Chapter 7094 Even the God of War is in a Dilemma

Chapter 7094 Even the God of War is in a Dilemma

Pompiannis's economic policies differed greatly from those of Liuba. He favored industry, which is why Rome was relatively aggressive in its economic policies, even with Severus's self-destructive actions, yet it did not collapse. Pompiannis was very cautious in this regard.

Furthermore, before the collapse of the Roman Empire, there was the Claudius family as a ballast, especially since the current emperor of the Roman Empire was the head of the Claudius family. When necessary, the family's resources could be forcibly extracted to supply Rome. Therefore, in terms of economic stability, the Roman Empire was quite stable in the early days.

The biggest problem before was that when Pompiñus was carrying out the nationalization process, the opposition within the Claudius family relied on the government system to engage in activities that were not fatal, such as using others to achieve their own ends or even substituting inferior goods for superior ones.

As Pompiñus said, even if it was just a pretense, Rome needed to pretend to acquire the entire Claudius family. Therefore, it was not an unsolvable situation that a branch of the Claudius family was privatized during the nationalization process.

To be honest, Pompiñus had already glimpsed this possibility from the letters Chen Xi wrote to him, but it didn't matter; he would just keep receiving them in a loop.

In any case, Claudius's money was being used to acquire Claudius's businesses, even if some branches were secretly acquiring companies that should have belonged to the state by taking advantage of their control over the government.

But what's the problem? It's just a matter of transferring power from one hand to the other!
In this process, the scale of nationalization is gradually expanding.

The only problem is that it might infuriate some of the elders in the family, but is that really a problem?
This is a necessary sacrifice!
It can be said that in the eighth and ninth years of Yuanfeng, Pompiñus was pushing forward the nationalization process with a straight face. Even though the Tacitus branch set up a moral trap and the Claudia branch reversed the privatization, it didn't matter. Anyway, things had come to this point, at most he would be cursed and suffer some additional sacrifices.

However, the prices of food and daily necessities in Rome were falling, and even the prices of mid- to low-end silk in Rome were declining. What did this mean? It meant that the overall strength of the Roman Empire was rising, and that the Claudius family was integrating into the citizenry.

Therefore, despite the many strange and chaotic events that occurred, the nationalization process of the Claudius family was not actually hindered. Even though there were some dissents within the family, overall, under Pompianos's impetus, there were no significant setbacks.

Then came the locust plague, which wiped out almost all of Rome's grain-producing areas, and then laid bare a reality that Roman citizens had previously ignored, bloodily before their eyes.

This is the key reason for the current turmoil in Roman thought. If it weren't for the tough issue of food, Pompiñus would probably still be carrying out nationalization under all the pressure. After all, the correctness of this matter is self-evident, and it would benefit the vast majority of Roman citizens.

Because it was beneficial to the vast majority of Roman citizens, even though there were many dissenting voices during the process, Roman citizens were inclined to let the matter continue.

Just like the abolition of agricultural tax by later countries, even though there are countless reasons why agricultural tax should not be abolished, at that time, 800 million people desperately wanted it abolished. The situation had even reached the point where continuing to collect agricultural tax would leave the fields barren. So, the choice was self-evident.

This is also why Pompianus and Sergio were able to push through despite the great internal resistance within the Claudius family. After all, in addition to the Claudius family's own sense of righteousness, they also had millions of Roman citizens standing behind them.

To reiterate, the Roman Empire was an empire of Roman citizens. The death of the Roman emperor, the annihilation of the Senate, and the extermination of the Claudius family would at most plunge the Roman Empire into turmoil, but it would not necessarily lead to the demise of the Roman Empire. However, if the foundation of millions of Roman citizens collapsed, then the Roman Empire would have reached its final moment in history. Those with discernment can understand which is more important.

After all, power, while seemingly a top-down distribution, is actually, upon closer examination, a public power contributed by the lower classes to maintain order and consensus. Combined with organizational and management capabilities, it forms a structural power of collective oppression over individuals.

So, if you play the exploitative game normally, there's not much of a problem as long as order and consensus haven't collapsed. But if you keep doing this when consensus starts to falter and order begins to crumble, then there really will be a situation where the streets are littered with the bones of nobles.

This is also why Chen Xi believes that Rome is in a very dangerous situation. Order and consensus can be considered as the core of public power formed by the grassroots contributing their own management rights, but now the consensus is being undermined.

Once consensus is broken, order will collapse. Unless a new order and a new consensus are rebuilt and responsibilities are clearly defined again, the killing will not stop.

It can be said that the process of the collapse of old dynasties and the establishment of new dynasties throughout history has been a repetition of the process of consensus disintegration, order collapse, order reconstruction, and consensus reshaping.

Sometimes, the consensus that is undermined is a relatively high-level consensus, and the process of rebuilding it is relatively simple. For example, at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang actually undermined the Confucian consensus. All his approaches were the most orthodox Confucian approaches, but in the end, no sage descended. Therefore, when Liu Xiu established the country, he could naturally and severely punish the Gongyang School of Confucianism and rebuild a new consensus.

