PFC Chapter 7332 There is not a single simple character
Chapter 7332 There is not a single simple character
Chapter 7332 There is no simple character
Rome and the Han Dynasty did share some commonalities. For example, both sides had their share of greedy scoundrels who would risk their lives for profit, as well as heroes of noble character who were willing to sacrifice their families for their country and shed their last drop of blood for lofty ideals.
What's even more disheartening is that these two seemingly diametrically opposed types of people actually share a common trait—their brains.
To reiterate, those who reach that position are generally quite intelligent; truly stupid individuals are rare, especially those who can remain in that position for a long time without being overthrown. Whether they are greedy or honest, their minds are absolutely sound.
Ulpian and Herodian were among the best of this group, belonging to the elites who left a significant mark on history.
However, these two were also constrained by their own perceptions. After Pompiñus's death, they couldn't find a suitable candidate for treasurer. When they discussed it privately, Ulpian, who had possessed the higher composite evil god, suggested recommending Pomponi out of rational consideration. After all, apart from some moral issues, the boy's abilities were not a problem. More importantly, Pomponi actually knew very well what he should do.
On this point alone, Pomponi surpasses most of the senators in the Senate.
Herodian's intention was to recommend Silvius as treasurer. In other words, Herodian's position on this matter was similar to that of Canassis. Although Canassis was a greedy duke, he at least knew that he was only interested in making some money and would not think of ruining Rome.
When Pompiñus was still alive, Ganassis had already reached an understanding with the treasurer on this point, and now it was simply a continuation of this unspoken rule, to achieve an understanding between the Duke and the central government.
This is why Ganassis did not recommend Pomponi, because he and Nigel have different ideas and different logics for obtaining benefits. Even if they appear very similar, there are still obvious differences at their core.
After all, for a treasurer who truly cared about Rome, the Duke of Canassis's money-making activities were just a normal phenomenon in the operation of the Roman system. Any stable bug that can be reproduced in a system can be assumed to be a manifestation of the system's stable operation.
Therefore, Ganassis actually needed an elite like Pompiannis, because only a morally upright financier who stood on the side of Rome could tolerate and accept Ganassis's actions of "maintaining" the stability of eastern Rome.
After all, as long as Rome continues to thrive, everyone can get a share of the money, and it's a continuous stream of money. As for occasionally taking a bite out of state-owned assets and pocketing the country's industries and resources, well, I, Ganassis, am the Duke of the Eastern Frontier County, representing Rome. To put it another way, I am at least a part of Rome. If I pocket it, it's Rome pocketing it!
Therefore, while making money is important, the position of financial officer must be filled by capable and ethical individuals. After all, if one is not a good person, then of course one hopes that others are good people. Surely no one actually thinks that bad people wish the whole world were bad people.
On the contrary, bad people would love for the whole world to be full of good people, so that they can thrive.
Ganassis believed that the reality of a world full of good people was unattainable, but he could strive to promote good people to high positions so that he could target and punish the bad people below him, making them easier to deal with, and also demonstrating his positive contribution to Rome.
More importantly, this is different from harboring bandits for personal gain. This is a sin that naturally arises from the operation of the system. It was not created by Ganassis, but is the foundation upon which Ganassis can possess Ctesiphon!
It's impossible for every bad guy to have the same background and strength as me. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to compete for food, and it would be difficult to even make a move. That would be suicidal!
Herodian, on the other hand, was purely a Roman conscience. After Pompiannis's death, he considered the issue of succession and even carefully analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of temporarily serving as treasurer, but in the end, he abandoned the idea.
After all, he's getting old, and Hirodian and Li You are in similar condition. He's a genius who can perform well in all positions, and he can even be a math whiz. He can reach a first-class level in every aspect, but there's still a gap between him and the very best.
Even if he could make up for some of his shortcomings with his advantages in other areas, the pressure on Herodian to maintain Rome's finances was still too great. If there were really no other candidates, he was willing to dedicate himself to the country, but there were still a few other candidates.
As for why Sylvieus was chosen instead of Pomponi, besides morality, there was also a fear of Ulpian. After all, Ulpian was already a high-level composite evil god. Even though Theo argued that the other party was harmless and beneficial, Herodian still had some doubts. Therefore, after Ulpian made the suggestion, Herodian thought it over again and again and chose Sylvieus, who had a higher moral standard.
