Chapter Sixty-Four: The Simplified Scheme of the Steam Heavenly Elder

Upon hearing that this might be some form of heresy, Theodora nodded.

Although it sounded like a grave accusation and the mark of a sworn religious enemy, in the Rome of the present day, it actually amounted to very little.

The Borjigin-Us Dynasty had long been attempting to reclaim the ancestral Roman lands in southern Asia Minor and Syria, and their most powerful local supporters were precisely these various heretical sects—ranging from Christianities to Islamisms.

Due to complex historical reasons, this region, situated close to the shared holy land of the monotheistic faiths, had given birth to a multitude of theological currents over a long span of time. From Eastern Indian theologies to Western Platonisms, all had blended and collided here.

To the Church, put nicely, this was a confluence of thought; put harshly, it was a chaotic mess where any conceivable heresy could be hatched.

Yet the prolonged state of internal warfare and the complex geographical environment allowed many minor sects to find opportunities, hiding away in corners to survive. To this day, numerous such sects persisted in the local mountains, oases, and obscure towns.

Nor was the religious environment there like the European heartland, where people still had the leisure to scrutinize each other's purity and differentiate heresies. For the sake of survival, these minor sects often chose to band together in cooperation—including cooperating with heterodox minor sects. Only thus could they increase their probability of surviving the crackdowns of mainstream denominations.

In fact, even the Crusaders from Europe, despite holding the most fanatical faiths, adapted to these rules after two generations. Crusader states and local Arab emirs had more than once joined hands to counter the far more formidable Ayyubid and Mamluk dynasties, preventing themselves from being swallowed up.

Indeed, Turkic horsemen and Arab infantry within the Crusader ranks, or Frankish knights in the Holy War armies, were commonplace sights. During the late Fatimid Dynasty, faced with the threat of annexation by the Zangid Dynasty, they even paid annual tribute to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, hiring Crusaders as "Mamluks" to deal with thorny enemies.

Under such circumstances, the Purple Tent Khanate was quite popular among these minor sects due to its highly flexible religious policies, and these people could be said to be the most powerful and loyal supporters of the Khan's court in the region.

Following the death of Uncle Timur, Roman forces withdrew from western Persia, whereupon the Kara Koyunlu, entrenched in the Caucasus, co-opted certain Turkmen tribes in eastern Asia Minor. Under the banner of opposing Timur, they attempted to make a move on the Purple Tent Khanate's territories along the Mediterranean coast, extending their sphere of influence to the seashore.

Hearing that the Turkmen were coming again, the local minor sects poured out of the mountains in droves to defend the Khanate with arms, instantly swelling the defensive forces. After a few probing attacks yielded no advantage, the Kara Koyunlu turned south to strike the Jalayirid Dynasty in Mesopotamia. Only then did the northern border enjoy a temporary peace.

Rumors had it that with the death of Basil III, the Purple Tent, much like the Timurid faction, would contract its defense lines and withdraw its garrison forces in Syria. Consequently, they dispatched a massive delegation consisting of dozens of priests, sheikhs, and imams, who sailed to Khanbaliq to propagate their cause everywhere, even rushing to the palace gates every day to loudly lament. Eventually, the Grand Patriarch Wang the Great Lama personally came out to receive them, offering lengthy reassurances and pledging that there were no plans to withdraw the troops, whereupon the crowd departed in satisfaction.

Given these conditions, the Purple Tent Khanate viewed all sorts of heresies with a sense of jaded familiarity. Moreover, not just the "Romani" of the Khanate's upper echelons, but even the Greeks within the city of Khanbaliq had by now grown accustomed to it.

In earlier years, these Greeks had been extremely sensitive to religious matters. Whenever the emperors wished to make peace with Catholicism or promote church unification, they invariably met with fierce public opposition, with each attempt ultimately fizzling out.

However, ever since the Purple Tent Khanate's court arrived here, the Greeks' attitude toward Catholicism had softened considerably.

The founding fathers Bayan Timur and Guo Gai, while making a living under Jani Beg, had followed him in converting to Islamism. The Khanate's first Patriarch Zhang had also been known as Imam Zhang back then. Later, after establishing their independent state, in order to gain the support of the Greeks and Bulgarians, they also embraced the Christian faith.

Yet a gap emerged between their intentions and the Greeks' understanding.

The Greeks understood that joining the Christian Orthodox Church implied default withdrawal from all previous sects. But Guo Gai and the others understood that joining the new Christian faith did not mean their previously held affiliations with Islamism, Buddhism, Nestorianism, or Daoism were suddenly null and void.

