Chapter 142: On the Road to Aleppo (7)

When people mention Damascus, the first thing they think of is naturally those sharp swords with beautiful swirl patterns. The Saracens roamed the entire Arabian Peninsula, bringing its beauty and fear to their enemies. But if it were only so, how could Damascus be called the "Garden of Heaven, Paradise on Earth"?

But besides this cold steel, Damascus also had an extremely precious and eye-catching specialty—brocade. Poets once said that the brocade produced in Damascus gathered the posture of the souls of beasts, the luster of birds' feathers, and the fragrance emitted when roses bloomed.

On the brocade of Damascus, you can see all the colors in the world. When you touch it, it ripples like water, gently patting your palm. And those who can wear it on their bodies, like wrapping themselves in clouds and sunset, are not secular monarchs, but agents of God.

To buy these gorgeous brocades, all you can use is gold. Even so, when a piece of exceptionally perfect and flawless brocade is woven, what it trades for is not just gold coins or silver coins, but something more valuable, like a glance from the Sultan, a smile from a famous courtesan, or even a life.

But would you say it is the most precious thing in Damascus? No, it is not. There is only one most precious thing in Damascus, and that is knowledge.

People's thirst for knowledge is endless, but sometimes, fate sends rude fools to interrupt this process. This is specifically reflected in the cleansing of the ancient Roman Empire by barbarians. The once most brilliant culture retreated before the lowest desires. Learned people were no longer respected, everything was spoken by swords, and people's extremism and the subsequent persecution became increasingly serious.

When Christianity mastered Alexandria, the death of the ancient Greek female scholar Hypatia could almost be seen as the final funeral bell for the great Mediterranean civilization—after this, the people of Europe entered a dark age, and the Church truly became a one-man show.

They monopolized the scriptures and the right to interpret them, forbidding people from thinking, analyzing, and debating. Just like the best people described in their scriptures—they are creatures as obedient and ignorant as lambs. They should not have any thoughts other than obedience, and should only contribute their and their children's fur, milk, and flesh to the Church for free.

But after the Church had ruled arbitrarily for hundreds of years, not only the public, but even nobles and monarchs had already felt the suffocation and depression brought by that behemoth. They tried to struggle, but found that they couldn't see the way forward at all. Imagine, how could a knight who even needed a cleric beside him to sign his name break the net woven by the Church?

So there were people of insight who united. They needed knowledge outside the Church. But this knowledge, especially medicine, could only be found outside the Church's sphere of influence, and this sphere of influence was the territory of the pagans.

Speaking of which, the Saracens being able to inherit the vast classics left by the ancient Greek and ancient Roman Empires could also be said to be a coincidence.

Saracen culture appeared very late, because it was not until the seventh century AD that the Saracens were able to unite under the power of faith. They walked out of the Arabian Peninsula and established an empire with a vast territory. And in the process of expanding their territory, they accepted external culture as thirstily as a parched desert.

As for whether this culture was ancient Greek, Persian, or Frankish, they didn't care at all.

Just as their scholars said, the most beautiful ornament of mankind is knowledge. Although they were only some ignorant herdsmen at first, and didn't even have their own language and writing, as the former said, they hung all the precious things they could collect on their bodies and turned them into light that belonged only to them.

Like ancient Greek classical philosophy, geometry, the official system of Byzantium, Christian doctrine, Roman law, Egyptian alchemy, Persian literature and art, Indian mathematics and astronomy—yes, the prototype of the Saracen numbers we are familiar with came from India, but it was the Saracen merchants who spread it everywhere, so we call it Saracen numbers.

In addition, in the distant China, they also found craftsmen willing to travel thousands of miles to Samarkand to make paper for them. With sufficient paper, in the ninth century, many scholars were able to start translating the classics of Egypt, Persia, Greece, and Rome under the encouragement of the Caliph—the reward they received was gold. The heavier the translated manuscript, the more gold they could get.

Moreover, whether it was the Caliph or the Sultan, monarchs of all generations were happy to build a large number of schools and libraries during their reign. They even promulgated a decree: if a person funded the construction of a library or school, then the position related to the library or school he obtained could be retained even after he left the army or the palace.

Because since the Abbasid Dynasty, there had been a large number of Mamluks—that is, slave officials and soldiers—in the court and army. According to the decree, they were other people's property, so they could not own their own assets. Once they retired from their original positions, the outcome was usually quite miserable and desolate. But since this decree, these people of slave origin, as long as they could fund the construction of libraries and schools, would have a place to stay in the future.

Until today, even women have actively participated in related construction. Just like the primary school Cesar and Geoffroi visited, it was funded by the daughter of a wealthy merchant, but it still had to be attached to a temple.

It had a spacious and bright courtyard and corridors and halls that sheltered from wind and rain. Students usually listened to lectures and studied in the courtyard, and only avoided into the hall inside when it rained or was windy. There were no tables or chairs in the hall, and students and teachers sat on the floor. They also held worship here.

The teacher noticed them. He was a typical Saracen with a high nose and deep eyes. Judging from the characters written on the wooden board and the stone slabs in the students' hands, he was teaching them to learn the Saracen language.

Unlike the courses Cesar had learned with the Prince when he was still at the Fortress of the Holy Cross, the Saracens valued the good use of knowledge by mankind more.

