Any organization, when it grows large enough, will have various internal problems.
And if this organization spans a relatively wide area and the central government does not have strong enough control over the edges, the split of power is almost inevitable.
The same is true for the Holy Royal Court.
Perhaps in that era when gods walked the earth, relying on the power of gods, the centripetal force and leadership of the church were invincible.
But now, the gods are sleeping one after another, and everything is naturally different.
There are many Holy Royal Court dioceses, and conflicts are prone to arise when dividing interests.
Between dioceses and dioceses and between dioceses and ecclesiastical states, there are areas that require communication and coordination to a greater or lesser extent.
In addition, in order to expand the influence of the divine master, the Holy Royal Court often recruits different subordinate gods from different dioceses, which naturally leads to greater differences and more conflicts.
Although with its huge size and past accumulation, the behemoth Holy Royal Court is still a force that any country needs to look up to, but for countries, using the conflicts between different parishes within the church to balance power even requires more Interests have become the consensus of monarchs in various countries.
The same goes for the Crescent Kingdom.
The biggest reason why Louis V dared to directly challenge the church was that he was determined that as long as he still supported the Holy Court as the state religion and regularly paid religious taxes to the Theocratic State, the Theocratic State would not directly interfere in his dispute with the Crescent Diocese. .
As for just one parish, although the Crescent Parish is vast, after all, it is responsible for more than just the Crescent Kingdom, and it cannot muster all its forces to fight against Louis V.
As long as Louis V did not explicitly oppose the church, but cut his flesh with a blunt knife and gradually replace the church's influence in the kingdom, he would naturally be able to achieve his goals bit by bit.
After understanding the ins and outs, Charlotte also felt a little emotional.
The political entities in the Miria continent really like to cause divisions.
This was the case with the Yunet Empire in the past.
An alliance's division and inheritance law caused the empire to split almost every time it changed. Later, it was even divided directly into the east and west until it was destroyed.
The same goes for the West Yunite Empire, which has almost degenerated into a political alliance.
Almost all of the more than two hundred lords in the empire, large and small, have semi-independent diplomacy. The territory is more than twice as large as the Crescent Kingdom, and the population is three times that of the Crescent Kingdom, but they were defeated by Louis V of Fallen Star. Shiya fought hard, and it was not until he formed an alliance with Luo Xing that he was able to curb the expansion of the Crescent Kingdom.
Nowadays, even the sacred royal court in the religious realm is not exempt from secularism.
Under the Theocratic State, each parish has become a religious prince, and the influence of the chief archpriest on the local area is far less than that of the archpriest of the diocese.
Of course, this is true even for the Crescent Kingdom and many other kingdoms and principalities.
Every country is filled with a bunch of lords, big and small. Although they are vassals, they are also very independent. It is common for them to listen to orders or not.
In such a large country, the core area controlled by the royal family is likely to be only a small territory in the center of the entire country. Similar things are a kind of "common sense" in many countries.
That is to say, Louis V was born in the Crescent Kingdom, which strengthened centralization of power.
Before the Star-Moon War, the Valva family faced a similar situation, and was even nicknamed the "Count of Lutecia". The reason was that the royal family's previous control was only in the royal capital and a small area surrounding it...
Even the earliest reason why the Valva family became the royal family of the Crescent Moon Peninsula was because the great nobles on the Crescent Peninsula thought that the Valva family's territory was small and easy to fool, so they supported him to break the earth and become the king.
After reading the history of Miria, even Charlotte had to lament that the unified country like the Blue Star Celestial Dynasty in the previous life was an anomaly.
In the next few days, Charlotte finally became busy.
Word of the palace spread quickly, and the news that she had met with Louis V, renounced her religious vow of dedication, and decided to formally pledge allegiance to the Valva family quickly spread throughout the streets.
At first, it was just a rumor, but when the news came out that Louis V would hold the canonization ceremony of the Castel family three days later, everyone finally confirmed that the Northland had to choose between the church and the king. The king.
Before the canonization had even begun, nobles of all sizes had already visited the house to congratulate the Castel family on becoming direct vassals of the kingdom.
Of course, congratulations are on the one hand, but the most important thing is to show goodwill and trade.
The wealth of the Northland is well known, and the Northland's commerce is also developed in all directions. Many merchants in the Crescent want to trade with Luo Xing, Luna Island and the Grand Duchy of the North. The Castel Territory, which is a must-stop place, is A place that cannot be bypassed.
