novelraw #267 - Section 267
#267 - Section 267
Even enemy churches, even families with generations of hatred, firmly adhered to the policy of exterminating the Tianming Army upon sight.
Even the most dim-witted nobles vaguely sensed that although this army was weak and naive, the ideas they upheld, though not fully understood, were deeply unsettling and felt extremely dangerous.
This force, not seeking personal gain and focusing on the lowest of the low, originally helped maintain order and provide magical support after the defeat of the War God Church, and was also actively engaging with several churches to test their attitudes.
The nobles and churches had offered high enough incentives to win over powerhouses like Xiana and Hade, hoping to acquire the organizational relationships they had developed among the common people during this period, in order to quickly seize control of this vacant area.
As multiple parties made contact, and with a mutually beneficial situation seemingly about to be achieved, the Tianming Army could even sell the commoners under their control for a good price due to the competitive relationships between the churches, gaining an extremely high position upon being recruited.
However, during the negotiations, the Tianming Army's attitude towards the common people clashed with that of the nobles and churches.
Originally, everyone thought they were just asking for the moon, because these were all unspoken rules between royal power and divine authority, brought up for discussion only to gain more benefits, right?
The churches didn't care either. Compared to the vast areas with billions of believers, how much could Xiana and Hade take away, even if they were greedy?
Give, give, give!
Anyway, it could be harvested back from the common people sooner or later.
However, those traditional forces miscalculated. Even with the bargaining chips to establish a country and become kings, the Tianming Army did not accept.
If they wanted these things, Hade could have just restored the faith in the Goddess of War before. Why go through such a big detour and form the Tianming Army with Xiana?
Thus, the situation faced by the Tianming Army took a sharp turn for the worse. Their attitude angered the nobles and divine authority, turning them into rats crossing the street, with both churches and nobles determined to eliminate these ignorant bastards.
Only the people still stood with the Tianming Army. Even though the environment they faced was harsh, those impoverished people who had been liberated by them, knowing the risks, were still willing to follow them, providing various forms of assistance to the Tianming Army who were hiding everywhere.
If the base area was gone, then they would just rebuild it. As long as the Tianming Army, Hade, and Xiana were leading them, those people who might never have had a full meal in their lives, with their sallow and emaciated faces, possessed a steadfast will comparable to religious fanatics, following the Tianming Army in constant migration and movement.
Even though they had only lived in the base area for a short time, they were unwilling to return to the past.
The living conditions here were actually not good. Compared to what they ate and used in the past, it might be even worse than on the farm, and there was also the risk of losing their heads.
But they were willing to choose this kind of life.
Because here, even the high-ranking members of the Tianming Army, such as Xiana and Hade, lived and dressed the same as the lowest-level poor people.
They would physically engage in labor, charge ahead in battles, care about the harvest of crops, and their daily interactions were completely different from those of the noble lords and priest lords.
Life in the base area was difficult and busy, with everyone's labor tasks maxed out.
But it allowed them to see fairness for the first time, fairness, and in the end, it was still damn fairness.
Even those knightly adults who possessed powerful martial strength and protected everyone always maintained an approachable attitude, working hard for the safety and development of the base area, without any acts of exploitation or extortion.
Just like that patrol squad, they would pay for the watermelon that the villagers insisted on giving them, and would never violate discipline.
Because they were also children of those lowest-level farmers, and only after receiving training did they have the power to hold weapons and defend their current lives.
Almost everyone in the base area had once been a believer of the Goddess of War.
But in fact, most of them, limited by their level of education, did not understand the doctrines.
They just believed in the god, and they would receive some food subsidies from the church, and several times a year, the rotating priests would help everyone treat some minor ailments.
But it was all like a show, and only a very few lucky ones would have their physical illnesses resolved, which was worthy of being praised as a miraculous act.
They had so little, so they were easily satisfied.
In the past, there was no education, and working hard had no future. They would still go hungry after a year of hard work, only slightly reducing the possibility of starving to death, but they could still be whipped by tax officials who were not satisfied.
