Chapter 45: Worthy of being the Merchant of Venice (Part 2)
Although the Archbishop of Venice rebuked him sternly and loudly, it is very regrettable that for the "pseudo angels" who are essentially atheists, the so-called "wrath of God" is probably not as good as the collection of debt collection companies across time and space. horrible.
"...Haha, please don't use such weak words to bully us, stingy Venetians! I can openly admit here that we have abused God's grace, so what? You If you really have the ability, go to God and accuse us! Not to mention whether you can find a way to litigate, the legal fees of the lawsuit alone are already more than one million ducats according to the official price, not to mention the routine bribes given to archangels at all levels, plus I'm afraid I won't even be able to hold back ten million ducats..."
In response to such feeble threats and questions from the Archbishop of Venice, Wang Qiu continued to talk nonsense without changing his face or heart. There was no real God supervising him, "...In fact, in Rome and Aveni, Weng, there are many such unscrupulous priests who, under the banner of the Lord, have collected countless money from believers, and some often coerce believers to sacrifice women for their pleasure, but then turn around and plausibly do so. They scold us to abide by poverty, be content with devotion, and not deviate from the Lord's right way. They even want to treat us like slaves! Faced with such bastards who can't talk to each other at all, we have to reluctantly impose divine punishment and use The holy thunder and flames burned them all to ashes, and even one cardinal suffered divine punishment, but His Majesty the Pope could only praise us for killing well! "
"...Are you threatening us? This is too disrespectful to your dignity as an angel!" The Archbishop of Venice's face was so gloomy that it seemed like it could drip water, "...Furthermore, even though you are the lords of angels, You shouldn’t hurt God’s servants so rashly!”
"...Really? I don't think it's inappropriate for us to punish our own servants. Moreover, they are a terrible group of traitors and usurpers who steal the master's money, refuse to do things, and even try to send the master back." Wang Qiu curled his lips and replied disdainfully.
——Well, you really take the phrase "loyal servant of God" that the priests often say as the truth!
All the Venetians rolled their eyes for a moment - although the clergy of the church always modestly call themselves "servants of God", the credibility of this statement is probably the same as that of later generations of officials calling themselves "public servants", which is purely verbal politeness. That’s all. Since later generations of officials could call themselves public servants, they could actually regard themselves as the masters of the people; medieval priests could naturally call themselves servants of God, amassing wealth and power in the name of God, and at the same time regard themselves as God's masters in their hearts, and act unscrupulously. Using the god's brand to steal the last copper coin from the old woman's hand.
Of course, such rebellious thoughts can only be thought about in their minds, and they must not be spoken out casually. If gods really came down to earth, it would be their turn to sit on the wax - that's why Doraemon and the others had to burn so many brains when they saved the world as angels to earn points and raise money to pay off debts. The die-hard priests came: These arrogant people really dare to use angels as servants!
However, these Venetians who had promised well before but were reluctant to pay when things came to a halt were also not good people. Seeing that these stingy Venetians were still hesitating and refusing to take out their money, Wang Qiu felt that he was getting more and more impatient, "... Damn it, why are you so happy to pay filial piety every year?" Giving a large bribe to the Pope, asking the Pope to do nothing, just in exchange for Venetian The autonomy of religious appointments in Sri Lanka; but treat us, the angels who actually performed miracles to save your lives, so harshly? One million ducats, in exchange for the future of your city, this deal should be very fair, you stingy people? It’s time to repent!”
——The Republic of Venice was a rare country that separated politics and religion in the Middle Ages. Relying on the generous bribes and military intimidation of the popes by successive governors, the power of appointing bishops in Venice was taken back to the government of the republic from the beginning. The pope can only make decisions on the lists submitted by the government of the republic. It's just a signature ratification. Even the tax-free privileges and extraterritorial rights enjoyed by the church in various European countries are not available in the Republic of Venice. In this regard, Pope Gregory XIII once lamented: "I am the Pope in any country, but not Venice." Because of this background, Venice gathered many heretics or breakers. Even during the most intense era of religious disputes and witch trials in the Middle Ages, there were few burnings for heretics in Venice. Guarantees of rights regarding religious freedom were maintained until the Venetian Republic was destroyed by Napoleon.
"...So what? Saving the world is the mission given to you by God. You should not have asked us for any money. To bribe you is to blaspheme God!" A young and arrogant priest shouted, "... It’s you fallen angels who should repent!”
"...Fallen? You, a little mortal, dare to say that we are degenerate?! How ridiculous! It seems that you are determined to get nothing, right! Hum, okay, it's up to you, but angels have such a small advantage. It is not so easy to take advantage of! The divine grace spread by my companions now can become divine punishment in the next moment! By then you will understand how happy and easy it is to die from the Black Death! ”
After hearing the cry of the young priest, Wang Qiu's face turned completely gloomy. He casually took out a tube of T-virus concentrate from the world of "Resident Evil", took it to the Archbishop of Venice's nose and shook it, "... Look, should I use this new plague, which is far more terrifying than the Black Death, to turn all the residents of Venice into man-eating zombies, or should I summon a pile of flaming zombies? The meteorite will destroy Venice in the fire like God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah? Or will it set off a tsunami and let your city be swallowed up by the rough sea like Atlantis? Haha, I heard that Venice was destroyed? There is a sea wedding festival, and you have to marry the sea every year. Now you can get your wish and go to the bottom of the sea to serve the sea god..."
