The Endorser of Authority (Please Request Follow-up!!!)

"Reverend Yarlin?"

Hearing the name Xu Yun spoke, William was first stunned.

Immediately, he flattened his left hand and rapped his right fist on it:

"That's right, we can ask Reverend Yarlin!"

In the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, Protestantism broke away from the Roman Catholic Church, giving rise to one of the three major religious streams in later generations.

From an objective perspective, Protestantism in the 16th to 18th centuries truly lived up to its name, both in reputation and in its actions.

For example, the most famous was their abolition of indulgences. They believed that people could directly contact God without the need for a priest, effectively removing the "middleman" in terms of faith.

However, Protestantism in England was more complex. Although England also began to adopt Protestantism after the Reformation, the reasons had little to do with doctrine:

English Protestantism arose purely because the king wanted a divorce, but the Catholic Church refused, saying "no way."

So the king simply abandoned Catholicism, declared himself the supreme leader of the new Protestant Church of England, and this has continued to this day.

This means that if the current long-distance runner were to fall behind, his successor would similarly become the supreme leader of Protestantism.

Therefore, many of the current Protestant pastors in England are actually somewhat connected to the royal court. They are not purely Puritans and are allowed to own property openly.

Whether this is good or bad is naturally a matter of opinion, but at least by the rules, Protestant pastors at this time could partner with others in business.

And the credibility of pastors at this point in time...

How to put it, although it wasn't as outrageous as the Middle Ages where they could arbitrarily fool the masses, organizing a live-streaming sales event was still easy.

Especially in the Lincolnshire area, Yarlin's reputation, both officially and among the people, was extremely high.

It was like a local celebrity like Pu Cunxin recommending cheap cookware to housewives; the conversion rate was ridiculously high.

Therefore, when Xu Yun proposed this name, William and Little Ox agreed without hesitation to Xu Yun's idea of bringing Yarlin into their venture.

The next morning.

Grantham.

St. Titus Didymus Church.

Yarlin, with his white hair, was wearing a coarse linen robe and laboriously wiping a chair that had been used for worship. Not far behind him, in the choir room, the choir was practicing a hymn.

Yarlin's full name was Yarlin Dirat. He was fifty-nine years old, a graduate of Cambridge St. John's College, and had been a pastor for over thirty years.

In addition to his pastoral duties, he held corresponding political positions in Grantham town, and his family owned a considerable estate in North Lincolnshire.

However, Yarlin's private life was not extravagant; it could even be described as somewhat monotonous.

On weekdays, besides reading scriptures and praying, he would go to Sunday school to teach children. He ate and lived in the church, and his conduct was entirely consistent with his outward appearance.

After all, Protestantism itself was a product that broke away from Catholicism. Although there were many negative accounts in the following one or two hundred years, it was relatively clean in its early stages.

For example, Yarlin had put in considerable effort for Little Ox to be admitted to Trinity College; the letter of introduction even borrowed his name.

Of course.

Even in this era, people like Yarlin were ultimately a minority. Others had varying degrees of worldly desires.

"Knock, knock, knock--"

Just as Yarlin was about to return to the prayer room to read the Holy Book, there was a sudden knock on the church door.

Yarlin quickly put down the rag, cleared his throat, and replied:

"May God have mercy, I'm coming, I'm coming!"

It was Tuesday, not a regular time for worship, but Yarlin was not surprised by the visit.

Even in later generations, churches in Europe were often visited by people during the week, usually for confession, clarification, or matters of joy or sorrow.

Yarlin hurried to the door, took out his key, and unlocked it.

As a ray of light shone in, Yarlin's linen robe was inadvertently tinged with a bit of radiance, making him look somewhat like Gandalf the Grey from The Lord of the Rings.

He first covered his eyes with one hand, adjusting to the light. Upon seeing the visitors, he raised an eyebrow in surprise:

"Oh, my God, Mr. William, Little Isaac, and this must be Mr. Fat Fish, right? What brings you here?"

Opposite him, Xu Yun's mouth twitched slightly:

Damn it, is the name Fat Fish that easy to say?

Seeing Yarlin's surprised expression, William and Little Ox stepped forward and hugged him, then said:

"Reverend Yarlin, there are some matters we'd like to discuss with you. May we come in and talk?"

Yarlin's gaze swept quickly over the three of them, and he nodded:

"Of course, please follow me."

He then led the three into the church and into a reception room.

The reception room was furnished very simply, with just a few long benches, a table, and an oil lamp. Some books and letters were placed on the table.

"Hallelujah!"

After they were seated, Yarlin glanced at William with some curiosity and asked:

"Mr. William, I don't usually see you around this time. Did something happen?"

Then, seeing the barely concealed joy on William's face, he had a sudden flash of inspiration and looked at Little Ox knowingly.

"Let me guess, are little Isaac and Lisa getting engaged, and you're here to coordinate the wedding venue today?"

"No, no!"

Upon hearing Yarlin's words, Little Ox, standing nearby, couldn't sit still and frantically waved his hands.

"It's not me, I didn't! Don't just say things, Pastor Yarlin!"

Yarlin was taken aback and glanced at Xu Yun, then thought of something else.

"Then could it be Lisa and Mr. Fat Fish?"

"Not that either."

Yarlin's breath hitched for a few seconds, and his gaze towards Xu Yun became rather peculiar.

"Then could it be you and Mr. Fat Fish..."

"Stop, stop!"

Seeing that the highly respected elder was about to imagine all three of them coming out of the closet, Xu Yun quickly interrupted his runaway imagination.

"It's not an emotional issue, Mr. William. Please explain!"

William nodded slightly, his expression now subtly nuanced.

If he wasn't mistaken, Little Ox seemed to get a tiny bit emotional when mentioning his eldest daughter?

Could there be something he was hiding from him?

However, this thought flashed through his mind and was gone. After all, there were more important matters at hand.

"Pastor Yarlin, it's like this."

Then, William took out a small jar of ketchup and explained the entire matter to Yarlin in detail, revealing everything except the recipe.

"If you're interested, you can get involved personally or in the name of the church.

Rest assured, the tomatoes are not poisonous; this will undoubtedly be a business pleasing to God."

William deliberately avoided topics related to the recipe; this was their backup plan.

If Yarlin wanted to go it alone without the recipe, it would take at least two weeks to decipher the ketchup. While homemade ketchup only required four ingredients, they were optimized through numerous trials.

Meanwhile, Mrs. William was already at home with their daughters making ketchup. If the worst-case scenario occurred, William could immediately travel to major cities like Lincoln.

Even without the guarantee of a credible figure, he could still capitalize on the trend.

"Tomatoes..."

Yarlin extended his withered finger, gently dipped it into the red sauce, and brought it closer to observe.

"Actually, over twenty years ago, scholars in England questioned the notion that tomatoes were poisonous.

They were very popular among the common people in Spain, but the mortality rate was not as high as rumored, not even close by several orders of magnitude.

When I visited De Gila Nier Academy in Spain, I saw tomatoes on the fruit platter at a reception banquet. I even tried one back then and showed no signs of poisoning.

However, seeing them made into a thick sauce with other ingredients... this is the first time. Judging by the taste, you must have added other things, right?"

Looking at the eloquent Yarlin, William was a bit confused.

"Pastor Yarlin, so what do you mean?"

Yarlin thought for a moment and said, "I agree to invest, but not personally. I will invest in the name of the Grantham Diocese.

The diocese can provide sales channels and manpower, but you must guarantee two things for me."