Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 353 Local Preparations ([-])

"The Lord said that he loves the world, and he will teach us to be good..." Father Garcia, dressed as a coal miner, was preaching in a dim rural hut.He was wearing a set of dirty miners' uniform, which seemed to have been washed just after get off work.However, his spirit was extremely excited, and his nose was slightly red from tension and excitement.

This is a rural hut in the style of the east coast. Seventeen or eighteen people have poured into the bedroom with an area of ​​about [-] square meters. They looked at Father Garcia with pious and loving eyes, as if they were martyrs with fanaticism. generally.But their faces are also a little pale at the moment, which is caused by fear.Those night watchmen have been active recently, and many comrades in the mainland have been arrested and imprisoned.Some of them defected to the government, and some unyielding people were secretly executed. The atmosphere of white terror began to permeate the country.

Everyone is in panic all day long. On the one hand, they want to continue to stick to their beliefs, and they don’t want to go to pray with Father Oleg, who is willing to be a lackey of the government; on the other hand, they are also tortured by this dangerous and exciting underground behavior. He was about to go crazy. Recently, a believer in Orange Tree Township went to report to the government because of a mental breakdown. As a result, Father Sanchez was arrested by the night watchman. After that, there was no news of him. According to some vague news, Father Sanchez seems to have died. Buried alive by the Night's Watch.

"Father, how is my fellow villager Haman? Is he happy in Asunción?" A young miner asked softly during the break.He was accompanied by his wife and children, who seemed to be the owner of the house.

"Haman?" Father Garcia briefly recalled this seemingly familiar name, and after a while he finally remembered it.That young man fled to Asunción with the help of the Jesuits in order to pursue a free faith and life. Unfortunately, when he sneaked across the border, he was discovered by the gendarmerie from the East Coast. Far away, he was arrested by the military police of the people from the east coast.Later, according to an insider in the gendarmerie who sympathized with the Jesuits, the young man confessed to several accomplices who helped him after being tortured. Later, these people were all secretly arrested and shot without trial.

Such a harsh situation makes everyone here have to be very careful, but they do not intend to give up their beliefs.Father Oleg, the lackey of the government, only talks about law-abiding, caring nonsense every day, and it is said that his appointment is not legal.In fact, Bishop Pedro, who was appointed by the East Coast people, was only appointed by a government agency called the Office of Religious Affairs, and has nothing to do with the Holy See.How can this convince these devout believers?

Although the standard of living on the east coast far exceeds that of the old continent, the imprisonment and control of religion is also deeply rooted.The village chiefs, militia directors, accountants (and tax officers), and patrol officers in each village are almost all of military origin, and are deeply influenced by the upper-level military officers on the east bank. Many of them have betrayed their beliefs; or at least their beliefs Not firm, because they often go to the clergy appointed by themselves on the East Bank to carry out various religious activities.

Under the management of these people, one can imagine the local religious atmosphere on the east coast, not to mention the impact of those eastern religions that are condoned and funded by the government.The beliefs of ordinary people at the bottom are the same thing. If there is not a good religious atmosphere around them, and there are many temptations (such as conversion to get money), these people will fall into the arms of heretics sooner or later.And those people only care about trivial things like what they eat today, how much money they can make tomorrow, and have no spiritual pursuits at all—if sending children to East Coast schools in exchange for rewards doesn't count.As a result, they seldom respond to the Lord's call, or simply turn a deaf ear to it.There are even some completely depraved people who covet the bounty of the people on the east coast and choose to betray the Lord's people.

All this made the pious believers in front of them extremely angry and sad, but it also strengthened their determination to escape from this hell.Although the life here is rich, the law and order are excellent, there is no exploitation and wanton abuse of the nobles, there is no unjust war, no matter the lineage is meritocracy, and the government fairly gives everyone learning opportunities that are difficult to obtain in Europe, but they still I can feel the strong oppressive atmosphere here.Yes, freedom is suppressed here!In a small village, there are a few officials from the East Coast, not to mention those large and small towns full of police, secret agents, gendarmes, and troops.

Those vulgar Livonians, Cossacks, Tatars, and Ming people in the army are the loyal dogs of the East Bank government. These heretics who believe in Eastern religions brutally suppress every cultist they think. mercy.This broke the last illusion of many people. Therefore, some of them fled to the neighboring Sao Paulo, Paraná and the mission areas set up in the Negro River Valley with the help of the Jesuits to pursue their faith. and personal freedom.Of course, this process is also extremely dangerous and bloody. The East Coast government declares these people to be "non-citizens". Once the organizers are captured, they will be shot, and the coerced followers will also be sentenced to hard labor.

