Chapter 36 I don’t have that kind of worldly desire

The High Castle in early September still stored some heat from August, but this heat also dissipated along with the rolling flood.

Going down the Honey River, two tributaries are separated.

A Colo River flows west to Longsand County, and a Silverhopper River crosses Upper and Lower River County and rejoins the Nauan River.

At the junction of Mount Sian and the King's Road, there is a protruding flat-topped hill called Angel Terrace.

On the top of Angel Terrace, on the banks of the Silverhopper River, is the capital of Upper River County and the seat of the cathedral of the Upper River Buddhist District - High Castle.

There were red-roofed houses lined up one after another, a ten-story square white stone tower, a tree-lined avenue with carriages parked, and crosses everywhere.

The most dazzling one is the golden cross on the church's vault.

Although most of Upper River County was flooded, there was no tension on the streets of High Castle.

The people of High Castle were not afraid of floods, not only because High Castle stood on a high platform in the river bend, but also because the hedge weir upstream would divert floods in other directions.

On the gravel streets of the High Castle, citizens are still chatting, monks are still walking hurriedly with scriptures in their arms, and vendors are still pushing their carts through the streets.

The only difference is that outside the high castle, there are more and more ragged vagrants and refugees.

"Squeak-squeak-"

The stained glass window was closed, blocking out the dying struggles of the summer cicadas.

Bonard, the secretary priest of the High Castle Church, listened carefully for a while, and made sure that he would not disturb the prayers of High Castle Bishop Barnifos in the prayer room, then he knocked gently on the door.

"wait a moment."

Barneyforth's gentle and kind voice came from inside the door.

Holding the scroll in his hand, Bonard waited patiently at the door for nearly ten minutes without complaint.

A relieved sigh came from inside the door, followed by a rustling sound.

The door opened and the young nun walked out of the room, her brown hair stuck to her flushed face with sweat.

The nun nodded shyly and friendly to Bonard, and Bonard pointed to her red lips in a friendly manner, reminding her that there were still white traces at the corners of her mouth that had not been wiped clean.

After the nun left, Bonard immediately walked into the prayer room and carefully closed the door.

The prayer room was not big, with only two small windows. The dim candlelight made everything look blurry, even the huge statue in the middle of the room looked eerie.

Archbishop Barnifoss of the High Castle was standing in front of the statue of Mircella at this moment, still savoring the inner peace and relief he felt after praying.

Barneyforth looked to be in his forties, but he had a head full of short white hair. He had no beard, but there was a circle of blue marks around his mouth.

The archbishop wore the simplest linen robe without any pattern or decoration. On his chest, unlike the silver chain cross worn by other bishops, he wore an oak cross strung with a thin rope.

Perhaps because it was stroked too much, the bottom of the oak cross was rubbed into a rounded shape similar to a water drop.

"What's going on?" Barneyforth had a gentle smile on his face.

“Mr. Barnifoss, news has come from Feiliu Castle that Dean Juanno has been tried by the church and is now facing four heresy verdicts and 4 pagan verdicts, but Dean Juanno is not present at any of them.

But if he hides in his base camp, Kasha County, no one can attack him unless they want to start a civil war between the Church and the Order. "

"Alas, it is really disgraceful for an abbot to face so many accusations. Why can't we sit down and have a good talk?" Barnifors shook his head slightly, looking compassionate.

“I’m afraid the conflict between the two Excellencies cannot be resolved by just sitting down and talking.

If Mr. Constance agreed to Mr. Juanno's request, countless priests would point their fingers at him and scold him.

His family would also lose face and reputation in the local area, and be ridiculed. At least in his hands, he would not allow Juanno's proposal to pass. "Bonard smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Juanno's proposal is actually very simple.

First, deprive some of the imperial nobles of their privileges in the Thousand River Valley. Regardless of whether they are from the Thousand River Valley or not, everyone will be treated equally, without any commercial exemptions or amnesty.

Second, priests from the Thousand River Valley were allowed to be promoted to the rank of bishop. So far, no one from the Thousand River Valley had reached a cleric's rank above priest.

