Chapter 7168 Fundamental Difference

Chapter 7168 Fundamental Difference
"How should I put it? I don't think this kind of behavior is wrong. It's actually a kind of human nature. As long as human morality hasn't reached the level of saints, every organization in power will try its best to block its own way of getting to power," Cyprian said calmly.

“There’s no problem with that.” Zhuge Liang nodded. He knew this before and had a deep understanding of it. He had also discussed it with Chen Xi. Chen Xi’s explanation for this behavior was more understated—block it if you want. Times are changing, and the old blockades will become flawed as the wheels of time progress, and eventually the whole thing will be dismantled.

"It seems you don't take this matter to heart." Cyprian looked at Zhuge Liang with some surprise. In his opinion, this thing was actually the biggest flaw in Chinese civilization, but Zhuge Liang, with his wisdom, didn't seem to care about it. That could only mean that Zhuge Liang actually had a solution.

This actually piqued Cyprian's curiosity.

“Because we know some solutions.” Zhuge Liang shook his head. “And, the problem you mentioned about the huge trauma that would result from eliminating all the top leaders, in reality, is not much of a problem. In fact, this development path has advantages over the Greek path.”

“Yes.” Cyprian did not deny this fact. At their level, lies are meaningless. Everyone can see far ahead, judge the general trend, and has their own beliefs. Deceiving others with lies will not only fail to convince the opponent, but will also make others look down on you.

"You should be quite familiar with the advantages of centralization," Zhuge Liang asked Cyprian earnestly. "Rome's development has reached a bottleneck. If it wants to continue its rapid growth, centralization is its only option. If it doesn't centralize power, the Roman Empire will not be far from disintegration."

Zhuge Liang's judgment was frightening, but Cyprian remained silent for a while without denying it. He also vaguely had this judgment. In fact, when the Cyprian in the official history began to revise the organization and structure of the Christian system, he was aware of this as well.

The Roman Empire's system, through generations of revisions, had barely maintained a balance after Augustus sacrificed his life to pave the way for the coexistence of the imperial system and parliament. However, this balance was bound to be broken, and Cyprian had already revealed the reason in his previous answer.

“Yes, the Roman Empire has reached its zenith at this stage, but there is no road ahead. Under such circumstances, decline after reaching its peak is inevitable. This is actually an inevitable path for Greek civilization as well,” Cyprian said with a hint of helplessness.

Greek civilization has a flaw, a fatal flaw, a flaw that has remained unresolved since its inception. Theoretically, a Greek civilization with this major flaw shouldn't have survived to the end. But then Rome appeared, along with a host of brilliant minds, and ultimately, Greek civilization, or more directly, Roman civilization, was successfully preserved.

Even though the Romans have changed generations, Roman civilization remains in the Mediterranean, in Russia, and in the United States, which is quite frustrating.

European countries, as well as the United States in the Americas, still identify themselves as the successors of Rome, even though they have been influenced by Christianity and are no longer the original Rome. The legal system and the underlying civilization they have inherited still contain much of the Roman influence.

Of course, there are also many arguments from Cyprian, who is currently debating with Zhuge Liang. As one of the stars of humanity, Cyprian's wisdom is beyond doubt. He can actually see Rome's problems, but some things cannot be solved by wisdom alone.

From the moment it was successfully established, Roman civilization had already entered into a path dependency.

“You may not realize what problems the Roman Empire was actually facing. It may just be your intuition that the Roman Empire was heading towards its peak and then declining. But that’s not actually the case. The decline and fragmentation of Roman civilization was an inevitable and destined result of the Aegean Sea and the Greek civilization line.” Cyprian said with some weariness, “The more you learn about the Central Plains, the more you can understand this result, because it really is a mirror, a comparison.”

"I would like to hear the details." Zhuge Liang gestured for him to proceed.

At the same time, Sima Yi had fallen completely silent. He had fully realized how utterly despicable Zhuge Liang and Cyprian had become. Perhaps these two had not yet surpassed his cousin, but they were truly on par with Chen Xi. Their perspective on problems was actually aligned with the flow of time, both upwards and downwards, something Sima Yi could not do at the moment, which was terrifying.

"How did Greek civilization disappear in your memory?" Cyprian asked casually. Zhuge Liang explained what he had seen in relevant ancient texts.

“Those are just appearances,” Cyprian sighed. “The real answer is that the mercenaries gradually gained power, realized that their past sacrifices were not worth the power the Greeks gave them, and then they overthrew Greece.”

Zhuge Liang remained silent for a while, then understood everything, and accurately understood why Cyprian had come to this conclusion.

What does it mean to have a true teaching in a single sentence? This is a true teaching in a single sentence.

