Riding and Slashing

Chapter 137 Marian Reformation
The Snake Cult believes in the evil god Azi Dahaka.

According to Anson, this is a god living in gray cumulonimbus clouds, with a body like a giant snake, scales of a horned viper, and wings with fleshy wings on its back—this is the pattern of Boshi City Theological Seminary.

Logically speaking, the form of this giant flying snake often means fear and destruction.

But in the eyes of Snake Worshipers, this is not the case.

Both Anson and Roland had seen Snake Cult followers—Bacchus territory was once full of Snake Cult followers.

In the mouth of the Snake Cult followers, Aziz Dahaka is the 'Goddess of Mercy'.

It's hard to imagine this giant snake being a goddess...

But according to the Snake Worshipers, people are born to suffer, and the world is originally a purgatory, unless everything is destroyed, and then the "Kingdom of God" is rebuilt on the earth.

And the "Goddess of Mercy" will respond to the prayers of every believer, bring strength to devout believers, and will take believers to the Kingdom of God after death to enjoy all good things.

Moreover, if the Kingdom of God can be established on the earth, then devout Snake Cultists will be able to achieve their wishes, become eternal immortality, and enjoy blessings forever.

Obviously, this is a sect that promotes despair and fear as a means, and promises good results such as 'power', 'afterlife' and 'God's Kingdom' as a way of fooling around, and it is extremely inflammatory, basically everyone Doctrines exist for the sake of rebellion.

At the same time, the Snake Cult is also very good at using various drug tools, such as the Snake Heart Stone.

This kind of sect with a clear organization has a fatal appeal to the bottom-level people who have neither knowledge nor hope.

As it happens, the Bacchus Empire has been implementing the Civil Equality Law—this is the tradition of the Bacchus, which divides people into several classes based on blood and wealth, and the classes are clear and fixed.

As conquerors, the descendants of the Bacchus are naturally superior; while the aborigines and their descendants in the southern part of the Pendor continent are naturally inferior...

Only the descendants of the Bacchus can join the legion.

The natives of Pendor are not allowed to own weapons, and they can only be farmers or coolies for the rest of their lives.

In fact, for a long time, the inferior poor and slaves in Bacchus were not regarded as human beings at all, but as livestock.

The Pendor aborigines in Bacchus territory were destined to end their lives from birth.

This situation is the normal state of colonial rule by foreign conquerors.

However, with the mother country of Bacchus in the Amara continent completely destroyed, this conqueror's rule not only made the Bacchus Empire weaker and weaker, but also provided the best soil for the spread of the Snake Cult.

The descendants of the local nobles who had been recruited by General Osa led the "inferior people" of the aborigines who had lost hope in life. During the more than 100 years of colonial rule, they have been constantly initiating resistance, and rebellions have continued everywhere.

Even though many natives of Pendor knew that the Snake Cult was problematic, they would still join the Snake Cult to gain strength to fight against the Bacchus Empire—the long-term oppression of hatred and hopeless life made them believe that what they were in was hell, and they Would rather destroy everything.

However, the Bacchus Empire did not have enough military power to suppress it.

General Osa's fleet that invaded Pendor back then had only tens of thousands of Bacchus, and many of them died during the battle. Compared with the aborigines in the entire southern part of the Pendor continent, the descendants of these Bacchus were originally a minority.

And their traditional civilian-level law makes it possible to join the legion to fight only the descendants of the Bacchus, so the scarcity of soldiers can be imagined.

As a result, the Snake Cult became more and more violent in Bacchus territory, and more and more believers were suppressed, and even gradually infiltrated the high-level consuls.

Fortunately, there was a mad king in the Sarleion Kingdom at that time, and the country was even more chaotic than Bacchus. At that time, the two countries were at odds with each other, which gave the Bacchus Empire a chance to change.

Emperor Marius was a sensible person. He launched targeted reforms after he ascended the throne of God 20 years ago.

He first brought the harvest goddess 'Damiya.Providi' was established as the chief god of Bacchus.

The image of this goddess is a mature woman with a kind face and no hair, only covering the key parts with a garland inlaid with wheat ears, looking gentle and plump.

This is one of the main gods of the native land of Pendor, and it is the god of harvest generally believed by the farmers in the south of the Pendor continent.