If they wanted to change their fate, only if a family's child had the talent to become a priest could they truly have the possibility of leading everyone to prosperity.
So in the past, believers didn't actually know why they were praying.
They just hated their current life, and loathed this world, and the priests told them that if they believed in the Goddess of War, they could go to a fulfilling world without hunger or cold after death.
But not everyone can go to the beautiful world. They must pray sincerely and show their sincerity to have a better chance of going there.
Otherwise, they will have to return to this world after death.
In such a world, there is no need to describe the appearance of hell, because the human world is already enough to fill everyone with fear of the consequences of not being devout.
In this way, generation after generation, the War God Church ruled over the faith, turning the people into obedient and docile sheep, managed by the nobles, enduring the torture inflicted on them, and leaving their expectations for the afterlife.
The nobles and the church cooperated sincerely, frantically reaping the leeks.
And the leeks lived hard, listening to the priests describe the beautiful afterlife, where there were endless cornbread and coarse clothes without patches, and after a day of hard work, they would get a little comfort.
As time went by, this world evolved into a social structure similar to a caste system.
The highest first class was religious figures and their descendants, claiming to be the people closest to God, enjoying glory from birth, not subject to the emperor's control, and possessing various privileges.
The second class was nobles and soldiers, managers cultivated by the royal family and those aristocratic families, occupying the resources left over from the divine authority.
The third class was craftsmen, performers, non-divine professionals, etc. They had skills or martial strength to ensure their lives.
The fourth class was the most ordinary farmers and coolies. They had to work hard all year round to have the possibility of survival, and they had to maintain humility towards the upper two classes, and most of their labor income was taken away.
In fact, there was also the lowest class of people. They were called untouchables, heretics, those who abandoned the faith of the Goddess of War and their descendants. The shame of unbelievers always existed on them.
They could not own land, could only engage in the most humble jobs, had to depend on others for survival, and their clothing was also differentiated. This was the tragic situation of untouchables.
In the target B plane, the high and low status of people was not determined by ability or wealth, but by the degree of religious devotion and the distance from God.
Of course, if you had money and power, you didn't need to be too devout in attitude, you only needed to make corresponding contributions, which was already showing sincerity to the gods.
This was the plane after being conquered by the gods. Because of the power of the gods, the first class had absolute fighting power, and the second class was smart enough to hold on to the thighs of the divine authority. The lower classes had no possibility of overthrowing this social structure at all.
On the contrary, because of the existence of untouchables, imperceptibly, the hard-working common people took pride in religious devotion, learned to ridicule untouchables, and vented their sorrows in life.
People are like this. When they feel very uncomfortable because they are not living well, if they see that others are more miserable, they will feel better, and even develop a sense of superiority.
The War God Church has undergone thousands of years of practice, and its management of the lambs has become extremely sophisticated. It uses this class division and the cultivation of a sense of superiority to transform the resentment of the lower people into internal class contradictions.
In this way, it easily reduces the possibility of them resisting the upper class, the entire society operates stably, and the purity of faith is also sufficiently guaranteed. It is a quite perfect social system.
As for in such a society, the lowest lambs have to work and contribute faith, and all their value is squeezed dry, but they never see the hope of tomorrow, and live in darkness year after year, entrusting their suffering to the afterlife that does not exist at all...
Who would care about such suffering?
Anyway, their cries will not really reach the ears of the Goddess of War.
Unless it is in the promotion of faith, it is necessary for the lower people to see the greatness of the goddess, and to use it to create a persona.
As for these planes that have been completely conquered and transformed, the gods only need to extract the power of faith regularly, and the remaining problems are enough for the church to solve.
Dynasty changes, noble wars, and ethnic conflicts are ultimately just entertainment dramas performed by the gods for mortals.
Your difficulties come from the昏君, so cooperate with the church to kill the昏君, and you will be happy next!
