After Kavad's son Khosrau I came to the throne, he became dissatisfied with the nobles again. In order to solve the problems of the army, Kusilao went to investigate personally, only to find that his "army" was actually almost an empty shell.
In theory, the nobles should assume the obligation to provide the country with troops, but they spend all day shoddy and often use peasants who are completely untrained to fill the army, making the infantry extremely vulnerable.
Even the cavalry that the Persians had always relied on had various problems: some soldiers received only one-tenth of the salary they received from the nobles; some people received cavalry subsidies, but they didn’t even have horses or money. I know where they are; there are some nobles who are nominally cavalry, but when Mr. Kusi went to check them personally, he found that he couldn't even ride a horse.
Some nobles also hired cheap nomadic riders and then transferred them to the king as "heavy cavalry" to earn the price difference. The armored cavalry that the Persians have always been proud of have become like this...
Khosrau then tried to attack the great nobles again. In addition to priests and emerging civil servants, he also successfully won over the support of the lower-level military nobles, known as the "Dehgan", and obtained heavy cavalry through them.
With this support, Kusilao surveyed the country's land and compiled it. He abolished the tax exemption privileges of the nobility and priests and required land owners to pay taxes according to their estates. He also sent his cronies to the provinces of various nobles to collect population statistics, investigate agricultural and commercial income, and establish unified taxation.
Through the efforts of Khosrow and his successor Hormuz, this system was finally implemented. The father and son built some large-scale water conservancy projects and gave the reclaimed state-owned land to farmers. The tax pressure on ordinary people has also been reduced in the process.
Of course, this once again aroused strong dissatisfaction among the nobles.
Everyone could still tolerate those military matters before. But it won’t work if taxes are touched. The nobles gradually couldn't bear it and colluded again, accusing "the King of Kings of confiscating the people's property" and plotting to rebel and overthrow the King.
The conflict between the two sides completely broke out when Hormuz took office.
Hormuz was much more determined than his grandfather. In order to suppress the rebellion, he did not hesitate to purge nobles and high-ranking priests on a large scale. It is said that more than 13,000 people were executed. However, the king's army was too weak to fight and was defeated again on the battlefield. Hormuz himself later died in a palace coup.
His son Cyrus II fled to Rome in a hurry. Later, he borrowed Roman soldiers and defeated the rebellious nobles, and was restored.
Therefore, the reform could not be fully implemented. The only good thing is that although many people think Hormuz is a cruel and mediocre ruler, his reputation among the people is surprisingly good. Even in the Tianfang Sect era, there are still many stories circulating.
The adoptive father complained that he wondered if there was something wrong with these Persians, why they fell off the chain at the critical moment.
But Guo Kang understood what Basil meant.
Although Queen Mother Helena's tricks look useful, they are actually facing the same dilemma as the King of Kings back then. Of course she can provoke infighting among the nobles, use the contradictions between different forces to manipulate things, and guide things in the direction she needs. But even if the nobles are dull and react too slowly, changes in interests will be felt by them sooner or later.
If you don't continue to implement it, it will be superficial and ineffective; if you continue to implement it, you will have to fight with these people sooner or later.
At this time, no matter what power was borrowed before, it is difficult to say whether it is reliable. Being able to fight and suppress rebellion is the most important ability.
On this basis, if the combat effectiveness is stronger, of course it will be better - the sooner the chaos ends, the less damage will be done to the country. Suppressing this noble rebellion should be based on this idea.
The adoptive father admired Guo Kang's analysis very much and said that he was much better than he was back then. At that time, Basil asked him what he thought at the meeting, but he couldn't say anything useful. The Khan was speechless and wondered how his family's descendants had become like this. If Guo Kang had been present at that time, he would have performed better than him.
Guo Kang always felt that his adoptive father praised him too much. But thinking about the things he said, I feel like there is nothing I can do.
Guo Gai, the ancestor of the Guo family, and Guo Di, the later leader, were all "Zhuge Liang"-like figures in the Khan's court. It can be said that his family has always been famous for its foresight, maturity and prudentness.
As a result, Daxia Guo suddenly appeared and made me sweat so much that I couldn't stand it. I guess Basil III was thinking "Where is my cultural advisor? Why is this happening?"
It is also because of this that Guo Daxia actually attaches great importance to "educated people". Regarding his family, his lifelong ideal is to have another educated and strategic person like Guo Gai in the family.
Guo Kang himself actually has little confidence. He felt that his "traveler bonus" was too scientific, and his cultural level and intelligence were actually not outstanding here - when he was teased by his adoptive mother, his performance was not much better than that of his honest father.
You can't say that if their brains spin faster than having sex, they are considered educated, right? Then this requirement is too low...
However, for Guo Daxia, this is enough.
He only had requirements for Guo Kang's practice, and basically had no restrictions on other things. I also think it is a good thing for Guo Kang to engage in equipment, steam, etc.
