When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#388 - The communique system and national identity

The clatter of horseshoes kicked up clouds of dust, causing peasants wielding hoes and wearing sleeveless robes to look up.

Several afterimages flashed past, the small buckets of paste striking against the saddles, spilling a good amount onto the ground.

These were two constables wearing blue peaked caps and short capes, galloping along the dirt road on their swift horses.

"The public notice is up! Quick, quick, hurry up!"

Upon seeing this, the peasants, who had been moving slowly, immediately quickened their pace, chasing after the dust raised by the horses.

Since the Savior Army's arrival in the Kush Territory, public notices had become essential to the peasants' lives.

To prevent the notices from getting wet in the rain, most of the hundred-household districts would build a small pavilion or wooden shed above the notice board, specifically for shelter.

Generally, these public notices contained three types of content.

The first type was Kush Territory news, such as victories, the promulgation of policies or laws, and the commendation of individuals.

The second type was Hoen's essays, fables, or church jokes; the former to construct the rationality and legitimacy of the Savior Army regime, and the latter to deconstruct the rationality and legitimacy of the Imperial Church.

The third type was current prices and job information, such as the prices of briquettes, mortar, and furniture, and which workshops were hiring laborers, etc.

Often, these peasants were reluctant to travel far, especially since travel expenses were not cheap, and there was the risk of getting lost.

So, most of them would tell the head of the hundred-household district what they wanted each month, and then, based on the price list in the public notice, find the head of the hundred-household district and pay in advance.

Then, the head of the hundred-household district would go to the city with the Guardian Army for collective purchases every month, transporting everything back in wagons, which saved a lot of transportation costs.

Of course, due to the large quantities, many heads of hundred-household districts in the same area would jointly bargain with merchants for wholesale prices and raise prices for the peasants, earning a commission from both sides.

However, since the amounts were small, and most of it was used to subsidize fodder and the Guardian Army.

So, Madeline and others who stayed behind in Jeanne d'Arc Fort turned a blind eye, basically not investigating unless reported.

Once the situation improved, the roads were repaired, and there were enough people, this function would be stripped from the heads of the hundred-household districts.

When the peasants arrived at the public notice board one after another, the captain of the Guardian Army had the guards maintain order.

The Guardian Army formed a semicircle with their spears and pikes, preventing the peasants from getting too close.

From time to time, they had to take out sticks to beat those petty thieves and rascals from the countryside.

You should know that these Guardian Army soldiers had a portion of law enforcement power, and were implicitly granted the right to enforce violence.

This meant that the constables and night watchmen tacitly approved of the Guardian Army executing hooligans and rascals through private means.

In the past six months, those rural rogue gangs were either stabbed to death by spears or transported to Daze Township to dig mud coal or dredge river channels.

The head of the hundred-household district, arriving late, stood smiling in front of the public notice board, cleared his throat, and began to read aloud: "...Our army has achieved a great victory, defeating the tens of thousands of troops from Golden River Township, the demon leader Nidsar is dead, and Mosankereydes (Archbishop of Golden River Township) and Zeraken will arrive in Jeanne d'Arc Fort soon, for a public trial by all the people..."

Before the head of the hundred-household district could finish, the peasants burst into cheers, they tore open the ties at the collar, loudly asking if their children were on the commendation list.

On the edge of the village, Harken, riding a small pony, smiled; he had seen this scene countless times since leaving Jeanne d'Arc Fort.

However, Harken was not as excited as them, because he had already learned the news two days ago.

The news of the great victory was transmitted from the waterway to Jeanne d'Arc Fort in a day and a half, and then spread from Jeanne d'Arc Fort to the surrounding eight towns.

Finally, by the time the low-ranking monks had finished copying the public notices, and the constables had issued them, it was already three or four days later.

As the number of hundred-household districts in the Kush Territory increased, the constables naturally could not deliver to every hundred-household district.

So, most of the time, the constables only posted the public notices on the public notice boards of the hundred-household districts near the main road.

The remaining, more remote hundred-household districts were relayed the public notices by the nearby Guardian Army.

In Hoen's eyes in later generations, this frequency and efficiency of communication once every ten days to half a month was ridiculously slow.

But compared to other kingdoms where the upper and lower levels were unaware of each other, most peasants knew who Hoen was, and what was happening in the Savior Papal State today.

It was because of these public notices that the after-dinner chats among the peasants gradually turned into keyboard political commentary and bragging about the Savior Papal State.

It was in these keyboard political commentaries and bragging that the peasants gradually developed a sense of identity with the imagined community of the "Savior Papal State."

After all, if you don't even know what it is, how can you talk about identifying with it?

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Like the Black Mountain battle this time, if it were still under the rule of Duke Danner of Kush, it would probably take a month or even half a year to get the news.

For the original peasants, it was even more like "What does this have to do with my income of three thousand pounds?"

But for the current peasants, they have children, relatives, and friends serving in the Savior Army, bought Holy War bonds, and some even donated food to the Savior Army.

The victory of this battle is closely related to their lives, so they are proud of this battle, and it can even be said that they also contributed to this battle.

Armand's article "Victory Belongs to All Monks of the Savior Papal State!" further affirmed this point.

From this perspective, the nobles of Golden River Township lost unjustly.

They were only using their own and their family's meager power to fight against the entire Savior Papal State.

However, the Savior Army paid a considerable price to publish these public notices.

This public notice does not exceed five hundred words at most, but it still had to waste a lot of manpower on temporary copying and printing.

So, at Hoen's suggestion, the Savior Army government tried to develop the technology of movable type printing to free up more manpower and further expand the market.

According to the milestone in the "1446 Transportation Construction and Postal Memorandum (Third Edition)" written by Saint Grandson a month ago, they will complete the hardening of the main road with mortar concrete within two years.

By that time, postal carriages and public carriages will begin to operate.

If the situation permits, a tramway can even be built between Mayo Mine and Ash Furnace Town.

When the road is hardened, it won't take Harken so long to visit his old man in Ash Furnace Town anymore.

Continuing forward on the dusty dirt road, Harken and the others soon saw the black and red double-colored flag fluttering on the walls of Ash Furnace Town.