Our family is in decline

The church's defection was not too unexpected to Lance. He even liked it. After all, it was not easy to tear it apart before and drag it into the publicity, so he still had some reservations.

Now that the villains have jumped out, Lance naturally has no scruples and starts to dig up the old accounts, whipping them in public opinion and publicizing what they have done.

The church has a strong control over the grassroots. There are religious factors in this, but Hamlet has no religious soil, so it is not suppression or anything.

It is because they can read and read. The world they come into contact with is no longer the world drawn by the church, but another world written by Lance.

Lance has long promoted the literacy policy, open classes, night schools, schools, and open libraries. Now if you want to get promoted, you have to read and read and keep learning.

Of course, there is another very important reason, that is, they can now eat and wear warm clothes, and have time and energy to think. When a person learns to think, he will find all kinds of things wrong and is not so easy to be controlled.

After all, why do they believe in the church? Isn't it just to want a better life? Now for many people, this place is heaven. When it comes to their own interests, they are more resistant than anyone else to being taken back to feudal religion.

Of course, there are still some fanatics with fixed mindsets, because the church is everything to them.

Especially the older ones, who have spent half their lives brushing merits. Now you tell me that worshipping those charlatans is useless? The sunk cost is too high. How can they believe it?

When the church stood up and declared that it did cause some commotion in Hamlet at that time, but it was quickly dealt with. After all, the basic base was not shaken. On the contrary, it hated the church more because of the fanatics' troubles.

What to do?

Only kill!

They want to see the Holy Light, then Lance will send them there, after all, he has always been helpful...

But in this "witch hunting" atmosphere, Martin actually came here to find Lance again.

"The church has declared Hamlet a dark place, why are you still here?"

"I failed to convince them, but I can join Hamlet on behalf of the Mendicant Order and follow the rules of the Lord."

Martin really bowed his head this time, and was very decisive, worthy of being a veteran.

Lance did not look ecstatic in the face of Martin's surrender, but instead hinted in a teasing tone.

"Want to bet on both sides? Is it your pope's idea or yours?"

"They can't agree, but our faction has never done such messy things. Those who can execute the oath are all very pure in faith. I can't watch those filth die with the holy light. I can't be a sinner.

My title of "Martyr" is still useful. I can come forward to declare that they are the blasphemers. The mendicant order supports Hamlet. They are all good warriors and priests."

Martin naturally wants to hedge the risk by standing on Hamlet's side, but in fact he is also full of pressure within the mendicant order. You know, most beggars are fanatics. Not everyone recognizes his flexible style, and even calls him a traitor.

Lance didn't mock them. This is indeed the best result Martin can achieve.

Why can many aristocratic families continue for thousands of years? It's because they never gamble, but invest in all parties and never put their eggs in one basket.

Now, facing the choice given by Lance, the church directly cuts off its own faction, supporting the nobles on one side and Hamlet on the other. Even if Hamlet wins, he can gain a certain amount of power and will not disappear completely.

But didn't they ask Lance if he wanted to?

"No need. Maybe we can talk before the church ends, and I don't mind. But now that you have made your choice, it's not something I can change."

Lance can't agree with Martin, let alone let them join the army to serve.

Although the more friends the better, many things are bad because you are in me and I am in you. Once you join the battlefield, whether it is treatment or fighting, there will be connections. If there is any credit, Lance will have to admit it with a pinch of his nose.

And who knows whether you are really surrendering or wanting to make trouble? You must know that those who can keep their oaths are basically determined fanatics. Can they really let it go? Lance can't bet on their ideas.

It's not easy to get rid of the influence of the church. He doesn't need to let them take credit.

Otherwise, after a while, they may say that they won by relying on the mendicant order, and then it will be hard to explain.

"I won't admit you, but we do things based on evidence. If you, the Mendicant Order, have really never done anything dirty, you shouldn't worry. You just need to restrain the people below from participating in the war and wait for the war to end. I won't touch you then, unless you violate the regulations."

In short, Lance doesn't care whether the Mendicant Order surrenders or not. It's good enough to stay honestly. Of course, if there is trouble, we will clean it up together.

Martin has lived for so many years, but he has never met such a weird person as Lance.

Although the Mendicant Order is not as strong as the mainstream, it has a much better reputation in the minds of ordinary people, and its appeal is also stronger.

If it gets support, the holy war may not be fought, and there may even be a large number of people defecting.

But he just refused. Whether it was defense or disgust, the only thing that can be determined is that the church is finished.

It's powerless to turn the tide...

"I'll show you a way out. The ancient blood descendant behind Totnes is an opportunity for your friars."

Lance suddenly said this, causing Martin to fall into deep thought, and he left this place directly.

The silent candle priest on the side couldn't figure out what this meant and asked the monk for help.

"The lord of Totnes is actually a blood descendant! But what does the lord mean by this?"

"Take the blood descendant slowly, and explained with a gloomy expression, "Taking down the blood descendant can prove that those who support the nobles are all degenerates."

There are some things he didn't say. Lance obviously wants him to use the blood descendant to consume the diehards in the friars.

At the same time, if he does this, he will completely tear off the last fig leaf of the church, which is equivalent to letting him be the villain.

What a sinister guy...

On the other side, Lance found Greendale, who had just finished hibernation, and naturally talked about these things just now.

"Will he really do this?" Greendale's condition also recovered as the weather warmed up, and her mental state was obviously much better.

"Now his only way out is to cut off. As long as he can expose that Totnes is behind the Bloodline and the church and the empire are cooperating with the Bloodline, then the current church can be defined as the Fallen, and they can accumulate reputation."

