When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 633 - 594 Constitutional Convention (Conclusion)

The sound of raindrops beating against the window became increasingly urgent, clearly dispersing the brief fervor within the hall and replacing it with a stifling silence.

Horn frowned and turned to look at Moliat, who, in turn, solemnly shook his head at him.

In the silence, a Legion Commander from the left seats was the first to speak up and shout, "Is it that our sabers are not sharp enough, or our holy guns not precise enough?"

Before the Legion Commander could finish speaking, Armand apologized to Lupher next to him and stood up, "I don't think Mr. Herman means open confrontation, but rather some undercurrents from miscreants, correct?"

Herman smiled, yet his voice was low and cold: "Gentlemen, you need to understand, although we sitting here today do not necessarily share the same interests, we certainly share the same enemy.

However, the knights and nobles in the local areas do not. Under the might of the army, they may comply, but they cannot be of one mind with us."

Standing up slowly, Herman smiled apologetically toward Moliat: "Your Highness, I could be shrewd earlier, but everything before us now is bought with the blood of our dear friends and family, I must ask clearly."

"Of course you can ask." Before Moliat could respond, Horn took two steps forward, standing before him, "If I were you, I would do the same."

Herman's sharp gaze fixed on Horn's calm face: "You have knighthoods and stewards serving as Hundred Households Captains, yet they are not on the same side as us, especially since they have long held the power of speech amongst the commoners.

For instance, you have them hand over 20 gold pounds, keep 15 gold pounds, they agreed on the surface and also handed over 20 gold pounds.

Then they turn around and secretly ask the faithful in the Hundred Households District for 30 gold pounds, pushing the blame onto you, what should be done then?"

The representatives on the left fell into deep thought; even if suppression is needed, one cannot kill indiscriminately.

Suppose these knights choose to surrender, then secretly betraying or undermining the lower monks as they once did with the church,

the original good policies will be shifted onto the peasants' shoulders?

"Isn't the first clause and fourth clause of the Charter prepared for this very reason?" Horn spread his hands and responded, "Our first change in local areas is the reform of perpetual tenancy rights!"

"Oh damn."

"So, this is what awaits us." Below, there was an immediate murmur of sudden realization.

The implementation of perpetual tenancy rights not only symbolizes the enhancement of the peasants' economic power but also represents a weakening of their personal dependency.

Lords can no longer arbitrarily deprive vassals of their farmland and status, let alone judge or deprive them of life and property at will.

Apart from violence and the inertia of governance, economically, vassals are partly detached from the lord, hence they can undertake part of the responsibility of supervising the knights.

Knights possess violence but cannot gather, thus being inefficient.

Compared to Horn and Moliat's cohesive and efficient extraordinary power structure, they can only bow their heads.

Though discontent with the extraordinary hegemony of this world, when it was firmly within his grasp, Horn found it truly exhilarating.

With absolute violence controlled, only a few people are needed to suppress a large group, ensuring that although small disturbances might occur in the process of reform, large-scale chaos is hard to erupt.

"But who will guide them? Even if one person is assigned per hundred households, nearly 9000 monks would be needed for the entire Thousand River Valley; do you have 2000 reliable monks combined with those at Blago Monastery?"

This time, it wasn't even Herman but a representative from the central seats who asked the question.

"It's simple, three steps." Horn raised three fingers, "Train a batch of our own, transform a batch from the church, and bring in a batch from outside."

"Weren't we against the Thousand River Valley Church? Now we are going to accept the church?" Once Horn spoke, someone among the left seat representatives couldn't hold back and stood up to question.

"We are against the church, not the priests." Horn turned around and said loudly to the representatives in front of him, "Not all priests are bad; think carefully, the lower-level priests are also opponents of the church.

In fact, I know a good old priest, who, although sometimes cowardly and cherishing life, is indeed a good and brave man."

In the church's system, the grassroots priests are also a part of those oppressed by the church, including the lower monks in the monasteries.

Secular status is still useful within the church; since Pope Ruo'an, who has seen a truly commoner Pope?

Horn had seen many emaciated, bruised lower-level priests, who apart from literacy, were much like slaves to the high priests.

Nowadays, within the Chekari, there is a large group of such lower monks, whose methods against the church are considered too radical even by Horn.

Moreover, from a realistic perspective, completely abandoning the church's system is impossible.

Even in present-day Langsande County, at least 20% of former priests and monks are participating in the administrative work of the Priestly Order.

There are 26,000 priests in the entire Thousand River Valley to maintain grassroots governance, which seems severely overstaffed to Horn, but even if downsizing is necessary, at least 40% to 50% should be retained.