In reality, for Herodian, choosing Pomponie and Silvius didn't make much difference; each had its advantages and disadvantages.
These choices were all answers confined to normal thinking, but Yuan Tan's words offered a new option. Although others thought the proposal was outrageous, after Hirodian and Ulpian set aside their personal emotions, they realized that choosing Cyprian might be the best option.
After all, Cyprian's morals are truly high, and his abilities are beyond doubt. The only problem is that he did something outrageous back then, but a young man who isn't arrogant is a wasted youth!
Therefore, after Yuan Tan spoke, Hirodian and the others, who were able to break free from this fixed mindset, quickly abandoned their previous ideas and began to consider another possibility.
"Do you also think Cyprian is a good choice?" Pabinian asked Ulpian telepathically. He was already over seventy years old, which was considered the end of his life in this era, and his thinking was somewhat sluggish. But since Yuan Tan spoke, he had realized the potential advantages, but he hadn't fully thought it through yet. However, both Hirodian and Ulpian thought so.
“I recommend Senator Cyprian as treasurer,” said the current chief justice, the powerful Papinian the Elder, raising his hand in recommendation.
"Are you guys crazy?" Sergio frantically transmitted his voice, pulling the three guys into his private voice chat group.
"Although it seems a bit outrageous, upon closer examination, Cyprian is indeed a suitable candidate. His abilities are beyond question, as we've all witnessed. As for morality, based on the intelligence I've gathered in recent years, his character is indeed somewhat wicked, but his empathy is exceptionally rich. In other words, he might be biased in his treatment of individuals, but he can be fair and just to the collective." As soon as Sergio added people to the small group, Theo began reciting information with great enthusiasm.
"Have you all forgotten what Cyprian did?" Sergio said, somewhat exasperated.
“Does it matter? We all know about the collapse of the Sky Ship. It wasn’t just Cyprian’s problem. In fact, if we’re talking about it, fate played a part.” Ulpian said calmly. “Moreover, with the existence of the Duke of Eastern Europe, he has become a Roman senator. It’s as if we pardoned him in the last round. So why not just go all the way?”
“Sergio, you should also nominate him.” Pabinian was known for his decisiveness, and having chosen to nominate Cyprian, he no longer hesitated and his gaze naturally fell on Sergio.
"Benito recommended Pomponi, is he going to back out now?" Sergio angrily shouted in the small group.
At this point, the Senate was in an uproar. After all, no one was a fool. When the Duke of Eastern Europe, this traitor, said he was recommending Cyprian, everyone just took it as a joke. But when Herodian, Ulpian, and Pabinian all recommended him in succession, it had become a huge political force.
To put it bluntly, the network of connections behind these three individuals is no less powerful than that of any duke, not to mention that the chief justice himself was involved—one of the pillars of Rome!
So much so that the Roman senators, who had previously mostly been watching the spectacle and laughing it off, began to take Cyprian's appointment as treasurer seriously and think carefully about it, and some things just couldn't stand up to scrutiny.
The Senate is not short of elites. They may be blinded by greed, but they can still see things clearly when certain facts are forced upon them.
Therefore, an undercurrent quickly formed in private, and many senators began to seriously consider Cyprian's extraordinary move of becoming treasurer. Of course, they were more concerned about what this would bring to themselves and Rome.
Some of them quickly realized that, aside from Cyprian's past turmoil in Rome, the remaining benefits far outweighed the drawbacks!
“Bring Benito in,” Theo said after a moment’s thought. Benito was qualified to be in this group, after all, from the perspective of succession, Benito was the most likely member of the Claudius family to inherit Rome at this stage.
Even if Benito couldn't inherit Rome, he could still become the next Sergio.
Don't be fooled by everyone's talk of making Sergio a scapegoat; if you think about it carefully, no one else really has the ability to take the blame.
Benito was also thinking at this moment. He should have been the one to recommend Pomponi on behalf of the conservative faction of the Claudius family, but the successive speeches of Herodian, Ulpian and others interrupted this process.
After all, those people were also big shots in their Claudius family, and such a strange suggestion couldn't help but make them think twice.
“Paul, what do you think the adults are thinking?” Benito asked hesitantly.
Paul, also known as Papinian the Younger, was one of the five great Roman jurists, the adopted son of Papinian the Elder, and the successor to the next Grand Chancellor—well, now he might become the next one.