In the adoptive father's mind, if an uneducated person engages in other messy research, it is called not doing his job properly; but for a son of a well-off family, he is at least an educated person on the same level as his father-in-law and his wife, and engaging in some theological research is called elegance. Moreover, he is so smart, maybe he can actually be useful?
In fact, Guo Kang's sister Guo Ponu is more like his father. She is also the kind of person who has a relatively... simple mind, but is very capable of fighting. It's a pity that Guo Daxia doesn't pursue his children's "self-like" feelings. Instead, he thinks about being educated every day.
Guo Kang even doubted whether the conflict between his sister and him came from this.
He had no prejudice against these people. For the Purple Horde Khanate, being able to fight was the foundation of everything. If they couldn't survive, there would be no culture left at all.
The final solution to the "Anda War", just as Basil said, relied on absolute force.
Thanks to the sufficient preparations before, it took the army from Dadu and New Romania more than three months to completely destroy the ragtag coalition of nobles.
Everyone in the Khan's court believed that the Persian problem faced by the Queen Mother ultimately required a Roman solution. Basil planned to use extremely cruel methods to deal with these former "Anta" who betrayed their oath. The nobles who participated in the rebellion were hung upside down and strangled with stones around their necks.
In their family, everyone who was higher than the wheel was declared guilty and was crucified on the cross according to the teachings of the Purple Tent State Church and the God-worshiping Church.
The Khan's court believed that the sins these people committed again made Brother Tian, who had atone for their sins, die in vain. Therefore, they must use the same method to wash away their sins with their own blood before they can be forgiven by Brother Tian.
After the war, legionnaires erected thousands of crosses on the road to Belgrade, shocking the people around them. These relics could still be seen until Guo Kang was traveling around with his adoptive father a few years ago.
On the other hand, the Great Khan was very generous to those who surrendered in time. Dozens of quick-legged nobles were pardoned and given manors near Dadu, and moved to this more affluent place.
Moreover, the Khan's court has been publicizing everywhere, only targeting these rebellious state-level nobles, and not pursuing the knights and civilians who were kidnapped and participated. Knights could even retain their own territories and privileges as long as they were willing to abide by the rules.
Basil, Guo Di and others formulated a set of detailed rules to stipulate the administrative and military powers of knights, as well as their obligations to serve and obey management.
They were uniformly awarded the title of "Roman Knights" and were granted the title directly from the Khan's court without going through any lord as an intermediary. In normal times, it is under the jurisdiction of the local state capital.
Knights who performed well could be transferred to wealthier fiefs, or even directly serve in the Khan's court. Since many people are not wealthy in their territories, as compensation for reducing some tax privileges, the Khan's court will carefully examine the output of their territories, reduce the number of retinues and infantry that need to be provided according to the original decree, and reduce their financial pressure.
Based on their performance, the state government will also conduct assessments and provide salaries as subsidies based on their contribution.
In order to reassure the locals, Basil, who was not yet married, married the daughter of a Serbian knight directly on the march. This is also the only queen in the history of the Purple Tent who is not a Greek.
She was not very conspicuous in the Khan's court. She had been taking care of her husband and children in obscurity and rarely participated in political affairs. It is said that when Guo Di died, Basil was still on the front line in Syria. The ministers invited the queen out and asked her to preside over the court meeting.
As a result, facing the documents sent up, the queen looked at Guo Di's previous seat and cried directly on the throne, saying that old Peter was not here, what should she do if such an important thing went wrong.
Later, this incident spread and even became an allusion. Everyone used "Old Peter is not here" to describe the dilemma of no one being able to make a decision.
However, the queen lived a very long life. After Basil's death, she moved into a nunnery in Dadu to retreat. Perhaps because of her calm personality and good temper, she has been living a peaceful life since then, and she is still there until now.
Judging from the results, the reforms in Serbia were indeed successful. Since taxes were reduced by more than half, local people even chanted the slogan "Remove the nobility, Rome will be great", calling on everyone to lead the way for the legions and arrest those nobles who tried to escape into the mountains.
The new class of knights who made a profit have also become the staunchest supporters of the Khan's court - they know very well that as long as the nobles fight back and carve up the noble territories, they will definitely be the first to die.
Of course, other hostile countries are not so welcoming.
The treatment of the nobles shocked the surrounding Poland and Hungary. Afterwards, the Khan's court analyzed that this kind of punishment frightened the barbarians and made them feel that Rome was back.
Countries once again formed a crusade, threatening to capture most of the capital and eliminate heretics. However, this only made the Khan's court more united after the civil war. Even the Greek nobles were so frightened that they joined the army to defend their homeland.
Basil himself also proved his theory when he later counterattacked and invaded Hungary.
I never know how to break up chapters, so I have to write a longer one this time...
(End of chapter)