Emperor Marius required all descendants of the Bacchus to honor the native goddess Damia of Pendor, and he even replaced his crown with the wheat ear garland of Goddess Damia.

Of course, this is to change the image of the Bacchus invaders, to integrate into the native land of Pendor as much as possible, and to reduce the antagonism of the aborigines.

At the same time, this policy can also play another role—the image of the Harvest Goddess is beautiful and full. Using this image of the main god, full of beautiful yearning and hope for prosperity, to actively fill people's beliefs can curb the spread of Snake Cult.

After all, compared with a big snake with wings, the Harvest Goddess is more friendly just from the image.

Subsequently, Emperor Marius personally destroyed the traditional civil law of the Bacchus Empire and re-promulgated the Citizenship Law.

The Citizenship Law abolished the human hierarchy, stipulating that both the Bacchus and the natives of Pendor were citizens of the empire, with equal status and no distinction between superior and inferior.

Emperor Marius did not completely abolish slavery, but he gave everyone, including slaves, an upward ladder-anyone could join the legion and fight, and their status could be improved by making military exploits.

But if you join the Snake Cult, no matter what your previous status is, you will be regarded as a slave.

At the same time, he promoted many natives of Pendor to lords, enfeoffing the local lords to exercise self-government for those places that cannot be restrained.

In civil affairs, the one-vote veto power of the traditional "tribunes" was also abolished, and changed to a collegial panel system in which the lord, the superior consul, and the elected tribunes jointly deliberated.

The tribunes were originally elected representatives from the common people. Since only the Bacchus were regarded as human beings in the past, the original tribunes were all Bacchus. They would only serve the Bacchus and would not protect the interests of the natives of Pendor. .

The elected tribunes in the new policy are selected from the villagers according to the population ratio, and there are people from all ethnic groups, which is relatively fairer to the people.

This is to move closer to the mainland of Pendor in an all-round way, or to fully integrate the Bacchus into the continent of Pendor.

Moreover, he implemented a complete separation of soldiers and peasants in the Bacchus Empire, replaced compulsory recruitment with the recruitment system, and then formed a number of new large-scale legions, and these new legions were all provided by the state or the emperor himself.

——This kind of professional military system is actually more advanced than Pendor's native knight recruitment system, and civilians have more chances of promotion.

His newly formed 'Legion of the Immortals' also doesn't care whether the recruits are Pendor or Bacchus, and the legion treats them equally.

The imperial gladiator troops are all slaves and criminals crawling out of the arena.

This allowed the Bacchus Empire to obtain a wide range of soldiers. Therefore, in the past ten years or so, when the Bacchus Empire faced the Sarleon Kingdom, most of the time it was able to have the upper hand and occupied a lot of territory.

The reform of the political system carried out by the gods, the people, and the army has truly integrated Bacchus into Pendor in the past 20 years, and has also brought hope to the majority of the people. Internal conflicts have gradually calmed down, and the national strength of the Bacchus Empire has also grown come stronger.

The reform of Emperor Marius also immediately received strong support from the Knights of the Glorious Cross.The scholars of the Knights of the Glorious Cross even helped Emperor Marius establish some seminaries, which not only spread the belief of Damia, but also spread more scientific medical skills.

Spreading common sense of theology and medicine can also restrain the Snake Cult, and at the same time allow the country of Bacchus to be recognized by the people. Anson once studied at the seminary in Boshi City.

These new policies gave Emperor Marius a high reputation, and most of the Pande people in Bacchus no longer regarded him as a descendant of the conqueror, but regarded him as a real emperor, just with a different nationality.

From being an invader to being recognized by the local people, it took 150 years for the Bacchus Empire to achieve true rule.

However, the reform policies that achieved practical results were promulgated by Emperor Marius, and it took him less than 20 years.

In the past 20 years, he must face tremendous pressure, abandon tradition, face the opposition of the Bacchus, and complete the change of national policy despite various internal and external troubles.

As a foreign ruler, actively seeking to integrate into Pendor and return rights to the Pendor people is far more courageous than being a pure conqueror.

Of course, these are not the only reform clauses initiated by Emperor Marius, but neither Anson nor Sarah knew more about them.

Of course, the information Sarah found was verified, and she would not speak of unsure rumors.

Just like the specific things that happened with Alfred, Duke of Sarleon in the months before becoming king, she didn't find any information, so she wouldn't speculate wildly.

