Chapter 453 You Have No Way Out
Brother Lowell was born into a traditional and prosperous family of monks in a church. His family was well-off, and because he himself was quite talented and gifted, family resources were concentrated on him during his teenage years. In his early twenties, he ambitiously stepped through the first door and entered the ranks of the extraordinary.
If people have not suffered much in their childhood, adolescence and youth, it is basically unlikely that they will develop the kind of greedy mentality of wanting everything and being insatiable in their later life. People who have suffered need to try their best, have a great enlightenment, and even a little luck to learn this kind of calmness. This kind of strength comes from having no desires, and Lowell was born with it.
After middle age, Lowell chose to become an ascetic. He put on a simple black robe and walked barefoot on the ground. Compared with his identity and status, he was indeed practicing asceticism... But for a true ascetic, this was actually nothing.
After all, Lowell was not really experiencing the hardships of living in the open air, living from day to day without a safe place, and having an uncertain future; wherever he went, he was always warmly received by the local wealthy families, and when the masters arranged servants to serve him, Lowell would not think there was anything wrong.
Such a Lowell, aware of the ills of the Principality of Shiga and the chronic disease of the prosperous church, would instinctively and naturally become a reformer.
Make changes to the legal system of a country or ruling group to safeguard the overall interests of the country or ruling group and prolong the ruling time of the country or ruling group.
It seems to be the same as the reformists (if I use that word repeatedly, I am afraid of being reported and harmonized. Everyone knows that someone is watching me and reporting me, so after much thought, I still use this inaccurate word instead. I believe that the readers know what I actually mean here), but they are completely different things - what the reformists actually maintain is still the "legal system" of the ruling group.
Wu Qi's Reform, Shen Buhai's Reform, Shang Yang's Reform, and Wang Anshi's Reform are all written in the textbooks, and it is impossible for Yang Qiu to misread them.
The reformists also understand that civilization will regress if it does not advance, but what they often seek is so-called more stable, gentler, and less drastic social change.
There are many such people, and they even dominate the "big trouble of the court, the big talkers". In China's online literature market, the mainstream are those who serve as officials and then promote reforms, capitalism, territorial expansion, and economic colonization. The more radical time travelers just overthrow the emperor and become emperor themselves. There is no difference in essence.
This is fundamentally different from the reformists' martial ethics and iron-blooded spirit of "even gods and emperors are unreliable, so just overthrow them all and start over again."
It is also for this reason that Yang Qiu has always been reserved about Lowell's ideals and determination.
He would agree with Lowell's ideas and be willing to express his support for Lowell, but he would not give more opinions and suggestions - because his opinions and suggestions would definitely conflict with Lowell's original intentions, and Lowell would consider them "too radical" and unwilling to adopt them.
Anyway, the reformists are not completely undesirable. This approach can also slightly improve the business capabilities of the ruling group and make society a little more progressive.
Unexpectedly, Anthony, the "messenger" randomly chosen by Brother Lowell, a former tailor apprentice, thief, and Kenyan fugitive with no ambition and no drive, unexpectedly broke the window paper that Yang Qiu had no intention of breaking...
As Lowell looked at Anthony in shock, Yang Qiu, who was watching Anthony from a distance, twitched slightly at the corner of his mouth.
"I really overlooked you, little brat!!"
Yang Qiu didn't mind Anthony jumping out to remind Lowell on his behalf. His speaking was more useful than him reminding him in person.
But when he thought about the fact that this guy had been peacefully staying in the "Novice Village" as a "Novice Village NPC" for more than two years, Yang Qiu became a little angry.
Anthony, who had a rough exterior but a delicate heart, didn't know that Yang was targeting him. Seeing Lowell staring at him in shock, the Kenyan man said in surprise: "Father, you don't really think Hal and the others are willing to work for Yang, do you? When the undead broke into Innadri, Hal and the others were thinking about running away!"
"Wait a minute." Brother Lowell, who was in a state of confusion, pressed his forehead with his hand, closed his eyes for a while before opening them again. "You are... you want to say that you were not forced by Yang from the beginning?"
