Ch.199Eastern Roman Empire (4)

# How Can Human Goodness Be Evaluated?

Would it be helpful?

This has been an ongoing debate from ancient Greece until now.

Personally, I believed that human goodness is beneficial. It allows people who believe in goodness to achieve integration, and based on this integration, society is maintained and sustained.

And I thought the standard of goodness is entirely aligned with society, with the foundation of social norms serving as the criteria that lead to reputation.

The reason I say this is simple: I believed that human goodness develops only as society advances.

There were good people in ancient times, medieval times, and modern times. However, from a contemporary perspective, their goodness didn’t deviate much from their societies.

This meant that fuel was needed to develop society as a whole.

Currently, the Ulus was making its greatest mark in military affairs among military, political, diplomatic, and cultural spheres. While military prowess was driving politics and diplomacy, the cultural aspect could be considered the most underdeveloped.

Unfortunately, cultural development was absolutely necessary for social advancement. As I mentioned earlier, I judged that the fuel for social development was deeply connected to cultural maturity.

Of course, economic factors could also have an influence. However, the Ulus was already economically prosperous. Despite this, the overall culture and customs of society hadn’t progressed much beyond tribal society.

This meant that there was no foundational strength to generate culture organically. That’s why in the original history, they were completely absorbed into Han Chinese culture and became Han Chinese.

If the Ulus were to be a nation content with Asia, this would have been a perfectly good approach. But the Ulus I dreamed of was the conqueror of the entire Eurasian continent, encompassing both Asia and Europe.

Therefore, I needed to create new cultural norms that would be acceptable to the West as well.

I chose the intellectuals of the Byzantine Empire as the foundation for this. And I planned to use them to build the cultural foundation necessary for the future conquest of Europe.

“It will take a long time, but I need to work diligently from now on.”

For an empire to grow, it typically required three generations of effort. The first generation establishes the foundation, the second strengthens internal affairs, and the third uses this as a stepping stone to expand territory.

But my son, Genghis Khan, accomplished all of this by himself. However, he couldn’t perfectly complete the internal affairs that should have been solidified over three generations, which ultimately led to the division of the empire in later generations.

Of course, considering that the Yeke Mongol Ulus was maintained for hundreds of years, it could be considered a success in some ways. But I wasn’t satisfied with just that. I wanted to create the most perfect empire that would last until modern times.

So even though I was busy now, I needed to lay a solid foundation that both the first and second generations should have built. Only then could my son Temujin conquer Eurasia and advance beyond.

“First, I need to recruit Byzantine scholars, artists, and architects, and have them record all their knowledge in Mongolian.”

I believed that the power of language stems from records. More precisely, I believed that knowledge that can correctly transmit the wisdom accumulated by previous generations to future generations helps develop a nation.

In my view, a prosperous economy was the cradle that produces surplus goods. This was because, from the perspective of a society that had just escaped mere survival, things like culture, art, architecture, and science didn’t immediately solve hunger.

Such societies had underdeveloped economies. Therefore, a prosperous economy could be seen as evidence that the entire society had moved beyond primitive tribal status and could produce surplus goods.

As an extension of this concept, language could be viewed as a tool for creating surplus products. To create something with this tool, as mentioned earlier, the country needed to be prosperous, so language naturally had to follow money.

Of course, there are various reasons, but I thought one of the reasons America is rich today is because of English.

English is still an essential language for writing academic papers. This meant that English speakers naturally had access to a much larger amount of information.

Students who knew English could easily complete school assignments by citing English papers. Those who couldn’t had to go through the trouble of using translators to verify information.

For these reasons, I created the Mongolian language using Hussein al-Kashgari. With this Mongolian language, I planned to transplant Byzantine culture into the Ulus.

While I was thinking about this, Muqali approached me. After bowing, he began his report.

“I have recruited all the prominent scholars, doctors, scientists, artists, and architects from Constantinople, covering all sectors of society.”

“Were there any who refused?”

“Some initially refused, but when I mentioned that the Khagan would provide research funding as you instructed, they immediately agreed to relocate.”

There was nothing money couldn’t accomplish. If something couldn’t be done with money, it meant you hadn’t offered enough money.

The Ulus had that kind of money—the vast wealth obtained from burning the cities of the Mashriq.

Taking credit using money from someone else’s pocket was always the most satisfying.

