Water Margin people

Chapter 1784 Preaching (Part )

"You are crazy! You are all possessed by demons!"

The priest looked at Carlo and the others and roared.

"Father, demons are everywhere, 100,000 people died in Naples! What have you done?"

Carlo said, looking at the priest.

Everyone looked at the priest with a bad face. The priest could not fight the Black Death, nor could he cure the patients, and now he had to stop others from saving them.

“The Lord will never forgive you!”

The priest made his final roar.

"Your Majesty, what should we do with him? Burn him to death?"

Carlo looked at Baldwin IV and asked, the Christian way of dealing with sinners and pagans was usually to burn them to death.

"You just have to figure it out!"

Baldwin IV waved his hand.

Carlo and others immediately took the priest to a wooden cross, tied him to it, and started to set it on fire.

"His Majesty!"

William whispered to Baldwin IV.

"You see, these people are very stubborn. They can't accept new things, even if they can't do anything!"

Baldwin IV said the priest was just a microcosm of the church.

In the raging fire, the priest struggled and roared, but as the fire burned, the roar gradually disappeared.

The civilians had complicated expressions when they looked at the burned priest. They had believed in Christianity for too long, and now that they had done something like this, there was no turning back.

"This is a token of allegiance!"

Baldwin IV murmured that ever since he had dealt with the State of Qi, he had been trying hard to learn Eastern culture, and he had only recently seen the concept of "Pledge of Allegiance" in a book.

The common people gathered around Baldwin IV to listen to the teachings of the Imperial Church.

"Diseases are born from dirt, black spots are bred from filth, and snakes, insects, rats and ants are the messengers of the devil. God says: Keep yourself clean, ensure the cleanliness of the environment around you, and kill the messengers of the devil, and you will be able to stay away from diseases!"

Baldwin IV spoke again and repeated what he had said to Carlo at the beginning.

"Dirty! Dirt! Snakes, insects, rats and ants!"

After hearing this, the civilians all had an epiphany. No one likes dirt and filth, but due to limited conditions, there is often no other way.

"You are too dirty. You need to take a bath frequently, wear clean clothes, comb your hair, shave your beard, and don't have fleas on your body."

"The residence must also be kept clean, free of snakes, insects, rats and ants. Bedding needs to be frequently dried, the house needs to be carefully cleaned, and dirty things need to be buried away from people!"

“Don’t drink raw water, don’t eat raw meat, and wash berries and vegetables before eating!”

……

Baldwin IV recounted in detail the revised health regulations of Qi State.

The more the civilians listened, the more they thought it made sense. Aren't the devil's messengers just those dirty snakes, insects, rats and ants? How could they not get strange diseases if they stayed with those things?

"Go, do your work, and then come clean to hear the teachings!"

Baldwin IV looked at those people and spoke.

The civilians immediately bowed and left, and began to go to the river to fetch water to wash their bodies and clothes.

Even Carlo and others were the same. They didn't think it would be a big deal if they didn't take a shower before, but after hearing this, they just felt itchy all over their bodies, as if something was drilling into their skin.

"Your Majesty, will this really work?"

William asked doubtfully.

"The Red Sea and the Persian Gulf have already given the answer!" Baldwin IV replied. Some things do not need to be questioned. The facts are the answer.

"Then we need to isolate ourselves from the patients!"

William said that the reason why the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf were able to block the Black Death, in addition to hygiene, the most important thing was to cut off contact with patients.

“So we need it here too!”

Baldwin IV spoke.

"Here... Your Majesty, if Qi's method is really effective, I'm afraid everyone around will come over, and we won't be able to refuse them then. What should we do?"

William looked at Baldwin IV and said, the whole continent is now in darkness, and everyone will rush over if there is a little light.

The most troublesome thing is that they can't refuse them. They are preaching, how can the church refuse believers? If they don't refuse, the Black Death will be introduced.

"This is just a trial point. I will tell them later. I believe they will not easily come into contact with people outside!"

"Then I will leave here, continue to preach, and build one stronghold after another to keep these people alive!"

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Baldwin IV said.

"Your Majesty, why do you have to go through so much trouble?"

William frowned and asked, this was a waste of time.

"The reason is simple. No one can control too many people, and there is no way to feed so many people!"

"It's great to have a small village like this one, with a simple staff and easy management. We can survive by fishing, hunting and gathering berries!"

Baldwin IV said, pointing to the small village.

"Your Majesty, have you thought about it a long time ago?"

William asked, looking at Baldwin IV.

"No, I just thought of it when I saw this village. The whole continent is in chaos now, with the Black Death and constant wars. It is impossible for big cities to be immune. Only small villages like this are the way to survive."

Baldwin IV shook his head. How could he think so much? He could only take one step at a time.

"Your Majesty, should we keep it secret first? If the Vatican knew about this, I'm afraid they would kill us, even though the Black Death is raging now!"

William reminded Baldwin IV that the Holy See would never tolerate apostates and heretics at any time, let alone so close to Rome.

"These guys will keep it a secret! They already burned the priest, didn't they?"

Baldwin IV pointed at the priest who had become charred. The people in this village would keep it a secret for the sake of their lives, no matter what else.

After washing up, the civilians in the village gathered together again. After taking a shower and putting on clean clothes, they felt refreshed and much more comfortable.

"I feel so powerful!"

“Thank God for His guidance!”

"I've never felt so comfortable!"

……

Everyone sighed, but Baldwin IV knew that half of this was due to psychological suggestion.

Baldwin IV continued to preach, and the common people listened very seriously, but most of them were illiterate and could only listen but could not write it down.

Baldwin IV stayed in the village for three days, completed his preaching, and explained all the hygiene precautions before leaving.

When leaving, the civilians in the villages were reluctant to go, and Carlo and others wanted to follow Baldwin IV and embark on the missionary journey together.

But Baldwin IV refused, saying that the village needed someone to protect it, otherwise it would be difficult to survive this disaster.

"I give you these two books. One is a book for learning Qi's writing, and the other is a classic of the Imperial Religion. You can study them seriously. In the near future, the Qi army will arrive here. At that time, you will be Qi people! Under the protection of Qi!"

Baldwin IV took out two books and handed them to Carlo.