The priests of Luan City did not know what was happening outside the blocked city walls. In fact, even if there was no blockade, they would not have noticed the infiltration and destruction from the bottom of the people since the public burning in the square that day , the city of Luan temporarily calmed down, and the priests of the cathedral thought that burning those propaganda materials would solve the problem, at least preventing the further destruction of the Cecils in time, but in fact, the more turbulent force was in the illusion of calm The next is brewing in every corner of this locked down city.
Some unexplained gossip began to spread in the city. After dark, people secretly gathered in the house to discuss the dwindling ration supply and the locked gate of the church district. Some people said that they saw cartloads of grain being transported to the church In the district, some people say that the underground storage of Luan Cathedral is enough to feed the whole city for a year, and some more disturbing news indicates that the priests in the city have begun to prepare for escape. Rumors blossomed as if they had sprung up overnight, and spread rapidly throughout the outer city.
And more leaflets and brochures entered the city through secret channels in this dark tide.
The burning and burning at the square did have a strong intimidating effect, and a large number of civilians were shocked. Immediately after the new leaflets appeared, many people chose to hand them in, but some people chose to leave those things secretly. The second batch of leaflets not only revealed the Church of the Holy Light, but also described another kind of beautiful life: a more enlightened faith, a richer life, and the Holy Light that belongs to everyone, these things It is indescribably attractive to the people of Luan who have endured a long-term high-pressure blockade life.
Therefore, while a large number of leaflets were actively handed in, another part of the leaflets was transferred to more secret channels of distribution. They were spread in the back alleys where no one paid attention, in the dark night, and among the hungry and frightened people. , They may be more difficult to spread, but they have left a deeper impression on people's hearts, and in the process, Lu'an City is gradually splitting in an imperceptible way.
The priests in the cathedral will probably never understand why those leaflets are so attractive to civilians, but the officers of the Military Intelligence Bureau who are carrying out sabotage operations in the city can deeply understand all this: Before the rise of Cecil, There has never been a group of extraordinary people or aristocrats in this world who would talk to the people with a "human" attitude, even if the conversation is just a few words printed on paper, just a few greetings, a few words of encouragement, and a few words of promise , the temperature they carry is also very precious in this cold age.
The civilians in Luan City are regarded as the upper class among the common people. They are richer, more decent, and have a higher literacy rate than ordinary commoners, but they are only commoners after all. Ancheng is still the bottom of the population. In the days of peace and prosperity, they may be able to live better than people in other places, but after the situation is difficult, their living conditions will take a sharp turn for the worse. The gap exacerbated the dissatisfaction in their hearts, and created a deeper gap between them and the priests in the city.
Of course, the cathedral is not always unaware that the edge of the church district and the outer city are inextricably linked. As new leaflets were discovered and turned in, the high-ranking priests finally became vigilant. Surprised by the speed of replenishment, he immediately began to conduct searches and interrogations in various areas. During this process, Bishop François Bereng of Luan specially summoned all the residents of the city and gave a sermon on the square. Tell everyone that the current difficult situation in Luan City is caused by the blockade of the Cecils. Cecils are the chief culprit of the difficulties. He calls on everyone to maintain devotion to the God of Light and loyalty to the church. Face the present difficult situation with the utmost tenacity.
This was a successful sermon. François Bereng slightly restored the confidence of some civilians. However, after the sermon ended, dozens of civilians who were suspected of discussing the church and leaflets in private were publicly whipped. The whip fell, but more people only accumulated resistance and resentment towards the Luan Cathedral.
It may be the Cecils who blocked the city, but it was the monks who wielded whips and plundered rations. For most ordinary people, they didn't care about the details of this confrontation at all, they only cared about their own lives.
More video materials were immediately transmitted outside Luan City, to the mainland of Cecil, and to the printing factories of the four new industrial cities in the south, where they were turned into tens of thousands of newspapers and sent to The entire southern border.
With the application of industrial printing presses, the circulation and frequency of the Cecil Weekly have greatly increased. Now it can not only be published throughout the country, but also changed from once a week to twice a week, and occasionally an additional one is added. special issue.
The increasingly popular Cecil Weekly now has more and more readers. Businessmen use it to sniff out business opportunities, scholars use it to accumulate knowledge, and literate civilians also rely on it to understand changes in food prices and government orders. Literate people will also gather around literate people and listen to others reading newspapers to understand the changes in this land, because this information is closely related to their basic necessities of life.
Benny, who lives in Carroll City, is a person who has a close relationship with newspapers. He will come to the place where newspapers are sold early on the first and sixth days of every week to get the latest issue before everyone else. The Cecil Weekly, and many, many copies at a time.
Because he is a newspaper boy.
This is a new "occupation", not even considered a career. In order to distribute the newspaper as soon as possible and reduce the pressure on the newspaper bureau, the officials of the Government Affairs Department recruited a group of children from the newly established general education school. The recruitment criteria are poor families with good grades. These children go out to work on Monday and Saturday mornings when there is no class. Although the half-day income is not much, it is still a valuable subsidy for them and the families behind them. And Benny got the valuable job because he learned some spelling skills from his own father and did well in school.
In the early morning, when the first ray of sunlight was still hesitating on the horizon, and the newly-established magic spar street lamps on the city streets hadn't been extinguished, Benny had already arrived at the gate of the newspaper bureau. There were more than a dozen people lined up behind him, half of them were A half-old child like myself.
