Snake Worship Cult believes in the evil god Aziz Dahaka.
According to Ansen, this is a god who lives in gray cumulonimbus clouds. He has a body like a giant snake, scales like a horned viper, and fleshy wings on his back - this is the pattern of Erudition City Theological Seminary.
Logically speaking, the shape of this giant flying snake often means fear and destruction.
But in Snake Worship Cult followers's eyes, that's not the case.
Both Ansen and Roland have seen Snake Cult believers - there used to be Snake Cult believers everywhere in Bax.
In the mouths of Snake Cult followers, Aziz Dahaka is the 'merciful Goddess'.
It's hard to imagine that this giant snake could be Goddess...
But according to the Snake Worship Cult disciples, people are born to suffer, and the world is inherently purgatory unless everything is destroyed and then "Divine Kingdom" is rebuilt on the earth.
And the 'merciful Goddess' will respond to the prayers of every believer, bring strength to the devout believers, and will take the believers to the Divine Kingdom after their death to enjoy all the beautiful things.
Moreover, if Divine Kingdom can be built on the earth, then the devout Snake Cultists will be able to have their wishes come true, become eternal immortal beings, and enjoy blessings forever.
Obviously, this is a sect that promotes despair and fear, and uses the promise of "power", "afterlife" and "Divine Kingdom" and other wonderful results as a way of deception. It is also extremely inflammatory, and basically every doctrine exists for rebellion.
At the same time, Snake Worship Cult is also very good at using various drug-taking tools, such as Snake Heart Stone.
This kind of sect with a clear organization has a fatal attraction for the people at the bottom who have neither knowledge nor hope.
It just so happens that Bacchus Empire has always implemented the law of equality of the people - this is the ancient Bax tradition, which divides people into several classes based on blood and wealth, and the classes are clear and fixed.
As conquerors, the descendants of Baxian are naturally superior people; and the aborigines and descendants of the southern Pande Continent are naturally inferior people...
Only the descendants of Baxian can join the legion.
The native people of Pende are not allowed to own weapons, and they can only work as farmers or hard labor throughout their lives.
In fact, for a long time, the lower-class poor and slaves in Bax were not regarded as human beings at all, but as livestock.
The Pande aboriginal people in Bax territory are destined to have a life-ending ending from the moment they are born.
This situation is the norm for colonial rule by conquerors of foreign nations.
But under the circumstances that Amara Continent Bax's mother country has been completely destroyed, this conqueror's rule not only makes Bacchus Empire weaker and weaker, but also provides the best soil for the spread of Snake Worship Cult.
The descendants of the local nobles who had been surrendered by General Osa, leading the indigenous "lower people" who had lost hope in life, had been constantly launching resistance during the more than 100 years of colonial rule, and rebellions continued in various places.
Even if many native people of Pende know that Snake Worship Cult has a problem, they will still join Snake Worship Cult to gain strength to fight against the Bacchus Empire. The long-term oppression of hatred and hopeless life make them convinced that what they live in is hell, and they would rather destroy everything.
But Bacchus Empire does not have enough military power to suppress it.
General Osa The fleet that invaded Pendor had only tens of thousands of Baxian in total, and many of them died in battle. Compared with the aboriginal people in the entire southern Pande Continent, these Baxian descendants were originally a minority group.
And their traditional civilian-level law means that only the descendants of Baxian can join the legion to fight. It is conceivable that the number of soldiers is scarce.
As a result, Snake Worship Cult became more and more violent in the territory of Bax, and more and more believers were suppressed, and even gradually penetrated into the upper echelons of the consul level.
Fortunately, Lionheart Kingdom came out with Mad King at that time, and the country was even more chaotic than Bax. The two countries were competing against each other at the time, which gave Bacchus Empire a chance to change.
Emperor Marius is a sensible man. After he ascended the throne of God twenty years ago, he launched targeted reforms.
He first put Goddess of Harvest 'Damia. Providi' was established as the main god of Bax.
The image of Goddess is that of a mature woman with a kind face and no hair. She only covers her key parts with a wreath of wheat ears. She looks gentle and plump.
This is one of the main gods of Pendor, and is the god of harvest generally believed by farmers in the Pande Continent south.
