Seeing Veronica, Alex took off his military cap, revealing a head of white hair.
"Excuse me, Ms. Veronica."
With a warm smile on her face, Veronica pulled Soshyan's large chair back a certain distance.
"Should be done."
Breakfast is very simple. Each person has a bowl of oatmeal, plus some dairy products, eggs from certain animals, and freshly baked bread. Knowing that Alex doesn’t drink alcohol or tea anymore as he gets older, it’s specially prepared for him.
Had a glass of warm water.
Then Soshyan personally peeled an egg for Yarik who only had one hand, which surprised Yarik. On the one hand, he didn't expect that a giant's fingers could be so flexible. The egg seemed to be the size of his thumb.
On the other hand, an Astartes did this for himself, and no one would believe him if he told him.
"These days have been really hard."
Looking at the cooked egg as white as jade that was handed to him, Alex stood up and carefully held it between his fingertips with his only remaining hand.
"You are so kind."
After eating two bites, Yarick suddenly put down the half-eaten egg.
"Commander-in-Chief, there is actually a group of people. Although this expedition has done some good, they only sent a bunch of fanatic believers who are difficult to command to cause trouble on the front line. In fact, they have huge wealth and materials in their hands. They have always been
They don’t get a dime, and no taxes are collected from them.”
Hearing what Yarick said, Soshyan immediately realized what it was about.
State religion, only state religion.
However, the state religion is the topic Soshyan is least willing to touch. After all, in the empire's political and legal systems, the state religion is a very independent force. Although it was deprived of its military power and political status during the Apostasy Rebellion,
have been weakened, but their economic status has never been shaken. No one can force the Ecclesiarchy to hand over the "dedication" of believers to the Emperor, not even the Space Marines.
And from a practical point of view, in the vast territory of the Human Empire, the state religion is one of the few things that can connect humans on different planets within several light years. It has a more stable effect on local places than the institutions and governors of the empire. Any
Small fluctuations will have a huge impact on the local area, which is why Soshyan would rather demand unlimited resources from the nobles than turn his attention to the state religion.
If the nobility is a mound, then the state religion is a mountain, and it is also a mountain that the empire has to rely on. The same is true for the expeditionary army.
"Although my job is all in the military, I can also learn from the local officers of the Maelstrom the huge influence of the state religion here. In the agricultural world of the maelstrom and the primitive world, a considerable part of the cultivated land and farmland belongs to the state religion's relief.
Tian', in addition, although the teachings of the state religion do not allow them to own specific businesses and industries, many noble families in the Maelstrom have deep connections with the state religion. Many members of the family are senior priests of the state religion. These families are also called
The priest family has huge power and controls a large number of religious groups, many of which are extremist sects. In the name of trial, they occupy territory in the hive city and force religious donations, while in the name of relief and salvation they control
In many food processing factories in the world, although part of the output is indeed used to relieve believers, the destination of most of the products is unknown. At the same time, I also heard some stories about the hugely profitable sacred relics trade of the state religion. By peddling those
It is said that the guardian of the holy relics can earn enough to buy a world's worth of wealth every month. The state church does not pay tithes, war taxes, or even trade taxes and business taxes.
However, there are countless believers struggling on the verge of death."
Although during the Apostasy Rebellion, the original corrupt system of the church was ended, Sebastian drastically reorganized the state church, accepted new ideas, and personally promoted frugality and self-restraint. The Illuminati-dominated philosophy was changed to win the favor of the emperor.
As the ultimate goal, it emphasizes the spiritual purity of believers, and takes compassion and self-sacrifice as its creed, rather than the unrestricted material and political demands of the past. However, as the aftermath of the apostasy era gradually subsided, and Sebastian and others
As the religious reformers passed away one by one, it didn't take long for many of the old bad habits to come back again. The self-censorship mechanism of the state church established by Sebastian gradually became ineffective, and the decadent clergy who had been struggled and purged began to fill the state church again.
of all classes.
After more than four thousand years of ups and downs, the state religion seems to have returned to the old path before the apostasy era.
As Soshyan said, everyone knows these things, but no one seems to be able to do anything about it.
Listening to Yarick's narration, Soshyan calmly took a sip of water, put down the cup and said softly:
"I understand, I will talk to the patriarch."
Alex nodded and stopped talking.
After breakfast, Soshyan told Yarick about the previous battle in Angstrom. Yarick was stunned for a moment. After all, his main business is land battlefields and he is not proficient in naval battles.
.
However, he still heard some clues.
".So after taking Angstrom, it means that we have gained the strategic initiative? Now as long as we solve the enemies of Badab, we can launch a full-scale attack on the Red Pirates and burn the war to the end.
The area occupied by heretics, but this also means that we have to fight on the enemy's home ground, and the battle will probably be more intense and the casualties will be even greater."
Soshyan nodded.
"Commissar Yarick, do you think more troops are needed?"
After thinking for a moment, Alex said:
"There are currently about 300 million troops in the fifth war zone, 400 million troops in the sixth war zone, more than 500 million troops in Badab war zone, and about 200 million troops in the third and fourth war zones. Judging from the current situation,
, it is basically enough, but the progress of the fifth and sixth war zones is not very fast. The war zone led by Arash launched an attack on the Lamptan system four months ago, but it has not yet completely captured the enemy stronghold.
, the Salamanders' attack in the Crow System was not very smooth. Due to the heavy concentration of troops on the front line, the biggest problem in these two theaters now is logistics, and the continuous harassment of small groups of Red Pirates has also brought great difficulties to logistics and transportation.
Due to the pressure, the escort fleet cannot protect all routes. According to the original plan, only by occupying the Lamptan System and the Crow System can we march towards the Mag Star Cluster, the core of the Red Pirates."
"You think the problem on the front line is not troop strength?"
Alex nodded.
"The problem should not be about troop strength, but more about logistics and coordination."
"I understand. I will meet with the Terran envoy later. Political Commissar Yarek, please come too."