Who allowed Ulpian to possess the composite evil god? Even though his self-awareness remains clear, for the sake of Rome, if Ulpian cannot accurately prove that he is the real person, then after Papinian falls, it is very likely that the position of chief justice will be passed directly to Paul, bypassing Ulpian.
As for whether this counts as hereditary succession, to be honest, given Paul's strength, you can't even question whether he should take over his adoptive father's position. The reason he couldn't beat Ulpian was simply because Ulpian was too monstrous in legal matters, and as for the others, Paul wasn't good enough to beat them.
To put it simply, the civil law system and the common law system used in later generations are fundamentally based on Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis and the Canon Law. And Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis was mainly supported by the original legal works of the five great Roman jurists mentioned above.
The civil law system traces its origins to Roman law, while the common law system traces its origins to canon law.
It's worth mentioning here that China's later laws were actually based on the civil law system, only incorporating elements of the Anglo-American legal system. While this was indeed due to factors such as national weakness and declining national self-confidence, once something is adopted, it's very difficult to change.
At present, apart from Gaius, that unfortunate boy who was killed thirty years ago, the four men of Papinian, Ulpian, Paul, and Modestinus are in a stable structure of old, middle-aged, and young, so the current Roman chief justice line can be described as full of talent.
As for the origin of the Anglo-American legal system, namely canon law, it was formed at the Council of Nicaea. In essence, the Council of Nicaea was more about clarifying and organizing doctrines, sacraments, and church discipline, and then compiling them into canon law.
In essence, this thing actually comes from Cyprian, because Cyprian completed the standardization of the church and reconstructed the doctrines and ecological rules of the church.
The so-called width of a horse's rump over two thousand years determined the size of a spacecraft thruster; this is also true of civil law and common law systems in essence.
It's jokingly said that the arrival of the Dark Ages in Rome was due to the concentrated burst of human talent draining Rome's life force, and there's some truth to that. After all, the foundation laid 1,800 years ago has been able to continue to this day and still serve as a basis, even if there are indeed outstanding successors. It cannot be denied that these predecessors truly deserve to be called the stars of humanity.
This is also why the Roman jurisprudence school admired Cyprian so much, because what Cyprian did in Eastern Europe was seen by the Roman jurisprudence school as a completely new and self-consistent system.
Perhaps those below and those who come after them may consider each other heretics, but for the divine beings who created these things, they have indeed been in communion with each other for a long time. Therefore, after realizing that this was an opportunity, the god-like figures in the law department began to push forward without saying a word.
After all, even truly morally superior people know that one's stance depends entirely on one's position. Cyprian, sitting in the position of Roman treasurer, even if he initially acted as a spectator, would gradually realize what he should do once he was pushed by the Romans to act solely to protect his Rome.
For an empire like Rome, greed is not a problem, as long as you know it's for Rome. Even if you treat the Roman Empire as your private property, with the strength of a god like Cyprian, you will surely be able to build the Roman Empire far beyond what it is today.
Of course, Hirodian and Ulpian did not think Cyprian was that powerful. Their thinking was that Cyprian had a superhuman vision in institutional building, his intelligence and vision were no less than theirs, and his overall moral character was far superior to most of the elders. Coupled with his age of thirty, he was simply a nuclear-powered donkey!
Don't be fooled by how seriously these guys are nominating Cyprian as treasurer; they know perfectly well that it won't work out. Even though Cyprian has done a lot for the Yuan family, he doesn't have enough seniority or achievements in Rome.
But that's not important. If you want to open a window, first you have to lift the roof and show your attitude. That way, the others will definitely think about it. And those greedy senators in the Roman Senate, as long as they're smart enough, will definitely go out of the Senate to collect information on Cyprian.
Such a search will at least reveal the other party's capabilities. If they are capable, young, and certain that they can bring benefits, then the past can be overlooked. After all, everyone in the Senate is a pillar of Rome who sacrificed their lives for the country.
Are you kidding me? Given the current situation in Rome, having 30 out of 300 senators would be a good thing!
Most senators were simply intelligent, normal people. Ideally, they would combine their own interests with those of the nation; if not, sacrificing some of their own interests for the sake of the country was acceptable, but all sacrifices had to be rewarded, and they couldn't possibly risk everything for Rome.
In this context, if they found a 30-year-old nuclear-powered donkey, a young man with an intensity similar to the deceased Pompiñus, would they completely reject him because of a momentary emotional turmoil?
will not!