Emperor Marius requires all descendants of Baxian to respect the native Goddess Damia of Pendor. He even changed his crown to the style of Goddess Damia's wheat wreath.
This is of course to change the image of the Baxian invaders, try to integrate into the native Pendor, and reduce the hostility of the indigenous people.
At the same time, this policy can also play another role - the image of Goddess of Harvest is beautiful and rich. Using this image of the Lord God, full of beautiful yearnings and rich hopes, to actively fill people's beliefs can inhibit the spread of Snake Worship Cult.
After all, compared with a big snake with wings, Goddess of Harvest looks more friendly just from the appearance.
Subsequently, Emperor Marius personally destroyed the Bacchus Empire traditional civil laws and re-enacted Civil Law.
Civil Law abolished the human hierarchy and stipulated that Baxian and the Pande natives are citizens of the empire, with equal status and no distinction between superior and inferior.
Emperor Marius did not completely abolish slavery, but he gave everyone, including slaves, a ladder to ascend - anyone can join the legion to fight, and their status can be improved by establishing military exploits.
But if you join Snake Worship Cult, no matter what your previous status was, you will be regarded as a slave.
At the same time, he promoted many Pendor natives to lords and enfeoffed local lords to exercise self-government in those areas that could not be restrained.
In civil affairs, the one-vote veto power of the traditional 'tribune' was also abolished and replaced by a collegial system in which lords, superior consuls, and elected tribunes jointly deliberate.
The tribunes are representatives elected from the common people. Since only Baxian were considered human beings in the past, the original tribunes were all Baxian. They would only serve Baxian and would not protect the interests of the native people of Pande.
The elected tribunes in the new policy are selected from villagers in proportion to population, and include people from all ethnic groups, which is relatively fair to the people.
This is to fully move closer to the mainland of Pende, or to fully integrate Baxian into the Pande Continent.
Moreover, he implemented a complete separation of soldiers and farmers in the Bacchus Empire, replaced compulsory conscription with a recruitment system, and then established multiple large-scale legions, and these new legions were uniformly equipped by the country or the emperor himself.
--This professional military system is actually more advanced than the local knight recruitment system in Pendor, and civilians have more opportunities for advancement.
His newly formed 'Immortal Legion' doesn't care at all whether he recruits Pande or Baxian, they are all treated equally within the legion.
The Imperial Gladiator troops are all slaves and criminals who crawled out of the arena.
This allows Bacchus Empire to obtain a wide source of troops, so in the past ten years, when Bacchus Empire faced Lionheart Kingdom, most of the time it was able to have the upper hand and occupied a lot of territory.
This political reform carried out jointly by the government, the people, and the military has truly integrated Bax into Pande in the past twenty years, and has also brought hope to most people. Internal conflicts have gradually eased, and Bacchus Empire's national strength has become stronger and stronger.
Emperor Marius's reform also received strong support from Radiant Cross Knights at the first time. Radiant Cross Knights scholars even helped Emperor Marius establish some Theological Seminarys, which not only spread Damia's beliefs, but also spread more scientific medical skills.
Spreading theology and medical knowledge can also suppress Snake Worship Cult, and at the same time, it can also make Bax a country recognized by the people. Ansen once studied in Theological Seminary of Erudition City.
These new policies gave Emperor Marius a high reputation. Most of the Pande in Bax no longer regarded him as a descendant of the conqueror, but regarded him as a real emperor, but with a different nationality.
From being an invader to being recognized by the native people, it took Bacchus Empire one hundred and fifty years to achieve true rule.
But the reform policies that achieved actual results were promulgated by Emperor Marius, and it took him less than twenty years.
In the past twenty years, he must have faced tremendous pressure to abandon tradition, face the opposition of the Bax people, and complete changes in national policies despite various internal and external troubles.
As a foreign ruler, actively seeking to integrate into Pendor and return power to Pande is far more courageous than being a pure conqueror.
Of course, these are not the only reform provisions initiated by Emperor Marius, but Ansen and Sarah also don't know more about them.
Of course the information found by Sarah has been verified, and she would not say such uncertain rumors.
Just like Duke of Lionheart Alfred, she didn't find any information on the specific things that happened in the months before he became king, so she wouldn't make random guesses.
She will leave the judgment to the lord himself.
