importance, which is why the Crown Prince is personally overseeing it. As an outsider, how can Guo presume to meddle in such a matter?"
"Moreover, the situation between nations is too complex; how could an inexperienced junior handle it well?" He added, "It's not that I don't want to help, but I'm truly powerless."
..." Wang Da Lama was stunned for a moment, then said helplessly, "Young General, your thoughts are indeed meticulous and thorough. It was I, an old man, who was too hasty."
"Oh dear—" Wang Da Lama flicked his fly whisk and sighed with emotion, "Working with Guo Daxia in the past, we were used to being straightforward. Now it seems, perhaps it was because the national system was not perfect then, and everyone didn't bother with such convoluted matters."
You guys just bully my Mother because she's honest. If I were like her, I'd probably be tricked into working for free. Guo Kang mused inwardly.
This old sly fox was clearly trying to rely on his age and use his Mother to pressure him. However, Guo Kang was already prepared.
"Confucius said, 'Do not be concerned with matters of government if you are not in charge of them.' My Guo family is a descendant of a Central Plains prominent clan. In my father's generation, conditions were limited, so we had to act expediently. Now that the national system is established, we must naturally adhere to the procedures." Guo Kang cupped his hands and replied unhurriedly, "This matter will still be difficult for Master Wang."
Wang Da Lama was clearly not as senior as Confucius, and with Guo Kang's words, he was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Hey! You brat, you're not like your godfather, but rather like your godmother." Wang Da Lama threw the fly whisk onto the table and said helplessly, "I'm in the wrong this time, but I really have no choice. For the sake of your Anda, Tuohuan, will you help out?"
"Oh, just right, I have a few cases here concerning your family." He thought for a moment and then proposed, "I'll help you settle them, and you help me out, alright? If Tuohuan can't write it well, someone around the Qaghan will gossip and say that I, an old man, am incompetent, unable to assist the Taiji well, and unfit to be this Archbishop."
Guo Kang had dealt with Wang Da Lama many times, and had also witnessed his Mother's negotiations with him. Although this old charlatan was always thick-skinned, when he spoke to this extent, he usually wouldn't talk nonsense.
As Archbishop, in addition to religious affairs, Wang Da Lama's main job was to investigate and collect intelligence sent from various dioceses under his jurisdiction.
Especially in a place like Dadu, where foreign envoys and Shang frequently came and went, and nobles from various parts of the Khanate often gathered, and the Greeks in the city were notorious for being troublemakers, it was truly difficult to feel at ease without keeping a close eye on them. And the church formed its own faction, with its own ways of gathering information. Therefore, it could provide a lot of help in this regard.
Some of the fragmented news in the city was collected by Wang Da Lama. Guo Kang even suspected that the Roman emperors in ancient times appointed trusted eunuchs as Patriarchs, possibly for similar considerations.
However, if it were truly a major matter, Wang Da Lama should have reported it to the Khanate long ago, or at least directly informed his Mother and Mother. Asking him to come here probably wasn't anything particularly urgent.
Correspondingly, the favor he was asked to do for Tuohuan should not be too difficult, perhaps truly as he said, simply because Wang Da Lama and Tuohuan both lacked sufficient cultural knowledge.
After a moment of thought, he decided to test him.
"How could I be as clever as Mother? I just understand some general principles," Guo Kang first stated his position, then asked, "What happened this time?"
"Still those messy miscellaneous affairs." Wang Da Lama saw that he was willing to respond and breathed a sigh of relief. He turned and called to a young man who was busy on a ladder in the inner room, "Wu Han, bring the confiscated items."
Upon hearing this, Wu Han climbed down from the ladder leaning against the bookshelf, walked to the table, and took out several booklets. When handing them to Guo Kang, he also bowed to him in greeting.
He was agile, and there were several obvious calluses on his hands, clearly left from years of using weapons. Guo Kang thought for a moment and seemed to have seen this person once recently in his father's office.
His Mother, Guo Daxia’s office, recruited a large number of talented young people every year. Those who performed well were recommended to the Khanate to serve as scribes, guards, and reserve officials. Before entering Dadu, the Han nobles of the Khanate had already begun preparing talent in this way. After the fierce "Anda War," it became an important selection channel.
