On August 12, 1778, the Union of Churches and the Ministry of Religious Beliefs of the Kingdom jointly promulgated the "Decree on the Restriction of the Operation and Preaching Rights of Illegal Church Organizations such as Prayer Meetings for the Spirits, Druidism, etc.", referred to as the Religious Decree, which prohibits the
The seventeen religions that arrived have established churches in the Western Continent to spread their beliefs. Violators will be arrested by the alliance of religious groups and various countries.
On June 5, 1855, a supplementary decree to the Religious Decree was promulgated, extending the scope of restrictions from the seventeen religions mentioned in the decree to all religions in the Western Continent except the seven major Orthodox churches.
Corrections must be completed within one hundred and eighty days. If the time limit is exceeded, coercive measures will be taken.
On October 25 of the same year, a "Notice of Time Limit for Ordering Corrections" was delivered to Lin Ge.
The person who sent him the notice was Patton, the patrol policeman in charge of security work on this street. He was an affable young man who always had a smile on his round face, so he was loved by the people in this neighborhood.
He was nicknamed "Round-faced Patton", but at this time, this friendly round face had an apologetic expression.
"I regret to inform you, Mr. Ringer, that there are less than two months left before the rectification deadline stipulated in the decree. Mr. Ronning of the City-Parish Council is sincerely waiting for your reply, and has asked me many times to this end."
Bureau. We hope you will sincerely understand our difficulties and make a decision as soon as possible to avoid exceeding the deadline."
After that, he pressed down the dark blue police hat with his hand to express his apology.
Ringer's eyes carefully examined the notice in his hand, and finally settled on the date, slowly frowning: "It is naturally the responsibility of a good citizen to abide by the laws, but I have never heard of this law before.
.Why did your notice wait until the deadline was approaching before it was delivered to me?"
This sentence made Officer Barton startled, but soon a smile appeared on his round face: "Maybe there is some misunderstanding, Mr. Ringer. As early as the second week after the decree was issued, I had already sent the notice
In your church, but you seemed to be away on business at that time, so your sister Metien received you on your behalf. As for the specific situation, I don’t know."
Metien?
Lin Ge frowned even more after getting the answer. He recalled in his mind his sister's abnormal behavior in the past few months, always hiding what he was doing, and even slacking off on preparations for the pharmacist qualification exam. He was confused.
, but now it seems that the answer is in our hands.
"I will take care of this matter." He folded the notice, nodded to Barton and said, "I won't ask Mr. Ronning to wait for me for too long."
A look of relief flashed in the young police officer's eyes. It seemed that the urging of the city and parish committee in the past few days had really put him under a lot of pressure. Now that the matter was resolved, he had no intention of staying any longer. He said goodbye to Ringer and prepared to continue his work today.
However, before leaving, he gave Ringer a blessing: "You don't have to worry too much, Mr. Ringer, you are a good person and you will definitely have good luck."
Good luck to good people?
Ringer stared at his leaving figure, pursed his lips and said nothing.
***
Tianxin Church is located at No. 13 Songshi Street, Holy Cross District. It is a two-story building with a sloping roof. Because it needs to take into account the responsibilities of a residential building, it does not have the solemn style of traditional religious buildings. The walls are painted white.
, it cannot conceal the fact that it is old, and mottled cracks have appeared in some places.
Ringer washed two apples in the small kitchen behind the chapel on the first floor, peeled off the peel, cut the pulp into beautiful shapes, put it on a plate, carried it to the outside of his sister Metien's room on the second floor, and knocked on the door.
After receiving a response, he opened the door and entered.
At this time, Metien was reviewing the information related to the pharmacist qualification examination at the desk. Linge saw the short pink braid on the back of her head flicking, and she looked in a good mood.
Probably because he felt that his plan was successfully hidden from his brother.
Ringer walked over, put the plate on the desk, and said to his sister: "Take a rest, Metien, eat some apples first."
