After Becoming The Tyrant CH 104 Asylum
"Three of your knights are slightly injured, and Abbot Anil is safe and sound. Your Majesty."
The Master of the Households replied.
If possible, the hostiles would certainly like to send both the King and Abbot Anil to hell together.
However, since Grand Duke Grice's failure, the King's enemies have obviously become more cautious in assassinating the King himself, and they were not willing to try it lightly if they were not fully sure of pulling it off. In contrast, Abbot Anil was a less difficult target.
And if Abbot Anil was murdered, it would be difficult for the King to find a second strong theological supporter like him in such a short amount of time.
"Three are slightly injured…..They are still testing us." The King pondered for a moment, and ordered, "Have our oath knight commander protect him for a period of time."
"You attach great importance to Abbot Anil."
After the Master of the Households left, Charles spoke.
After the funeral, Charles did not return to the southeast coast immediately, but stayed in the Rose Palace. Firstly, he was worried about his godson, and secondly, Charles did have something to report to the King himself.
"Who do you think are most of the people who really believe in the key to purgatory and the kingdom of God?"
Instead of answering directly, the King asked a question.
"The common people," Charles said, "because it's hard for them to receive an education, and…..they don't have an easy life."
The common people at the bottom of the society, it was difficult for them to see the hope of their own ascension up the social ladder. Their reality was so miserable, which made them unable to help but hope that there was an unknown eternal kingdom, and in that eternal kingdom, they could obtain happiness. In many cases, this was the origin of faith.
But now it was precisely this hope, which in turn brought more suffering to their present life.
"You are correct. So many educated gentlemen and ladies, do you think they really believe in purgatory? Have they never had any doubts?" The King looked at the direction where Abbot Anil lived. "There are many people who doubts the Holy See in this world. But in fact, after so long, at the critical moment, there are only a few who dared to stand forward."
Charles was silent.
"However——" the King changed the subject, "It is necessary to pay value to and protect Abbot Anil."
He was thinking about something, and tapped the table with the finger that wore the rose ring.
"We need a banner."
The King's voice was very calm, with the ruthlessness from the perspective of one's interests that was unique to those in power. Personally, he did appreciate Abbot Anil's character and spirit, but more importantly, as a monarch, he saw enough value in Abbot Anil.
"I need a group of scholars, Charles."
Only one Abbot Anil was not enough to shake people's faith in the Holy Court.
He needed more people.
He needed more people who understood and opposed the Holy Court to gather together to attack the church's theological system.
They would be the King's ideological weapons.
These people may hide in various monasteries and churches, perhaps in various universities, and they carefully protected themselves. But if the King succeeded in sheltering Abbot Anil, who had risen against the Pope, and thus demonstrated his ability to keep them safe, they may rally under the King's banner.
Charles pondered for a moment, and suggested: "If you don't mind where your scholars come from, then I think you can declare asylum to those scholars who are oppressed by the Holy Court because of defending the truth, even if they come from the Holy Spirit Bay. It's truly a ridiculous thing——"
Even with Charles' self-cultivation, he couldn't help showing a mocking expression at this moment.
"Just like your Abbot Anil came from the Holy Court, in fact, Your Majesty, the people who pose the greatest threat to theology in this world often come from the Holy Court itself. Do you remember? In 1421, the Holy Court once issued an order, putting many theologians and jurists on their wanted list."
"We should thank the Holy Court for this matter."
The King also remembered.
In 1421, the Holy See once carried out a large-scale purge of the "heretical", which was the time when the position of the old Pope was being handed over to the new one. In order to display his authority and suppress some dissatisfied voices at the time, the newly appointed Pope promoted that large-scale purge.
The purge of heresy was mainly concentrated in the Holy City on the east coast of the Abyss Strait.
At that time, reporting on one's fellow man became popular, and many people were included in the purge list just because they did not discuss the church regulations in their letters tactfully enough. Many people were forced to hide their names and escaped from Holy Spirit Bay.
In the King's view, it was not so much as a "heretical cleansing campaign", but rather a power struggle within the Holy Court. The people who were purged were probably because they were on the wrong side of the power field.
In the end, the new Pope established his own rule with a strong hand.
During the purge in 1421, the Holy Court's arrest warrant was issued to every country, and the Legrand royal family also received one. At that time, the Duke of Buckingham was still in power on behalf of the young king. After receiving the wanted list, the Duke of Buckingham put it away as a file, and only perfunctorily asked a few personal soldiers to patrol the city once, as an assistance in the hunt.
"I must thank them for making private conversations taboo."
The King smiled, and turned to ask Charles something else.
"What about the blockade on the southeast coast?"
This was why Charles stayed——he wanted to report to the King on the blockade in the southeast and the progress of the Black Death during this period of time.
During the period when the King went north to quell the rebellion, Charles and Hawkins led the Walway pirates and the royal warships to patrol day and night.
