Krafft's Anomaly Notes

Chapter 330 Extra: How to Establish a Legal Armed Organization

In a context dominated by conflict and chaos, violence is the primary factor in judging the value of an individual or group and the foundation of everything.

To put it bluntly, the structure of most kingdoms is no more solid than that of joint venture chambers of commerce. At least the chambers of commerce often have common interests, while the kingdoms are essentially an alliance of military groups of all sizes.

These military groups generally had limited governance, so much so that many of them adopted a "colonial" style of rule - with castles and fortresses as the center, while ensuring control over transportation hubs and major towns, and subcontracting the rest to vassal knights.

The crude packaging and division of land, population and taxation resulted in a short-term rapid growth in standing professional military forces, but it seriously overdrawn territorial control.

The above embarrassing situations often make people feel that the lord is a powerless farmer who regularly harvests the fruits of crops growing freely on his own farm, rather than truly ruling the land and the people on the land.

Even if the people on the land were replaced, as long as the castle was not affected, it would not have much impact on the ruler. Farmers only care about whether the wheat grains are full, and they don't care about the variety of straw unless the straw changes to the point of hindering harvesting.

This means that among the lands that appear to be divided up like pieces of a puzzle among the various lords, there actually exists a huge power vacuum, and perhaps only the key towns under direct jurisdiction are regarded as real subjects.

Even these citizens were gradually rising up and seeking some autonomy from the control of the lords. Some of them accumulated wealth, while others combined with the church, and after gaining enough influence and force, they forced the local traditional forces to make concessions.

Thus, free cities were formed one after another, forming alliances with each other to consolidate their autonomy, and using their economic and taxation capabilities in exchange for compromise with great nobles or kings.

The whole situation was chaotic, but one key point was unquestionable - violence.

Violence is the foundation of the king's crown, the basis for the lord's rule, and the guarantee of the free city. Everyone needs it.

Various armed forces outside of traditional armies came into being, including spontaneously organized urban militias, mercenaries who accepted a variety of remuneration settlement methods, brotherhoods and security groups with complex composition but common goals, and anarchic armed forces such as rangers, bandits, and deserters.

Most of them exist objectively but are not widely recognized.

So, is there a flexible and legal organization that is recognized by mainstream opinion, has independent decision-making and management, independent financial operations, reliable military qualities, qualified ideological construction, is allowed to own territory, and undertakes special functions?

The answer is yes, it does exist, and those in need can consider establishing a knightly order.

Of course, this is not easy. The Knights Templar is not a simple army, but a special organization with multiple meanings on religious, military and political levels. It requires a large number of complex and difficult prerequisites and a lengthy and tedious but indispensable process.

In Kraft's opinion, the whole process is actually quite similar to applying to set up an activity club at university.

First of all, the society needs a positive and healthy purpose of its activities, and the Knights' Order usually also has a clear and at least lofty purpose and mission, such as defending the holy land, participating in wars, and resisting foreign enemies.

It is not impossible to undertake medical work and resist all acts that desecrate life, but it seems less concrete.

Secondly, as a "legal" organization, the society needs to be approved by the school, and the order must also be recognized by the church or secular authority. It is best to have both as a prerequisite for obtaining legal status and resources.

It was not too difficult with secular authority. The Duke of Westminster's statement was authorizing enough, and I believed no one would offend him. The church was a little more troublesome, but with the mediation of someone, a consensus was reached.

The bishops and archbishops were willing to grant permission but were unwilling to meet with him in person or even to hold a formal ceremony for the matter. It was Green's immediate superior, an old man who looked a little gloomy, who handed over the relevant documents.

After obtaining authorization, the next step is to formulate internal rules and recruit members. A successful knighthood needs to establish a reasonable organizational structure and norms, recruit members, and build its foundation brick by brick.

Kraft roughly decided to divide the structure into a medical civilian department responsible for research and translation of results, and a field department responsible for solving specific problems.

It was not too difficult to find the civil servant position. He could send letters to his colleagues at Port Wenden, Westminster Abbey and Rivers University. Even if his acquaintances themselves had no interest, they would recommend students for screening.

High-quality field personnel are the most difficult to find. Most of the people he knows who have a background in armed training have a low level of education, while those with a higher level of education generally have poor physical fitness and are not suitable for special work.

Fortunately, we now have a source. The church is willing to release people, and there are not many people who are willing to join. There are only twelve people, which is barely enough.