Absolutely not. These people are no longer just individuals, but representatives of interest groups. Therefore, even if they can't change their minds for a while, they will gradually realize the right choice as time goes by.
Now, the nomination of the Eastern European Duke has allowed the true genius to break free of his constraints. He then decisively seized the opportunity to first bring out Cyprian to assess him, knowing that he would naturally have the chance to use him in the future.
There are plenty of opportunities to maintain relationships. The Roman Empire could easily let go of those petty grudges and grievances, so what obstacles could Senator Cyprian, as a high-ranking Roman official, possibly have to overcome?
No!
As for background and origins, not to mention Cyprian's exaggerated ability stats and his organizational skills that could influence the course of world history, when Cyprian caused a major incident and fled back to Italy, he was able to pass Pompiñus's scrutiny under the identity of Cyprian.
Everyone has connections. Cyprian's father, when Severus was the Duke of North Africa, had once toasted him at a banquet.
This world is not just about fighting and killing, but also about networks of relationships. And if you just let go of a little bit of pride, many problems will no longer be problems.
“The adults may really want to bring Cyprian over, but it might not be realistic for the treasurer because he doesn’t have enough qualifications and achievements. Even if he has made some achievements after Skyship, the ability to create secret arts is not the same as administrative management ability, and such qualifications and achievements are not necessarily a good thing to show off.” Paul lowered his head and thought for a while before giving his answer.
“But I’ve heard that Cyprian has managed the Eastern European Dukes’ affairs very well, eliminating the conflicts between the various ethnic groups at their root and maintaining the stability of the Eastern European Dukes from the ground up.” Benito relayed the information that others had given him to Paul.
The Senate is full of extraordinary people, especially when all the elites of Rome gather together; some things can be obtained instantly if one wants them.
Therefore, in just a short time, many members of the Senate already knew what Cyprian had done, and the clever ones also gleaned what they wanted to know from that intelligence—whether the treasurer was suitable was uncertain, but what Cyprian had done with the Yuan family in Eastern Europe could be done in Rome as well, and there were enormous profits to be made in that.
“Hmm,” Paul nodded and said.
"Benito, come over here and listen." Sergio pulled Benito into the small group.
"Benito, are you going to recommend Pomponi?" Hirodian went straight to the point.
“Pomboni is the most suitable. The previous path is no longer viable. If we insist on taking it, we'll have to offer more benefits.” Benito didn't mince words on this point either. Before taking any action, they had already gathered all the necessary information.
“You should also be aware of Pomponi’s shortcomings,” Theo said in a deep voice. Although he was also a scoundrel, when things got this serious, his true nature as a shrew was revealed.
“There is no more suitable candidate. If Elder Silvius were twenty years younger, I could accept him,” Benito replied in a deep voice. “Moreover, Pompony has another advantage…”
"Do you have a list?" Sergio asked with a dark expression.
Normally, the matter of Pompiannis wouldn't be investigated, since it was truly due to old age. However, if someone wanted to pin the blame, they could, especially since Pompianni was in the position of treasurer and orchestrated the whole thing.
“You can write one,” Benito said in a deep voice.
No one else in the position of treasurer could do this, but Pomponi could, because Pomponi was the son of Pompianus, and a son avenging his father was an understandable thing in any country.
Benito's words, to put it bluntly, meant that in a dangerous moment, he would sacrifice an old man to create irrefutable evidence, allowing Pomponi to launch a purge and solidify the case!
Reforms require a willingness to sacrifice everything from the outset. Pomponi may not be fully aware of this now, but the ongoing debate over the Roman route, which was forcibly suppressed, will certainly erupt after the new policies are implemented.
Although the Roman Empire had plenty of experience and means to bridge such a huge divide—after all, in history, Augustus, with his extraordinary wisdom, managed to make such an incredible difference as dictatorship and democracy coexist—this current dispute over the correct path could be suppressed in the short term thanks to historical experience.
Well, Severus secretly brought Augustus down, giving himself some of his predecessor's experience, which allowed him to get through the crisis and avoid the impending conflict over the political lines.
I wrote a bit more to avoid any misunderstandings. Disputes over policy are inevitable. Of course, if you say that Augustus was resurrected and spent twenty years, he could probably solve the problem. After all, Augustus could even bridge the differences between dictatorship and democracy. He could probably solve the problems that Rome is facing now. The question is, how many days can Augustus stay in power?