Chapter 385 What Prosperity Believers Should Do
Lowell once chose to be patient because he knew that giving in to avoid internal turmoil was the least costly way to ease internal conflicts.
He had thought about the way forward for the prosperity of the church countless times. Although he failed to clear the fog, there was at least one thing that Lowell was very clear about - a church surrounded by powerful enemies could not withstand any internal friction.
For Lowell, it was not a difficult decision to give in for the sake of the overall situation.
Similarly... for the greater good of the Prosperity Church, in order to lead the Prosperity Church onto a more correct path, a path more in line with the teachings of the Goddess of Prosperity, it was only natural for Lowell to not only stop tolerating, but even to go against the current.
"You are His Majesty's godson, Dimos. But you are also a member of the royal family of the Principality of Shiga." Lowell looked directly at the sweaty royal family and said word by word, "If the Principality of Shiga is strong, the royal family of Shiga will be strong. If the Principality of Shiga falls into the hands of the enemy, the nobles can still change their families, but the royal family will never be spared. I hope you will always remember this truth."
Dimos shuddered all over, looking at the ascetic monk in front of him who no longer restrained his aggressiveness in astonishment, fear and disbelief.
But Lowell stopped looking at him and turned his gaze to Joyce Andre who was also extremely shocked: "Paladin Andre, I will rectify the customs of the Holy Land at all costs and make the Prosperity Church only follow the will of the Goddess's teachings from now on. Are you willing to follow?"
Joyce Andre almost kneeled down to his old boss instinctively. Fortunately, he was not as shocked as Dimos and was still rational. Before kneeling, he said seriously, "Father, what kind of will do you want the Prosperity Church to follow? Can you tell me?"
Brother Lowell smiled and said, "Of course."
The ascetic monk, who was still wearing a simple black robe, stood up, turned to the west, put his hand on his chest, and said solemnly: "Alfred Lowell swears to the goddess of prosperity. I will dedicate my all to guide the Prosperity Church onto the right path, and work together to implement the name of prosperity: in all places blessed by the goddess of prosperity, believers, regardless of their status, should abide by their promises and contracts, and take honesty and trustworthiness as virtues; everyone can be treated fairly to accumulate wealth through hard work and keep their wealth."
This not-too-long oath was the result of Brother Lowell's two years of quietly understanding and absorbing the ruling principles and policies of the Undead Archons, as well as reading a large number of works from other-dimensional culture.
The parish of the Prosperous Church should urge or even force the rulers to respond to and cooperate with the teachings of the Goddess of Prosperity.
In the parish of a prosperous church, everyone should abide by contracts, be honest and trustworthy, without distinction based on social status. The unreasonable phenomenon that the law only regulates common people but allows nobles to trample on them must be eliminated.
In a prosperous church parish, everyone should have the right to create and retain wealth through labor in a fair manner. Those in power shall not seize the wealth of others by force or by monopolize the means to obtain wealth.
Only by achieving these two points can we be considered to be truly in line with the teachings of the Goddess of Prosperity.
Anyone who destroys doctrine is an enemy of the church.
Joyce Andre had a good background and was once a "decent person" who was ridiculed in person by Yang Qiu.
But at the same time, Joyce Andre is also a devout paladin who has dedicated nearly a hundred years of his life to the church; until the end of his life, until he is no longer able to put on armor or ride a warhorse, he will continue to dedicate himself.
This paladin may not be perfect enough to meet the Chinese people's glorified "chivalry" standard of perfection for Westerners on Earth, but he is not someone who will remain indifferent to "visible crying."
He has not yet reached the "height" of "those in high positions are unkind and regard the common people as straw dogs", nor has he learned the "courage" to treat other people's lives as chess pieces to be consumed; he is just a grassroots priest non-commissioned officer who obeys the orders of those in high positions and has firm faith in the "ideals" woven by those in high positions. He - still believes, firmly believes in, and tries to practice truth, goodness, and beauty.
Anyone who still believes in truth, goodness and beauty cannot fail to be moved by Brother Lowell's oath.
Joyce Andre, excitedly , passionately, knelt on one knee and pledged his loyalty to his former boss whom he had followed for decades.