The girl who was studying diligently raised her head when she heard the words, her green and clear eyes filled with joy: "Are they the ones I bought at the garden market? It is said that the origin can be traced back to Liufende Mountain in the Baicheng Republic, and it is the purest variety.
?Also asked the King of White City to launch a war for it?"
"No." Ringer shook his head and corrected: "The origin can be traced to, and the origin is, these are two different concepts. That vendor is just trying to sell the goods."
"Okay." Metien was obviously a little disappointed with what he said, but she still chose to accept it. She picked up the fork, put a piece of cut fruit pulp into her mouth, bit it lightly with her teeth, and the sweet juice suddenly filled her mouth, making her
She suddenly showed a happy expression.
Ringer also ate a piece of fruit pulp, not to taste the taste, but because he knew that if he didn't eat it, Metien would make the same request later. She had always been keen on sharing beautiful things with her brother. While enjoying the fresh and sweet fruit pulp, Metien asked curiously: "The day after tomorrow is the customary seven-day ceremony. Ringer, aren't you going to prepare to host the ceremony?"
The "Sacred Scripture" of the Holy Goddess Religion states that the great goddess created a world in seven days, so this cycle has an important meaning among the followers of the goddess, so the worship once every seven days is derived, that is,
Seven-day ritual. Coincidentally, the seven-day cycle also coincides with the current AD calendar. According to this, Metien’s father, Mr. Yang Ke, the first resident pastor of Tianxin Church, believes that the original AD calendar was formulated.
Astronomers are most likely followers of the goddess.
Ringer did not answer immediately. He chewed the crispy and sweet pulp in his mouth carefully. After swallowing it, he replied slowly: "No need to prepare."
"Why, was there an accident?"
"No, it's just that there is no need to prepare anything in the future."
The fork froze in mid-air. The girl turned back stiffly, her brother's calm face reflected in her eyes. She struggled to squeeze out a smile: "I, I didn't know you would make such a joke before, Ringer, scare me."
One jump..."
"It's not a joke, Metien." Linge's eyes were calm, and his light golden eyes were too clear, making people feel as empty as a mirror. He said softly: "In the morning, Mr. Barton sent me a deadline for rectifying the church.
Notice: According to the supplementary regulations of the "Religious Decree", Tianxin Church must be closed within the specified period and will no longer be eligible to preach publicly. I have decided to abide by the decree and am preparing to discuss it with Mr. Langning of the Municipal Parish Committee.
Strive for a more favorable condition..."
"What conditions are comparable to the church that our father left us?" Metien suddenly stood up from his chair. Although he was a head shorter than his brother, he still looked straight at him without fear and argued with reason: "This
It is the only inheritance we have that belongs to our father. Have you forgotten his last wish before his death, Ringer?"
"I remember very clearly that Mr. Yang Ke's last wish before his death was that we have a stable and peaceful life." Ringer said softly to his sister: "I am responding to his expectations."
"This is no reason, Linge! Even the "Religious Decree" is not qualified to take away the last inheritance left by our father to his children from our hands. We should appeal to the city and parish committee, even if the matter is brought to the Kingdom's religious faith headquarters
, and we must definitely keep Tianxin Church!”
"You have a very tough attitude, Metien. I never knew you had such a side." Linge was indifferent to his sister's suggestion and didn't even blink. The girl raised her chest slightly: "This is a necessary resistance.
!"
"The Spiritual Prayer Society also fought, but they failed. As a result, the Druids, the Holy Spring Monks, and the Fertile Earth Sect were all deprived of their religious power by the "Religious Decree". Do you think we are the Holy Goddess?
Can the influence of the church be comparable to that of the above-mentioned churches?"
The girl was immediately speechless.
Not to mention comparable, it's simply a world of difference.
"So, I'm not here to ask for your opinion, Metien. For those big shots, our opinions are never important. I just have to tell you a truth."
The elder brother's hand gently covered the soft pink hair, and his voice became deeper: "Learn to accept reality."