Chapter 454: Lowell Comes to His Mind
Brother Lowell stared at Anthony blankly for a while, then suddenly turned his head and looked in the direction the two men came from.
At the end of the road, the roof of the country house was still visible.
Lowell turned his head back and looked at the farmers busy in the fields .
The two men were bending over in front, pulling the plow, their upper bodies almost parallel to the ground, and they were moving forward in the mud, sweating profusely.
Two people supported the plow from behind, leaning their arms and upper bodies forward as far as they could, almost parallel to the ground, and pushing their legs hard against the ground, pushing the heavy plow forward.
The animal husbandry in the Principality of Shiga is not well developed, there is a shortage of livestock, and most farm work needs to be done by manpower.
In order to ensure that there is enough labor force in the family to do heavy physical work, Shijia farmer families often do not separate, and it is normal for two or three generations to live together.
The four men closest to Lowell who was sitting on the side of the road could be judged by their appearance. The two men pulling the plow were relatively young, probably less than 30 years old, probably the eldest and second sons of the family, or the son-in-law; the men pushing the plow were one old and one young, one with wrinkles on his face and the other with a childish face, they should be the father and the youngest son.
Farmers further away also mostly work in groups of three to five, working together.
All the young and strong men in the family joined in the battle, and all they wanted was to plow the land, sow seeds, and take care of it diligently until summer and autumn, so that the whole family could survive by the harvest.
This time, without Anthony's reminder, Lowell could realize that... compared to the decent people who live in big houses like villas, these shirtless, barefoot people who water the land with their sweat are actually the ones who need the "Tarantan model" the most.
Compared to persuading the owner of the big house to let his nephews follow him at the risk of offending the noble group of the principality, these people who shed their last drop of sweat just to ensure that they will not starve to death are more willing to gamble everything for the opportunity to change their lives.
Brother Lowell stood up on his knees, his robes rustling in the spring breeze that swept across the countryside.
He looked at the farmers who were working hard, and through their sunburned faces, he saw Collins and Mia.
I saw the clerks and security guards at Westham Town Hall, who came from all kinds of backgrounds and had all kinds of criminal records.
I saw the workers in the Westmead factory area staring intently at the assembly line and concentrating on production with an almost pious attitude.
I saw the townspeople and villagers sitting on small benches, half looking up, listening attentively to the clerk's explanation of the most common names, such as Sam, Jim, Jimmy, Mary, Jenny, etc., how to write them, how to keep chickens and ducks clean at home, how to prevent them from getting sick, how to use idle land to grow onions and garlic, etc., during the weekly adult night classes in the town.
He saw people who were taking the town hall examination with great hope and were eager to be hired by the town hall. He could probably name each of them.
"……I see."
Rowell murmured in a low voice.
Yeah...how could he ignore all this?
Yang made a fuss about the aristocratic blood flowing in Charlie Rex, and accepted China Darcy who was willing to change her allegiance and join him. He supported Miss China's cousin Coulson O'Neill to be conferred the title of Earl and become the Lord of Adler, and brought little Prince Andre back to Innadri to be taken care of by Ji Tang... None of this shows how much Yang relies on the aristocracy, or how much he values cooperation with the upper-class elites.
The people Yang truly regarded as his right-hand men were actually… those who were completely insignificant but who were well protected by Yang and who worked for him.
While Coulson O'Neill was waiting to be conferred the title, he was ignored by the Rhine royal family in the capital for several months. Yang, who seemed to have personally accompanied him to the capital and valued him very much, was unmoved.
When Ms. Shirley was kidnapped, Yang was furious and rushed to rescue her.
If Yang had to choose between Count Colson O'Neill and Ms. Shirley, there was no doubt who he would choose.
Lowell had little political sensitivity and he inherently rejected the art of infighting.
But this did not prevent Lowell from realizing what Yang's choice meant after seeing through the fog.