"I feel that they may not be able to beat them. After all, there are three powerful transcendents around the Scarlet Rose, not to mention that no one has even seen her take action, or those who have seen her are dead."

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, the dead are not my people. Those fanatics are trouble. Dedicating themselves to the Holy Light to eradicate the evil of the Bloodline is their best fate."

Lance has no interest in these. He came here to find Greendale for this matter. He gestured: "It's about time. Come with me. This matter still needs to be resolved."

Greendale knew that Lance was talking about the mountain barbarians, but wasn't there something more important at this time?

"Shouldn't we deal with the coalition forces first?"

"A war of this scale requires too many materials to be mobilized, and the muddy roads after the snow melts slow down the progress. Neither the transportation of materials nor the marching can be fast. Even if they have already started to fight, it will take time.

But the mountains are a hidden danger. We must solve this problem. Otherwise, when the war comes, the mountains will be our rear. If the beast disease spreads, it will be easy to cause problems. We must take advantage of this time to solve it."

Lance didn't care. If Reynald, Baldwin and others were in chaos because of his departure, it would be in vain. Anyway, he left a mark in Hamlet, and if there was anything, he would just teleport back directly.

Since Lance said so, Greendale had no objection, but asked a question with some surprise.

"Should we call Boudica and Laura?"

"No, Boudica shouldn't bear these, and now the chicks have grown up and need Laura to tame them, so they can't leave."

In theory, these two people are from the mountain barbarians and are very suitable for this matter, but Lance refused after a little consideration.

Why was Boudica expelled from the tribe?

Because she escaped during the battle, and the origin of that battle was that the tribe believed that the empire was invading.

It's hard to say what Lance is going to do now. Anyway, that kind of scene is not suitable for her to follow. Life without a clue is good, without too many troubles.

The Grindel tribe is gone, she doesn't have these messy concerns. Compared with the mountains, she is now a Hamlet in terms of position and identity.

A carriage drove quickly towards Bastia. Even if there are roads repaired and maintained by prisoners, they can only ensure the passage of the main road. Some auxiliary roads or small roads have become muddy due to the melting of winter snow. You can imagine the road conditions of most of the empire.

However, with the efforts of those prisoners, the construction of the main roads in the area has been completed in winter. In the past, it took two or three days to go from the city to Owendo even if you took a carriage. Now it takes less than a day to run freely, and it only takes one day to go to Bastia, which is farther away. This is because Lance visited the villages and towns along the way.

There were no abstract things, but everyone's mental state recovered in a winter of rest.

Spring is here, and the scene of vigorous vitality and everything competing is still in front of us.

Bastia is a big city, but it was destroyed by the cult leader. When they took it back, it was already a hellish misery.

Later, people were sent to take over and sort it out. After a winter, most ordinary people were finally settled down. The surrounding towns were taken over naturally after the fall of the nobles.

With Lawrence, the old man, Margaret, and a large number of affairs officers, the takeover was finally completed after a winter.

Of course, the army stationed here is the reason why there is no chaos. Most of the problems after the church turned against the church were the believers left in these recovered places.

Sometimes a smooth transition means that there will be some hidden dangers without cleaning up. This is why Lance is so wary of the possibility of the church's restoration.

Because many believers actually say they don't believe, but it is difficult to change their ideas from childhood to adulthood. If Martin, the old man, really takes the opportunity to sneak in, it is likely to bury the disaster.

Lance says he respects and blesses people, but he is extremely hostile to any religion, because anyone who has a little understanding of human nature will know that faith can easily be exploited by ambitious people.

He has never had hope for the current group of ordinary people who grew up in a strong religious atmosphere. He can only look at the new generation. Hamlet will be synonymous with science and development.

After arriving, Lance and Greendale took a tour of the city of Bastia. After a winter of treatment, the tragic scene of corpses strewn all over the place has long since disappeared, but some buildings can still retain traces of the original scene. Traces of accidents.

The castle was used as a government building, and through the efforts of a large number of stewards, the once aristocratic bureaucracy was replaced by a Hamlet system, just like this castle.

Lance did not find them, but walked with Greendale on the street, wanting to see the local level and the state of the local civilians.

There is no numbness, but a vigorous spirit. His face is no longer that skinny. Although it is not rosy, at least it is somewhat human-like.

"This is still not suitable for industrial development. The mountainous terrain is too restrictive. I think the surrounding villages and towns still need to develop specialty agriculture, such as fruit trees and medicinal materials with high added value, and then undertake some simple processing of mountain resources..."

The two of them were walking among them, and they were also evaluating and planning Bastia. This place did not have the conditions to become a large city. If Hamlet's experience of plain and coastal development was applied, it would easily lead to trouble.

But he has a unique advantage, that is, the mountains and the choke points to the outside world, where furs, medicinal materials, wood, and some strange things from the barbarians flow out.

To put it simply, the future is promising, but how to balance nature and development is difficult.

After walking around, I found that businessmen had begun to appear here. It seemed that they were all waiting for the transactions with the barbarians like in previous years.

The heavy snow that closed the mountains consumes supplies, making the furs saved in the winter very expensive. Even some tribes with weak strength have to take out the treasures at the bottom of the bargaining box in order to exchange for enough supplies to ease the situation.

Of course, they used to rob it, but then Count Bastia rose up and protected him for more than ten years. Now it's Lance's turn to take control. Do they dare to start a war?

The merchant was just waiting to cut off the flesh of the barbarians, but Lance didn't feel anything about it.

"Let's go, we still have to walk through the mountains." (End of Chapter)