“That’s good. Put them all in ger carts and transport them to the Great Capital.”

The buildings and scholars accumulated in Baghdad would have arrived at the Great Capital by now. By additionally sending scholars from the Byzantine Empire, it seemed possible to achieve tremendous synergy.

It would be a moment when Eastern, Middle Eastern, and Western scholarship would become one in the Great Capital.

“I will follow the Khagan’s orders.”

After Muqali left, Chilaun appeared in the ger. Having been tanned by the strong Mediterranean sun, he had become a man of the sea.

“All preparations are complete, Gur Khagan.”

As mentioned earlier, the Ulus navy, specifically the Mediterranean fleet, had become a formidable force. This was largely due to the help of maritime cities that had surrendered to the Ulus.

Greece was basically surrounded by sea and had naval power. This also applied to the cities on the western coast of Anatolia.

By accepting their surrender, the Ulus, which had no connections in Europe, acquired one of the most formidable navies in the Mediterranean.

Of course, with no combat experience, it would be difficult to engage in full-scale warfare. For this reason, I had deliberately trained Chilaun as an amphibious assault commander.

To occupy land, the army had to go in anyway. The navy was planned to play a supporting role for the army.

“Prepare the entire army for battle.”

It was time to bring down the Byzantine Empire. And the Ulus would take its place.

* * *

Emperor Andronikos of the Byzantine Empire was greatly shocked. The most shocking fact was that none other than the Bishop of Rome had excommunicated him.

“How dare a mere Bishop of Rome intimidate me, the Ecumenical Patriarch of the world!”

The emperor was furious. His courtiers could only bow their heads at the emperor’s anger.

If anyone were to make a comment, they might lose their heads like those who had died before them.

“That Bishop of Rome can do nothing to me. I will immediately deploy soldiers to suppress the rebellion and head to Rome.”

The Basileus’s words were practically insane. This was because he hadn’t even completely suppressed the rebellion in Constantinople.

In such a state, rumors that Alexios II was still alive spread, and the rebellion was spreading beyond the city to the entire country. The immediate evidence was that the western part of the Anatolian peninsula had fallen into the hands of barbarians.

The officials knew this fact. But the tyrant was unaware and was merely acting on impulse.

“Director of the Imperial Chancery.”

“At your command, Your Majesty.”

Stephanos Hagiochristophorites stepped forward at the emperor’s call. He stood before the emperor and paid his respects.

“I appoint you as Megas Domestikos and Megas Doux.”

Megas Domestikos meant the unified commander of the army. And Megas Doux meant the commander-in-chief of the navy.

This meant that the emperor was entrusting all military affairs of the country to Stephanos.

The officials were greatly surprised by this extraordinary appointment. This was because Stephanos was the director of the Imperial Chancery, who had nothing to do with military affairs.

In short, it was a nonsensical administrative appointment made due to the emperor’s favor.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. By your command, I will eradicate all the reactionaries eating away at our country and set the nation right.”

Stephanos said this with a smile. He was known for his cruel personality, creating death lists and mercilessly killing those who had harmed him.

With such a person wielding military power, the officials had no choice but to bow their heads to survive.

Having become the second most powerful person in the Byzantine Empire, Stephanos left the palace. And he began recruiting soldiers.

At his command, all the soldiers stationed in Constantinople gathered.

“Who is the swiftest cavalryman here?”

“I am, sir.”

“Good. Ride your horse to Thessaloniki and bring back the soldiers stationed there.”

At Stephanos’s command, the cavalryman bowed. Then he mounted his horse and galloped away.

The distance from Constantinople to Thessaloniki was about 800 km. With horses traveling at 25 km/h, it would take about 64 hours round trip.

Excluding sleeping time, this meant that the army from Thessaloniki would arrive in Constantinople in about a week. Of course, considering the time needed to mobilize the army in Thessaloniki, it would be more realistic to expect a longer timeframe.

Even taking this into account, Stephanos was confident. This was because Constantinople was an invincible city.

Constantinople had never fallen to Bulgarian invasions, Western attacks, or pagan invasions. Therefore, if he mobilized all 500 soldiers in the city and the additional 5,000 stationed in the outskirts, defending the capital would not be difficult.

With reinforcements coming in such a state, even the Mongols, who had made the Sultanate of Rum their vassal state, would inevitably be defeated.

“I will win.”

Stephanos smiled, completely unaware of what future awaited him.