"Your Majesty, Archbishop Duoxia has once again defied your decree, opening up trade routes and engaging in trade with other countries within his jurisdiction. Furthermore, he has repeatedly contacted spies from the Boya Empire, and there is a risk of him rebelling!"
In addition, the eastern region of my Papal State has suffered severe disasters this year, with a surge in the number of deaths and a risk of creating a displaced population. Protests have even erupted in some areas. If the granaries are not opened to the public this year, I fear...
While His Majesty was resting, Adam Majesty's assistant approached and quietly reported the news to Adam Majesty.
The Papal State ' system is completely different from that of countries like the Boya Empire. Power in the Papal State is concentrated in the Church, and everything is subject to the Church's control. His Holiness the Pope is not much different from an emperor, and may even be more powerful.
The Boya Empire and other states resembled the medieval Europe feudal system, with countless large and small lords. The king, however, held little power and was more like the most powerful lord. All the land and people were divided among the various lords, so apart from the lords, everyone else was a serf.
However, this also led to fierce competition among lords. The size of a lord's territory and the number of serfs he owned determined his power and the survival of his family. This resulted in most lords not being too harsh on their serfs, lest they desert to other lords. Furthermore, the king did not levy taxes on the serfs, but instead levied taxes directly on the lords.
This also led to a significant difference between the centralized system of the Papal State and the feudal system of the Boya Empire: peasants in the Boya Empire rarely revolted, with only wars of annexation between various lords. In contrast, the poor in the Papal State were prone to revolt!
"No need to say any more!" His Adam raised his hand to stop him.
His Holiness Adam's eyes were cold. "In my Papal State, Duoxia can't cause any trouble. Since these people are starving and can't survive, let them die sooner. The Boya Empire has been plotting for so long but still can't make up its mind; it's utterly useless!"
Since they dare not make a move but are unwilling to give up this opportunity, then I will hand this opportunity to them!
Effective immediately, we will launch a military campaign against the Boya Empire and its neighboring countries!
They forcibly confiscated the grain and assets of nobles and wealthy merchants to serve as military supplies, and forcibly recruited starving people who could not afford to eat, sending them all to the battlefield.
Starving to death is death anyway, dying in battle is also death, so why not make the most of everything and everyone will be happy!
Of course, the most important thing is to deplete the manpower of various countries and the unstable factors within the Papal State, severely weaken the power of the major nobles and the manpower within the Papal State, make the Papal State's nobles preoccupied with their own affairs, make it difficult for the starving people to accumulate the power to rebel, and make all the countries of the Southern Continent dredge up in war, so that the entire Southern Continent can be stabilized and have no time to create more trouble!
Such a battle would severely damage all countries, making it difficult for them to wage war again for at least several decades.
Only in this way can the Pope's rule be consolidated, and only in this way can the divine corpse in the back mountain remain obediently in the back mountain!
A person can be reborn even if half of them die, and their reproduction will actually become more vigorous. However, if there is a problem with the divine corpse, then it's not just a matter of half of it dying.
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Before the depths of winter even arrived, the good days had already begun for the poor in the Papal State.
With a month to go before the depths of winter, the newly appointed Pope Adam suddenly issued a papal bull.
It claims that the Boya Empire is still harboring treacherous intentions and wants to take advantage of the Papal State' famine to plunder, and that neighboring small countries are colluding with it, defaming the Church and vilifying God. This is a great insult to God and a trampling on the dignity of the Church!
God is holy, Papal State is sacred! All who dare to offend us, no matter how far away, shall be punished!
Therefore, His Majesty Adam decided to conscript soldiers and wage a full-scale war against the nations of the Southern Continent, determined to set things right and uphold the holy name of God!
This sudden turn of events not only shocked the entire Southern Continent, but even Norton was stunned.
He had a premonition that chaos was about to ensue, given the various major factors at play. The Papal State Papal State was surrounded by wolves, and everyone knew that it had become a piece of meat on a chopping block, just waiting to be devoured.
Who knew that the one who started the war wasn't some other ambitious wolf, but the Papal State, this sick tiger!
Norton crouched on the attic of the clock tower, looking down.
The streets were filled with Papal State, including not only the poor, but also merchants, wealthy people, and even nobles.
Some people looked panicked, trying to hide and escape the Church's conscription team. Others looked anxious, wanting to go home and find a place to hide their belongings.
"The current Pope is so stubborn and self-willed. What kind of country would wage war in the dead of winter? This is simply playing with food!"
"Why are they still confiscating our property? It's outrageous! Do you know how hard it is for me to collect this little bit of wealth from the poor?"
"This is cotton I just bought this year; I'm counting on selling it to recoup my costs!"
The Lino City was filled with wailing and lamentation.
Previously, these merchants and wealthy households were shouting merrily in the tavern, acting as if they were the first to rush to the front lines if war really broke out. But now that war has actually started, they are not going to fight.
Not only do they refuse to participate, they are also reluctant to part with even the smallest amount of wealth.
However, they couldn't bear to part with it; the Church knights in their steel armor and their greatswords wouldn't allow it!
The papal decree is irresistible! Whether rich or powerful, everyone must obediently provide food, clothing, and a considerable amount of assets as His Holiness Adam demands... Anyone who dares to disobey will, at best, have their entire family arrested and conscripted into the army, and at worst, beheaded on the spot.
While the existence of Holy Knight lowers the prestige of Church Knights, just like when Norton first saw Church Knights hunting Werewolf, these knights, who have been raised and brainwashed by the Church, are actually all at the peak of combat power of ordinary people at this stage!
Moreover, they are not afraid of death or injury, and blindly follow His Holiness the Pope. This truly reflects the true essence of the Papal State, apart from the Holy Knight!
A single city has two hundred Church knights, while a state has at least three or four cities, and sometimes as many as six or seven. Archbishop Duoxia, a bishop, can govern three states, and the Papal State have a total of eight purple-robed archbishops. One can imagine how terrifying the Papal State ' resources are!
Even without the Holy Knight, the Papal State remains the most powerful empire in the Southern Continent!
This is why those five cardinals said that His Holiness Adam was about to squander the fortune the old Pope had built up.