When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#435 - The desperate plan to whitewash is really fascinating

Hearing the name of the plan, Catherine finally looked up from the documents. She adjusted her glasses, scrutinizing the young bishop, barely fifteen or sixteen years old, before her.

This plan, she knew, was to whitewash her identity as a witch into that of a saint.

From Catherine’s understanding of these citizens, they probably wouldn’t want to be seen as ungrateful, but they harbored a religious aversion to witches.

Catherine knew a little about the process of turning Jeanne into a saint, but that was based on the miracle of Hohen being resurrected after his execution. What did she have?

Placing a stack of bound, yellowed papers on the table, Hohen pulled them close, opened them, and saw dense names and red fingerprints.

Armand smiled slightly, "This is the current public opinion poll. We have received twenty-nine joint letters from twelve districts, with over 3,000 people signing or fingerprinting the letters."

Under Armand’s commission, hundreds of "rats" sent out into the city spread false information rapidly, successfully stirring up public opinion.

This surging public opinion was not only based on conscience and morality, but also on practical considerations.

The current Rapid Falls couldn't find a second person with Catherine's prestige and ability to unite the people and fight for their interests.

If Catherine were completely defeated, no one would fight for the interests of the people of Rapid Falls.

Although the posture of whitewashing at all costs was embarrassing, if it wasn't stopped, who could they blame if they were implicated?

The essence of this approach was to create fear by radically overcorrecting, making people afraid of getting blood on themselves.

Under this fear, they would ultimately support what the Salvation Army wanted them to support as a defensive measure.

Specifically, in this practice, residents feared that radical purges of witches would lead to even more radical purges of them.

Hohen looked up at Armand in surprise for a long time, wondering why Armand seemed so adept at this kind of thing.

Why hadn't he noticed it before?

"What's the main content?"

"There are requests that you not kill her but exile her, and there are also requests that you let her continue to serve as governor."

Catherine tried to control her disappointed and aggrieved expression, but the corners of her mouth still involuntarily turned down.

Even with Armand’s encouragement, less than a tenth of the people signed the joint letter, and even among that less than a tenth, many hoped to exile her.

Hohen scratched his eyebrow with his fingernail to hide his embarrassment. He had thought there would be more people.

But now it seemed that there were more people talking than actually taking action.

In this world where angels could be invited to descend, and where there was real supernatural power, this kind of thought imprint-like inertia was not so easy to remove.

Seeing Hohen frowning, Armand reminded, "You'd better consider the plan proposed by Thomas. You know, witches are, after all, a considerable power."

Hohen understood that Armand’s implication was that it would be best if the witch could be firmly controlled by Hohen himself, and that the Holy Father's descent would bind the saint's identity to Hohen.

Otherwise, if Catherine could become a saint on her own, her independence would be too strong.

The Salvation Army had paid such a high price, but it was actually helping others integrate their forces. This was unacceptable to many within the Salvation Papal State.

As for the plan proposed by Thomas, it was to replicate the process of Jeanne becoming a saint, using the Heavenly Father as a guarantee to eliminate the misgivings in the hearts of the common people.

The main reason Armand supported this plan was the disagreement over the handling of the Meggidi Merchant Guild.

The Meggidi Merchant Guild was a significant force. According to the account books Hohen had collected, its banking business, shops, real estate, and shares in workshops were valued at four to five hundred thousand gold pounds, and its liquid assets exceeded fifty thousand gold pounds.

Hohen's Papal State currently didn't have fifty thousand gold pounds in liquid assets, and the Meggidi Merchant Guild alone had fifty thousand gold pounds in liquid assets.

These funds were a minor matter. The main thing was the various craftsmen, notaries, and other literate people under its control, as well as the effective system formed by this group of literate people.

The Salvation Army could certainly dismantle and annex the Meggidi Merchant Guild, but that would be too wasteful. Re-establishing a system would take too long and might not even be effective.

But if the Meggidi Merchant Guild was retained, there would be a problem of trust.

If the Meggidi Merchant Guild were to integrate into the Salvation Papal State, it would most likely assume some of the responsibilities of a central bank.

Hohen needed someone with sufficient credibility and ability to manage this bank.

Then he looked around and found that the only person with this ability was Catherine Meggidi.

But could she really be trusted?

In any case, Thomas and a group of priests from the Holy Father Society believed that Meggidi might be trustworthy now, but she was, after all, a member of a merchant group.

Her current will did not represent her future will, and the spirit she had shown before did not mean that she would always adhere to it.

Some people can only share adversity, but not prosperity.

In other words, to retain the Meggidi Merchant Guild, Catherine must be retained.

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But Catherine was, after all, an outsider, and the Salvation Army was unwilling to provide her with such a high position, let alone trust her.

It was because he saw this that Armand supported the "Holy Father's Baptism."

Because in his view, as long as this method was used to wash Catherine into a saint, she would be deeply bound to Hohen, forming a strong dependence.

The process of Catherine becoming a saint was a process of offering a pledge of allegiance, and it was a process of the entire Meggidi Merchant Guild offering a pledge of allegiance.

Letting the citizens recognize the absurd "Holy Father's Descent" as orthodox would establish the legitimacy of the Salvation Papal State's rule in Rapid Falls.

Because the citizens were too smart. Farmers, laborers, and even craftsmen might believe in the "Holy Father's Descent," but the citizens were very disdainful of it.

So Armand believed that washing Catherine into a saint was just a means, a hidden power struggle, and the purpose was to force Rapid Falls to bow to Hohen through this means.

Although he himself knew that the "Holy Father's Descent" was stupid, Armand wanted the smartest and the most unintelligent people to bow their heads and admit that it was sacred.

The moment they admitted it, the social contract between the Salvation Papal State and the citizens of Rapid Falls would be signed.

Otherwise, would the subsequent "Holy Kingdom Field Acre Edict" be implemented? Would the sanctification of land be carried out? What was the reason for the execution?

From a rational point of view, Hohen could give a lot of reasons, but the problem was that these reasons were all experiences from his home world.

That was a castle in the air, that was a post-mortem summary, and it was knowledge that the citizens could not understand.

Sometimes even Hohen himself only knew what it was, but not why, and could only imitate it.

There was no way, so he could only use the doctrine that did not require a reason to forcibly promote it.

What made Hohen feel absurd was that it was already Imperial Calendar 1445, and he still had to rely on shamanistic rituals to establish a regime.

In the beginning, the makeshift team had to rely on his shameless shamanistic rituals to establish orthodoxy. Now that he had more than 500,000 subjects, he still had to rely on shamanistic rituals to establish orthodoxy.

Wasn't this pope a waste?

"Your Majesty, what is your opinion?"

"Let's talk about it later, let's talk about it later." Hohen rubbed his temples and waved his wrist impatiently. "I'll think about it again, and I'll give you an answer by tomorrow afternoon at the latest."