“The Roman lineage inherited this situation, or rather, due to the nature of civilization itself, the Roman lineage could only continue along the path of the citizen system,” Cyprian said with a gloomy expression. “Many times, many things seem like the ancients made problematic choices, but in reality, the ancients may not have had a choice at that time. The Romans’ adoption of the citizen system was, in fact, inevitable.”

"In the early days, citizens served as warriors, but later, the number of citizens was limited, and coupled with the system of the elite, it was destined that mercenaries would be used." Zhuge Liang said with a hint of pity, "Where do you think Rome is now?"

“Originally, if it weren’t for Caesar’s coronation of His Majesty Severus, we would have reached the final stage by now. His Majesty Severus certainly didn’t trust the Roman Praetorian Guard, nor the citizens of the heart of Rome, and would definitely have called in barbarian mercenaries,” Cyprian said with a hint of deduction.

At this point, both Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi sensed Cyprian's complexity. Sometimes, words spoken unintentionally can reveal one's true thoughts. Clearly, no matter how arrogant Cyprian was, he essentially identified with Rome.

After all, it was indeed a powerful country, and the homeland that nurtured Cyprian, so no matter how harshly they criticized it, they would subconsciously acknowledge Rome's power.

"When the number of barbarian mercenaries increases, when they taste the sweetness of power, when they realize that they can defeat those who should be sitting on their heads and lording it over them, guess what will happen?" Cyprian replied to Sima Yi with a hint of sarcasm, and Sima Yi rolled his eyes.

"This is the root of the Aegean civilization's calamity, the root of the calamity that all those who continue the Aegean civilization, no, more accurately, all those who continue the Roman civilization, cannot avoid. Therefore, those who follow in the footsteps of the Roman civilization will inevitably face this scene, and there is no way to change it." Cyprian said with a hint of helplessness, "Roman civilization will inevitably be destroyed by barbarians, and then the barbarians will combine with the former upper class to build a new Rome."

"This is actually the fate of Roman civilization, and the fate of your Chinese civilization, tsk." Cyprian suppressed the sorrow on his face and said with the same helplessness, "To be honest, your ending will not be better than Rome's. The Roman Empire will be replaced by barbarian rebellions over and over again. As for you, you will probably rebuild the rules again and again in wave after wave of waves."

Zhuge Liang nodded upon hearing this, "It's not a problem, but there are some errors or omissions in the details."

"I'd like to hear the details." Cyprian remained noncommittal upon hearing this, but was still willing to listen to what Zhuge Liang could tell him.

"Let's continue with the story of how Emperor Yu established centralized power," Zhuge Liang asked Cyprian.

“Okay.” Cyprian nodded, indicating that there was no problem.

"Your so-called path of centralization is actually not problematic. All new dynasties are rebuilt on the corpses of old dynasties, learning from the lessons of their demise, and then ruling in their own way." Zhuge Liang first acknowledged Cyprian's logic of centralization before beginning his explanation.

Zhuge Liang understood Cyprian's statement; it was indeed correct. From Yu the Great to Tang of Shang, there was no doubt that the central government's power had increased. From Tang of Shang to King Wu of Zhou, the central government's power was further strengthened. When the First Emperor appeared, the central government's power was strengthened to a level that was previously unimaginable, and then it collapsed instantly.

The Han Dynasty inherited this system and refined it over four hundred years. Frankly speaking, the Han Dynasty's level of centralization was stronger than that of the Qin Dynasty, and the upper limit of what the state could mobilize was also greater than that of the Qin Dynasty.

All the history books that talk about the feudal era, about how it was built up through generations of centralized power, are actually the result of this accumulation over time, not something that happened overnight.

“We will continue to strengthen it in the future,” Cyprian said calmly. “The path of China is to continuously centralize power, eventually concentrating all the power in the world in one person. Of course, one person cannot do everything, so a system will be created. But no matter how it is divided, the core of this system is destined to be controlled by one person.”

“You don’t really think this is a good thing, do you?” Cyprian asked directly before Zhuge Liang could answer. “Centralization of power can bring extremely high administrative efficiency, extremely high mobilization efficiency, and can concentrate all forces to explore and even create the future, but you don’t think that this is a better path than Rome, do you?”

"I don't think so," Zhuge Liang said, shaking his head.

Of course, it was fortunate that this was the Han Dynasty. In other eras, if Zhuge Liang had said such things, he would have been beheaded. The Han Dynasty had very light control over speech, and the so-called punishment for speaking out was basically nonexistent.

Furthermore, the Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals has not yet completely declined. Even though the higher-ups have realized that the Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals has major problems and hope to eliminate it, the roots are too deep and it is impossible to eradicate it. After all, there are not enough teachers to teach it, so they can only leave it to its current state for the time being.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang could directly say such things that completely violated the imperial system.