Saying hello to his friends, talking about new things in the city or talking about the teachers in the liberal arts school, the time passed unconsciously, and Benny enjoyed this relaxed and comfortable feeling. Although he couldn't say it, he Knowing that the arrival of the Cecils has changed everything in this city, many adults are worried about the changes in the city, but Benny feels that life is pretty good now.
Shortly after the first ray of sunlight rose above the horizon, the newly built mechanical clock rang two streets away, and with the first chime of the day, the magic spar lamps on both sides of the road went out one by one , The door of the newspaper bureau then opened.
It didn't take long for Benny to get the newspapers to be delivered and sold today. He prepared two large satchels, one containing the newspapers ordered by others, and the other containing the newspapers to be retailed.
Rich people, such as businessmen and scholars, want to see the new newspapers as soon as possible. They usually spend a few extra copper coins for a month's "newspaper delivery service", and the newspapers are delivered directly to their homes by a special person. It is said that in the big cities in the south, such work is done by professional postmen, but there are not enough postmen in Carroll, so the work of delivering newspapers is also handed over to newsboys.
Carrying a heavy satchel, Benny walked quickly towards the street. He first quickly completed the task of the block where he was going to deliver the newspaper, and then found a clean place, took out a newspaper and wrote it seriously. look.
It was lazy, but no one would bother him about it on an unnoticed street corner.
Benny wasn't worried that he wouldn't be able to finish his sales task for the day because more and more people were reading newspapers, and the supply of these things was always in short supply.
At least for now.
Benny watched intently, finishing the first edition of news and current affairs, and then started looking at a new section that had recently caught his attention.
The name of this section is "Faith and the Church"
This is a new section, first appearing on Cecil Weekly in a special issue three issues ago.
In the first two or three issues of the newspaper, the content of this section was not uncommon, mainly classic religious allusions and easy-to-understand fables, and also some common-sense content about religious rituals and knowledge of gods. Whatever it is, it's interesting to Benny. He's reading it as an interesting story.
But this time the above content seems a bit unusual. Benny didn't see those small stories and fables, but saw a whole page of the article, as well as the eye-catching headline on the article:
"How the Church of the Holy Light in the North Works Where Do the Priests Get Their Wealth?"
Benny was a little curious, but just before he wanted to continue watching, a curse from the side interrupted him: "Damn it!"
Startled, Benny turned his head and saw that it was Old Tom, an elderly cobbler who lived on the same block, clutching a newspaper in his hand, looking very angry, and cursed again: " I do not believe!"
Benny shrank his neck. He was a little afraid of this old man: Old Tom was a believer in the Holy Light, and he was devout and stubborn. It is said that he donated half of his property to the church after his wife died, and he lived a frugal and lonely life on weekdays. . As a cobbler, Old Tom's skills are unquestionable, but as a stubborn and withdrawn old man, he is very difficult to get along with.
The children are afraid of him.
At this time, Old Tom was still cursing in a low voice. He seemed to be very dissatisfied with what was written in the newspaper. Look at one sentence and scold one sentence.
The more Benny looked, the more frightened he became. He felt that the lonely old man was probably out of his mind, so he quietly backed away, preparing to leave quietly, but before he could move, the eccentric old cobbler came He stopped him: "Child! Did you say that the newspaper is nonsense!?!"
Benny immediately shrank his neck again. He boldly raised his head, ready to respond with a few words and leave, but the moment he raised his head, the half-grown child froze in astonishment.
He saw that old widower with a strange temper and a lonely life staring at him, his eye sockets were frighteningly red, and his face, which was always cold, was full of painful and distorted expressions.
"It's all nonsense! It must be nonsense!" Old Tom clutched the newspaper, which was almost crumpled in his hands, and yet his voice was shaking, "They told me... said Yes... As soon as the gold coins jingle, my name will be listed in the Kingdom of God, and Martha will be waiting for me in the Kingdom of God..."
Benny blinked. He didn't know what the old cobbler in front of him was talking about, but his gaze swept over the newspaper in his hand. On it, the words written by the "Theological Commentator" signed "White Knight" The words are plain and clear:
"...they (priests) are good at defrauding believers of money with all kinds of empty promises that cannot be verified. The souls of deceased relatives are sent to the Kingdom of God, but in fact this has nothing to do with the teachings of the Holy Light...
"In the Holy Light, there is actually a clear statement about the salvation of the soul, but the priests will never let ordinary people see this part, or will not interpret this part in detail..."
Old Tom seemed to have calmed down a little at last, and his eyes were still red, but instead of cursing, he picked up the paper and read it quickly again.
"Pooh."
He spat to the side, then seemed hesitant to throw the newspaper away, but in the end he stuffed it into his clothes and slumped away slowly.
Benny watched the scene in bewilderment, then noticed more people around them all holding newspapers.
People gathered in twos and threes to discuss the contents of the newspaper, some were worried, some were angry, and some were confused.
No one seemed to have such a violent reaction as Old Tom, but they undoubtedly paid close attention to the contents of the newspaper, and many of them didn't hold a newspaper in their hands, and seemed to be inquiring about something with the people around them.
Benny thought for a while, and suddenly knew what he should do.
He held up the newspaper in his hand and yelled loudly: "Newspaper! Newspaper! The new Cecil Weekly! Take a look! The inside story of the church's operation! First-hand news!"