Count Dimos, who saw Brother Lowell use his fingers instead of a scepter to tap Andre's shoulders twice, began to tremble slowly when he was holding the armrest of the sofa.
Brother Lowell still didn't look at Dimos. He smiled and said a few words to Andre, then took Andre out to meet other holy priests and non-commissioned officers.
Count Dimos remained where he was, as if he had been forgotten.
After a long time, the brain of this member of the Shiga royal family, which had been solidified due to excessive stimulation, regained the ability to think.
"——The world is going to change."
Count Dimos was sweating all over, with this thought running through his mind.
As a qualified politician and a natural power holder, Count Dimos instinctively began to deduce the series of impacts that would be brought about by Brother Lowell's sudden change of hostility.
His godfather, the contemporary Pope, has been the master of the Holy Land for more than ninety years and his power is deeply rooted.
Even though Brother Lowell was the most prestigious and experienced black-robed ascetic in the Prosperous Church, it was difficult for him to compete with His Holiness the Pope in the Holy Land.
But the biggest problem is - if it's just the Holy Land, Lowell will lose!
Most of the local diocesan bishops are marginalized people exiled from the Holy Land and may not firmly support His Holiness the Pope!
Not to mention the Holy Priest Cavalry Regiment, all the priests almost regarded Brother Lowell as an object of worship.
The Inquisition... The Inquisition of the Prosperity Church is not as powerful as the Inquisition of the Blazing Sun Church and cannot affect the overall situation.
Count Dimos felt a chill on his back.
Three hundred years of reputation as the "first protector of the priests" was enough for Brother Lowell to effortlessly win over all the holy priests and low-level priests, and even some white-robed priests.
With these...does Brother Lowell still need to care about the attitude of the Holy Land?
Count Dimos thought of the calm attitude of Lowell, who was sitting next to the undead mayor while he was discussing business with the visiting delegation not long ago...
This made Count Dimos particularly frightened - could it be that the visiting delegation brought a lucrative business right to their doorstep, and it was Brother Lowell who facilitated it?
Are the relationship between the Nightmare Butcher and his Undead Regime and Lowell, and the support they give to Lowell, great enough to make them give up real money to stand up for Lowell?
If this is true... then I wonder how many nobles in the Principality will turn against us on the spot.
Not to mention the position of his elder brother, the Grand Duke Shigat, Count Dimos was the Grand Duke's younger brother! He knew how much his brother obeyed the living patron saint of the principality.
Before coming here, Dimos was still thinking about how to make use of Brother Lowell, and now he only had one idea in his mind.
The game is over.
Count Dimos slowly fell back and collapsed on the sofa.
Three hundred years of nurturing hopes, three hundred years of hard work and cultivation, the accumulation of which will indeed make those who oppose him feel deeply despair.
Brother Lowell didn't even care about him, a member of the royal family and a great noble, making a statement - whether Dimos supported it or not, it would not affect this man who was unwilling to have his way and was determined to subvert the power structure of the Prosperous Church.
He sat there slumped for a long time, until the deacon guarding the yard could not help but stick his head in to check. Count Dimos, who had been silent for a long time, smiled bitterly and murmured.
"Your Majesty... did you expect all this to happen?"
Count Dimos's confusion and loss had no effect on Lowell or the Knights Templar.
Brother Lowell met with his former subordinates in the reception hotel arranged by the town hall, and he could not wait to bring these holy priests who still maintained their ideals and were firmly practicing them to visit and learn.
The first stop is the former luxurious club, now a shelter.
Most of the former red-light district workers who were placed in the shelter have completed "employment training" and have been arranged to work in Innadri City, Yongwang Town, New Town, and even Dutata City.
A small number of people with poor learning ability or whose bodies cannot support normal intensity work are still supported by the town hall.
Brother Lowell brought Joyce Andre and several non-commissioned officers to the shelter. As soon as they entered the door, they saw more than 20 men and women of different ages, thin in build and good-looking, sitting in the yard in twos and threes to bask in the sun; they were doing work with their hands, and around them were messy or neatly placed cloth, needles and thread, glue, artificial gems, plastic sequins, lace, headbands, metal clips and other things.