“But other paths are even worse. The Roman path is even worse than the Han Dynasty’s.” Zhuge Liang said with a hint of regret. “Many people in the Han Dynasty can see the problems with the Roman path at a glance, but they just can’t explain it as clearly as you can. But even if they can’t explain it clearly, the Han Dynasty can at least feel the inherent flaws of Roman civilization. Even though the Han Dynasty managed to suppress the hidden dangers by uniting the Claudius family through Caesar’s coronation, it did not solve the fundamental problem.”

Crowning Severus and resurrecting the Claudius family was a smart move. With the Claudius family's size, Rome could continue for a very long time. However, as long as Roman citizens continued to leave the military system while barbarians continued to join, the lower and middle classes of Rome would be replaced, and it was only a matter of time before they turned against Rome.

After all, they are mercenaries, so don't expect them to have any loyalty to the country. Even if they do develop so-called loyalty, it will only be loyalty to Rome as they perceive it.

This is the core reason why Rome was destined to perish. Of course, even if it perishes, the new Rome will still be Rome, still raising the banner of Rome. Even the former elites will still be the elite of Rome. Their family names and lineages will remain unchanged, but their race and bloodline will definitely be assimilated and absorbed in the process.

“The path of the Han Dynasty is an unattainable dream.” Cyprian pointed directly to the most crucial point and said, “This is not the way of humanity, this is the way of the saints, and the way of the saints is an unreachable dream. The path of Rome is the true way of humanity. Even if it has problems, at least it is indeed human.”

This time, Zhuge Liang truly fell silent. Cyprian's comparison of humanity and holiness made Zhuge Liang realize the problem even more clearly, because the contrast was too stark. Humane Rome would wallow in the mud and eventually be assimilated by it, unable to distinguish itself from others. On the other hand, the holy Han Dynasty would strive to build its own cocoon, hoping to break free and become a butterfly, but would probably die in the cocoon and then start anew.

“It seems you’ve also realized that when the path of the Han Dynasty wasn’t blocked, it was indeed quite wonderful. It progressed and developed rapidly, and could even develop a level of prosperity that other civilizations couldn’t imagine in a very short time. But all of this came at a price.” Cyprian said with a hint of regret, “The path of sainthood is not one that humans should take. The requirements of the path of sainthood are too high, and humans cannot bear them.”

"There are requirements for people's morality and basic qualities, for those in positions of power, and for everyone sitting there. If Greek civilization only has requirements for the elite, then Chinese civilization has requirements and rules for everyone." Cyprian said very seriously. "So if you can't do it, you will inevitably fall, and after falling, you will continue to fall, over and over again."

"After learning these things from you, and comparing them with what Chen Hou taught me, some things that I didn't quite understand before are now much clearer." Zhuge Liang showed no dissatisfaction or anger upon hearing this. "Chen Hou once said something to me that I didn't really understand at the time, but now, comparing it with what you said, I understand it to some extent: 'Only when the entire land of China is in the hands of Yao and Shun can we look forward to the future.'"

Now that he has taken control of the government and begun to implement his policies, many of Chen Xi's previous doubts have gradually been dispelled. He fully understands the things he had doubts about before, as well as certain actions that had to be taken.

Cyprian's use of the term "sacred path" to describe it is actually not a problem, because relying on one or two wise men or a group of elites is meaningless and cannot solve the problems at all. This path depends on everyone. Even if not everyone can be enlightened, at least the majority must be enlightened in order to move forward.

Otherwise, as Cyprian said, they would be burned to ashes sooner or later.

"It seems you already have the answer in your heart," Cyprian said, looking at Zhuge Liang with some disbelief.

"Yes, we have the answer." Zhuge Liang nodded. This time, he completely understood why Chen Xi had been so concerned about education and why he was willing to do anything to promote education in the Han Dynasty, because this was the only possible path.

"Of course, we must also thank our ancestors. If it weren't for everything they left behind, even if we wanted to do this, there would probably be enormous resistance." Zhuge Liang looked at Cyprian with a smile and said, "One very important aspect of the foundation of Chinese civilization is the dissemination of knowledge. Confucius carried it forward and made it no longer a precious commodity passed down through bloodlines. He also made everyone accept this fact. Therefore, as long as you are willing to invest money, there is actually not much resistance to establishing education."

Cyprian frowned upon hearing this, then sighed. The way Greek civilizations acquired knowledge was somewhat treacherous.

When Cyprian reorganized the church's operational system, he issued a strict order: priests must be literate and able to teach their successors to read. This order ensured that the church had a sufficiently large elite force as it expanded its organization.

However, this is the internal system of the church. As for the external system, the plundering nature of Greek civilization meant that there was no active transmission of knowledge downwards. This is quite absurd, to the point that when Zhuge Liang brought this up, Cyprian was somewhat at a loss for words.

The author checked the backend and thought, "I think I probably really did send it."