When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1014 Onnivia
As the nominal Southern Pope, Grandiva's papal palace is located in the same area as the former residence of the Imperial Popes of Fran during the Hundred Years' War.

Onnivia is named after the first pope to reside there.

In this old town located on the lower reaches of the Nauan River, countless spires and towers of small churches stand in a staggered pattern, with bells ringing out one after another.

Among these towering monasteries and churches, the five churches of St. Chapel are the most striking.

They have huge, shimmering gemstones and gold and silver spires, and house the remains of six popes.

Outside the monastery and church, almost all the open spaces were occupied by half-timbered houses.

The streets are narrow and winding, and the houses are tall and crowded, leaning against each other and stretching into the distance.

As for the surrounding suburbs, there are a dozen or so royal castles built with high brick and stone walls, with guards patrolling on the top of the walls or stationed in the towers.

Behind the arrow slits and battlements, one can see pairs of vigilant eyes, ready to shoot any unrelated people who approach.

Because behind the Royal Castle was the Royal Mint of Fran.

Ironically, Onnivia was not only the residence of the French pope, but also the French mint.

In reality, the Elites of the Imperial Council control the minting and issuance of the gold pound.

However, nominally only the Pope had the right to mint gold pounds, so the Royal Mint of France was established here.

At that moment, a rapid hoofbeat came from the west. The soldiers and guards turned their heads and saw a large flag fluttering in the wind.

"It's Pope Grandiva! His Majesty Grandiva has returned!"

"Lower the drawbridge and open the gate!"

Grandiva, who had hurriedly returned from Flower Hill City, was wearing a papal robe that didn't seem to mind the heat, and a silk cloak.

With a somber expression, Grandiva rode his horse swiftly across the drawbridge wooden gate from the entrance.

When the pope returned with his cavalry escort, passersby stopped to greet him.

As for Grandiva, this archbishop, although he looks to be only in his early thirties, is already fifty-six years old.

However, he maintained his amiable demeanor as always, slowing his horse and waving to the crowd.

But whenever they reached a street corner where no one could see them, they could see the impatience on his face, as if he were gritting his teeth.

These lowly people, can't you see he's in trouble?

After a long and arduous journey, his sweat had almost washed away the black dye from his beard and hair before he finally entered the Papal Palace in Onnivia.

A dozen or so monks, staff members, and priests gathered around and bowed to Grandiva.

Grandiva gave them a haughty look and walked upstairs without saying a word.

Several key priests and staff members quickly followed and went to his study.

"His Highness Charles VIII requests that we hold a debate with the Holy Alliance at Red Leaf Hill to demonstrate the legitimacy of my crown of the Church."

"what?"

Several staff members and priests were shocked, as Horn's pope had not been elected by cardinals at all.

Legally speaking, he was just asking the Pope to amuse himself.

Grandiva's initial idea was to simply send the Fran army to invade and force Horn to submit.

Why did this debate even start?

"That damned Sheri actually jumped into the Naro River in winter with the Ark of the Holy See. Now the body has been found, but the Ark of the Holy See is nowhere to be found."

Grandiva slammed his fist on the table, causing the ink bottle to bounce and splash several drops of ink.

If the Ark of the Sacred Relic were still there, he wouldn't need to go through all this trouble; he could simply announce, "You've been crowned!"

"Is this His Highness's order?"

“This is a joint order from His Highness and the Prime Minister.” Grandiva looked at his advisors. “What do you say? Let’s discuss it.”

Although Grandiva comes from a political showmanship background, he lacks sufficient theological knowledge to even qualify for such a show.

He knew very well that imperial theology had long since reached a dead end.

These kinds of theological debates nowadays have never yielded any real results.

The empire's history has been marked by numerous periods of decline and chaos, with countless historical records and canonical texts scattered amidst the turmoil.

Later, for the sake of easier governance and the church's self-preservation, scholars and bishops in various places secretly wrote forged books under the guise of ancient people.

Even more remarkably, adding or deleting just a few words from a scripture can result in completely opposite meanings.

In addition, the differences in meaning between ancient and modern times, as well as errors in transcription, have led to the Holy Lord in the existing scriptures frequently attacking the right brain with the left brain.

For example, the issue of "freedom," a cornerstone of Horn's theological doctrine, is addressed in several completely different ways in existing scriptures. One instance is in the *Biography of St. Randolph*, which affirms slavery by stating that "those who voluntarily become slaves will naturally gain freedom in the new millennium."

A moment later, in the "Biography of Saint Yangde", he said, "You were all slaves in the Empire, so you must not be sold into slavery."