Not to mention, the Castel family also holds the largest mithril mine in the entire Crescent Kingdom. Even if 70% of the mithril is controlled by the royal family and only 30% of the mithril is owned by the Castel family after independence from Bold, He became the favorite of many lords.
Mithril is a good thing. It is not only a necessary material for forming magic energy arrays, but also a high-quality material for alchemy and magic arrays. It is expensive and in high demand. It can be called the hard currency of the extraordinary field.
In the past, various noble families could not stand the attitude of the royal family, and were relatively reserved and hesitant about trade with the Castel family. But now that it has been confirmed that the Castel family will become direct vassals, naturally they can't sit still.
For a time, the manor Charlotte rented was almost broken through by the nobles. In order to meet these nobles, her smiling face almost became stiff. Sebastian, who was responsible for signing the trade agreement, was even more reluctant to sign the agreement. .
In less than three days, the Castel family had concluded a trade agreement with a total amount of eight million quintana, most of which were related to mithril and its associated minerals.
This has been more than a year since Castell received tax revenue.
However, Charlotte knew that this was just a small head.
The real leader depends on the great nobles of the kingdom.
After meeting Louis V, invitations to Duke Yuehu's salon were also delivered. The salon was held on the day after she was officially canonized, and all the great nobles of the kingdom attended.
These great nobles are the ones Charlotte focuses on, because they control 90% of the extraordinary materials circulating in the Crescent Market!
By reaching an agreement with these people, the extraordinary trade in the Castell Territory will be completely opened in the future, and rare and extraordinary resources that cannot be bought even with money and mines will become a thing of the past.
Of course, not all nobles came here for the Castel family’s mithril.
During the three days of waiting for the canonization, Charlotte also received invitations to banquets and salons from many nobles, and their words were full of admiration for Charlotte.
The news that this was her renunciation of religion spread, and many people mistakenly thought that her declaration of celibacy was also gone.
He is as tall as a country and the only child of his family. He holds the largest silver mine in the Crescent Moon and owns the richest territory in the Crescent Peninsula second only to the Lutetia Region...
This is not a rising lord of the kingdom. This is obviously a walking lottery. As long as he is chosen and the beauty returns, he can not only capture the most beautiful pearl of the Crescent Kingdom, but also gain a territory that is as rich as the enemy. With wealth, he suddenly became the most powerful lord in the entire New Moon, second only to the Duke!
Suddenly, Charlotte's suitors sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.
This left Charlotte speechless and headache-y.
She declined all invitations to these guys who were greedy for her body and property, but she still couldn't stop the invitations and love letters that flew over like snowflakes.
Until Charlotte released the news again, her vow to take back the religious soil was true, but she also retained her declaration of celibacy. She had decided to dedicate her body and mind to God and would never get married in this life.
In this way, Charlotte finally became clean.
Although there were some who did not believe in evil and some who were just trying to get lucky, they were all ignored by Charlotte.
For a time, the aristocratic circle of Lutetia was full of envy of the Valva family, and the Castel family and Charlotte became a must-talk topic at various salons and banquets.
Obviously, the Valva family has benefited the most from Charlotte's declaration of celibacy. This almost means that as long as Castel dies in the future, the Northland will most likely be under the control of the royal family.
Even in the taverns on the streets, Charlotte of Castres has become the talk of the common people after dinner.
However, what surprised Charlotte was that the church had no reaction to her giving up her religious practice.
She was prepared for the priest to visit her, but in fact, in the Lutetia Cathedral, the only thing that came out about her giving up the soil offering was the words of the chief priest to the fellow priest:
"The future of the Northland is in Her Majesty's own hands. Whether it belongs to the church or to the king is up to Her Majesty as the lord. The Church does not need and should not interfere."
When this sentence came out, the entire Lutecia aristocratic circle exploded again.
Saint!
The Archpriest of Crescent Parish actually calls Charlotte of Castres a saint!
Although many civilians have previously called the mistress of the Northland a saint walking on the earth, more often than not, it is considered a rumor by the nobles, and it may even be the young earl of the Northland himself. A smokescreen.
However...now the highest priest of Crescent Moon has openly admitted this fact!
For a time, Charlotte once again became the center of public opinion in Lutetia, making headlines in aristocratic salons, aristocratic banquets, and civilian taverns...