"Good day, Brother."
Seeing Brother Lowell come in, the woman closer to the gate nodded slightly to greet him, with a warm smile on her face.
"Still doing crafts? It's the holiday season, don't you want to go out and relax?"
"Today is the first day of the winter festival, and there are too many people on the street. Let's go out for a walk tomorrow or the day after tomorrow when there are fewer people on the street." The woman who took the initiative to talk smiled and picked up the unfinished jewelry in her hand . "Father, what do you think of this hairpin I made?"
"It's very beautiful, but there are too many colors. Don't use red gems here. It would be better to use the same color as the bow." Lowell lowered his head and looked at it carefully for a while before giving his evaluation.
Next to the woman, a half-grown boy who was holding a copper wire with pliers laughed and said, "See, I told you there are too many colors. If it's too fancy, it won't sell well, and people who buy it will be embarrassed to wear it out."
The boy's voice was particularly unpleasant, hoarse like the quacking of a duck, which was so inconsistent with his handsome face that Andre could not help but take a few more glances.
"You are such a troublemaker!" said the woman whose color matching was disliked angrily.
The young man, who was sitting not too far from the woman and the boy, shook the gorgeous dress he had just finished working on, and came over to ask Brother Lowell to evaluate it.
"Add a drawstring at the waist to adjust the size. The neckline is a bit too big..."
After walking around the courtyard and admiring the finished and semi-finished products made by the servants, Brother Lowell reminded everyone to keep warm and be careful not to catch a cold, and then left with his former subordinates.
After leaving the shelter, Brother Lowell looked at the holy priests who had question marks on their foreheads and asked, "What did you see?"
A sergeant of the Holy Priests had been holding a lot of questions in his mind for a long time, and he asked as soon as he had the chance: "Frak, why are the people in this courtyard so weak? Did the little boy with the strange voice eat something that is not allowed to be eaten?"
"They are indeed not very healthy." Rowell nodded and walked forward slowly. "Until two years ago, the people settled in this yard were still forced to take fattening drugs on time."
Once again, the holy priests all showed expressions of astonishment, deep thought, and confusion.
Fattening agents are used to feed livestock.
The only place where people are forced to take this kind of livestock drug is in the gray industry - if prostitutes and male prostitutes are well fed they will have the strength to escape, resist, or even hurt customers; if they are not fed well they will be too thin and cannot be sold at a good price.
Similar things happened in the Principality of Shiga - when the holy priests occasionally passed through the town, they often heard men in the tavern discussing where to go to play with women and little boys.
Brother Lowell did not let his former subordinates confuse him for too long, and said directly: "In the area ruled by the undead, any gray industry is prohibited. Both practitioners and customers are guilty, and those who are controlled to sell their bodies must be rescued, resettled, and taught vocational skills. Those who can participate in the work can get a job, and those who cannot participate in the work can also support themselves as much as possible."
Brother Lowell often came to visit the people here, pray for the sick, and was very familiar with the situation in the shelter. He gave a detailed introduction to the town hall's policy towards the inmates.
"…Those who are still here are those whose bodies are seriously damaged and need long-term treatment and recuperation. The little boy with the strange voice just now once tried to commit suicide by taking poison. After he was rescued, his internal organs were also severely damaged. He needs to take alchemical potions regularly for three to four years to completely recover. The town hall has covered the cost."
"And the lady who is good at making headdresses, she didn't stand up to talk to us because she was forced to kneel in ice water to confess, her knees were frozen, and she couldn't stand for long or walk normally. The town hall provided materials for her to practice making accessories, and there are also special learning courses. The income from handicrafts will be saved by herself. When she saves enough money to guarantee her life, the town hall will send her to live in the city she wants according to her wishes..."
After introducing the situation at the shelter, Brother Lowell looked at the holy priests with equally shining eyes, and said firmly: "Let everyone be self-reliant with dignity and be able to properly protect their accumulated wealth. This is the belief I learned from the undead. This is what the believers of the goddess of prosperity should do. The undead have already done it, and we cannot fall behind."
Paladin Joyce Andre and his companions nodded firmly.