While he threatened fiercely, he had already begun to make calculations in his mind - should he launch a medieval zombie crisis?
"...Enough! Lord Angel, please calm down. In fact, we have already prepared a sum of money. One million gold ducats cannot be collected in a short time, but we still tried our best to collect some gold and silver jewelry. , precious furs and works of art, I hope it will make you happy..."
Seeing that the verbal exchange just now, instead of being able to grasp the handle of this unscrupulous angel, almost completely angered this greedy angel who had no compassion at all, and brought devastating disaster to Venice. Andrea. Governor Dandolo had no choice but to cough dryly and admit defeat for now.
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——The fifty-fourth generation Doge of Venice, Andrea. Dandolo was the first "cultured" governor in the history of the Republic of Venice. He once studied at the University of Padua. He is a descendant of the "Blind Dandolo" governor who led the Fourth Crusade to change the course and conquered Constantinople more than a hundred years ago. He can be regarded as a descendant of a famous family, but Unfortunately, things changed as soon as he took office, and natural disasters followed one after another.
The first was the powerful earthquake that occurred in Venice on January 25, 1348. It is said that this earthquake destroyed Padua, Giogia, and half of Venice. The earthquake was so powerful that it could be felt as far away as Milan and Rome. . Even the Adriatic Sea experienced a rare intrusion of seawater, causing most of Venice to be submerged for a time. The city was suddenly filled with shipwreck garbage, drifting debris and refugees running around, plus bloated... The floating corpses of people and animals made the isolation measures arranged by the government against the Black Death completely ineffective, and the whole city was polluted.
Next, naturally, there was a vigorous outbreak of the Black Death - this curse-worthy Black Death not only wiped out half of the citizens of Venice, but also in this tragic situation that was no different from the end of the world, as the market With the sharp decline in the labor force, Venice’s financial and The trade industry has also suffered a devastating blow. A large number of bank loans without repayers have turned into bad debts, and goods that cannot find buyers are piling up in warehouses. Even merchant ships cannot recruit enough sailors to go to sea, and no one is available. The operational galleys were left to rot on the shore.
Governor Andrei was deeply worried about this. He was worried that this unprecedented plague would turn Venice into a city of death. He was also worried that even if Venice survived the ravages of the plague, it would collapse due to the collapse of the commercial chain. However, But it is difficult to find effective countermeasures.
However, the sudden arrival of these "angels" gave the Doge and his officials not only a glimmer of hope to save the citizens of Venice, but also a wonderful shortcut to revitalizing the Venetian economy - if these angels could be The Merchant of Venice instigated the move.
Therefore, the reason why the Governor of Venice brought a group of people to mess around with Wang Qiu and resist payment was not because he really wanted to default on the debt, but because he was unwilling to give money too readily - Venetians who are accustomed to spending small amounts of money to take advantage of big things, Deliberately trying to use the one million ducats promised to pay The huge amount of gold coins became a carrot dangled in front of these angels, making them work desperately for the Venetians for this huge bait... Just like the cunning Venetian merchants who used to manipulate the Christian kings, Eastern Roman emperors and Arabs behind the scenes. The Sudanese people did exactly the same thing.
——Those bad bosses in later generations who like to control the labor force by arrears of wages to migrant workers to prevent them from leaving midway probably have similar ideas.
Unexpectedly, after more in-depth contact, the Venetian businessmen who thought they had no integrity were shocked to find that these angels seemed to be aboveboard and holy, but in fact they were even more devilish than devils. They lacked mercy. He also despised God and was even more shameless than the most evil and greedy Pope. And he seemed to have a hot temper. When the Venetians hesitated and refused to pay the bill quickly, this angry angel actually threatened them with a series of disasters that would destroy the city. I really don’t know how heaven cultivated such guys!
What is even more frightening is that they may really have the ability to easily destroy Venice...
In the face of the crushing absolute power, any tricks are meaningless and will only turn into jokes and farces of overestimating one's capabilities. The proud Venetians are extremely disappointed to find that the powerful motherland they are proud of is in front of everyone. I'm afraid the angels are really just ants that can be trampled to death at will.
——Obviously, the original script could no longer be sung. Governor Andre had no choice but to admit defeat decisively and temporarily gave up his plan to delay payment. He first came up with a considerable sum of gold and silver to appease the other party who seemed to be on the verge of death. Explosive anger. Next, the authorities of the Republic of Venice have just urgently raised about 50,000 gold ducats, more than 100,000 silver grossos, some gold and silver vessels, precious stones and amber, rare furs, and several exquisite items from the ancient Roman and Greek eras. The small statues were packed in large sturdy wooden boxes and carried to the center of the chapel of St. Mark's Cathedral by a group of muscular young men like water. Wang Qiu, who was almost furious just a moment ago, also snorted and put away the zombie virus. He called Doraemon on the radio and asked him to carry the [automatic pawn machine] and come over to prepare for inspection.