Water Margin people

A group of doctors fiddled with Conrad III for a long time, and finally Conrad III breathed his last in pain.

When Pope Eugene III saw the death of Conrad III, his face looked very ugly. Now he didn't know where to recruit soldiers.

"Now that His Majesty the Emperor has passed away, we no longer have a king. I suggest that His Holiness the Pope take charge of all military and political affairs of the country!"

Bernard spoke up.

This has always been the goal of the Holy See, to turn the entire West into a religious country.

Now the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad III and the French Emperor Louis VII are both dead, and the heirs of the two countries, Frederick I and Philip II, are both dead.

The two major powers are leaderless, and this is the best time for the Holy See to take action.

Eugene III was delighted. He had been planning this for a long time and had been coveting these two great powers for a long time.

"As long as I get these two countries, the other small countries will not be a problem. The Holy See will truly establish a powerful country."

Eugene III thought to himself, but there was no expression on his face. He still looked sad. Holding a cross and a Bible, he was about to start mass for Conrad III.

After the death of Conrad III, the entire army was left with only some kings of small countries and minor nobles, and these people did not dare to say anything to the Pope.

"Now that we are facing a formidable enemy, since everyone has no objection, then it is settled. We will now prepare for the coronation ceremony of His Holiness the Pope!"

Seeing that no one dared to speak, Bernard immediately struck while the iron was hot and finalized the matter.

The matter was settled in silence.

The once devastated battlefield is now covered with huge mounds of earth, which look like giant graves from a distance.

"It's quite spectacular! In the past, it was popular to build a mausoleum, but now we build a tomb mound!"

Xiao Jiasui looked at the densely packed graves and laughed.

"Haha, next year there will be green grass and flowers all over the place!"

Yue Fei smiled and said that those Crusaders would be the best fertilizer.

"Military advisor, I just received news that the enemy has retreated to Brescia."

Xin Qiji spoke.

"Brescia? It looks like the enemy hasn't given up. They are preparing to gather a large army and attack us!"

Xiao Jiasui spoke. The terrain of the thousand-mile radius was already in his mind. Brescia's location was very suitable for defense. It was backed by the Alps and separated from Venice by three rivers and a large lake.

"Military Advisor, shall I bring some people over?"

Xin Qiji asked for a fight.

"What are you going to do? If you disperse the enemy, how long will it take you to catch them all over the world?"

Xiao Jiasui looked at Xin Qiji and asked, the West is very large, the terrain is very complex, and the population is scattered everywhere. It is impossible for them to go around the world to fight and hunt down the rebels with such a small number of troops.

"The military advisor wants to gather the enemies together and then capture them all in one fell swoop!"

Lu You realized that this was a tactic they had always used in their Western Expeditions, luring the enemy deep into their territory and then launching a thundering attack.

"Yes, just like before, with such a small number of troops, we can't conquer every place. If we go to war, it may take several years to conquer the whole continent, and logistics supply will be a big problem."

Xiao Jiasui said that they occupied Venice to use it as a nail, firmly nailing it into the chest of the West, making them unable to sleep or eat, and thinking about pulling out the nail all the time, but the result would definitely be failure, and blood would flow until they shed their last drop of blood.

"How long do you have to wait?"

Xin Qiji was somewhat dissatisfied. He liked to lead his troops to charge into battle continuously and did not like to wait.

"It will take some time until the enemy mobilizes its troops. However, the next battle will not be that easy. You must be mentally prepared!" Xiao Jiasui said.

"why?"

Xin Qiji didn't quite understand.

"This time the enemy suffered from the ship's anti-ship guns. They didn't know how terrible the ship's anti-ship guns were, and they rushed forward in a dense formation. They will never do that next time. They will stay away from the coast and act in a dispersed manner, making it difficult for the ship's anti-ship guns to be effective."

Xiao Jiasui shook his head.

"Then let's not go out and see who can outlast the other!"

Xin Qiji spoke.

"How is that possible? Think about it, what are we here for? To preach and promote the kingdom of heaven. Believers from all over the world will come back to make pilgrimages. If those people block the roads around Venice, can we just ignore it?"

Xiao Jiasui spoke again, they came here not only to occupy the land, but also to erode the entire continent, and the way they did it was religion.

This is the world of religion, so they established a religion of their own.

The city of Venice has regained its former prosperity. The Qi army has arrived, the Crusaders have been defeated, the Black Death has gone away, and everything is moving in the best direction.

And those frightened civilians gradually calmed down. The Qi army did not burn, kill and loot like previous conquerors.

On the contrary, the Qi army treated civilians equally, paid for their purchases, and managed city affairs fairly and strictly.

Common people are not afraid of harsh laws. What they fear is that the laws are strict only for ordinary people, but lenient towards some people. The saying "it is not the lack of laws that is worrying, but the inequality of laws" applies everywhere.

“The taxes are so low!”

"Twenty-one tax! Praise His Majesty the Emperor!"

"Your Majesty is the only Lord we believe in!"

"I only believe in His Majesty the Emperor!"

……

The civilians gathered around a notice and praised it excitedly. In the early years of the West, the tax rate was 10%, but due to the constant holy wars, the various taxes added up to 50%, and they also had to donate to the church. All these things had made the civilians overwhelmed.

What makes the civilians most excited is that it is clearly stated that the Imperial Church will not collect money from civilians. The Imperial Church is sacred and cannot be tainted by money.

Another thing is that they will not easily levy exorbitant taxes and levies. There are no strange taxes such as window tax and shield tax.

But where some are happy, others are sad. The merchants' faces were gloomy. The State of Qi levied very low taxes on civilians and agriculture, but very heavy taxes on business, and there was also a very detailed business tax code.

"Isn't this going to cost us our lives?"

A group of Venetian merchants gathered together and said with resentment on their faces that they had always been pursuing absolute profits and they could do anything for money, but now their long-established business system was about to be broken and most of the profits would be given away, which was unacceptable to them.

"Let's go find the general from Qi. He can't do this to us!"

A businessman spoke up.

"Let's go!"

"Everyone, everyone, everyone!"

“We helped them!”

The others also followed suit.

A group of people walked directly towards the military camp outside the city. They wanted an explanation. They helped Qi occupy Venice, so why did Qi treat them like this?

When everyone arrived outside the city, they saw the city lord and a group of nobles waiting outside the military camp, but they did not dare to approach the military camp because the entrance to the military camp was guarded by fully armed soldiers. (End of this chapter)