Although the result is still disappointment in the end, they have already contributed enough power of faith before disappointment, and the new generation who are born with enthusiasm and have not been disappointed, the church can repeat the previous process wantonly.
Even when necessary, they can also have a demon descend, using the fear of darkness to set off the light and greatness of the church, so that the common people must rely on the church to have a chance to survive.
The gods do not need to progress, do not need to think about how to better complete the rule.
Because what new things are there in the world, joys and sorrows are constantly repeated, the old leeks who have seen through it will eventually die, and then there will be new leeks who do not know the dynasty cycle to contribute his life again.
What Xiana saw in the target B plane was such a purgatory-like world, even more desperate than the world described by Nari Niel.
After all, Nari Niel's management level is constantly improving, and she is still groping forward, looking for a balance point between giving better treatment to the bottom and harvesting purer faith, but it is not the rough management of other gods.
Xiana was shocked. The empire she saw was different from any country in the target B plane, so she didn't understand Hade's envy at first.
Now she is here, she has seen it, and she has decided to change this world and ignite the spark here, even if she doesn't know whether it will eventually form a prairie fire.
When the Eternal Night Empress came to this plane again, what she saw first was Xiana in the deep mountains, wearing completely different clothes from when she was in the empire, like a village girl, she couldn't hold back and laughed directly.
Before Xiana was pleasantly surprised that Roger came to visit her, she first heard the laughter of the adjutant beside him destroying the atmosphere, and her little face immediately sank:
Your adjutant is very rude. I am a winner of the Empress Award. Are you looking down on me because of my dress?
Roger was stunned. Little angel, you are really brave. Do you know that the Empress Award was issued by this person?
Oh, of course you don't know, because I originally hoped to be able to remind you, but this opportunity was strangled in the cradle.
Of course, seeing Xiana's appearance, he also wanted to laugh, but he couldn't help it.
He had always been looking at the intelligence that Xiana sent back, which contained various complex data, and he also wanted to borrow money from him, but Roger refused.
It was not until this moment that he saw that Xiana had changed into the standard dress style of the common people in the target B plane. Because the fabric and tailoring were really not good, Xiana didn't clean herself up much. Even if she was naturally beautiful, she also collapsed into a car accident level that offended the makeup artist.
Coupled with this earthy and natural picture here, compared to the Green Vine Empire, it was like traveling back to ancient times from modern society, and the Eternal Night Empress couldn't hold back.
朕, cough, I really didn't mean it. I'm very sorry. Of course I know that Miss Xiana has a noble status, so I was even more surprised by your dress... I think you also wronged yourself in order to better develop your career here, right?
The Eternal Night Empress suddenly remembered her identity at this moment. She was not the tyrannical Empress, but an ordinary Dark Night Guard beside Roger. She immediately made a "sincere and fearful" appearance and apologized to Xiana.
Most of the time, she just wants to conduct a surprise inspection of her subordinates' work, and also hides beside her to observe silently. This feeling of pretending to be someone else is the first time she has experienced it.
What's more, she felt that Roger didn't seem to want her to come here, so she became even more interested in Xiana's situation, and prepared to play her role well, instead of being exposed too early.
Xiana didn't know that she was repeatedly jumping on the edge of being violently beaten. Seeing that the attitude of this little adjutant was still sincere, and she looked average, not reaching Roger's aesthetic bottom line, she snorted and waved her hand without much care.
She only turned her head to look at Roger: "Commander, please come and inspect it. If you think the construction is good enough, you are welcome to invest."
Xiana's tone was very casual, with a bit of coquettishness.
The Eternal Night Empress has not yet noticed anything unusual. The two people have more contact, and there is no problem for the little girl to use such a tone, and the content is not explosive.
"Sorry, I can't arbitrarily dispose of the empire's assets and flow them to projects where the risks and benefits are not proportional," Roger refused righteously.
"Who asked you to use public funds? What about your private treasury? With our relationship, we will definitely not let you lose everything."