During that time, they encountered several plague ships one after another, but fortunately, having already experienced a large number of plague attacks in Koszoya Port before during the "Plague Night" and the beginning of the new year, the vigilance of coastal cities later were at an unprecedented high.
——Those plague ships were sunk by the city's self-organized "self-defense force" before they even approached the city.
Occasional small-scale Black Death infections were also brought under control by the plague doctors from hell.
On the whole, although the blockade along the southeast coast was under great pressure, it was still considered holding up solid.
"But the situation on the other side of the Abyss Strait is not so optimistic." Charles frowned, revealing a somewhat worried look, "We have cut off all business ties with the countries on the other side of the Abyss Strait, but if the Black Death on the other side of the Abyss Strait continues, Legrand's economy will also be severely hit."
In this blockade, many chambers of commerce have already become victims.
The small chambers of commerce went bankrupt, and the large chambers of commerce struggled to hold on.
This was why in this era, people were so afraid of the Black Death.
Once it erupted, it lasted not just a few months, but years or even hundreds of years, like a shadow. The last large-scale outbreak of plague lasted for nearly a hundred years. During that one hundred years, the economies of all countries were hit hard.
This was a disaster for the entire human race.
"The plague won't last long, at least not on a large scale."
The King gave judgment.
"Why?"
"Because the Holy Court wants to establish a country." The King replied, "So, they need a miracle that is unprecedented enough to declare their status."
The King's eyes were cold, as if he had thought of something displeasing. His icy blue pupils reflected the light and shadow, like the ridges of the mountains, cold and sharp, accumulating the indelible majesty of time.
The King could use the power of hell to stage a political performance in which death bowed its head to resolve the plague crisis in the southeast coast. Then the Holy Court, naturally, could also rely on the power from the kingdom of God. Moreover, in these confrontations involving the kingdom of God and hell, the King had confirmed that: in these years, in the confrontation between the Holy Court and hell, the power of hell was indeed inferior to that of the Holy Court.
He guessed——
Hell was currently in a state that seemed to be "dead".
If a dead hell still had enough power to protect Legrand from the plague, then what about the kingdom of God which was in a better state?
Prior to this, the Holy Court did not take much action, but only treated some patients. This was not because they were unable to solve the plague once and for all, but because they were waiting for the best opportunity——waiting for the plague to spread enough to make the people desperate enough, waiting for the Holy Court to initially enter the territory of Bressi, and establish the prototype of the "Kingdom of God on Earth".
Now, Ferri III had been deposed and led his personal army to retreat north. Prince Charles became the King of Bressi controlled by the Holy Court, and secular power began to transfer to the Holy Court institutions. Faced with this direct transfer of political power, the Bressians began to express uneasiness and distrust.
This situation was the best time for the Holy Court to "save the world".
They could calm the people's hearts and make the people believe that the Black Death was a punishment from the gods, and make the people believe that only the Holy Court could save them. Thus, a true religious country was thoroughly established.
This time when the King beheaded the Archbishop of St. Wyth in the streets, it was actually a probe against the other.
If the Holy Court reacted violently, and ordered a westward expedition to Legrand, or directly sent a team of adjudicators to Legrand to suppress Legrand's resistance with force. Then it proved that there was still a long time before their act of "salvation", and they still needed to use forceful means to maintain their authority in the secular world.
But now the Holy Court had not reacted much to the King's "Limitation of Purgatory Creeds and Priesthood Ordinances" and the execution of Archbishop St. Wyth.
They only declared Legrand's new regulations null and void, and announced the excommunication of Abbot Anil.
This kind of reaction, which could be called "mild" and "conceding", made some nobles who chose to side with the King feel very happy. They thought it was a great victory.
However, in the eyes of the King, this was not a victory, but a kind of indifference.
This meant that the Holy See already had enough confidence that they could quickly solve the Black Death and formally establish the Kingdom of God on Earth. Compared to the importance of the Kingdom of God, other things were not worth mentioning.
This was good news and bad news.
The good news was that they finally got a period of development time with relatively little pressure——or call it preparation time; the bad news was that when this period passed, they would be facing the Holy Court head on.
The King leaned back in his chair, thinking.
Charles looked at him, recalling that time when the King went to the southeast in person.
While the people cheered the solving of the plague, the King was already pondering his next move.
This was the responsibility of monarchs, they were always dancing on the edge of the knife.
The person who danced on the edge of the knife must be crazy enough, because only madness could make him fearless, but he must also be cautious enough, because if he made a mistake, he would fall to his death. But often, people only see his arrogance, but not all the deliberation under the arrogance.
A madman, but also the most sober of men.
At this moment, Charles felt the guilt and self-blame borne by his good friend, the Duke of Buckingham, for so many years——the King was burdened with so much, when he was clearly still so young.
"Your Majesty, I brought you a present."
Charles glanced at the sky, and diverted the conversation from these heavy topics, reminding the King that it was time to rest.
"Perhaps you'd like to have a look at it?"