The candlelight flickered into unpredictable shapes, and so did the shadows cast by the candlelight, only more elongated and darker. As long as there is a slight change in the upstream of religion and law, the future of the nation and society will be turbulent.
At this moment, Shulot thought of a lot. For example, the Pope gave an order, and one hundred thousand holy legions responded in a mighty eastward march. For example, arresting cross missionaries and prohibiting the spread of supernatural gods. For example, the priest monitors the alliance, and the spies are pervasive. There are also devout believers who come from all over the Americas to worship. The lights of thousands of houses that pray every day are accompanied by the sound of bells...
Furthermore, if someone becomes king and pope in the future, he will have the supreme authority of combining political power and religious power. He even recalled the millennium-old confrontation between green and red, the civil war between the Crescent Nobles and the Priest Group...
But this is long into the future. The Reformation cannot happen overnight; it always takes generations and decades to gradually succeed.
Xiulote pondered for a long time, but only gave a simple description: "In a few decades, the Mexica people will have a cohesive religious belief, and the unified world will form a multi-ethnic country with knitted beliefs. It is like a clay embryo that needs to be kneaded. Only through high-temperature firing and condensation of time can the final shape be achieved.
The world has a common language and laws, and society operates under the guidance of religious laws. After a long period of precipitation, repeated twists and turns, and changes in ethnic groups, a unified conceptual nation was formed and true unification was completed. "
Shulot lamented the past of the Celestial Dynasty. The great unification of China went through the bloody changes of the Qin Dynasty, and the grammatical construction of the Han Dynasty took hundreds of years to be fully formed. Among them, the First Emperor made an indispensable contribution. He laid all the foundations and is worthy of being the ancestral dragon of China.
"The country in the future needs to carefully maintain the balance of power among all classes. The influence of the priest group will expand rapidly, but a limit must be set to maintain constraints on power. This restriction mainly comes from the emerging warrior group, mainly military aristocrats and civilian warriors. The priests should also be divided into two factions, those focusing on faith and those focusing on administration.
The royal family must not only be the leader of priests and warriors, but also carefully maintain the balance between priests and warriors and suppress the influence of one party. At the same time, the priests and warrior groups must open up the upward channels for the civilian class, promote and select from civilians, and maintain fresh blood within the ruling class. In particular, the succession of priests from generation to generation must be reduced.
To put it simply, it is class balance and power restriction. Civilians are promoted and bloodlines are weakened. Holding a sword in one hand and a sutra in the other. "
In Xiulote's design, the development of the priestly group should be similar to that of the Chinese scholar-official class, divided into the academic school and the administrative school. While controlling people's hearts, we must also limit power. The samurai group represented the emerging common landowners and provided a solid guarantee of force. And when the economy develops enough, there will also be a class of citizens and businessmen to check and balance. We cannot allow a certain class to become too large and solid, hindering the emerging need for reform.
Of course, in order to suppress the priest class, the king must have sufficient prestige and skill.
The elder who had been silent for a long time finally turned around. He looked at the boy again.
"My child, you seem to have forgotten a group of people."
Shulot shook his head, gritted his teeth slightly, and declared solemnly.
"Princes are a hidden danger to the alliance. They are not loyal to the royal family at all and must be eradicated! The great noble class occupies too much wealth and manpower and must be weakened and suppressed as much as possible! At least within a ten-day trip from the royal capital, we can Directly govern the cities rather than govern themselves autonomously.”
Hulot recalled the historical rebellion of the princes of Tlacopan and Texcoco upon the arrival of the Spanish. They directly contained most of the alliance's forces. Foreign princes must not be allowed to stay! Similarly, weakening the hereditary nobles and cultivating common landowners and civilian priests are also the core of the reform.
The elder was silent for a moment and shook his head slightly. Skilled rulers will make many preparations in advance, and then take advantage of the situation by inserting a sharp knife into the gaps in the bones, allowing the blade to flexibly slaughter the target.
The elder taught lightly while walking forward slowly.
"My child, don't be anxious. The food must be eaten one bite at a time, and the road must be walked step by step. Naturally, the rats in the fields must be eliminated one by one. Tell me about your new priesthood."
Xiuluo nodded and followed slowly. He only knows the general direction of reform and has no idea how to start for the time being.