Third, the place where Saint Shelley of Shelley City was martyred was designated as one of the pilgrimage sites to facilitate the pilgrimage of the people of Qianhe Valley. However, no matter which one, it involves the interests of a large number of imperial nobles and priests.

As for Juanno's response, he mobilized the public farmers and refugees. They spontaneously went up the mountain, held sacraments on the mountain, and even began to secretly assassinate nobles and armed farmers.

This resulted in a large amount of farmland being abandoned, and the refugees spontaneously set up camps in the mountains and reclaimed new fields.

In any case, as long as these refugees do not engage in open conflict and do not really harm the lives of nobles at the level of bishops and earls, the Holy See will most likely not take action.

After all, the religious order is also part of the church, and Juanno is a monk of a very high status in the religious system.

The red-robed masters of the Holy See City are also afraid that the great schism between the northern and southern churches that occurred hundreds of years ago will happen again.

"Alas, Lord Constance, you are already a monk, why are you always thinking about family matters? I don't have those worldly desires."

After sighing for a while, Barnifors continued to ask, "Are our rabbits still healthy?"

“One of the three litters of rabbits I raised was drowned in the flood and I have not been able to contact them yet.

One nest has been successfully harvested and will be sent to the High Castle soon.

Another group ran down the mountain and ate up all the grass in the village, leaving only one blade of grass alive.

"Oh, that's unfortunate, so unfortunate." Barniforth drew a cross on his forehead. "In that case, send the child to the Children's Crusade."

"As ordered."

"When will the new batch of rabbit meat arrive? I will be entertaining a distinguished guest in a while, and rabbit meat will be a great dish."

"It will definitely arrive tomorrow."

“Well, get another barrel of blue blood wine from the warehouse. This is from last year and is very fresh. The taste is different from ordinary blue blood wine.” Barneyfors seemed to have already drunk the blue blood wine, with an expression of enjoyment on his face.

But Bonard felt a little nauseous.

Barnifors walked forward, took the scroll from Bonard's hand, spread it out on the table, and read one volume after another.

His eyes were clear and he read at an extremely fast speed. He quickly finished flipping through all the scrolls and left brief comments.

Putting the quill back into the ink bottle, Barnifors tapped his temple and chuckled, "I'm old, and my memory has declined. Bonard, have you checked the matter of Durdaffer?"

"I was just about to tell you that the Shadowless Man just came back this morning. The Gulag Monastery has indeed been occupied by the rebels. The life or death of Father Durdafo is unknown, but they seem to have elected a pope themselves?"

"A pope? My Myrcella! How foolish! I am so angry!" Barnifors couldn't help but smile. "Sometimes, I really don't know what new surprises... new tricks these Thousand Valley people can come up with for me!"

Bonard bent down to collect the scrolls and stood aside again: "Then, let's..."

"Of course we should send troops to suppress them. These secret party rebels are giving me such a big gift, why shouldn't I accept it?" Barnifors stood up and paced back and forth on the Western-style Bei carpet.

Bonard stood quietly by the side, waiting for Barniforth's reply.

"Well, when the water recedes a little, we don't need to send too many people. Two teams of armored soldiers and fifty night guards will be enough. We can also capture a hundred peasant soldiers and refugee soldiers. That will be enough."

As the saying goes, money should be spent wisely. If too many people are invited, it will cost a lot and the banquet will be difficult to hold.

Barnifors took out a piece of white paper, quickly wrote a few lines on it, signed his name, and handed it to Bonard.

"Take this transfer order and go find the militia captain Quincy. Oh, remember to spread the word that this secret party has more than 10,000 people, and I, the noble and humble sinner Barnifoss, will personally fight and destroy them!"

"How can you personally ..."

"Bonard, you are a smart boy. My personal expedition does not mean I will go to the battlefield.

Let Quincy carry my banner, and let the citizens see my bravery, for who cares if I really went there or not?

　p.s. There will be another chapter in the evening, a little later.

　　ps2 Please note that the Messiah religion in this book is a completely fictional religion and has no real prototype. Please do not take it personally.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)