Wu Han might be one of the talents recruited and recommended by Guo, so it was not surprising that he knew Guo Kang.
"These things are getting more and more," Wang Da Lama commented as the two greeted each other, "The Greeks are learning printing faster than we thought."
"Is it that kind of...unsightly stuff again?" Guo Kang asked.
Greeks, printed materials, and related to the Guo family—he didn't even need to open the booklets to know what kind of content they would contain.
As Wang Da Lama said, printing had not been introduced long ago. The Greeks learned this technology from visitors from the East, but they weren't doing anything proper with it. The most popular printed materials now were erotic articles written by local authors.
Of course, if it was just to this extent, he couldn't say much. Wang Da Lama had also said that the same thing was happening in cities in Han—no matter where, what culture, or what era, readers always seemed to prefer and profit most from this category.
The real trouble was that his family members often appeared as important characters in these books.
Although he was an adopted child, and even from another timeline, over the years, the Guo couple had treated him as their own, and Guo Kang was very grateful for this. From this perspective, the things these Greeks were messing with were very annoying.
He sighed and opened one of them.
Sure enough, in a few glances, he saw familiar characters again.
—His Mother, Guo Daxia, with his heroic face and robust physique, and whose heroic deeds were widely circulated, was the kind of erotic story character most favored by the Greeks. They would constantly take him and have him flirt with various distinctive male protagonists.
Guo Kang thought for a long time and decided not to tell the rest of his family, especially not his Mother and eldest sister. But he had no good way to deal with this matter either.
"Then, Master Wang, how do you think this matter should be handled?" he asked.
"What do you think?" Wang Da Lama kept him in suspense and turned to ask Wu Han.
"I think... find an opportunity to teach them a lesson?" Wu Han didn't expect to have to answer himself, so he paused, then replied.
"If the Greek citizens were afraid of being taught a lesson, we wouldn't still be catching people now," Wang Da Lama shook his head and said, "These people aren't even afraid of the Emperor; they're no longer ordinary unruly citizens. We definitely can't control them."
"Then, what should we do?" Wu Han, clearly unprepared, said blankly.
"What is our church for?" Wang Da Lama asked.
"Herding sheep!" Wu Han stood up straight and said loudly.
"It's called shepherding on behalf of the Lord." Wang Da Lama was very displeased, picked up the fly whisk, and hit him with it, "Did you even study? How can you get such a professional term wrong..."
"Remember, we are here to guide faith!" He reiterated, "This land of Europa is a place with a strong religious atmosphere, and books printed by the common people more or less involve religion. Our church needs to review these religious works to prevent heretical ideas from spreading and misleading believers. Do you understand now?"
"I understand, I understand. Master Wang is still brilliant." Although Wu Han's face was full of confusion, he quickly nodded.
Wang Da Lama was at least satisfied with this attitude and didn't pursue it further. He adjusted his large Patriarch's hat, flicked his fly whisk again, and motioned for Guo Kang to follow him out.
"Master Wang, will this be effective?" Guo Kang was still a bit uneasy.
On the one hand, the unruly nature of the Greek citizens had to be considered; on the other hand, the efficiency of the church was also highly questionable. This system was inherited from Eastern Rome, and Eastern Rome was considered a very highly civilized type in the current The West world—it already had the form of a bureaucracy.
And the price was that it had all the shortcomings of a bureaucracy.
Wang Da Lama's edicts might not be welcomed by the Greek priests, and it was highly likely that they would be delayed indefinitely amidst endless paperwork and circular instructions. By then, his Mother's pamphlets would have finished serialization, and it might not even be possible to control them.
"This old man has a clever plan; young master need not worry," Wang Da Lama, however, was very confident, "As for Tuohuan Taiji, I'll trouble you to look after him."
Tuohuan was an old acquaintance of Guo Kang, and also the Roman Khanate Emperor's only legitimate son at the moment. The Empress had given birth to this one son late in life, making him greatly loved by his father from a young age, and he was always kept by his side.
