Not only because the core area of their rule, the Asia Minor Plain, is the hardest-hit area of the Saint Ether Church, but also because Saint George’s largest stop in the Asia Minor Plain is the royal capital of Valesta. According to the other party’s advancement speed, it will take less than a month.
He will arrive at the royal capital.
Before he arrived, the entire royal capital's believers seemed to be noisy and organized themselves spontaneously, preparing to hold an unprecedented sermon in the royal capital of Valesta, so that they could live up to the name of the royal capital.
If it were in the past, the Lancelot royal family would have taken countermeasures long ago.
Either hold a secret meeting with the senior officials of the Holy Ether Church to control the situation, which will not only make the Holy See look good, but also prevent the royal family from being embarrassed, and prevent the royal capital from falling into too much chaos.
Either the royal family directly intervenes to prevent the Holy See from going too far here, and lets everyone know who is the master of this city. Even if the Holy See is a powerful dragon crossing the river, it must be honest when it comes here.
With.
When the regent princess Sophilia takes charge, she will definitely choose the second option, because her attitude towards the Holy See has always been strong.
Not only will this not change because the Holy See has a new pope, on the contrary, the attitude should be tougher than usual, because this is the first confrontation between the royal family and the new pope. If you bow your head and give in at the beginning, you will be in trouble in the future.
Life will be even more difficult to survive. If you are not careful, you will let the divine authority override the royal authority.
But this time, the royal family did not react for a long time. Instead, it showed a hint of acquiescence.
Because the owner of the royal capital Valesta has been replaced by Prince Laurie from the regent Princess Sophia, although there are still more than four months until his coronation ceremony, as the core of the Lancelot royal family, here
Sophilia has completely handed over the ruling power. In order to avoid suspicion, she has tried to interfere as little as possible in the government affairs here.
But after the snowy news came, Sophia Liya still couldn't sit still.
"Sister Wang, why are you here free? Ever since Count Augustine came to the royal capital, it has been difficult to see you." Prince Laurie started teasing as soon as they met.
Life makes people mature.
This sentence could not be more appropriate to apply to Prince Laurie.
He began to officially take over the power, which lasted only a short year.
But it transformed him from a young boy into a man.
This kind of maturity is not just as simple as deliberately growing a beard to make his face appear more mature.
It is reflected in your daily words and deeds, especially your self-confidence.
Experienced people can tell the difference at a glance.
Another biggest change is that the fear of the Princess Regent is far less severe than before. In the past, Prince Laurie would never have the guts to make such a joke.
This became especially strong after getting closer to Enid.
I don’t know if Enid influenced him, or if love made him mature faster.
It is an open secret that Sophia Liya and Sean are close, and Prince Laurie is also very aware of this.
He was happy to see this matter come to fruition.
Especially after taking a tour of the Yongye Army in the name of attending the Scholars Conference.
He has no reason to stop him, whether it's public or private.
Yu Gong, the Yongye military leader is developing rapidly. Although the population is a little smaller, the territory is only much larger than other military leaders. If they can marry with him, the Byron Alliance will have a military leader out of thin air. This kind of
A bond is much stronger than a verbal oath.
Even without the regent princess Sophilia, in order to win over the leader of the Yongye Army, he would take this step sooner or later.
Now that Sophia Liya has a personal relationship with Sean, the founder of the Evernight Army, that is really the best thing.
Another advantage is that the Yongye Army Leader has just emerged. Although it is ambitious and enterprising, it has a vast territory and sparsely populated areas.
In the short term, we should focus on building our own territory, and not have a peep at the territory of the Lancelot royal family, thereby threatening Prince Laurie's rule.
In private, over the years, the Yongye Army has done everything possible. Although Prince Laurie and Sean did not meet many times, the impression they left was generally good and somewhat personal.
Prince Laurie also hopes that his princess will find a good home.
"Your Highness." The girl next to Prince Laurie saluted the regent princess with full courtesy. This person was none other than Enid Bryan, the saint of the Holy Ether Church and the princess of the Bryan family, the ruler of the Flower Language Plateau.
"Yeah!" The Princess Regent, who had a bit of a smile towards Prince Laurie, had an out-and-out cold face when it came to Enid, with the words "dislike" written on her face.
In politics, the regent princess, who has struggled with the old foxes and young foxes of various major families for many years, has already perfected her ability to talk to people and ghosts. She can even drink and chat with her enemies, and rarely loses control of her emotions.
If a situation manifests itself, most likely it is done deliberately, just for the parties concerned to see.
"If there is nothing else, I will take my leave and come back to visit another day." Enid is also a human being and knows that she is not welcomed by Sophia Liya, so she stays away from her every time.