On such issues, both sides have always had their own reasons, and the Grand Council has almost never been able to resolve any problems.

The last Grand Council, for example, was held in 1270 to restrict activities involving "doubt about the scriptures."

The main goal of this meeting is to stop everyone from "doubting the scriptures," because this only leads to internal friction and yields no results.

Before the Fifth Ecumenical Council in 1270, although theological schools were in disarray, they were always able to innovate in their thinking.

The burgeoning mercantilist school, the rising physiocratic school, and even the mathematical school that led to the French accounting revolution all bear the remnants of the skeptical period of that time.

Unfortunately, a single ecumenical council and a hundred-year war completely brought an end to the barely surviving theological community.

As for the already obscure and stagnant Messianic theology, it became even more viscous and rigid.

Throughout history, aspiring theologians have not failed to consider overcoming these obstacles.

Time cannot be reversed, historical documents cannot be pieced back together on their own, and doubts about scriptures are suppressed, so all that is left for them is to decorate chapters and sentences.

Grandiva is certain that, through the efforts of generations of sages, the edifice of Messianic theology has been completed.

On this tall building, there wasn't even a wisp of wind, let alone dark clouds; it was as solid as a rock.

“If you were to face that saint’s grandson directly and win the debate, your chances of winning wouldn’t actually be that great…” As the chief advisor, Fiette spoke after thinking for a quarter of an hour.

This aide's statement was actually a way of saving face for Grandiva.

Grandiva had read Horn's articles in Pravda and the Pope's Sayings.

This farmer from the remote mountain village, I wonder where he learned so many complex and profound theoretical ideas.

Grandiva considered himself to be quite knowledgeable in scholastic philosophy, yet he struggled to understand even a single article by Horn.

After reading it, if someone asks him if he can write something similar?
Grandiva could only smile slightly, then went back and berated his staff for not being able to write such a brilliant article for him, just like Horn's staff.

"But to say that he's pulled away from theological theory and into textual interpretation..."

Upon hearing Fiete's words, Grandiva laughed; this was his forte.

The Holy Alliance has only been established for a few years, but in terms of knowledge base and manpower, it far surpasses the Holy Alliance in the interpretation of classical texts and texts.

The Holy Alliance has many nominal clergy, but many are actually officials and hardly engage in academic pursuits.

By citing classical texts and summarizing similar principles, then reinterpreting the conclusions, and finally using those conclusions as examples, the article continues to incorporate classical references.

This is a long and painstaking process, something that the founding team of Saint Union simply couldn't achieve.

This is not because Grandiva disregards the Holy Alliance; in the words of that saint's grandson, it is due to objective limitations.

No matter how terrifying the Holy Alliance is, these things require accumulation over time and the purchase of ancient books.

After discussing it with several advisors, Grandiva finally determined that the plan was feasible.

Soon, they prepared a petition for His Majesty the King, as Grandiva had requested.

After reading the entire document, Grandiva's thick eyebrows twitched slightly.

They were so focused on writing why they won, what they won, and how they won that they forgot to write about where they won from.

“…This requires finding a point of attack on the ideology of the Holy Path.” Grandiva tapped his head with a quill pen, one hand behind his back.

Young advisor and priest Asot's eyes lit up: "Why don't we attack that sorcerer monk Galar's identity as the grandson of the saint? That Holy Lord is a virgin... Ah!"

Before he could finish speaking, Fiete, who was standing under the table, stomped on his instep, causing him to cry out in pain.

Just as Asot was wondering what his old leader was doing, he noticed Grandiva's face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot.

Oh, I almost forgot, this pope claims to be an angel reincarnated and has even performed the miracle of lifting his feet off the ground an inch in public.

In his early years in the countryside, he also became famous by performing magic tricks and feigning madness to utter philosophical sentences.

From a theological perspective, angels are a unity of body and soul, and there is no such thing as reincarnation.

Using this to attack Horn would be like slapping yourself in the face, something Grandiva would never do.

After wandering around for a while, Grandiva suddenly slapped his forehead: "That's right, isn't this ready-made?"

Picking up his quill pen, Grandiva added a final line of small print to the very end of the document.

"...This is the 'Questioning the Scriptures' regarding the misuse of slavery and the right to freedom by the Holy Way sect...Hmm, that's right, present it!"

　P.S. I might not be able to finish this later, sorry. I have something to do tomorrow morning and need to get up early, I'm afraid I won't be able to get up, I'll make it up tomorrow. I owe two chapters.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)