"Haman lived happily in Asunción." Father Garcia said gently, with a faint smile on his face, looking very holy under the candlelight. "Haman was recruited by a noble nobleman as a entourage, and he was paid 4 riyals a day. He was even recognized by his benevolent, upright, noble and elegant master for his excellent work, so he was very special. It is an honor to commit Haman and his descendants to the service of his family for generations to come."

"But... but people on the east coast say that those nobles are vampires. They don't give the bottom people the opportunity to be educated, and they don't give ordinary people who are capable but have no background a chance to stand out. The descendants of slaves are just slaves for generations. They can't complain, they can't even question, they are all gray animals..." A childish voice suddenly rang out from the crowd, and they turned their heads, only to find that it was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy.

"Shut up, Giovanni!" Father Garcia pulled his face down and scolded very unhappy: "You go to the East Coast school too often! You don't have to go to that machine tool vocational school anymore, When you go back, write down all the things you have learned these days and give them to me. From tomorrow, you will stay at home and prepare to wait for the time to return to Asunción. Your mind is full of dangerous thoughts, and you are close to falling. Not far away."

The boy's face was a little pale, and he murmured for a long time before he said, "If I suddenly don't go to school, I will be questioned by the village head. I can't explain it. Besides, I really like learning about machine tools..." Speaking of In the end, the boy's eyes were filled with tears.

Father Garcia's face became even uglier.Just when he was about to continue to reprimand the boy Giovanni, suddenly, the dog outside the door barked heart-piercingly, which seemed so piercing in the quiet night.Moreover, amidst the barking of dogs, there seemed to be a faint sound of chaotic footsteps mixed in.

"Not good! Gendarmerie!" Father Garcia was shocked and angry, his face pale.

There was only a "bang", and the weak wooden door was violently smashed open by several big men from the outside. A large group of soldiers with bayonets dangling in the air rushed in, shouting loudly for them to squat on the ground with their heads in their hands.Several tall and strong men just wanted to resist, and in an instant one of them was shot and killed by an officer who rushed into the house, and the remaining two were also stabbed into the chest and lower abdomen with several bayonets, and fell powerlessly to the ground. on the ground.

Outside the door, Mao Desheng, who was riding on a tall horse, looked at the hut surrounded by soldiers, frowned and said, "You asked me to bring the team here in the middle of the night to do this? This kind of small scene arrest is your military police. The army is good at it, why let us army do this dirty work?"

"Didn't I rush over here just after receiving the information? I haven't had time to go to the village to mobilize the gendarmerie, and there are too many people here." Bao Chenan, who is the head of the newly formed gendarmerie in China, rolled his eyes. With his meticulous hair, he said helplessly.In fact, although the gendarmerie, a transitional force from the former disciplinary police, has intimidated all kinds of hostile elements in many places, its establishment is not large. There are only a few hundred people in the whole country. Just a dozen or 20 people.Therefore, when they dispatched to arrest prisoners, they often needed the cooperation of local garrisons and patrol police.

While the two were chatting, a group of ashen-faced and lifeless prisoners slowly came out under the threat of soldiers with bayonets.Except for a woman and two children, the hands of the rest were tied up. Although they had firm beliefs, they still seemed a little panicked at this moment.Some wept softly, others kept their lips tightly shut, and some glared at the soldiers around them.

Bao Chen'an walked back and forth in front of these people with his hands behind his back, and the rustling of his military boots made of cooked cowhide stepped on the ground, which also caused these people to endure the torment in their hearts.

"One piece of good news, one piece of bad news." Bao Chen'an suddenly stopped his steps, turned to face them and said, "The good news is that the policy has changed, you don't have to be executed, the price is that you will be exiled to Gushan Port and Jinshan Port .The bad news is that the leader is not included in the pardon."

Bao Chen'an reloaded his 1633 flintlock pistol while talking, and when he finished speaking, he suddenly pulled the hammer back, and then put the barrel on Father Garcia's temple, and said softly: "Farewell, Garcia Father Sia, your student Sanchez sends you his greetings."

"Don't...please don't kill me." Father Garcia's body was limp on the ground like mud. His tears and nose were streaming everywhere, but he still seized the opportunity to say to Bao Chen'an: "I'm still useful. I can help you all." Trap the Spaniards who helped them escape, and I can also provide the mole lurking in your gendarmerie..."

(End of this chapter)