"Nonsense, I, Commander Roger, am upright and never have a private treasury!"
Roger became more and more righteous, but the panicked inner thoughts had betrayed himself.
Xiana, you pig teammate, you can talk nonsense on weekdays, but you really can't talk nonsense at this time!
The Eternal Night Empress took out a small notebook: Found a private treasury, it is appropriate to investigate...
Chapter 245 A Family of Three "Happy and Harmonious"
There are some things that Xiana knows for sure exist, but she doesn't know the specific location.
However, mentioning it in front of the Eternal Night Empress, while Roger was inwardly complaining about Xana's terrible teamwork, he inadvertently thought of a few ways he was saving up his petty cash, which the Eternal Night Empress quietly noted in her heart.
Not the kind of embezzlement of public funds, just personal investments; the Eternal Night Empress definitely wouldn't care about that for a normal minister.
But was Roger a normal minister in the Eternal Night Empress's eyes? The answer was definitely no, so she decided she would go back and investigate these channels thoroughly and keep them in her hands.
Although this guy was already the bad type, with money, he would definitely become even more independent, more autonomous, and have more confidence to be willful.
After all, she wasn't a devil either, and definitely wouldn't cut him off directly, just wait for the day when this guy didn't listen to her, then she could add some "methods" to remind him.
Roger was still unaware that during the brief meeting, Xana had already laid a minefield on his way out.
Subsequently, truly adopting the posture of leading a sugar daddy, she took Roger and the Eternal Night Empress to tour the Dawnlight Army's base.
She really had no choice; this place was developing in an orderly manner, full of infinite possibilities, but it was also an ideal utopia built on sand.
The security issue was something that couldn't be resolved.
Once discovered by those churches, it would be impossible to resist the encirclement and suppression, and all efforts would be in vain.
This level of battle wouldn't hurt Xana, but the fate of the civilians who trusted her was unknown.
They might be killed as targets to warn other believers, or they might be tortured even more severely, becoming new Untouchables, as the lowest livestock in this world, with their descendants forever suffering torment and suffering.
She had been working very hard, exhausting all means and learning to manage the Dawnlight Army, which had won the hearts of the people, but time was not on her side, and the speed at which the church forces were gathering and reorganizing was too fast.
Just like the Azure Vine Empire faced the pressure of the entire universe, Xana's leadership policy, once exposed, was also regarded as an enemy by the powerful forces of the entire world.
"We have received the latest news that Pope Louis of the War God Church has been resurrected. He is extremely skilled in assassination and also has a grasp of the past foundation and connections. He is driving out the forces of other churches, and our next target is us."
Xana looked worried, approached Roger, hugged his arm pitifully, softened her voice, and her eyes turned red.
In that way, she was simply a helpless little girl abandoned by the whole world, with only you left, making her extremely lovable.
Roger's heart, however, sounded alarm bells. Xana, you came here to be a spiritual mentor, how can your behavior and actions be like a green tea b*tch?
If the Dawnlight Army, who simply regards you as another god, sees this, I'm afraid the revolutionary faith that has just been established will collapse in an instant!
But Xana's growth rate in harsh environments was simply astonishing. Looking at the hard lives of those at the bottom, she had unconsciously bet all her savings over the years.
In exchange, she had witnessed countless times the helpless posture of the poor. Having seen it too many times, she could naturally show nine out of ten points of it.
At the same time, her arrangements were thorough enough. She had said in advance that she would receive the Empire's honored guests, and that other irrelevant people should retreat to avoid causing conflicts.
In the entire Dawnlight Army, only Hardt knew that Xana was not from this world, but an invader who had previously defeated the War God Church, an infinitely confident and proud Imperial citizen.
Regarding her compatriots, Hardt was actually very inferior, and he also felt sad for the people of his world, fearing that they lacked education, did not know etiquette, offended the Empire's honored guests, and disrupted the mentor's important affairs.
So he personally led the team to stand guard, ensuring that his subordinates would never disturb Xana's meeting.