Because, firstly, there's no one to fill the vacancies, and secondly, a complete overhaul might lead to instability at the grassroots, giving those knights who pretend to convert a chance to cause trouble.

Taking this opportunity, Horn straightforwardly laid out the upcoming reform plan:

"First, we will select 400 reliable monks from Langsande County and Blago Monastery, 100 accountants and auditors, and 20 Cheka commissioners.

They will form the Efficiency Exorcism Order and the Agricultural Exorcism Order, and will proceed to various regions along with over 2,000 Salvation Army personnel organized into 4 legions.

Upon arrival, they must completely dismantle the church system, place all priests on temporary leave, and have the Agricultural Exorcism Order take over all affairs for the time being.

During this period, they are to compile and summarize all the tax records and church properties in the region.

Once the tax records are consolidated, they are to earnestly persuade local knights and public register farmers to sign the "Perpetual Lease Contract" with the help of the Salvation Army and the County Governor's forces.

Meanwhile, the Efficiency Exorcism Order will gather all priests and monks according to parish divisions and conduct examinations and reviews.

Those who pass the examinations and reviews will be retained and participate in the Holy Path faction training classes for intensive training lasting two to three weeks.

Those who fail the examinations will be sent to Blago Monastery for retraining, and those failing the reviews will be sent to Lubyanka Monastery for retraining.

With manpower, tax records, and church property in place, reforming the Hundred Households Districts can proceed.

Based on tax records and population data, the Hundred Households Districts will be established, and their names, ages, and household registrations will be recorded, with a collective oath taken to join the Thousand River Valley Holy Monarch Country.

Next, for every ten Hundred Households Districts, one Wandering Cultivator, accompanied by two or three retained monks, will form a Priestly Order."

The ability to muster so many personnel for this task is firstly thanks to Juanuo's legacy talent pool, and secondly the result of Horn's long-term cultivation.

Originally, Horn sent all the monastery monks and priests to Saint Plow Monastery, forcing them to work together with laborers at the same pay.

After more than a year of development and training, discounting those currently employed by the Ry Court Barracks, Horn had at least 200-300 devout monks ready for use, with at least another 200 in training.

It was evident that representatives of monk groups on all three sides visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

Some monks even showed a glint of anticipation in their eyes, the absurdity being that even within the monastic system, bullying of smaller monasteries by larger ones was not uncommon.

Moreover, this evidently lifted some of the restrictions on monks participating in politics and would cause an uproar within the Imperial Court.

At this moment, Herman had already returned to his seat but did not rest his eyes as before. Instead, he squinted his eyes and spoke again:

"I've seen too many good decrees change shape by the time they reach the bottom. The traditions of the church and the knight have been entrenched for millennia, and farmers have long adapted.

Can you truly guarantee that between you and the knights, the farmers will choose to stand with you rather than follow tradition and stand with the knights?"

After a moment of contemplation, Horn slowly spoke, his voice calm and deep: "The human heart is the most unpredictable. Even if I guarantee they won't, you wouldn't believe it. In the short term, we cannot prevent the knights' insincere compliance or the farmers' foolish shortsightedness.

But the reality is, we must take this risk, to strive, to supervise, to engage in strategic battles, even if it means paying the price in blood."

Raising a finger high, Horn's voice gradually crescendoed in the quiet meeting room:

"Do you think the war in the Thousand River Valley is over? No, it has just begun! And the bloodshed may not be less than before.

We cannot achieve perfection in everything, nor can we gain everything without making sacrifices.

I also wish to eradicate the nobility in the entire Thousand River Valley, I wish to convert the entire Thousand River Valley to the Holy Path, I wish for a complete religious integration in the Thousand River Valley.

But that would mean a terrifying civil war, it would mean the Leia Kingdom claiming the spoils, and if we do not want to be a flash in the pan, we must endure temporary discontent and compromise.

If you now ask me, by enduring discontents and compromises, can we defeat the Leia Kingdom in the future?

I still can't guarantee that, but I still have to strive for it, even if I know it might be meaningless, doesn't mean we shouldn't strive."

Staring blankly at Horn, Herman's eyes flickered with an incomprehensible light.

"Juanuo knew full well he was to be burned, did he flee? He didn't, he chose to stay!

Our reforms in the region may not succeed, does that mean we shouldn't reform? No, we still have to reform, even if it requires a heavy price!"

Emulating Moliat's gestures, Horn slammed his fist heavily on the table, producing a crisp snapping sound. His face slightly twisted, yet he endured the pain and shouted with a high-pitched voice:

"The church may burn Juanuo, but it cannot burn the truth. Knights can resist the truth, but they cannot resist the future!"