Chapter 466 The First Step of the Cultural Offensive
Tonya Clark is an Idar citizen living in the Stann Province and a believer in the Church of Light.
And long before the royal flag of the Basel royal family, the Poulsen family, was established, he had many interactions with the Idar people in his own life.
after all……
As the territory that once belonged to Duke Stein, before Idar's army conquered this land, this land, which was originally located at the southernmost tip of the Kingdom of Basel, had almost become a favorite testing ground for agents of Idar's CIA.
It is precisely because of the continuous infiltration of Idar agents and the surrender of the nobles in the south of Basel that the intelligence of the Kingdom of Basel is almost one-way transparent to the Principality of Idar!
A large number of Idar merchants, Idar agents, and Idar craftsmen walk this land, and large plantations run by the Idar Chamber of Commerce are spread across the entire coast of Stann Province.
From Duke Stein down,
The nobles of Basel, big and small,
During the candid exchanges with the Idar agents, I was impressed by the tall and majestic charisma of the Idar people, and I was willing to be a pioneer and "volunteer" to contribute to the development of the Principality of Idar.
so……
In a sense,
The Stein Province, located in the southeastern part of the mainland, is actually the one where the Principality of Idar has the strongest control and administrative capabilities among the newly established provinces.
As the first batch of civilians to come into contact with the ideology of the Principality of Idar, the local people have long been accustomed to the existence of the Idar people.
Many of them, including Tonya Clark, work directly for the Idar people and work on the plantations run by the Idar Chamber of Commerce.
Therefore, the local people will naturally not have any resistance to these Idar people who provide their source of livelihood.
In this era, there is no such thing as "loyalty to the emperor and service to the country", but an era where the view of "my vassal's vassal is not my vassal" is very popular.
Can,
Except for the Principality of Idar,
What maintained the rights and obligations between vassals and lords was only contracts and oaths.
There is a one-to-one correspondence between rights and obligations. Apart from this, there is no further relationship between lords and vassals.
And since even these nobles who attach great importance to honor and face have never had a decent national identity, ordinary people who even need to worry about food and clothing will naturally not have feelings similar to this.
So much so that a few months ago,
When Tonya Clark heard for the first time that the Idar army had captured the Royal City of Basel... his whole heart was filled with an unspeakable excitement.
no way,
As a civilian living in the Stann Province, his frequent contacts with the Idar people made him learn too many rumors about the Principality of Idar.
Although he is also a believer in the Church of Light, at the same time, he is extremely fascinated by everything about the Principality of Idar.
The Idar Chamber of Commerce implements the same work system as the Principality of Idar in the plantations it operates.
It was also in the plantation that made him sweat like rain that Tonya Clark realized for the first time... that civilians can also have dreams, and civilians can also enjoy the changes brought about by magic!
As Idar's army strode across this land, these dreams that he had never even dared to hope for before gradually became a reality bit by bit!
only……
As a believer of the Church of Light, while feeling the changes brought about by the Principality of Idar... Tonya Clark was also suffering in her heart.
To be honest, what the Idar Principality is doing now is actually very similar to the Kingdom of Heaven described in the teachings of the Church of Light, and even has some similarities.
However……
As the most powerful force in the eastern part of the empire, the Principality of Idar regards the Church of Light as its mortal enemy!
Even though Bruno Stuart, Duke of Idar, never knew it,
But……
But everyone is not a fool!
After the Idar army conquered this land, what was the first thing they did? Was it to take care of the nobles living in this land?
No! Of course not!
What the Idar people did first,
It means to surround all the churches on this land, pack up and capture all the clergy of the Church of Light who still remain on this land, and then throw them into the Bastille on the Valens Plains!
What is the prevailing religion in the Principality of Idar?
There is no doubt that it is Protestant!
Even Duke Idar himself is the guardian of the Protestant faith!
only……
For this church that was born in the eastern part of the empire, the Church of Light calls it rebellion and heresy!
It is precisely because of this that not only Tonya Clark herself, but also the vast majority of believers of the Church of Light living in this land have extremely complex emotions in their hearts.
On the one hand, they recognized the rule of the Idar Principality, but on the other hand, they felt very conflicted because their beliefs were contrary to the mainstream beliefs of the Idar Principality.
Although in Bruno's view, the more secularized Protestantism is obviously more in line with the needs of ordinary people.
But the problem is...
In many cases, especially in terms of religious beliefs, things that are not reasonable can be easily accepted by people.
Nothing else,
It is very difficult to get hundreds of thousands of people to give up the faith they have held for countless years.
Even though Bruno had many "scrubbing masters" like Mike on his hands, before that, the Principality of Idar had imposed extremely strict restrictions on the number of clergy.
In the past, on normal days, the scale of hundreds of people would actually be enough.
But if it were now...
All right,
Hundreds of people and hundreds of thousands of people,
Such an arduous floor washing task cannot be easily completed in a short time.
It is precisely because of this that
There are countless civilians like Tonya Clark who are suffering from the violent collision of two concepts.
As the Duke of Idar, Bruno Stuart regarded such a large number of church believers as an important factor that might affect the internal stability of the Principality of Idar.
indeed,
At this time, they are feeling the changes in the Idar Principality and following the instructions from the Idar Government Affairs Office, but... what about the future?
No one can be sure of what will happen in the future! No one can be sure!
…
October 7, 539 in the New Calendar.
For Tonya Clark, this should have been a very ordinary day.
However……
Just as he happily left his house and walked on the road to work on the plantation as usual, he saw a young newsboy running towards him quickly:
"Uncle Tonya, do you want to buy a picture album?"
The boy who was selling newspapers with a cloth bag was named Arthur, and he was the son of Aunt Stephanie from the next village.