Therefore, to express their piety, Bayan Timur, Guo Gai, and the others began persistently incorporating elements of other religions as well. The stylistic works seen nowadays in the Consort Temples had already begun to appear back then.

The Greeks fiercely resisted at first, but over time, they grew largely numb to it.

After all, the Greek temperament was one that always favored reconciliation and compromise. For instance, if one declared that the administrative scope of the Church was too narrow and must be merged with Catholicism and Nestorianism, everyone would certainly object. But if one advocated merging with Islamism, they would step in to mediate, becoming willing to merge with Catholicism and Nestorianism instead.

By now, including the Empress and others, the Greeks had grown remarkably tolerant of religious issues. This was presumably the fruit of the Purple Tent Khanate's long years of moral transformation.

Consequently, everyone paid little mind to Joan's bizarre notions. At worst, she might start a "Christian Steam Elder Brother Denomination" in the future; if she managed to recruit followers, that would be her own skill. In any case, with Wang the Great Lama and the others around, her sect was unlikely to be the most outrageous one going.

Before long, the company recovered their composure.

"Though your plan sounds feasible, it is indeed too far off," Zhu Wenkui said, ignoring his sister's eagerness to showcase herself, and pointed out: "Can we break it down into stages and produce a preliminary product first?"

"I brought it up specifically because I hope everyone will attach importance to it," Guo Kang admitted. "As for a preliminary product... I'm not sure if it can be put to use."

"I believe it can be of help," Zhu Wenkui said. "On that front, I do understand a thing or two."

"Our approach to controlling the steppe actually shares common ground with what you described. Because the primary focal point of contention on the steppe is the various pastures, and these are precisely the foundation upon which nomads build strength and establish organization."

"Just because we cannot deeply control the entire steppe does not mean we cannot control a part of it." He also walked over to the map, pointing to the fringe areas of the steppe: "If we control these fertile pastures at the borderlands, maintaining them through Central Plains-style organization and external inputs, we can compress the living space of hostile nomadic forces, restrict their power, and minimize damage."

"This line of thinking is actually quite ancient; everyone wants to employ it whenever the opportunity arises, but the main problems are the volume of supplied provisions and the amount of force one can sustain," he mused.

"The greater the provisions, the more this region tends toward stability just like the Han heartland; the stronger the force, the more effectively we can deter interference from other surviving nomadic zones against these frontier bases. Viewed this way, the various organizational methods and new technologies we've employed across dynasties are actually all aimed at utilizing supplies more efficiently to generate greater strength."

"What if we introduce the Steam Elder Brother into the mix?" he hypothesized. "You told me last time that this contraption is cast from iron and copper, requiring massive amounts of fuel and specialized technical personnel. These are things the barren wastes of northern Mongolia cannot produce in large quantities, which means the enemy definitely cannot gain an advantage in this regard."

"On the other hand, the power of the Steam Elder Brother is formidable indeed. We can entirely use it as a weapon; it doesn't need to be as refined as farmland cultivation, as long as it can strike people, that suffices. Look, the requirements should be even lower this way, shouldn't they?"

"Previously, you told me not to think about farming first regardless of the technology, and I now find that advice very sensible," he praised. "Put that way, the horizon of thought truly opens up."

"That's right," Tuohuan nodded repeatedly, suggesting to Guo Kang: "This Elder Brother doesn't need to be fitted with so many mechanisms for automatic operation like your shrine. The battlefield doesn't require such complexity; those functions can be entirely omitted, allowing soldiers to operate it directly by hand. All that's required is for it to output force. Wouldn't that eliminate even more requirements?"

"Yes," Zhu Wenkui agreed. "We can completely let frontline soldiers drive the Steam Elder Brother to thrash the Mongols. In this way, we can maintain a stronger military deterrent with fewer soldiers. This actually reduces our dependence on supply inputs, killing two birds with one stone."

"Furthermore, since the Elder Brother can pull a plow, why can't it pull a wagon?" he pointed out. "Instead of using beasts of burden, we can entirely use the Elder Brother to haul heavy baggage and transport soldiers."

"I've heard that in past expeditions to northern Mongolia, the primary consumption occurred on the road, devoured by those beasts and logistics personnel. The Steam Elder Brother doesn't eat grain; as long as we ensure the fuel it consumes is less than the grain consumed by livestock, it will have sufficient practical utility."

"Young Master Guo truly possesses vision; previously, we failed to perceive such massive utility in it," he said to Guo Kang. "What do you think of this simplified scheme? Is it feasible?"