"The priestly group needs to establish a strict hierarchy. The lowest level is the urban community priests and the village priests. They must have the right to interpret scriptures and laws, the right to judge daily disputes, the right to mobilize warriors and militia, and the right to collect religious taxes. They Responsible for the education of common people and peasants, and holding ten days of great ceremonies, it is the root system of the towering sacred tree."
The elder pondered slightly. Tax manpower, laws and education. In these places, the priests needed to compete with the big nobles who owned the villages for grassroots control.
"Further up are the city priests, who are responsible for a city and nearby villages. The parish priests are responsible for a complete area, including multiple cities and villages. The establishment of a parish requires the consent of the central authority. The parish priest can be called the chief priest, corresponding to the specific The eleven states of Mexico can have eleven officiants.
Several dioceses are united into an archdiocese, and the archdiocesan priest is the chief priest. If there are large and important cities, they can also be set aside to establish separate metropolitan priests at the same level to prevent the chief priest from having too much power. At present, the eleven states of Mexico can establish an archdiocesan archbishop.
Further up the archdiocese is the highest regional unit, the ecclesiastical province. The leader of the ecclesiastical province is the patriarch, who has complete control over the religious power of a certain area. In the future, when the Tarasco people are conquered, a higher Mexica ecclesiastical province can be established above the Archdiocese of Mexica and the Archdiocese of Tarasco. "
Village and community priests, city priests, diocesan priests, arch-priests and metropolitan priests, patriarchs. The regional five-level executive agency basically comes from the cross structure in Shulot's memory and has withstood the test of thousands of years of history.
The elder nodded slightly. Local religious divisions will also be national divisions in the future. Although the alliance has not yet established a hierarchical country, similar plans have been thought about in his mind many times. This child's plan is even more grand and bold.
"Starting from the parish priest, the appointment and dismissal rights will be decided by the central church. Therefore, a three-level central priest group is established in the central church, corresponding to the candidates for the chief priest, chief priest and suzerain priest. And outstanding city priests will be selected into the lowest central church The priesthood is trained in the center and then put in charge of the parish.
The highest-level central priest group corresponds to the current chief priest group and high priest group, which are the twelve priests and elders, and are on the same level as the sect chief priests. "In Christianity, cardinals and patriarchs are candidates for the pope.
Shulot thought for a moment, but did not mention the higher-level Pope. There is no doubt that the highest religious authority now lies in the hands of the elders. He just re-emphasized the promotion mechanism.
"God treats everyone equally. The fifth-level priesthood should be promoted in sequence, and all officiating priests must have the experience of pastoring in villages and communities. The priesthood is open to outstanding civilians, and try to maintain a balance in promotion."
Facing the common people is the most important means to maintain the vitality of the priestly community. In the Middle Ages in Europe, the church was almost the only place where common people could get ahead and change their class. Of course, now there are more adventures of great sailing.
"According to the Mexica priesthood, priests should completely dedicate themselves to God. Formal marriages are prohibited for priests at all levels. The descendants of priests do not have the right to inherit religious status."
Shulot knew that no matter which religion in the world, for the high priests who really held the power, the laws prohibiting marriage and the inheritance of status were usually in vain. Ten years later, Alexander VI would succeed as pope in Rome. The Borgias would completely destroy the reputation of the Church and ignite the Reformation.
However, such provisions still need to be written into the priestly regulations to try to restrain the corruption of the priestly community and leave a basis for further reforms to future generations.
The elder fell into long thought. The present and the future are constantly deducing and intersecting in his mind.
"After I die, there will be a pope who will lead the religion."
Thinking of this, the elder looked at Shulot with a deep look. After a while, he spoke calmly.
"Boy, all this you are talking about requires a code of words. I want to hear you speak of a code again."
Faint murderous intent faced him, and Shulot felt awe-inspiring in his heart. He thought for a long time before replying carefully.
"Mexican society needs a religious code. The source of the code is divine revelation, not accumulated jurisprudence. The code is characterized by the incorporation of moral requirements and regulations for the life of believers."
“The content of religious codes is divided into three aspects: stipulating the order between man and God, stipulating the order between man and society and nature, and stipulating the order between man and himself.
Man and God are the ceremonial rituals of worshiping the gods, the reverence and devotion to the gods. This requires modifying the current religious rituals that are too bloody and violent and retaining the beautiful parts of them.
People and society are the laws and regulations that guide society. Criminal law revenge, war prisoners, food and drink, loan interest, marriage relationships, property inheritance, and prevailing social ethics.
