Chapter 34 My power as Pope is unlimited
In the vast territory of the Holy Aiel Empire, politics has always been nominally controlled by the king and sacrifices by the pope.

Except for the Kingdom of Fran, which achieved centralization through war and had a preliminary civil service system, in the other two major kingdoms within the empire: the Kingdom of Leia and the Kingdom of Norn, priests were the civil servants and monks were the eunuchs.

The priests are led by the Holy See, and the monks are led by the religious orders. The combination of the Holy See and the religious orders is the Church.

The leader of the church is the Archbishop of the Holy See City.

The Archbishop of the Holy See City was originally just one of the five patriarchates, but because this is the place where the Messiah ascended to heaven and St. Bourdain was martyred, the Archbishop of the Holy See City has a transcendent status.

During hundreds of years of struggle between the empire and the church, the power and status of the Pope were gradually established.

Essentially, according to the Gospels and ancient church tradition, anyone who is a believer can be Pope.

However, the masters would never really let the common people hold such important power. They are servants of God, not servants of the common people.

Therefore, after a period of institutional evolution, the Pope was elected by believers and then by cardinals, who were elected from among the bishops.

As for the nominal status of the cardinals, it is the secretary of the Pope, and the Pope is also elected from among the cardinals.

So in a sense, the law of the election of the Pope can also be called the law of succession of the Secretary of the Guards.

From this perspective, Horn, as Pope, is not in the Holy See City, has no cardinal election, and is not a bishop, which basically means he has three times zero legitimacy.

Horn turned his head tremblingly and looked at Townley, who was now kneeling on the ground with his hands and knees prostrated, as if he was more pious and loyal than anyone else.

Look at the leaders, Chilvis, Grampven...

Although they all lowered their heads and looked submissive, Horn felt that their eyes were full of malice and disdain.

You bunch of damned rebels, if I give you a chance, I'll ask Jeanne to electrocute all of you!

Standing on the wall, Horn looked down at the crowd below.

On the vast green grass and under the square stone brick walls, heads are crowded together, rising and falling like waves.

Those were the villagers nearby, who had all gathered in the Gulag Monastery just to survive.

Most of them were dressed in rags, wearing hooded cloaks and aprons, and most of them stood barefoot on the ground, their bony ankles like dead branches.

These people were butchers, carpenters, miners, brewers, weavers, leather workers, trackers and, most of all, farmers.

When they looked up, Horn saw only ignorance, fanaticism and deep confusion in their cloudy eyes.

Horn sighed and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the compassion he had felt was gone.

Well, you guys want to play this with me, don't you? I'll play with you, and we'll die together, and I'll make sure you all die with me.

"Everyone, I am your new Pope Horn!" Although the villagers did not understand why the new Pope of the Thousand River Valley spoke with such gnashing teeth, they still listened in silence.

As for Townley and others behind him, they were a little surprised why Horn suddenly became obedient.

"Sinner Horn, although I am the Pope according to ancient law, we cannot ignore rules and laws. Without laws, where would there be order?"

Horn slammed the cane in his hand with such force that the cross on the top of the cane, no, the scepter was tilted.

"So, for the sake of law, I still have to be elected by the cardinals. I will exercise my authority as Pope to appoint Townley, Chilvis, Grampven, and Madeleine as cardinals!"

"What!" Tang Li, who had been prostrating himself, jumped up on the spot like a toad and almost fell into the brazier.

"In the name of the Holy Father and the Pope, I appoint Townley as the remote Metropolitan of the Thousand Valleys, I appoint Chilvis as the remote Metropolitan of Windmill Land, I appoint Grampwen as the remote Metropolitan of Golden Fleece Strand, and I appoint Madeline as the remote Metropolitan of White Sands!"

The gnashing of teeth on Horn's face turned into a smile, and the previous gnashing of teeth had shifted to the faces of these four people.

"As for all of you present here, you are blessed. Although you are not priests, I grant you all the same origin as priests. Although you are just lay people, your status is equal to that of priests!"

Thanks to the previous book "Legend of the Rose of Rum", Horn's geographical knowledge of the empire was much stronger than before. Although he didn't know where these places were, he could tell from the poems and interpretations in the book.

The Windmill Land is the most developed agricultural and animal husbandry area, the Golden Fleece Beach is the most prosperous territory of the empire's textile industry, and the White Sand Land is famous for its exquisite glass products.

These three places are definitely heavyweight bombs in the political and economic affairs of the empire. As for Qianhe Valley, there is no need to say more. Everyone understands that the county magistrate is not as good as the current one.

Judging from the fact that the faces of the people behind him turned greener every time Horn reported a place name, there was a high probability that he was not wrong.

Townley's beard was almost dyed green by his face. They really didn't expect Horn to have such a skill.

Damn it, if I had known earlier I would have pushed him to be the archbishop, why would I have to have this pope?
Standing on the courtyard wall, Horn raised the scepter in his hand high: "Fellow believers, cheer, these cardinals are all from our Thousand River Valley. I have dismissed the original four bishops. The four standing in front of you now are the real bishops..."

"Cough cough cough cough!"

A violent cough interrupted Horn's words. He looked sideways and saw that it was Tang Li.

He coughed and looked at Horn in disbelief, "Aren't you a member of the secret party? We are all in the same group."

When this matter is over, you can fake your own death and pass the position to the unlucky Madeleine, so that you can successfully pass the buck, right? The secret party will protect you!
Don't you, an old secret party member, know about this? What do you want to do by dragging us all into this?
You know, according to Horn, Metropolitan Constance of the Thousand Valleys is an illegitimate bishop, and Townley is the legitimate bishop!
Then, Archbishop Göttingen, who is under Metropolitan Constance, would probably be happy to capture Townley as a gift to Constance.

If Bishop Gaobao were here, he would probably not be happy at all, but would be so happy that he would pee his pants.

There is a huge difference in merit between catching a common man who foolishly claims to be the Pope and catching a cult group that intentionally claims to be the church!

Especially since it was related to Juanno, Bishop Gaobao wanted to kneel on the ground and beg Horn for more.

He has spent so many years in this poor high castle, and this is the blessing he deserves.

Tang Li bent his waist, stepped forward and held Horn's arm, smiling very reluctantly: "Your Holiness, this, this is not right. We are doing a good job, how can you just withdraw?"

"That's true."

Tang Li breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then appoint him as bishop. You assist me as Pope. This is what you deserve and what I should do."

"But, but..."

"But what?" Horn turned his head to the villagers below, "Fellow believers, my power as the Pope is unlimited, don't you think? Is that right?"

"Of course!"

"Your Holiness, we love you!"

"Your Holiness the Pope is the Heaven!"

With the identity of being of the same clergy origin, most of the uneducated people were delighted anyway.

They had no idea about the twists and turns within the church; they only knew that they were almost the same as the priests.

This is all thanks to the new Pope, so naturally we have to support him.

He is worthy of being the Pope of the people of Thousand River Valley. As soon as he came to power, he started to work for the welfare of his family.

Seeing Horn still moving towards the wall and seeming to speak, Townley was frightened. He winked at Grampven who was standing beside him, and the two of them held Horn together.

"Alright, alright, let's go. Your Holiness is tired!"

Without waiting for the villagers to answer, the two men hurriedly took Horn back to the backyard.

What would happen if he continued talking like this?
(End of this chapter)