Perhaps it was because he lost his father many years ago and was often short of food and clothing, so he was looked after by many people.
As Duke Idar decided to popularize spelling and reading education, little Arthur basically spent his mornings selling newspapers and his daytime reading.
Although life is still tight, there is hope at least.
only……
Little Arthur's performance today made Tonya slightly surprised.
"Oh, little Arthur, you know that Uncle Tonya can't spell, let alone read, and he has never wanted me to know those letters and words."
Hearing Arthur's words, Tonya couldn't help but smile and shook her head, and said to little Arthur: "What was said in today's newspaper?"
"This is not a newspaper! This is a picture album!"
Hearing this, Arthur corrected him very seriously.
"Picture album?"
"Well! There are no words in it. They are all very good pictures, telling many different stories. Even Uncle Tonya can understand them!" Little Arthur explained.
I...can actually understand it?
Little Arthur's few words seemed to inadvertently touch upon the vulnerability buried deep in Tonya's heart.
Are common people supposed to be skilled? Are common people not qualified to spell and read aloud?
in the past,
Of course, Tonya also had dreams when she was young, and she also wanted to learn spelling and understand the wider world.
However……
The cruel reality slapped him hard in the mouth.
Still learning to spell?
Are you even worthy of being a bastard like you?
During the years when this land was ruled by the Poulsen family, the lives of the common people could not be one of living and working in peace and contentment, but at least they could be suffering from hunger and cold.
In that past when even the most basic food and clothing became a luxury, how could the common people have the conditions to learn spelling?
Even if food and clothing are solved...
Spelling and reading are also noble,
And it is something that can only be learned by being a close servant of a nobleman.
How can a pariah like Tonya, who digs his food from the soil, have the right to expect this?
so……
Not being able to spell or read aloud is a regret hidden in the hearts of a large number of civilians.
And now,
Little Arthur told himself that he could understand the book!
Although it is just a picture album,
But in the eyes of civilians, the things carried by paper and ink have an unusual meaning.
"How much?"
Without much hesitation, Tonya dug into her pockets without hesitation.
This is not only to help young Arthur's hard life, but also to satisfy Tonya's own hesitation.
You know,
When the Idar people ask for wages, they will never exploit them at all levels, nor will they try every means to deduct them. Therefore, workers like him who work for the Idar people in plantations can often get a lot of money.
salary.
Buying a picture album out of impulse is not a difficult decision to make.
"It's not expensive at all, only three yuan."
Little Arthur paused and added: "Only the latest version of Idar dollars will be accepted, either coins or banknotes."
Hearing the words,
Tonya paid the money very quickly without much hesitation and took the album from little Arthur's hand.
Walking on the side of the broad road, Tonya opened the wordless book out of curiosity, and then...a series of consecutive pictures suddenly caught his eye.
Yes,
Due to its thorough knowledge of the province of Stein, most of the policies implemented by the Administrative Office of Idar in these newly conquered lands were first implemented in the provinces of Stein and Basel.
The cultural strategy personally pointed out by Bruno Stuart, Duke of Idar, is naturally one of them.
And the book Tonya bought from Little Arthur is a comic strip supervised by Bruno himself!
As a time traveler from the previous life, Bruno is well versed in various Internet writing routines, and he clearly knows how to make readers attracted by the opening content in the first place.
so……
The moment Tonya opened the cover, he fell deeply into this picture album without words.
There is actually nothing particularly outstanding about the content of the comic strip.
But in this era of extremely empty spiritual and cultural life, even a story that Bruno thinks is extremely boring or even childish is enough to make an adult like Tonya watch it with gusto and not take his eyes off it.
Fortunately, there are no telephone poles on both sides of the roads in the Principality of Idar. Otherwise, Tonya would have been bumped into a head full of red envelopes when she arrived at the plantation where she worked.
As for the content…
Take the third fairy tale in the comic strip as an example,
It tells readers a fairy tale that takes place in the forest
[In the distant forest, there live two bears, Brother Bear and Brother Bear. Under the protection of the Bear God, they live happily in the forest]
[However, one day, a man named Da Touqiang broke into the forest, and he wanted to cut down all the trees in the forest. 】
[In order to resist Big Touqiang’s attack, Brother Xiong and Brother Xiong prayed to the God of Bears, whom they had always revered. However... the God of Bears abandoned them because Da Touqiang promised to serve the God of Bears after cutting down the forest.
Build a safe place for the soul.】
[After losing the protection of the Bear God, Brother Bear and Brother Bear had to leave the forest, rely on their own strength to travel through mountains and rivers, and finally found their helper in the green grassland at the other end of the forest...]
From Bruno's perspective, the story is boring, childish, and even has too many elements...
but!
For civilians like Tonya who have never read books, this is enough!
As the first test of Bruno’s cultural strategy,
The content in the comic strip cannot directly point out the sins and ugliness of the Church of Light. It can only gradually convey relevant information through indirections.
Not just the bear god in this story,
The content in the comic strip combines various fairy tales, Greek myths and fables that Bruno can think of, creating various selfish gods and protagonists who achieve success through their own efforts.
And all this has only one purpose,
That is...
Quietly, the image of the god was brought down from the altar, thus breaking the thinking patterns of some people.
Gods are not necessarily perfect!
Perhaps in the previous life, the effectiveness of such an approach was minimal.
But,
here,
In this world,
The thoughts and cognition of civilians still need guidance, and a perfect way of thinking has not yet been formed.
As the first book that many civilians who cannot spell read, the contents in the comic strip will undoubtedly be deeply imprinted in their minds.
therefore,
Almost the entire morning,
Those indescribable images of gods in the comic strips are constantly lingering in Tonya's mind...