Yang's "respect" for the nobility and the royal family and his "compliance" with traditional power games were all just perfunctory!
In his "ideal world", there is actually no place for these people!
Fighting for Miss China Darcy's viscount inheritance rights and for Coulson O'Neill's knighthood were just attempts to create the illusion that "he would abide by the traditional rules of the game of power."
Just like Charlie Rex, whom he really values, Yang doesn't care whether Rex has a title or not!
Lowell could feel a chill rising from the bottom of his heart, slowly spreading to his limbs.
Yang, who already looked very crazy, was actually trying to act less crazy...
What he did was not just to force the upper-class elites to give up part of their interests and share the profits with others, but rather - he had no intention of keeping the upper-class elites at all.
Who are the people under him who truly hold power, apart from the undead?
The illegitimate son abandoned by his noble father, the wanted former thief, the tortured former prostitute, the abandoned NCO soldiers after being defeated and captured, the lower-class citizens who would never have a chance to rise if they followed their original life trajectory, the civilians in small towns, the residents of slums, the peasants and village women...
Lowell felt his body trembling slightly, and a strong sense of rejection filled his body and mind.
With his life experience of the previous three hundred years, he was extremely disgusted and repulsed by Yang's true madness hidden under the disguise of "barely that crazy".
Yang was going against the stable situation that all Orthodox sects tried their best to maintain and which had been proven to be workable - all Orthodox sects needed a large number of believers and a sufficient and stable source of tithes; the turmoil in the parish was absolutely not conducive to the development of the church and was what the Orthodox sects tried their best to avoid.
But in the more than two years of living with Yang and the dead, everything Lowell saw with his own eyes clearly told him: Yang's choice was not wrong.
He had lived in Westham for two years, and had witnessed how this small town, which originally relied on the red-light district to support its economy, had gone from being deserted and empty to being popular and bustling; and how the townspeople had gone from having to use up their household expenses to buy even the cheapest dead cloth at five copper coins a meter to being able to afford sweet-filled breakfast buns at seven copper coins a pound.
In the past, the villagers of Westham would go to the town to do odd jobs during the slack season. As long as they had enough copper coins, they would immediately go to buy salt and cloth. It was normal for them to go hungry all day and return to the countryside with an empty stomach. But now, after finishing their odd jobs, the villagers of Westham are willing to buy their wives and daughters a beautiful scarf, and also a pretty little hairpin.
When he went out for a walk in the town , he could see that the villagers of Westham no longer had to wear out their clothes and work shirtless like the farmers of Shiga. Not only did they wear their clothes well, they also put a thick towel under their shoulders.
Occasionally, when he had something to do in the city, or when he was bored and wanted to go for a walk in the city, Kane Town, or Newin Town, he did not see the beggars and vagrants that should have been everywhere in the city or the towns... These people were now well organized by the Environmental Sanitation Bureau of the Civil Affairs Department, and were either responsible for cleaning the streets or for recycling, transporting, and incinerating garbage; they earned clean salaries and lived a decent life.
Yang's ghost and the people he trusted managed Innadelli so well that Lowell envied him and longed for his hometown to be like that.
Lowell himself had this idea, and he could certainly fully understand...what kind of mood those who followed Yang were in when they were doing things for Yang.
"——So that's how it is." Lowell sighed again.
As human beings, of course everyone will choose a better life, but most people do not have the opportunity to make a choice.
Just like where he was standing now, the owner of this land and the owner of the country house at the end of the road could choose freely; but these people who had to work shirtless under the scorching sun and in the slightly chilly spring breeze had no choice.
Yang gave the only right of choice to these people who originally had no choice, and there is no doubt about what choice these people will make.
Lowell silently turned his head and looked at Anthony who was standing next to him pretending to be honest.
This Kenyan has a shrewd mind that doesn't match his appearance; no, maybe he's a little too shrewd...
