April 12, 1174, dusk in the Western City, the king's audience room.
One month has passed since the founding ceremony of the new religion. Todd sat at the table, looking at the drop-shaped earrings in his palms, and absently listened to the monks' reports.
"Your Majesty, please take a look, this is the agenda of the first meeting of Protestant ministers."
Looking at the thick stack of paper handed over by Friar Joe, Todd glanced at it casually and returned it to the other party: "You and Moore are responsible for this matter, and I will not interfere."
Joe touched the "Mediterranean Sea" above his head and showed a troubled expression.
Todd sighed: "Regarding Protestant affairs, if there is any uncertainty, it can be determined through democratic resolution. By the way, have you received the donation I asked Huggins to allocate to you?"
"We have already received the donation from the palace, but Your Majesty, you donated so much money at once, it is really..."
Todd waved his hand indifferently: "I have already stated my attitude during the ceremony. The Protestant Church will not charge taxes, let alone sell indulgences. All funds will be obtained from donations. Now, the sect has just been established, and the funds are definitely
If you are in a pinch, just treat the money I donated as start-up capital."
After listening to Todd's words, Friar Joe wiped the corners of his eyes in emotion.
"One more thing, I want to ask you, how is the registration of Protestant believers?"
"In the past month from the end of the Protestant ceremony to today, the citizens of Muxi City have already crossed the threshold of the cathedral. Even though we have added 300 new lay believers responsible for registering religious membership, and printed tens of thousands more registrations,
Application forms are still in short supply.”
Todd nodded and asked: "Leaving aside the citizens of Muxi City for the moment, are the kings and nobles enthusiastic about naturalizing as Protestants?"
"As of yesterday evening, royal members of twenty-seven kingdoms have applied to join the Protestant faith, and this number is increasing every day."
"Twenty-seven? Where are these kingdoms located geographically?"
"Most of them are kingdoms of the Western Diocese, and some are kingdoms of the Middle Diocese."
After hearing the monk's narration, Todd understood the current situation.
Those kingdoms close to Muxi City naturally do not have much burden to join the Protestant religion; but those kingdoms close to the Church of Heavenly Father and the Orthodox Church still have some geographical concerns when converting to Protestantism.
Todd said to Brother Joe: "In terms of absorbing believers, increase the number of workers, expand the influence, and strive to convert more people to Protestantism. If funds are tight, you can submit an application to Huggins again, and I will make another donation.
"
Watching Friar Joe leave the room, Todd began to think about the next expansion pattern of Protestantism.
Relying solely on the spread of religion and the transmission of faith will inevitably lead to extremely slow transmission. In the final analysis, if you want to compete with the Church of Heavenly Father and the Orthodox Church for believers, you still have to rely on coercive power.
However, the traditional way of war is definitely not feasible.
After all, Protestantism and the other two sects share the Bible as their program and are the same religions. The rash use of troops will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among believers and panic in the secular kingdom.
Thinking of this, Todd recruited Huggins: "If I remember correctly, there is an external operations team under the Muxi Security Bureau?"
Huggins nodded and said, "Yes, the captain is the 'Lone Wolf' Randall."
"Randall, such a familiar name."
"Your Majesty, have you forgotten? He is the man from Lone Rock City who has the power of "regeneration". In order to create public opinion, you specially trained him as a mutant hero. Later, after several wars in Muxi City, I made him
Together with some other more active aliens, we joined the Muxi Security Bureau as an external action team."
Todd asked with great interest: "Tell me, what have they done?"
"They once served as the surrounding reconnaissance and security work for Muxi City. In order to protect the fleeing aliens, Randall led a group of like-minded aliens and secretly launched multiple assassinations and obstructions against the heresy trial army, ensuring that
The smooth escape route; during the Silver Ring War, they organized themselves, penetrated into the barbarian coalition, and brought back first-hand intelligence; and during the battle on Beidao..."
Todd smiled and said: "Tell that Randall I want to meet him."
Huggins nodded: "I'll go find him now."
Two hours later, Todd summoned Randall in the kingdom's garden.
The latter's appearance, in Todd's opinion, still vaguely resembles that of the past, but through years of hard work, the man who once cried bitterly in the confessional has grown into a qualified warrior.
"His Majesty."
Randall bowed deeply to Todd.
Pointing to the chair opposite, Todd, who was sitting in the pavilion, said, "Randall, if I remember correctly, you were originally a hunter?"
"Yes, I am in Lone Rock City and make a living by hunting."
"What about your team? What are they good at?"
"Kimberly is proficient in medicine and poisons, Cheryl has a high level of concealment and detection, and Barbara is a genius in speech and disguise..."
Hearing a familiar name, Todd temporarily interrupted Randall's speech: "Barbara? Is it the same name or someone else? I remember she seems to be from the Golden Skylark Troupe..."
Randall nodded and confirmed: "Barbara is an actor in the Golden Skylark Theater Company."
Huggins said to Todd strangely: "Your Majesty, don't you remember? The alien team led by Randall used the Golden Skylark Troupe as a cover to conduct operations in other countries through touring performances."
The latter touched his forehead. Huggins had indeed presented him with the structure of the Security Bureau before, and introduced each department and even each member. However, when he got the thousand-page report,
, Todd just looked at the front point and completely lost the courage to continue reading.
"It would be better to use the Golden Skylark Troupe as cover." Todd gently pressed the tabletop and said to Randall, "I want to give you a special mission."
Randall stood up straight and said excitedly to Todd: "Your Majesty, as long as you give the order, even if you let us assassinate the Pope..."
Todd waved his hand: "At this juncture, if the Pope of Taylor City dies, it will be a big trouble for us... The task I want to give you is to use the opportunity of the troupe's performance to express your gratitude to the Church of Heavenly Father.
In the cities under their control, they spread Protestant teachings, exposed the corruption and crimes of other sects, and found opportunities to incite rebellion among believers."
Todd then said to Huggins: "As for funds, equipment, and helpers, if Randall needs anything, you can directly allocate it to him."
Seeing the two people in front of him nodding in agreement, Todd was about to explain some details of the operation in detail when a rapid and loud bell suddenly spread throughout Muxi City, interrupting his words.
Looking in the direction of the bell tower in surprise, Todd asked loudly: "What's going on?!"
Huggins frowned: "This is an emergency military alarm. Generally, such a bell will only sound when there is a major military threat to the kingdom."
Todd was about to ask another question when a knight of the Guards hurried over: "Your Majesty, Lord Cumberland requests an audience."
Todd waved his hand and asked Randall to retreat first, while saying to the guard: "Let him come over."
Watching Cumberland and several adjutants of the Knights hurried into the garden and came to him, Todd asked in confusion: "What's going on with the bells in the city?"
Cumberland and the lieutenants looked at each other, and everyone's face was filled with tension and anxiety. The difference was that Cumberland could still maintain his due composure, and it was not inappropriate for others to describe him as "earth-colored".
Too much.
Todd raised his voice: "What on earth is going on?!"
Cumberland took a careful look at the king and sighed: "Your Majesty, there is good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"
Todd rubbed his eyebrows and said in a deep voice: "Let me tell you the good news first."
"The good news is that Pope Alexander of the Church of the Father is dead."
Hearing this sentence, Todd opened his eyes wide and shouted incredulously: "Dead? How did he die?!"
Cumberland showed a smile that was uglier than crying: "I'm scared to death."
The rare expression on the other side made Todd smile bitterly: "The Pope was scared to death? Are you kidding me?!"
Cumberland swallowed: "Your Majesty, here is the bad news... The Ayyubid Empire in the south launched a hundred thousand troops and captured the Holy City in the East last month..."