Chapter 287 The frightened public opinion representatives
Grossian huddled up and sat on the hard wooden bench, swaying with the shaking of the covered carriage.
Occasionally the wheel would bounce off a stone or a dent, and Grosien's skinny body would briefly rise into the air and then fall heavily. He felt as if the bones in his butt were about to crack.
In this covered carriage, eight people were sitting.
Wearing a high-end trimmed cloak is the mayor of Sour Gua Town. He wears a three-cornered hat and a neatly trimmed beard. He leans at the front of the carriage and closes his eyes to relax.
To his left sat three low-level monks in hooded robes, discussing in anxious murmurs.
Opposite the low-level monks are representatives of ordinary villagers such as Grosien. They all wear skullcaps or straw hats and linen blouses.
These eight people have different social classes, but their identities at this moment are the same, that is, they are the public opinion representatives of their regions.
From assembling to getting on the bus, these people quickly divided themselves into circles according to their origins, and they gathered around to chat, rarely communicating with each other.
However, these low whispers soon stopped amid the sound of horse hooves coming from far and near.
The public opinion representatives straightened their bodies, and even the mayor opened his eyes and listened nervously.
Some of them even put their rough hands on their waists, just shy of pulling out the dueling sword.
A few days ago, a covered carriage was intercepted by robber knights, and the representatives who came to attend the Faithful Assembly of Fort Joan of Arc were all hanged from trees.
They were not sure whether this was the robber knight coming to attack.
"Old Salava, what's going on?" the mayor asked tentatively.
The groom's voice came from outside the canvas tent: "It's okay, it's the adults of the Holy Gun Cavalry Brigade. They are patrolling."
Seeing that the groom was not hurt, he even chatted with the cavalry for a few minutes. sentence, these public opinion representatives breathed a sigh of relief.
The Holy Gun Cavalry ran past the side of the carriage. Looking at the ten Holy Gun Cavalry who disappeared into the smoke, a few of them finally lowered their guard.
"It's rare that he didn't come to ask for money." The mayor wiped the cold sweat from his forehead without leaving a trace and said calmly.
"If anyone dares to exempt us from tithing for a year, he knows he doesn't like money." The groom said cheerfully after hearing the exchange between several people.
"If you don't love money, there's no one in this world who doesn't love money. They just don't lack money." The mayor snorted coldly.
"Why?" Grosien asked subconsciously.
The mayor sat up straight on his stool: "I heard the news that after this group of heretical rebels defeated the Imperial Company, they began to plunder the monastery and knight's manor crazily around them.
If we finish it off one by one, we already have 80,000 gold pounds. Do we still need our 8,000 gold pounds in taxes?”
“What else is there?”
"Nonsense, let me tell you, a caravan passed by our village a few days ago and told me that hundreds of knights and priests were executed at Fort Joan of Arc a day!" The priest named Squier patted his chest, " The execution platform is full of ownerless holy talismans!"
"Isn't that what they deserve for burning Dean Juano and getting the blue blood wine?" Grosien asked. .
Squier seemed to have been stepped on: "Was the one who burned Dean Juano to death the bishop killed by the Salvation Army? The one who made the blue blood wine was killed by the Salvation Army. Nobles?"
"They, they..."
"Holy Father——" A traveling priest suddenly couldn't bear it and cried bitterly: "I said I can't be a priest. You had to buy me a priesthood. Now I have obtained the priesthood, but I have to go to Castle Joan to die.”
"Relax." Listening to the increasingly chaotic discussion behind him, the groom explained helplessly, "You are just a low-level monk. Unless you commit a crime, you will not be liquidated."
Grossian then comforted: “My cousin in Ashheard Town told me that nothing happened to the monks in the monastery, but the scoundrels, abbot and agents were executed.”
“Oh, it’s your cousin. Now I have to believe it," Squire retorted.
Being snatched away by Squire, Grosien lowered his head in shame, but his companions beside him helped him speak:
"You said this because you sympathized with those devils. Be careful I go to the Salvation Army to sue you for sympathizing with the devil!”
Squire jumped up as if he were sitting on a sewing needle. He took two steps forward and pointed at the person who spoke, almost sticking his fingers into his eyes: "Don't accuse someone of their innocence out of thin air. Be careful, I'll go to the Bishop and tell you..." "Mr. Bishop..." interrupted Squier's speech irritably. The mayor stretched out his right thumb with a cold face and turned it down, "He's dead! ”
Squire’s voice seemed to be blocked by something invisible. His Adam’s apple was throbbing but he couldn’t say a word.
Sat down dejectedly, leaning on the hood of the carriage, he looked awkwardly at the grass in the middle of the dirt road behind the carriage, without saying a word.
These public opinion representatives all come from remote areas of the Kush territory, otherwise they would not have arrived near Fort Joan of Arc so late.
They had little contact with the Salvation Army, and the closed conditions in rural areas and manors made the circulation of information extremely slow.
For them, the lord above them changed from Dardenne to a rebel to an imperial company and then to a rebel within half a year.
Nowadays, rumors are spreading outside. Some people are crazy about saying good things about The Salvation Army, and some are crazy about saying bad things about The Salvation Army.
In general, judging from their simple values, the rebels must be the evil party.
But when the Holy Gun Cavalry rushed into the manor and asked each manor to send two to three public opinion representatives, the villagers still sent representatives honestly.
The Imperial Order Company was defeated, and the extraordinary knights were hunted down like dogs by the Salvation Army. Can they still resist?
As for Horn calling them over, there was naturally a reason.
Occupying an area is not like capturing a city in the game, where the entire territory is in your hands.
So far, the area where Horn's orders can be conveyed and executed is only from the area around Castle Joan to the Wild Spider Forest.
To be specific, there are 5 towns, including Fort Joan of Arc, 89 manors, and about 100,000 people.
This accounts for about one-third of the entire Kush territory and half of the population.
As for the outside area, submission is verbal and nominal.
In order to implement the subordination relationship and turn it into a real rule, this gathering of believers was held.
If nothing goes wrong, these public opinion representatives will be the managers of their regions in the future.
Horn currently does not have enough talents to manage such a large amount of land and population, and it is difficult for him to manage even these 100,000 people.
Therefore, the Salvation Army plans to adopt the old method of "killing the boss and supporting the second, and letting the locals govern the locals" for territories that are not currently under actual control.
After a new batch of credible management talents are admitted in the future, the hereditary bureaucracy will be changed to an appointed bureaucracy.
At this level, it is necessary to cut accurately, set up a target that is easy to distinguish, and find the second child that can be supported.
As for the second-in-command, he must be chosen from among these people.
According to Horn's request, each manor must have two to three public representatives, including a public farmer.
Each town's public representative must include a laborer.
Finally, the structure of public opinion representation in each region is similar.
The public representatives of the manor are a traveling priest and a public farmer, and the public representatives of the town are a citizen, a craftsman and a laborer.
Although Horne is severely cracking down on the liquidation of church forces, the liquidation is about classes and forces, not individuals.
For Horn, these low-level clergymen who came to shore by buying the priesthood have become objects that can be won over and reformed because of their ungodliness.
It's just that these public opinion representatives were deceived by half-truths and half-false rumors, and were full of fear for the next few days that would change their fate.
After being in constant panic, this group of people finally became the last group of public opinion representatives to arrive on the evening of March 11.
The next day was the official convening of the Believers’ Conference.
(End of this chapter)