Conversely, from then on, the Confucian consensus of the sage-emperor system was completely destroyed, and no one could follow this path to legitimately inherit the throne.

As for the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the consensus on its collapse was far more exaggerated than that of the late Western Han Dynasty. If the late Western Han Dynasty merely proved that all the orthodox lines of ancient Confucianism had been realized, and the sage who descended was still a scoundrel who would cause disaster, then the so-called Confucian sage who made the emperor was meaningless.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the basic consensus of Confucianism began to break down. In other words, the issue of the meaning of the classics and the problem of expediency that all Han Confucian scholars had been talking about exploded!

Originally, the meaning of the classics refers to the moral principles and behavioral norms established in the Confucian classics, emphasizing permanence and universality, while expediency refers to the flexible means of breaking through the norm in specific situations, emphasizing flexibility. Therefore, the Han Confucian scholars have always had moral principles and behavioral norms, but also had sufficiently flexible means of expediency when necessary.

However, by the end of the Han Dynasty, this thing had evolved into something with flexible moral principles: whatever was beneficial to me was right, and whatever was not beneficial to me was wrong.

The entire world was destroyed, and it even backfired!
The most representative example is Cao Cao, whose complete flexibility and ruthlessness led to the overall decline, constantly pushing the boundaries, and ultimately causing the collapse of the consensus of the entire society.

From this perspective, what Sima Yi did in official history was actually the result of following the path of expediency after the collapse of this consensus. In short, he broke the bottom line. As long as I had no morality, I would not be affected in any way.

However, what was the result? No one won once, but everyone has to fill the moral vacuum from now on. It will take hundreds of years to rebuild a consensus that can be applied universally.

Therefore, Chen Xi has always adhered to his moral bottom line and would never cross the so-called red line. He was willing to suffer some losses, but as the number one person in the world, he absolutely could not lead the way in crossing the bottom line.

"The consensus has been broken." Cookie sighed. He didn't understand other things, but as a Confucian, he knew very well what the significance of consensus was. Without consensus, the cost of governance was so high that it could drive people crazy!

“Yes, the consensus has been broken.” Chen Xi nodded. “There were some stratifications in this consensus to begin with. It’s like some things here that are not exactly compliant, but the officials don’t investigate unless the people complain. They’re similar to unspoken rules. But when the Roman Empire was short of food, they were completely broken down.”

Without the problem of food shortages, Roman citizens wouldn't have paid much attention even if they noticed some of Claudius's family's potential actions, just as ordinary people wouldn't pay attention to the private affairs of important figures. Even if they occasionally learned about them, they would at most treat them as amusement.

Most of the time, ordinary people are more concerned with the necessities of life, such as food, clothing, housing, and transportation.

Even if big shots live a life of luxury, as long as these necessities become cheaper and their own lives improve, most ordinary people won't bother paying attention to them. At most, they might occasionally notice, feel a little envious, or complain a bit. As for wanting to kill them, that's unlikely.

Previously, the Claudius family had played the roles of these important figures, while Roman citizens played the roles of these ordinary people. Indeed, under Pompiannis's control, the Roman citizens lived increasingly easier and better lives.

But once the reality of food shortages emerged, the previously ignored reality was brutally exposed.

To be fair, Chen Xi didn't think it was a problem for the Claudius family to leave more food for themselves. Other senators were doing the same thing, which was perfectly normal. The Roman Empire was the empire of Roman citizens, and every citizen was equal. Even Emperor Septimius Severus was only the first citizen, etc. Essentially, these were all just empty words.

Although the more scriptures are recited, the more people believe in them, thus forming a consensus and creating constraints, at least nominally no one will deliberately oppose them.

But nominal equality does not equate to actual equality.

Therefore, from Chen Xi's perspective as an outsider, the elders of the Claudius family, led by Pompiannis, in the Roman Empire were indeed quite reliable. They were indeed carrying out disaster relief, and at most, they kept a little extra for themselves while doing so.

But that's really not a problem. Some senators in the Roman Senate are taking advantage of this famine to hoard food and profit from the national crisis. The Claudius family, at least overall, leans towards order; at most, they're just a little bit evil.

However, some things and behaviors, under special circumstances, will inevitably be placed under a magnifying glass for detailed analysis and scrutiny.

Let alone a system that couldn't be fair in the third century, even a political system in the 21st century, if analyzed and scrutinized under a microscope, will have flaws that can be found.

That's where the problem lies!

"So there's absolutely no hope for now. Even if the Roman Empire is still functioning, it's already fractured internally. Under these circumstances, even if the Kushans are willing to provide supplies, without the organization of the Roman Empire, it would be difficult to gather manpower, and the grain transported to the ports might even mysteriously disappear." Chen Xi said indifferently. Watching the Roman Empire collapse due to a lack of consensus, Chen Xi felt somewhat sentimental. Very few empires die because of external forces, but many die because of internal conflicts.

"Can't we just recruit soldiers directly in Rome?" Cookie asked with some curiosity.