Surprisingly, a monk under Green who participated in the exploration of the lake suddenly decided to change to a new job. His joining may be more significant than that of five or even ten newcomers.

It was not enough to just fill the core layer. Several times more auxiliary personnel were needed, such as servants, craftsmen, etc., to take care of daily chores. Among these people, ordinary civilians could be hired for marginal jobs, but those with professional skills were not so easy to recruit. They had to pay a much higher price than normal to get them to follow.

The Knights also recruit volunteers, such as wealthy nobles, who will donate some funds and equipment. The Xiguo family is willing to make up for this part in exchange for sharing new potions and detailed usage guides.

Both the club and the Knights' Order must have their own venues. They can apply for venues from higher authorities or find them on their own. They may not be big, but they must be there.

The scale of the Wood family castle could not meet this demand, so the site was of course set up in the monastery donated by the church. The hilltop, including the surrounding land originally used to supply the monastery, was theoretically more private than private property, and they enjoyed all rights, from picking up dry firewood to taxation.

After solving the problem of event venues, it is time to think about how to obtain stable funding for activities. It is obviously impossible to accomplish anything by relying solely on grants.

Although the newly established Knights Templar currently possessed unimaginable wealth for ordinary people, it was still not very abundant for an organization, especially since the actual liquid funds accounted for a small proportion.

They need to develop their own industries and create industries with sustainable income to meet the daily supply and maintenance expenses which are definitely not low, as well as some expenses that will never appear in the open.

Finally, societies need to hold events from time to time to demonstrate their value to the student body, and the Order also needs to join certain necessary activities, such as participating in church ceremonies and providing medical and charitable services, in order to strengthen its influence, gain prestige and support.

Perhaps the first comprehensive medical institution could be named the First Hospital of the Knights Hospitaller, the Integrated Medical and Surgical Hospital of Rivers University, the Society for Tuberculosis and Rare Diseases Designated Teaching Hospital, or whatever, as long as you like.

He even thought of the logo, replacing the ring in the church emblem with a snake body and using the winged Ouroboros as the symbol, thus retaining the religious elements while also incorporating the familiar snake element.

To be honest, Kraft is not very good at these jobs. Compared with indirectly communicating with one person after another through countless documents and influencing their thoughts and behaviors, he prefers front-line clinical work, which is more practical despite being busy.

He was busy until an unexpected visitor arrived.
"You even poached Raymond from me! Raymond?!" Father Green pushed open the door of the clinic and slammed a transfer application on the table.

While he was still handling various approvals for Kraft in the church, the latter had quietly picked up his pickaxe and poached away one of the few talents in the church who could withstand the most difficult test.

This monk followed them to the center of the lake. He was not bewitched by the evil and twisted things underground. Instead, he suddenly decided to change his life plan and joined this gang that was full of problems no matter how you looked at it.

But the Knights Templar is a semi-church organization, and a monk's job change is at most equivalent to changing a department, not abandoning his faith, so in theory it is not objectionable.

Thinking that he had contributed a lot to the establishment of the Knights Templar, the priest wanted to immediately announce the severance of the partnership.

"Don't be like this, my brother." Kraft ignored Green's indignation and even changed his name, showing a sense of identity change. "Isn't it right to call him that? We are all lambs of the Father, we are one family, we are equal to each other, and no one belongs to anyone else. How can you restrict your brother's freedom of choice?"

"Who the hell are you, the Lamb of the Father?" Green slammed the table, causing the water cup to jump and fall.

The religious environment has been ruined by people like this. These days even medical school professors who practice strange magic can openly poach members from churches and call themselves church members. It is hard to imagine what will happen in a few years.

He was wrong, he thought he could tolerate the existence of a Kraft. However, when this guy wandered around with the title of a Knights' Mentor, claiming to be a pious believer certified by the church, he found out that he was wrong, very wrong.

"To be honest, I wanted to ask you and Wadin if you are interested in serving for a period of time. After all, it would be easier to get acquainted with the church during the initial period with someone familiar with its operations, so that we can spread the Lord's gospel to more people through the Knights' Hospital..."

"Kraft, stop." The priest interrupted the professor's endless sales pitch. "Just for the sake of our precious friendship, can you agree to one request of mine?"

"Of course, it's my duty."

"Pack up your people and things. By next Sunday, I hope your convoy will be out of sight of the Notre Dame Cathedral."

"But can't the church spire be seen from all over Dunling?"

"Yes, that's what I mean."

(End of this chapter)