This is undoubtedly the style of an excellent External Affairs Officer - not adding personal subjective conjectures to work, but only objectively collecting data and executing tasks.
Li Ang has been digesting these contents along the way.
For him, these historical data are of great significance. They not only allow him to confirm his original strategy, but also allow him to learn and think.
Emperor Marius's reforms touched him quite a bit, and the lord even wanted to meet the emperor.
Of course, not now.
Now the convoy is moving forward, passing through hundreds of miles of no-man's land, and has entered the territory of the Bacchus Empire.
The transportation team does not have many people, only five vehicles and a dozen people, and the ones responsible for driving are all Meitengheim people.
The lord disguised himself as a businessman in the fur goods business - or rather, he had no disguise at all. He was originally a businessman, and Meitengheim people was originally a mercenary...
From Long River Town to Imperial Port, this trade route is actually a very reasonable route, and the lord has thought about it carefully.
Leather happens to be a relatively scarce commodity in the southern part of the Bacchus Empire. The southern part of the Pande Continent has a hot climate and few pastures, making it unsuitable for large-scale cattle and sheep breeding. Moreover, there are very few wild boars and deer making a living there.
The lord already knew this when he engaged in Double Eleven last time. At that time, merchants from Long River Town basically sold all their inventory to Bax.
Imperial Port This southern coastal port has a lot of seafood such as pearls and corals, as well as cheap salt and spices. It is also a good place to purchase goods.
Many people in the Lionheart Kingdom raise cattle and sheep. There are many forests and mountains around Long River Town, and there are also many wild animals, and fur and other things are relatively abundant.
There are many leather products produced in Long River Town, Brave Shield Fortress, Lion Lake City and other places.
Of course, some leather goods were obtained through private transactions with Gatu people.
So Long River Town's more common souvenirs are leather products - of course, there is also a less common souvenir, Noldo Elves...
As one of the souvenirs, Risadiran is indeed among the team.
Meitengheim people, Sarah, Amy and others all know the existence of Risadiran. However, although they are traveling on the same road, Risadiran does not get together with everyone.
He has been not far behind Li Ang, either in the woods or in a dark place where the light cannot reach.
Occasionally I would wander down the road, but I always turned around and couldn't see anyone.
This Noldo Elves seems to be a little autistic now. He hasn't spoken to anyone for a long time. Only the lord can occasionally communicate with him.
After Risadiran completed the task of blowing the trumpet last time, he hid in the forest until the truce came out. Moreover, he met his own tribe, a patrol team, in Noldo Forest.
The sound of the horn in the forest will of course attract the investigation of Noldo Elves, but Noldor obviously does not want to pay attention to the human war.
Risadiran and his tribe just looked at each other from a distance in the woods, and no one said anything.
Risadiran dared not speak because he was exiled and the great lord Isildur did not allow him to return to Noldo Forest. He was afraid of being attacked by his clansmen and did not know how to face them.
And his tribe probably recognized him and didn't speak for the same reason, maybe it was the same - they didn't want to attack Risadiran, but they also didn't know how to face this exiled guy.
As a result, Risadiran probably became a little depressed after returning to Wheat Fragrance Territory.
Although it had been more than ten years since he had been unable to return to his family, this was the first time he was speechless with his clansmen at Long River Forest.
As an exiled sinner, Risadiran cannot contact his tribe;
But most humans regard Noldor as their enemy, so he cannot have too much contact with humans.
This probably gave him a sense of loneliness that was incompatible with this world.
Li Ang can understand this feeling of loneliness.
Because the lord himself is not from this world...
But no one else could help with this kind of loneliness, so Li Ang did not bother Risadiran.
The lord feels that Risadiran is in good condition now. Maybe he doesn't want to talk to anyone, but the loneliness in his heart makes him devote himself to his work wholeheartedly.
As a qualified entrepreneur, since employees are fully committed to their work, Li Ang will naturally not interfere...
Of course, this elf killer is not a fragile person. He actually doesn't show much abnormality, but he hides deeper. Sometimes even the lord doesn't know where he is.
But unless it is inconvenient for the lord to take him, he will definitely be near the lord, and he will come out if Li Ang calls.
After all, his duty is to serve as a secret guard and protect the safety of the lord.
On this long trip, of course I have to take this bodyguard with me.