“Rome wouldn’t agree if it weren’t stupid. Given the current chaotic situation, who knows whether the Romans who left Rome were hoping to escape the storm, find a way to make a living, or take a break, rebuild their beliefs, and launch a counterattack?” Chen Xi said calmly. “After all, the Roman leadership is actually aware of what’s going on at this point.”

The Roman Empire was not lacking in philosophers and thinkers. At other times, these people were not very prominent, but at this stage, whether they joined the Claudius family to establish their empire or maintained their previous consensus, they all understood why Rome had become what it was.

Therefore, even the elites at the very top of the Roman Empire knew how to solve the problem.

It is precisely because they know how to solve the problem that they will not allow the Kushans to recruit soldiers in their homeland. After all, those recruited at this stage may become new enemies after they have gone through independent thinking. It is better to keep them in the country and wait until the ideology is completely unified before making any decisions.

The only problem is that even the elites of the Roman Empire cannot resolve the two current ideological trends. As for mass killings, the high-ranking officials, led by Severus, are very restrained at this stage. In fact, the fact that the rebellion has reached this level is also due to the restraint of Severus and others in using force.

If the Legion of the Eagles had been used to suppress the unrest, it would not have brought the turmoil close to the city of Italy. However, precisely because no force was used, Rome was in chaos, with many casualties every day, but it had not yet reached the point where it was a matter of life and death.

However, without solving the problem of food shortage, the Roman Empire remained perpetually on the brink of collapse. No matter how much it restrained itself, once the food supplies were completely depleted, it could no longer remain calm and composed.

"Even the Roman Empire was like this, and you call it restraint?" Cookie looked at Chen Xi with a hint of speechlessness.

"It's like the Spring and Autumn Period. Compared to the Warring States Period, it was indeed quite restrained," Chen Xi said after thinking for a moment. "After all, both sides had Rome in their hearts. If they really fought, it would be a matter of life and death, which would be very dangerous."

What's most frightening about civil wars is that both sides are elite forces and have their own beliefs. When the fighting starts, whoever loses is considered a traitor, which is terrifying. Even a large and powerful country like the Roman Empire would be severely damaged if it did this once, even if it didn't collapse.

"Do you think a fight is likely to break out?" Cookie asked after thinking for a while.

“Rome’s main eagle emblem has been mobilized to the vicinity of Italy. I estimate it’s unlikely.” Chen Xi shook his head and said, “After all, they also have a retired emperor, and a very excellent one at that. It’s hard to say.”

Caesar's stance is actually quite ambiguous. On this matter, at least so far, Caesar has not made a formal statement. Chen Xi roughly knows the reason: Caesar supports the imperial system. In fact, if you really want to say that Caesar is the founder of the imperial system, he started the lineage of Julius-Claudius, and the so-called Claudius dynasty is hereditary.

Even though they followed the rules of Roman adopted sons, the money was indeed circulating within the Claudius family. This led to the collapse of the Claudius family after Nero's death, because the direct descendants were all dead.

However, fundamentally speaking, the Roman empire initiated by Caesar was based on the concept of family, and the so-called imperial succession was within the family. Therefore, Caesar's inherent position was that the Roman Empire belonged to the Julius-Claudius family.

Caesar died because of the imperial system. Although he said when he came back to life that he would definitely abolish the parliament if he had the chance, even in the Senate, Caesar has been very restrained since his resurrection. He said it, but he did not do anything.

Even Caesar stayed in the Senate the whole time. When others called him Caesar the Senator, he would respond; when they called him Caesar the Dictator, he would nod. It was as if the monarchy and the parliament coexisted.

According to the personality profile made by the Han Dynasty, Caesar most likely died once, was resurrected, saw the current Roman Empire, and read through the two hundred years of history after the coexistence of the Roman Empire and Parliament. He saw his adopted son Octavian painstakingly reconcile the Empire and Parliament, and forged a correct path out of the impossible, which led to his complex mentality.

Caesar had his own understanding of the imperial system; after all, how could someone who became emperor not have a judgment about the future? But it is clear that Caesar's judgment conflicted with the system that had been in operation for two hundred years.

Octavian is called the Divine King precisely because he created a political system that influenced Europe for the next two thousand years, and brought the Roman Empire two hundred years of prosperity and peace. Caesar saw these two hundred years of prosperity and peace in the annals of history.

Whether Caesar's own empire could have achieved this is unknown, but the current system has indeed enjoyed two hundred years of prosperity and peace, and this prosperity and peace can continue to be maintained!
In this situation, even someone as proud as Caesar, with a sense of responsibility to Rome, could not easily speak up, even if he truly favored his own family!

　Completely abandoning his responsibilities to Rome, Caesar would undoubtedly have chosen the imperial system, as that was what he sought. However, the timing of Caesar's resurrection coincided with the period when Augustus's system had lasted for over two hundred years, bringing two centuries of prosperity and peace to the Roman Empire. As long as Caesar still considered himself the Roman dictator, he couldn't deny this reality. Ultimately, one must live within reality. Just as Shang Yang's enemy was actually Baili Xi, what prevented Caesar from standing on the imperial throne was the two-hundred-year history of Roman prosperity.

　　(End of this chapter)