"That's right, isn't it? Who would be willing to give--" Anthony was just halfway through his words when he suddenly remembered that Yang could hear him, and quickly changed his tone, "If Yang hadn't treated us fairly and hadn't been so strict with us later, who would like to deal with those rude undead all day long?"
"But didn't Tuttle govern Westram well?" Lowell's voice began to tremble.
"At his most glorious moment, Tuttle's father was only the captain of the archers in the National Garrison. Yang asked him to be the Lord of Westram, so he has to do it seriously?" Anthony looked at him strangely, as if he had just discovered that there was something wrong with the monk's IQ. How could he not understand the most basic social etiquette at such a grown-up? "It's hard to be a puppet lord, but at least it's glorious and respectable. Otherwise, Charlie Rex and that new guy... what's his name? Coulson? Young masters from noble families like this are holding their noses and trying to hold on. How could Tuttle refuse?"
Lowell did not believe Anthony's words completely, but he understood that Anthony's words were quite true, which was enough to make the ascetic monk doubt his life.
"Why do you say that?! Wasn't it because Tattle was moved by Yang's ideals and was willing to follow Yang that he was so diligent and responsible in being an excellent lord?" Brother Lowell's face turned pale and his body began to tremble slightly.
Anthony couldn't bear to listen any more. He wanted to grab Brother Lowell's shoulders and shake him to wake him up. He couldn't bear to look at him and said, "You think too highly of them... Tuttle was a thief like me!"
"Even if you don't talk about Tuttle, you know Mia, Collins and the others, a bunch of country folk who have never seen the world. Do you expect them to be moved by ideals? You must be kidding, monk!"
"Others may not know, but I, Collins, know. This old man heard that Mia was doing very well in Westham and everyone called her Ms. Mia, so he began to dream that he could be respected. When the undead wise men sent by Yang came to teach them, he was very active in attending the classes. This old man just wanted to get ahead and make a lot of money!"
Brother Lowell glared at Anthony for speaking so harshly about his outstanding fellow Shiga people. If Anthony wasn't too weak, he would have hit him.
Anthony was glared at by a high-ranking priest, and his scalp suddenly rang a little. He began to feel uneasy, and he quickly smiled to save face: "Actually, what I want to say is... the people Yang finds to help him are basically people with no future. Anyway, they have no choice. Isn't it just Yang who casually throws out some benefits, and everyone fights to grab them?"
"Wagner Peter, who was in the newspaper a while ago, was a captive kidnapped by the undead. Now he has become the lord of Adler New Town. When I went to the prisoner road construction team to deliver supplies, Hal told me a lot of embarrassing stories about this old guy..."
"Okay, stop talking and let me be quiet."
Brother Lowell raised his hand tiredly to stop Anthony from chattering, walked tiredly to the side of the road, and sat down cross-legged facing the field.
Anthony wisely kept his mouth shut and squatted quietly beside him .
It was spring, and the people of the Principality of Shiga were busy with spring ploughing.
In the wheat fields not far from the dirt road, there were farmers in groups of three or four, shirtless and barefoot, pulling heavy wooden plows, plowing the ground with great effort.
Brother Lowell stared at the farmers for a while, his expression gradually becoming dazed.
The price of fabric is unaffordable for farmers. Most farmers will take off their clothes when doing heavier farm work and only wear concealing pants to avoid wear and tear.
When these farmers went to the town to do odd jobs during the slack season, they would often take off their shirts to avoid wear and tear. However, this kind of care for clothes would be considered by the townspeople as being ignorant of etiquette and shameless, and therefore they would look down on the country people. When Lowell traveled barefoot in his early years, he knew about the misunderstandings and discrimination that occurred among the lower classes due to a lack of understanding of each other.
Brother Lowell knew early on that the lives of the lower-class people were difficult, and he once proposed reducing the tithe share of farmers in the Prosperous Holy Land - this was the reason for the conflict between Lowell and the priests of the Holy Land in the beginning.