Like the "squire system" prevalent among Christian knights, Saracen children also started education at the age of six, until the age of fourteen, during which they should learn scriptures, language, and ethics.

But they had to start choosing subjects at the age of fourteen.

In Christian countries and societies, the fate trajectory of the masses was almost fixed. Sometimes people could see what their fathers, grandfathers, and even great-grandfathers did from their names and surnames, such as carpenter, baker, hunter...

These occupational names became one of the surnames that people were familiar with in the future. A carpenter's son could only become a carpenter in the end. A blacksmith's son should only go to forge iron. If they were rebellious and wanted to do other work, whether out of interest or desire for money, they would be questioned by people.

Of course, they could also ask their father to send them to do apprenticeships in the trades they were interested in. Not to mention whether the harsh apprenticeship system could let them get their wish, in the long learning process, or rather, the process of being beaten and scolded, countless children died. Even if he finally learned some meager skills, he had to wait until he was thirty or forty to leave his master and work for himself.

But considering the average age of people, especially the poor, during the Middle Ages, this period was undoubtedly quite short.

Saracens were different. After the age of fourteen, their children could choose the subjects they were interested in, such as reading, handicrafts, literature, medicine, mathematics... even Saracen clerics—that is, "scholars"—would not be intentionally cut off from the possibility of rising—it was just that being able to climb to this step was long and difficult, and required talent. For example, "scholars" who guided a tribe or city had to receive "revelations" from the Prophet.

"Is that a girl?" Geoffroi asked in surprise—the students here were all around eight or nine years old, and those wearing headscarves were all girls, numbering at least one-third of the total.

Among Christians, women rarely received systematic education. Their education was taught by other older women or their own mothers. What they learned was only farming, sewing, cooking, and housework. Noble women might add some subjects like poetry, dancing, or playing musical instruments, but overall, they were still required to entertain their husbands or other men.

But according to Heraclius, Saracen noblewomen could even learn theology and mathematics, astronomy and geography. Their knowledge could even surpass that of real scholars. Even so, there was no need to worry about being retaliated against or intimidated by men. People instead praised this quite a lot. A noblewoman with outstanding talent was once even called a "scholar." Of course, this "scholar" was just a title. She could not enter the temple to receive "revelations." No woman could.

The scholar saw them and also saw the guides sent by Kamal—these two were also figures with some reputation in Damascus. He immediately stood up to welcome them.

But when he saw Cesar dressed as a Saracen beside him, even this old man who had always been steady and calm couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

Saracen aesthetics were different from Christians, but sometimes, this difference could be completely ignored. The scholar even looked at their guide in surprise, thinking that he had brought a woman dressed as a man into the school. The school did accept young female students, but an older woman should not be exposed outside at will, and she was dressed as a man, which was something not allowed by Allah.

Fortunately, before he could ask, he saw Cesar's Adam's apple. He couldn't help but shake his head, sighing that Allah was truly omnipotent.

However, Cesar's identity still made him hesitant. According to Cesar's current height and shoulder width, he was already an adult, but if an experienced person observed carefully, he would find that he still retained the innocence of a child, and he did not have a beard.

In Saracen lands, if a man was an adult, he had to start growing a beard. They could keep the beard very short or very neat, but there must be a beard for people to see him as a man, not a boy.

His gaze then fell on Geoffroi, and then he frowned slightly. This person who also did not have a beard should be a Christian.

"It was Lord Kamal who told me to take them for a walk in the city," the guide immediately reminded him. Kamal must have had a different status in the hearts of these people. At least this scholar did not disobey his meaning at all. He nodded, "But what is there to visit in the school? There are more than a hundred schools here," he said proudly, "Our children learn everything they need to know for Allah here."

"I see, this is the most beautiful scene in this world," Cesar said sincerely. This even reminded him of schools in another world.

He looked around. Those children were curiously looking at these uninvited guests. They were all children of only eight or nine years old, just at the most curious and straightforward age. If their teacher hadn't been a strict scholar, they might have been whispering and talking to each other long ago.

"I won't disturb your class," Cesar said politely, "But I want to go to the library to see."

The library and the school were connected. Passing through the courtyard and the hall and arriving at the building in the back, they saw patrolling guards and scholars discussing or contemplating in twos and threes. This scene was already not much different from libraries in later generations.

The library even had administrators. Even though the Saracens had learned to make paper, books were still extremely precious. Some books, let alone being taken out of the library, even reading them required qualifications. People who were not scholars didn't even have the chance to touch them.

"What do you want to see?" Because Kamal had already told this guide about Cesar "cleansing the body" for the Sultan, he was also exceptionally kind and polite to Cesar.

"I want to see some books about medicine," Cesar lowered his eyes, "About leprosy."

The guide actually hesitated for a moment. He was also a "scholar" and of course knew how rare these books were. Sure enough, they were rejected, but the administrator also pointed out a way for them: "As far as I know, the scholar Razi once copied all the medical books in the House of Wisdom (library). If you can persuade him to allow you to read or borrow them..."

"Do you know where Razi is now?"

"It seems you are really anxious," the administrator looked at the sky, it was almost dusk, "He is with 'Beautiful' Laila these days. He is pursuing her, but has not succeeded yet."

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 143 =====