She will leave the judgment to the lord himself.

This is undoubtedly the style of an excellent foreign affairs officer—do not add personal subjective speculation to the work, but only collect information objectively and execute affairs.

Li Ang was digesting these contents along the way.

For him, these historical materials play a very important role, which not only enables him to confirm his original strategy, but also brings him learning and thinking.

Emperor Marius' reforms touched him a lot, and the lord even wanted to meet the emperor.

Of course, not now.

Now the convoy is moving forward, passing hundreds of miles of no-man's land, and has entered the territory of the Bacchus Empire.

The transport team was not very manned, only five vehicles and a dozen people, and the drivers were all from Mettenheim.

The lord disguised himself as a fur businessman—or he had no disguise at all, he was a businessman, and the people of Mettenheim were mercenaries...

From Changhe Town to Emperor Lingang, this kind of business route is actually a very reasonable route, and the lord has carefully considered it.

Leather happened to be a relatively scarce commodity in the southern part of the Bacchus Empire. The southern part of the Pendor Continent had a hot climate and few grasslands, so it was not suitable for large-scale breeding of cattle and sheep, and there were very few wild boars and deer living there.

This was already known to the lord last time when he held Double Eleven. At that time, the merchants from Changhe Town basically sold all their inventory to Bacchus.

The southern coastal port of Dilingang has a lot of seafood such as pearls and corals, as well as cheap salt and spices, and it is also a good place to buy.

In the Lieshi Kingdom, many people raise cattle and sheep. There are more forests and mountains around Changhe Town, and there are many wild animals, and things like fur are relatively rich.

There are many leather products produced in Changhe Town, Yongdunbao, Lion Lake City and other places.

Of course, some fur goods were obtained through private transactions with Jatu people.

So the more common souvenirs in Changhe Town are leather products—of course, there is also a less common souvenir, the Noldor Elf...

As one of the native products, Lisa Dilan is indeed in the team.

The people of Mettenheim, Sarah, Amy and others all know the existence of Lisa Dilan.However, although they walked on the same road, Lisa Dilan did not come together with everyone.

He was always not far behind Li Ang, either in the woods or in a dark place where the light could not reach.

Occasionally, I would walk around on the main road, but I always turned my head and couldn't see anyone.

This Noldor elf seems to be a little autistic now, and he hasn't spoken to anyone for a long time. Only the lord can occasionally communicate with him.

After finishing his trumpet blowing mission last time, Lisadilan hid in the forest until the truce, and he met his own people, a patrol team, in the Noldor Forest.

The sound of the horn in the forest will of course attract the investigation of the Noldor, but the Noldor obviously does not want to pay attention to the war of men.

Lisa Dilan and his people just glanced at it from a distance in the woods, and no one spoke.

Risadilan dared not speak, because he was exiled, and the great lord Islandil did not allow him to return to the Noldor Forest. He was afraid of being attacked by his tribe, and he did not know how to face them.

And his tribe probably recognized him, and the reason why they didn't speak, maybe it was the same-they didn't want to attack Lisadilan, but they also didn't know how to face this exiled guy.

As a result, Sadilan probably became a little depressed after returning to Maixiangling.

Although it has been more than ten years since he was unable to return home, it was the first time that he was relatively silent with his tribe in Changhe Forest.

As an exiled sinner, Lisa Dilan could not contact his tribe;

But the vast majority of humans regard Noldor as an enemy, so he cannot have too much contact with humans.

This probably gave him a sense of loneliness that was out of tune with the world.

Li Ang could feel this kind of loneliness.

Because the lord himself is not from this world...

But this kind of loneliness can't be helped by others, so Li Ang didn't bother Li Sadilan.

The lord thinks that Lisa Dilan is in a good state now. Maybe he doesn't want to talk to anyone, but the loneliness in his heart makes him devote himself to work wholeheartedly.

As a qualified entrepreneur, since the employees have devoted themselves to their work, Li Ang will naturally not interfere...

Of course, this elf killer was not a fragile person. He didn't show too many abnormalities, but he hid deeper. Sometimes even the lord didn't know where he was.

But unless the lord is inconvenient to take him, he will definitely be near the lord, and he will come out when Li Ang calls him.

After all, his duty is to serve as a hidden guard to protect the safety of the lord.