Later, Brother Lowell was very dissatisfied with the extravagant lifestyle of the upper classes in the Holy Land and the Principality... When the prosperous Holy Land was close to the capital of Shiga, Lowell saw high-ranking priests and nobles in the capital discarding clothes that had only been worn a few times, and even not allowing others to wear their old clothes in order to maintain their special status, and ordered servants to burn . He couldn't help but think of those poor people who cherished their worn-out clothes and were willing to wear out their own skin.
Before he met Yang and knew about Yang and his undead regime, Lowell had hoped that the church and the principality could change, but he didn't know how to do it.
During his stay in Westram, as he witnessed and heard the changes that Yang and his undead had brought to the Rhine Kingdom, Brother Lowell regained his old ideas and his purpose became even clearer.
He believed that he could find companions who, like him, looked forward to changes in the Principality of Shiga and the Prosperous Church, and work together to make his homeland and the church he loved better. When he first tried to "break the ice", Joyce Andre's shining eyes and the expectant and excited faces of the apologists who had followed him for many years gave Brother Lowell great confidence.
Even when his great-great-grandson Lance objected, Lowell's confidence was not shaken in the slightest.
However, reality dealt Lowell a heavy blow. After the priests who trusted him were transferred away on the pretext of something, he could not find a second group of people who were willing to share his ideals.
Brother Lowell couldn't help but start to doubt himself. Did he do something wrong this time too?
Is it doomed to fail, just like the rash suggestion to reduce the tithe tax without any preparation?
Until now, Anthony told him "another truth" - what he saw was that those people who were desperately trying to change the Rhine Kingdom under the guidance of the Undead regime were not driven by ideals, but simply had no choice.
This is like telling a person who is seriously in love that the reason their husband/wife has been with them for so many years is not because they have true love for each other, but because the other party is just after money, sex, or some other purpose...
If Anthony was not really weak and would be crushed without any resistance once he started, Lowell, in his grief and anger, might have already fought with him.
Brother Lowell looked at the busy farmers in the fields in the distance with empty eyes. The words that Anthony had just said, which made him very unhappy and even angry, kept circling in his mind.
After all, he had known Yang and walked among the undead before the undead attacked Tarantan. He certainly knew who were the people working under Yang.
But he had never seriously considered what were the thoughts in the hearts of these people who gradually gathered around Yang voluntarily or involuntarily.
During the time he lived in Westram, he only saw that these people, under the guidance of the wise men among the dead, burst out with amazing abilities to handle affairs and their enthusiasm to get things done and done well.
The Lord of Westham, Tattle Joe, who Anthony described as secretly delighted with his puppet lord status and worked hard to be more glorious than his father, was, in Lowell's eyes, a morally perfect man who got along harmoniously with the undead mayor Ji Tang, sympathized with the poor and weak, paid attention to the lives of rural farmers, stood up for the weak, and firmly advocated for women's rights...
Brother Lowell, with a shattered worldview on his face, had the urge to hold his head and yell "You are a liar", then stand up and beat Anthony up.
After a long time, Lowell, who tried hard to control himself and not vent his anger, let out a faint sigh.
"No choice...?"
Anthony, whose feet were numb from squatting, stood up and moved, and hurriedly approached him: "Should we set off, monk? It will be dark if we delay any longer."
Brother Lowell sat still, shook his head, turned his head, and looked at Anthony calmly.
"Anthony, only those who have absolutely no choice would be willing to try a completely new path, right?"
"...Huh?" Anthony understood what Lowell meant and asked in confusion, "What are you talking about, monk? Why would people with choices follow Yang and mess around?"
"You've seen how cruel that guy is. I knew he hanged a bunch of Rhine nobles before I left Tarantin. There's still a bunch of former nobles, governors, and rich people building roads on the construction site in Hal. Wherever this guy goes, respectable people will suffer. Getting involved with him is like getting in trouble with all the respectable people in Nabaron. It's fine if he doesn't fall, but if he does, we'll be doomed!"
Brother Lowell's mouth twitched at the blunt truth spoken by this fellow.
Yang Qiu, who was watching from a distance, dragged Anthony directly to the execution list... no, to the backup list.
No wonder this guy has been hiding in the Novice Village. He is actually thinking about a way out so early...
Very good, you have no way out.