Yang did not interfere in the internal affairs of the Principality of Shiga, and Lowell naturally would not say much about Yang's own affairs.
"You're right. My thinking was wrong." Lowell nodded slightly to Anthony to express his gratitude. He bent down to lift the hem of his black robe and pinned it to his belt. "I can't wait to go back as soon as possible. If you can't keep up, then you can buy a lizard horse in the town ahead."
Anthony: “Huh?”
Before Anthony could react, Brother Lowell had already jumped far away...
As an ascetic monk and a high-level priest, although Lowell could not fly as easily as high-level spellcasters who could directly or indirectly use the wind element, his ground speed was definitely very fast - when he was chasing the player, although he did not catch up with him, he was not thrown away by him either.
By the time Anthony was cursing excitedly, Brother Lowell's figure had shrunk to a tiny black dot.
Anthony had no choice but to run to the nearby town... He looked much stronger than Lowell, but he did not have the ridiculous physical endurance of the ascetic monk. If he really ran back to the Lowell family's territory on his own two legs, his legs would be crippled.
Rowell ran westward at a speed not inferior to that of the players, his expression gradually becoming firm.
Yes, Yang's path is too crazy and conflicts with the Orthodox Church's philosophy of requiring the parish to maintain long-term stability.
But Lowell still wasn't going to give up.
He has seen the changes in Innadri, and he still hopes that his hometown can have the same splendor as Innadri - even if it cannot be as good as Yang's, and can only imitate 30% to 50%, it will still be much better than the current Shiga.
"I am not Yang, I don't have to be exactly like him, and the Principality of Shiga is not Rhine."
"I can try to find a way to achieve the same goal as Yang, but with a different process."
Lowell ran wildly against the wind towards the setting sun, his eyes firmly looking into the distance.
"Yang's approach is indeed too crazy, but his actions do have merit. Without external interference, people who already have too much will not be willing to give up the part of their profits that exceeds their needs and share it with others. They are more willing to use this surplus to gain more benefits for themselves."
"The country nobles are willing to use a dozen gold coins as a 'farewell gift' to please a church priest like me, but they may not be willing to lend a farmer a few silver coins for free."
"A little bit of pressure is necessary, but it shouldn't be as harsh as Yang's."
"It should be more moderate than Yang..."
"It is too radical to completely deny the value of the upper class of the Rhine like Yang did, but the development of Innadri has indeed proved that it is unnecessary for the upper class of the Rhine to have too many privileges. It would be more appropriate to appropriately reduce the treatment and power of the upper class nobles..."
Lowell ran against the wind all the way, silently thinking about the extent of the reform measures he should take after returning to his own territory, and how to implement his ideas in a gentle way and avoid violent conflicts as much as possible.
Lowell was concentrating on thinking about the road ahead, and he didn't realize that there was something wrong with the reference he used as a reference standard...
Several hours later, the ascetic, whose endurance was no less than that of the player, ran back to his own territory.
Enwei, the lich who was helping to look after the house, came out of the Lowell family's mansion and saw a... disheveled ascetic monk who was covered in dust and had hair that was several shades of gray.
"Is Duke Shiga going to send troops to attack you, or is the Holy Land of Prosperity preparing to turn against you?" Enwei asked with a frown.
If nothing serious had happened, Envy couldn't understand why Lowell would rush back in such a hurry.
"No." Lowell shook his head and said simply, "I came back to get the teleportation array for summoning the undead. I will go to the front line later to solve the trouble with Joyce Andre and bring them back."
Enwei was stunned.
The Prosperity Church transferred away the cavalry regiment of priests that Lowell had led for many years, which clearly showed that it did not support Lowell's rebellion in the Prosperity Parish. Lowell himself was well aware of this, but he could not make up his mind to turn against the Holy Land of Prosperity, so he endured his anger and watched Joyce Andre and his group of priests leave in depression.
What happened to Lowell during his trip? Why did he suddenly come to his senses?