There are too many death sentences in Mexica society, and perhaps the sentences could be commuted appropriately. The jurisdiction of the market must also be taken back from businessmen, especially the autonomy of foreign businessmen. Property laws can be further refined by integrating existing regulations.
Man and nature provide for fishing, hunting and gathering, gardens and zoos, sacred mountains and sacred lakes.
People and themselves are cultivating themselves and observing the precepts. This is similar to our Mexican tradition of being indifferent and ascetic. But bloody gambling should be banned. "
In Xiulote's view, Mexican society has simple folk customs, values gods over life, and has extremely strict discipline. The people are always shrouded in the shadow of death. There are countless laws and customs that impose death sentences: death for adultery, death for thieves, death for those who dress in a manner that violates the rank, death for people who are drunk twice in public, death for judges who take bribes, death for merchants who cheat, death for slaves who resist, death for those who disrupt religious rituals, death for those who violate religious rituals, and death for those who violate the law without permission. Those who enter the holy mountains and holy lakes will die...all these are very similar to the harsh punishments of the Qin Dynasty.
Gambling under the supervision of judges was both orderly and unrestrained. Whether it is a ball game or a dice made of beans, once the two parties start gambling, they often bet all their property and life, treating death as a game. All this shows the splendor and cruelty of the emerging civilization.
On the other hand, slaves in Mexico retain sufficient personal and property rights, and also have the opportunity to rely on the master's family to prosper. Similar to having more servants, they are not completely expendable.
"In general, religious laws and regulations are characterized by sanctity, comprehensiveness, and flexibility. Its status is supreme, it regulates all aspects of life, and it is constantly adjusted and changed with regional customs and the development of the times."
The elder pondered slightly, chewing on the three concepts of sacredness, breadth, and flexibility, and thinking about God, society, nature, and people. After a while, he nodded slowly.
"My son, we need a fundamental creed, both as a guide for religion and as a basis for law."
Shulot nodded seriously, but this was obviously beyond his capabilities. he could only add.
"The fundamental doctrine is divine revelation, which can be used as a principled summary. This is a towering tree trunk pointing to the sky. It does not need to be too detailed, leaving room for expression.
To the fundamentals, three specific sources of law may be added: the precepts of the saints, the deductions of scholars, and the decisions of the priesthood. These are the vast and flexible branches and leaves that guide the specifics of enforcement of regulations. "
The elder pondered the religious laws mentioned by Shulot. He needs a concrete executive editor. The two figures kept rising and falling on the scale in his mind. Eventually, the two figures turned into three. The elder finally made a decision.
Before our eyes we reached the stone house deep underground again. The sculpture-like guard captain exerted his strength easily, and after a roar, the thick stone door opened, and a small green snake scurried into the corner as if frightened, leaving a frog in its mouth.
"My child, you are here." The elder said expressionlessly.
Shulot silently walked into the snake house and touched the frog on the ground with his foot. The frog moved slightly, but it was obvious that he was not far from death.
With a bang, the heavy stone door closed again, and the snake house was dark. After a while, the little green snake swam up to the boy. It hissed softly, expressing its dissatisfaction with the door. Judging from the behavior of the little green snake, the elder has gone far away.
Shulot leaned against the wall and meditated. The smooth and soft touch came from the wrist again, swaying, entwining, slowly down the arm, and penetrated into his warm chest, and then became motionless in comfort. The young man sighed and fell asleep together with the little green snake.
When the elder returned to the top floor of the palace, the sun was already setting. The setting sun is like blood, staining the distant sky and the palace of the gods. The elder looked at the sunset, his heart slightly ups and downs. He sat on the stone throne of the gods, quietly waiting for the darkness. Behind him, the sculptural Captain of the Guard holds the clay pot of fate.
At the big temple, the priest's chanting that lasted for a day finally came to an end. The chief priests stepped on the solidified bright red and walked down the stone steps with calm expressions. The priests and elders said goodbye to each other and went back to rest. A day's worth of sacrifices is enough to leave one tired and with sore arms. Ugel gave a slight salute to Kechar, then shook his head and left.
Kechar smiled, admiring the sunset on the horizon, longing for tomorrow's eastward rise. He waited a moment. Soon, a loyal priest came from the north, holding a wooden box dripping with blood in his hands.
Kechar opened it and saw a big head with a majestic and unwilling face and a lifelike expression. Seeing his old friend, the chief priest's smile became more friendly. He closed the wooden box and headed east, surrounded by war priests.