An idea, as long as I take care of Prince Laurie, what can you, an expired regent princess, do to me?
Even if Prince Laurie was indeed raised by you, it will never change the fact that you are just his sister, not his parents, and you cannot help him make decisions on many things.
Enid's appearance of being neither humble nor overbearing, and full of etiquette, made the Princess Regent seem a bit unreasonable.
After Enid walked away, Prince Laurie immediately showed his dissatisfaction and said: "Sister Wang is a bit harsh to Miss Enid. This is not like your usual style of conduct."
"You know very well why I did this." Sophia Liya said with a straight face, "I'm not here to argue with you today. You should have received the news about the recent changes in the Holy See.
What measures are you going to take regarding the pope coming to the royal capital to preach?"
"Why does Sister Wang always want to push the royal family and the Holy See into opposition?" Prince Laurie did not directly answer the question of Princess Regent Sophia Liya. He said with a bit of helplessness on his face, "The royal family and the Holy See are on the same land.
After so many years of development, it has been difficult to distinguish one from the other. The result of the conflict between the two is not only harmful to the interests of both parties, but also harmful to the interests of the people below. Why not find a way to peacefully coexist and develop together?"
"Peaceful coexistence? Common development?" The Princess Regent frowned and asked, "Is this your idea? Or was it instilled in you by Miss Enid? You are no longer a child, do you believe in this innocent idea?
Have you learned all your royal history in vain?
Most of the ancestors of the royal family had relatively lenient policies towards the Holy See. As a result, they took advantage of the tax exemption granted by the royal family, blatantly embezzled the royal family's land, and helped the believers under their rule to evade taxes. At the beginning, I found out from their names
You should know exactly how much excess land there is, but that's not all.
When all the land is under the name of the Holy See and no longer pays taxes to the royal family, how much say will the royal family have in this land? At that time, the world will only praise the name of the pope, but not know who the king is.
The total output of this land is certain, and it will either fall into the hands of you and me, or it will fall in his hands. It is a joke for both parties to want to develop together."
When Princess Regent Sophia Liya delivered a long speech, Prince Laurie flashed a trace of impatience on his face. He wanted to interrupt several times, but he held back.
Obviously, this is a repeat of the same old tune. Sophia Liya has said the same thing countless times, and his ears are almost calloused. He obviously does not agree with this view.
After waiting patiently for Sophilia to finish speaking, Prince Laurie said: "What Sister Wang said is all in the past tense. Miss Enid was discussing this issue with me just now. Pope St. George and Pope Delt
Different, because the true God they have been waiting for has sent a messenger. What they need is the faith of believers. This kind of thing is of no use to our royal family. Pope St. George is willing to actively cooperate with the royal family to carry out a second inventory of the Holy See’s land, and will the Holy See’s previous years
All excess land occupied will be returned to the royal family."
"What are the conditions?" The beautiful face of Princess Regent Sophia not only did not show any joy, but became even tighter.
She did not believe that the new pope was so kind in giving away the benefits in his hands, and he was not afraid of causing rebellion among the believers below. There were huge interests involved.
How strong the obstacles were to her in tracing the Holy See's lands at the beginning will be how strong the resistance to Pope St. George will be.
It involves not only the lowest level citizens, but all of them are petty profits. The real big boss lies with the nobles and nobles. They use the whole manor, the whole village and town to name themselves under the Holy See to avoid the need.
Taxes paid to the Crown.
A trace of hesitation flashed across Prince Laurie's face, but he finally said bravely: "I need to be baptized by Pope St. George in public, respect the Holy See as the state religion, and help them develop believers throughout the alliance. By then, all faiths will belong to the God of Truth.
, all believers return to the royal family.”
"What?" Princess Regent Sofilia finally changed her tone and said, "Are you going to accept someone as your father?"
In the Holy See of Saint Ether, baptism is a very sacred matter and is not an initiation ceremony in the conventional sense.
It is a soul guarantee and soul asylum ceremony presided over by a senior priest, which mostly happens to nobles and nobles.
The soul-to-soul relationship between the celebrant and the baptized person is somewhat similar to the relationship between father and son, so they are also defined as godfather and godson.
Therefore, it has extended a relatively unique political significance.
It was in this way that Grand Duke Patram established a relationship with the Holy See of Saint Ether and introduced Saint George into the Politburo led by Man Yu.
St. George, who has now become the Pope, is just repeating the same trick, but this time the standard is higher. He is no longer an archduke with incomplete powers, but the nominal co-king of the Byronic Alliance.
