At the same time, the previous principle of popular self-governance was further strengthened.
The Church specifically established a civil affairs department. Though this department existed within the Church, it possessed a certain degree of relative freedom.
The core criterion for its existence was that the civil affairs department served the people exclusively.
Its purpose was to increase the population, improve the people's quality of life, and ensure that the populace did not commit crimes, among other things.
In short, it separated a portion of the civil matters that had previously been tightly bound to faith within the Church.
It was no longer faith above all else.
Or rather, the Fictional Church believed that this system would make the people under its rule more prosperous while providing higher-quality believers.
Of course, this would inevitably cause some ordinary people to stop believing in gods.
Faith was sometimes such a strange thing.
If one had a sound personality, a healthy mindset, and a strong spirit, there was no need to project one's identity outward and worship other things.
Their sound character was enough to support them through the suffering and hardships of life.
Under such circumstances, faith could only serve as psychological comfort.
Some of them would believe that their happiness was the result of their own efforts, overlooking the help provided by their environment.
Forgetting one's roots seemed to be an innate nature.
Such people could hardly even be considered shallow believers and could only indirectly provide a little Power of Faith.
By comparison, keeping the people under one's rule trapped in some inescapable suffering was an extremely efficient method of operation.
Under suffering, people's devotion would rise dramatically.
If faith were measured by intensity, a Saint's faith would be one hundred points, while a nonbeliever's faith would be zero.
Then the