Of course, this bodyguard must be brought with him when he goes out this time.

The transport team planted three flags, Leon's black and white griffin flag, Godric's three-lion flag, and Leofric's red-bottomed griffin flag.They are all shareholders, and of course they have to protect their own property.

The three kinds of flags are planted together, which can basically guarantee safety in the Sarleon Land. After all, this represents the lord of the entire eastern region. No matter which noble or bandit it is, it always has to be weighed.

After leaving Sarleon Land, the risk will naturally be higher, but as long as they don't encounter bandits, the lords or soldiers of Bacchus will generally not attack such caravans with several noble flags.

After all, no one is a fool, and easily looting a business brigade backed by so many nobles may trigger a large-scale war, and they will definitely be tracked down by then.

Of course, without these three baronial flags, the caravan would have been snatched up by Bacchus' patrol team not long after entering the territory of Bacchus.

Bacchus' soldiers don't worry about ordinary businessmen with no background...

However, in order to reduce the risk as much as possible, the convoy cautiously avoided the border fortresses between the two countries, so as not to be troubled by the border troops of the Bacchus Empire.

In this era, it is common for business travelers to sneak in. After all, there are only so few defenders in the border county, so they can't keep an eye on them.

The lord entered the Bacchus Empire from between Shieldwind Fortress and Karen Deer Castle-there are hundreds of miles of wilderness between these two frontier fortresses.

Afterwards, the convoy planned to stop briefly in Yimer Village to replenish some necessities such as food, water and horse fodder.

Yimer Village is actually a subordinate village of Windshield Fortress, but it is quite far away from Windshield Fortress, at least 200 miles away.

The Shieldwind Fortress of the Bacchus Empire is somewhat similar to the Seven Forks of the Sarleon Kingdom. It is a relatively pure military fortress, and it is the front line facing the Sarleon Kingdom.

More than 100 years ago, when the Bacchus Empire was first established, the population that originally lived in the border area was moved to the hinterland of the empire, and an uninhabited buffer zone of several hundred miles was left on the border between the two countries, and the Shield Wind Fortress was built at the same time.

The location of this fortress is just south of the Dengjil Mountains, and the straight-line distance from White Deer Fort is only more than 300 miles, which is about the same distance as Changhe Town to White Deer Fort.

The original intention of building the fortress was to serve as an outpost when the Bacchus Empire attacked White Hart Castle, and also to prevent the Sarleon Kingdom from counterattacking, so the location of the fortress was far away from the villages where people lived.

The buffer zone of hundreds of miles also weakened the heavy cavalry advantage of the Sarleon Kingdom - the heavy knights in the Sarleon Realm are actually not suitable for long-term combat in the wild.

Due to the existence of a buffer zone of several hundred miles, the Knights of the Sarleon Land rarely attacked the Bacchus Empire from the east, because it was a waste of food and effort, and they couldn't find supplies on the way, and they couldn't find civilians on the spot.

In the past 30 to [-] years, Baron Godric of White Hart Castle has never attacked, so the village of Yimer Village under Shieldwind Fortress has spent decades of stable and peaceful years.

As a subordinate village of the border fortress, it has not experienced war for decades, which is really incredible...

But another border region of the Bacchus Empire, Karen Lunburg, does not have this treatment.

Almost every large-scale attack launched by the Sarleon Kingdom is aimed at Karen Deer Castle. The villages under Karen Deer Castle have been ravaged for a long time and are almost in ruins.

Even Karen Deerkeep abandoned Salem Village, the closest village to the Sarleon Kingdom-this village is basically deserted, and is now as completely empty as Trublen Village in Long River Town.

It is also a subordinate village of the border castle, the difference between Yimel and Salem is too great.

Today, most of the original residents of Salem Village and Barrug, another subordinate village of Karen Deer Castle, have moved to Yimer.

As a result, Yimer has developed into a large town with tens of thousands of people in the past 30 to [-] years, which is larger than Kewen Village.

But Yimer Village is more densely populated, and there are more streets and villagers in the center of the village. It looks lively and feels like a big city without walls, and there is a small square in the village.

　Of course this is not Rome's Marian reform, but Pande's. Please don't panic, Roman friends.

　　Since there is no specific information on Pandemario's reforms, I set up some reform methods that conform to the background and logic of the times based on the cause and effect.

　　My head is all bald.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)