However, his father later realized that running around with himself and the rough military men was not conducive to the child's growth. So, in recent years, Tuohuan had been sent by his father to the library next to the Niangniang Temple to start attending school with everyone.
His study was on the second floor of that building. Wang Da Lama and Guo Kang, familiar with the route, arrived in front of the spacious room.
Standing guard at the door were two rotating Serbian attendants. From their attire, they were junior officers of the Kheshig, nominally belonging to the famous Hostage Army.
Of course, by this time, according to the Christian calendar, it was already the 15th century, and there were no true Kheshig left in the entire world. Although they still bore the name, it was just a title, and they were no longer the elite troops that could go to war like in the past. The hostages merely served as attendants and did odd jobs.
Theoretically, only the Qaghan's personal guards were called Kheshig, but the last one with a proper Kheshig army was Mongke Khan, a long time ago.
Mongke Khan died confusedly on the battlefield in the East, and his second brother, Kublai Khan, declared himself Qaghan. But many Mongol nobles believed that Mongke's youngest brother, Ariq Böke, was the legitimate heir. As a result, the Kheshig, who had originally been dispatched by Kublai Khan, took advantage of the opportunity to escort the coffin and all fled to join Ariq Böke.
Although Kublai Khan used the Han Army to defeat Ariq Böke, the Kheshig, inherited from the era of Genghis Khan, were also destroyed in the fighting. Finally, the Han nobles each contributed some soldiers to form a martial guard for him, and the Yuan Dynasty thus had a new imperial guard.
And the original Kheshig, although nominally rebuilt, had lost their combat function and merely did odd jobs in the palace, competing with eunuchs for work, their main function being to provide experience for the sons of nobles.
The Kheshig of Rome were in a similar situation. The Purple Tent Khanate came from humble beginnings, and after becoming an empire, they formed this army for appearances. But it was understandable that they were basically just... service personnel.
Moreover, in addition to Dadu, there were also territories and palaces on the steppe, so the Roman Kheshig's tasks became even more complex.
Later, a Frenchman traveling here offered a reliable suggestion. According to his idea, the Kheshig could be divided into two parts: one part newly recruited in Dadu, mainly city dwellers, responsible for standing guard, cleaning, cooking, and serving tea, called the Young Kheshig; the other part originally from the steppe territories, mainly nomadic herders, responsible for herding the Qaghan's sheep, called the Old Kheshig.
The two sides performed their respective duties well, completing various tasks. The purity of the Kheshig was greatly improved.
These two guards, for example, belonged to the typical Young Kheshig. It was just unknown whose sons they were.
They announced their arrival to the room, then opened the door and invited Wang Da Lama and Guo Kang in.
As soon as Guo Kang entered, a tall figure suddenly pounced on him, shouting loudly, "My dear Anda! I missed you so much!"
He exerted a great deal of effort to push the overly enthusiastic Tuohuan aside.
There was also a little boy in the room, sitting obediently to one side, looking at them somewhat awkwardly.
"Oh, this is my cousin, Constantine of the Palaiologos family. My Mother said he's old enough now to attend school with us," Tuohuan reacted and introduced him to Guo Kang.
"Ah... Hello..." Guo Kang hadn't fully recovered, he just gave a simple greeting, then turned to Tuohuan and asked, "What on earth happened to you? Why are you so excited?"
"That national letter, it's really a bit difficult for us to write," Tuohuan said helplessly, "Father Khan wants me to use a writing style that the Ming Khanate would like, to build good relations with them, but I don't know how to do any of that, so I can only ask everyone for help."
"If you're asking me, you should also consider if I can do it. After all, what I know are mostly unreliable anecdotes, not verifiable," Guo Kang complained, "Never mind, I'll try my best to help. Let me see what you've written so far..."
Next to the desk sat a young man who was also scratching his head, with manuscript paper spread out in front of him. Seeing this, he turned the paper around for Guo Kang to see. It read: "From Baisai Khan of Great Qin, Great Rome Ulus, to Zhu Tianping Qaghan of Duntian Ulus."
That was all.
"This isn't just a little difficult; you haven't written anything at all!" For a moment, Guo Kang didn't know what to say.