Charlotte didn't know what kind of wind the high priest had taken, or whether it was just a reaction to her abandoning her vows.
That is to say, she had told Louis V in advance about her refusal to be a saint. Otherwise, she might have taken root in this monarch.
However, the subsequent development exceeded Charlotte's expectations.
Because New Moon High Priest Charles quickly sent out a new response:
"Charlotte de Castel is indeed the saint chosen by the Lord of God, and has the power of protection from the Lord of God."
"However, she declined the church's invitation and did not receive an official position in the church."
As soon as this response came out, it added to Charlotte's popularity.
The nobles saw the excitement, but the priests were furious.
A saint recognized by the Lord refuses to be a saint of the church?
What the fuck is going on?
Are you insane, High Priest?
You may say that this statement is false, but it comes from the mouth of the high priest, the highest priest of the New Moon.
But if you tell the truth, wouldn’t it be equivalent to saying that the Lord of God is dissatisfied with the church? !
This is questioning the authority of the church!
The priests were stunned, and one by one they felt like they were going insane, until the high priest Charles issued an order that shocked the priests and surprised the nobles:
"The Holy Royal Court has spread the glory of the Lord of God and protected all living beings for thousands of years. Now the Lord of God is sleeping, the Royal Court is corrupted, and the church has accumulated many evils and is becoming increasingly corrupt, so much so that the Lord of God used the Holy Girl as a warning..."
“From now on, the Crescent Diocese will launch an internal review, with Grand Inquisitor Bernard de Champagne as the reviewer and Joseph de Mazarin as the deputy reviewer, to conduct a faith-based review of all clergymen in the diocese. Disciplinary review!”
As soon as the news was announced, the entire Crescent Parish was shocked, and even Charlotte became more popular, with a tendency to change from the Lutetia headlines to the Crescent headlines.
There was no way, even though according to the chief priest, her refusal was the trigger for the church's self-examination?
He truly single-handedly influenced the policy of the entire diocese.
After Charlotte learned about it, she finally realized what the high priest wanted to do.
Charlotte's refusal of the Holy Maiden must have been hidden. It would be better for the church to take the initiative to expose it and use it as a reason to rectify the entire Crescent Parish.
After realizing this, Charlotte also fell into deep thought.
Any organization's overhaul is full of resistance, but the reason chosen by the chief priest can silence many priests.
At the same time, rectifying the parish is also a way to strengthen cohesion and regain strength. It may have an impact on the authority and power of Crescent Parish in the short term, but in the long term, it will be beneficial to Crescent Parish in strengthening its faith and religious power.
It's just...are you a little impatient to choose this comprehensive review method?
Louis V took advantage of the Blood Demon Order to start rectifying the kingdom's nobility, and at the same time further strengthened the centralization of power. Now, even the high priest of Crescent Moon is carrying out internal censorship of the church against the unstable family of the church...
How do you feel...both the king and the church seem to be in a hurry, as if they are preparing for something?
Not only that, compared to church documents, the activities of the Blood Demon Order in the past two years have also been more frequent than in the past. In the past many years, there may not have been a "divine descending ceremony", but Charlotte has encountered it enough since time travel. Arrived three times.
Even the Ness clan of Fallen Star Kingdom is planning to launch a coup this year, and it seems very urgent.
Paying attention to the news about the palace and the cathedral, and recalling the various developments of the Blood Demon Order and the Ness clan, Charlotte fell into deep thought.
"Something big should happen."
she murmured.
Charlotte didn't know the connection, but she had a feeling that something was about to happen.
Moreover, it is a major event that is known to the top brass within these major forces.
"Is this something that even the top executives inside know..."
Charlotte's eyes flickered, thinking of Albrecht who was forcibly contracted by her to become a blood servant.
Albrecht prepared Lutecia's great sacrifice. Although it was ruined by Charlotte, the third apostle of the Bloodline Order should also know something.
Not only that, since the Blood Demon Cult is involved, it is most likely related to the Blood Descendants in some way.
Thinking of this, Charlotte sank into consciousness and recalled Albrecht's memory transformed into a library:
“Tune out the major events that are about to happen in the recent period.”
The illusory book flew up and fell into Charlotte's hands, and the memory of Albrecht's rubbing also appeared in Charlotte's mind.
And when Charlotte read the other party's rubbing memory, her eyes quickly became a little surprised:
"Advent?"