Sophilia knew that Prince Laurie had changed a lot during this period, and he showed too much favor towards the Holy See. As the future ruler of the Lancelot royal family, this was a very bad phenomenon.
But it was only to marry the Saint of Saint Ethe, and from now on he would have some inclination towards the policies of the Holy See.
When he matures and feels the threat to the throne from the Holy See, his attitude will naturally change and he will understand that everything he said is correct.
But he never expected that Prince Laurie would be so charmed and influenced that he would actually prepare to merge the Lancelot royal family and the Holy See into one.
"What Sister Wang said is too serious, it's just a superficial ceremony." When Prince Laurie said these words, he was obviously a little guilty, but he was instantly overwhelmed by the bright prospects. "Although there was some sacrifice in this process, but
The harvest is even greater. This is by no means as simple as one plus one equals two, but far greater than two. The royal family and the Holy See joining forces will make it easier to control the other princes of the military."
Regent Princess Sophia forcibly restrained her anger and used Prince Laurie's hypothesis to counterattack: "The idea is indeed very good, but you answer me the most basic question first, will the king have greater power at that time? Or the divine power?
When there is a conflict between the two, will the divine authority obey the royal authority? Or will the royal authority bow to the divine authority?"
Faced with this question that went straight to the core, Prince Laurie was obviously stunned, and then smiled and said: "Didn't I just say it? The Holy See is responsible for faith, and the king is responsible for human rights. As long as you strictly abide by this, what Sister Wang said
What you worry about won’t happen.”
"The human heart is far more complicated than you think. If you think this way, others who have not seen you think the same way. What I am worried about will not only happen, but will definitely happen." The regent princess said in a positive tone, "And you
How to divide faith and royal power? By doing this, you are making the two more unclear and more difficult to rule in the future. Putting this issue aside for the moment, once the Holy See is established as the state religion, how are you going to deal with the threats from the Conclave of Witches and the Twin Peninsula?
The pressure? Is it possible that you still expect them to surrender obediently and allow themselves to be corroded and suppressed by the Holy See?"
Prince Laurie said nonchalantly, "The Twin Peninsula has long become the private property of the Secret Society of Witches. They are the dominant family there. Apart from sending meager supplies to Broken Blood Castle every year to maintain their relationship, have they ever cared about it?
A partial order from the royal family? Why should Sister Wang care about their attitude? I would say, this is actually an opportunity to put pressure on them. Unless they dare to provoke a war, they will have no choice but to actively win over the royal family."
Sophilia's brows were already knitted into knots and she said, "Aren't you afraid of involving the entire alliance in the flames of war?"
"War is never a one-sided matter. If others are not afraid, what do we have to fear? It will not be too late to consider this issue when all the Byron Alliance returns to the royal family." Prince Laurie replied lightly.
Prince Laurie's answer made the Princess Regent somewhat suffocated. In his words, war was as simple as drinking cold water, lacking the most basic sense of awe.
"This matter is not a child's play. It will involve the centuries-old foundation of the royal family and the interests of countless people. Just because you set out with good intentions does not mean that others will respond with the same mentality." Regent Princess Sophia saw Laurie.
The prince seemed to be getting more and more determined as he spoke, so he could only take a roundabout way, "And Pope Delt died in an unknown way. Before talking to the new pope, he was fine. After the talk, he died suddenly on the spot. Except for the new pope,
, there is no one else at the scene, this matter is not innocent no matter how you look at it, you must not put yourself in a desperate situation just because you trust others."
"I'm not a child. I know how to grasp the appropriateness here. Moreover, this matter is just a fantasy and has not been completely finalized. Before that, Pope St. George will send a special envoy to the royal capital to discuss the matter.
Prince Laurie replied with a smile, "No matter how bad the situation is, I will still have Sister Wang behind me to help me!"
Prince Laurie's last half-joking words made the regent Princess Sophia silent for a while. After a while, she finally spoke: "From the moment you take over the throne, the royal family will become your responsibility and no longer mine."
, you have your choice, I have my life, I can't help you carry it on indefinitely, no matter what choice you make in the end, and what the consequences are, you need to bear them yourself. Before making any decision,
Please also think about it carefully. You are not a prince now, but the king of the Lancelot royal family. Every major decision you make represents not only yourself, but also the people under your rule. When you are no longer
When you think about them, they will no longer be loyal to you."
After saying these words, Princess Regent Sophia turned around and left without even saying goodbye, ignoring Prince Laurie's repeated greetings.
When Princess Regent Sophilia walked away, Enid appeared next to Prince Laurie like a ghost, and said expressionlessly: "It seems that Her Royal Highness the Princess really doesn't like the Holy See, and she doesn't like to see you and the Holy See."