The transportation team planted three flags, the black and white Griffin flag of Li Ang, the Three Lions Banner of Godric, and the red background Griffin flag of Leofric. They are all shareholders, and of course they have to protect their own property.
Planting the three flags together can basically guarantee safety in Lion Territory. After all, this represents the lords of the entire eastern region. No matter which noble or bandit they are, they always have to weigh them.
After leaving Lion Territory, the risk will naturally be higher, but as long as you don't encounter bandits, Bax's lords or soldiers generally will not attack this kind of caravan with several noble flags.
After all, no one is a fool. Easily plundering a business trip backed by so many nobles might trigger a large-scale war, and he will definitely be traced by then.
Of course, if there were not these three baron flags, the caravan would probably be robbed by Bax's patrol team not long after entering Bax territory.
Bax soldiers will not worry about ordinary businessmen with no background...
However, in order to reduce the risk as much as possible, the convoy carefully avoided the fortresses on the border between the two countries to avoid trouble from the border garrison of the Bacchus Empire.
In this era, it was common for business travelers to enter the country secretly. After all, there were only a few defenders in the border counties and they could not be kept track of.
The lord entered Bacchus Empire from between Shield Wind Fortress and Calundru Castle - there are hundreds of miles of wilderness between these two border fortresses.
Afterwards, the convoy prepared to stop briefly at Yimeier Village to replenish some necessities such as food, water, and horse feed.
Yimeier Village is actually a subordinate village of Shield Wind Fortress, but it is quite far away from Shield Wind Fortress, at least more than two hundred miles away.
Shield Wind Fortress of the Bacchus Empire is somewhat similar to the Lionheart Kingdom Seven Forks Fortress. It is a relatively pure military fortress. It is the front line facing Lionheart Kingdom. It can even be regarded as a lonely midway fortress.
More than a hundred years ago, when Bacchus Empire was first built, the population originally living in the border area was moved to the hinterland of the empire, leaving a few hundred miles of uninhabited buffer zone on the border between the two countries, and Shield Wind Fortress was built at the same time.
The location of this fortress is just south of the Dengjier Mountains. The straight-line distance from White Deer Fortress is only more than three hundred miles, which is equivalent to the distance from Long River Town to White Deer Fortress.
The original intention of building the fortress was to serve as an outpost when Bacchus Empire attacked White Deer Fortress, and also to avoid Lionheart Kingdom counterattack, so the location of the fortress was far away from the villages where people lived.
The buffer zone of several hundred miles also weakens the advantage of the Lionheart Kingdom's heavy cavalry - the heavy cavalry of Lion Territory is actually not suitable for long-term combat in the wild.
Due to the existence of this buffer zone of several hundred miles, Lion Territory knights rarely attack Bacchus Empire from the east, because it is a waste of food and effort, they cannot find supplies on the way, and they cannot find civilians on the spot.
In the past twenty or thirty years, Baron Godric of White Deer Fortress has never attacked, so Yimeier Village, the village under Shield Wind Fortress, has spent decades of stability and peace.
As a subordinate village of the border fortress, it has not experienced war for decades. This is really incredible...
But in another border area of the Bacchus Empire, Calundru Castle, there is no such treatment.
Almost every large-scale attack launched by the Lionheart Kingdom targets Calundru Castle. The villages under Calundru Castle have been ravaged for a long time and are almost in ruins.
Calundru Castle even gave up Seren Village, the village closest to the Lionheart Kingdom - basically no one lives in this village, and now it is as completely empty as Trublen Village in Long River Town.
They are also subordinate villages of Border Castle, but the difference between Imir and Salem is really huge.
Nowadays, most of the original residents of Seren Village and Barug, another subordinate village of Calundru Castle, have moved to Imir.
As a result, Imir has developed into a large town with tens of thousands of people living in the past twenty or thirty years, which is larger than Kewen Village.
But Yimeier Village lives more densely, and there are more streets and villagers in the center of the village. It looks very lively, and feels like a big city without city walls. There is also a small square in the village.
Of course this is not the Marius Reform of Rome, but of Pande. Please don't panic, Roman friends.
Since there is no specific information about Pande Marius Reform, I set up some reform methods that are in line with the background and logic of the times based on the causes and consequences.
My head was completely bald.