When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 986 The Aftermath of the Fall of the Holy Throne City
By the end of 1453, the streets outside the window already had a festive atmosphere reminiscent of New Year's Day.

Regardless of wealth, everyone was wrapped in scarves and wool gloves, exhaling puffs of white vapor as they walked on the cold, hard streets.

After the news of the Holy See's fall was trending in major newspapers for two weeks, its popularity gradually faded.

Standing by the window of the Bucks' room, Delavan held a teapot in his hand, his thoughts drifting to the horizon as he looked through the frost patterns on the glass windowpane.

This was his first year in the Holy See.

He was the first Kush student to reach this position when he entered Frick Gymnasium.

In a broad sense, all the people of the Thousand River Valley are of Kush blood.

But as Horn previously stated, after hundreds of years of interbreeding, the pure Kush bloodline and the Kush way of life have been lost to history.

Therefore, the Holy Alliance has always advocated "monk narrative" and "new Elvish narrative".

The Kush people of Jinhe Township have gradually transformed from an ethnic group into a regional group.

They are active not only in the military, but also in the business and political spheres, and have always been known for their xenophobia and unconditional hostility toward the empire.

Among the Kush people active in various fields, the most distinguished group is the group of Kush youths who entered Frick Gymnasium in 1445.

Eight years have passed, and the youngest of them is now twenty years old.

Furthermore, due to the lack of literate officers in the early stages of the Holy Alliance, these young people went to school while fighting, and by their early twenties they were already veterans who had fully experienced the two Thousand River Valley battles.

Of course, De Lavan knew that not everyone could adapt to the brutal battlefield and the complex political arena.

Even if not everyone can pass, about fifty out of these one hundred teenagers will become successful.

Take McGowan and Delavan, the two leaders of the younger generation, for example.

McGowan and Delawan initially served as orderly before being promoted to full officers.

During the Second War of the Thousand Rivers, McGowan was already the Black Champion's intelligence officer, while Delavan became the quartermaster of the Royal Guard.

However, after the war, unlike the other Kush children who continued their studies in the military, the two chose to retire and attend St. Regis University.

This is one of the three pathways to St. John's University.

Admissions to secondary schools were like a fierce battle for a single spot, while nominations through the Council of the Emperor were a prestigious honor for high-ranking officials.

The last option was the back door Horn opened for the military—through the less competitive military entrance exam.

Therefore, there has always been a distinction between those with "military background" and those with "political background" within the Holy Alliance political arena.

After three years of study, McGowan graduated from law school, while Delavan graduated from engineering school.

Because St. John's University assigned jobs to graduates, McGowan joined the Military Police, while Delavan was directly admitted to the Privy Council after passing the vetting process.

The duties of the Privy Council are complex, but in essence, it is to serve as secretaries for cardinals and senior monks.

According to the training mechanism of the Holy Alliance, the Privy Council Secretary can basically be considered a prospective senior monk, and is a training base for young civil servants.

After three years of study, they would be sent to the local religious guild for four years of training.

Based on their performance over the past seven years, they generally have three options: remaining in the Privy Council, being transferred to a powerful department, or being transferred to a local government position.

Delavan is 21 years old and in his first year of study. His specific position is Privy Councilor of the Dispatch Department.

The dispatching department's functions include transmitting documents and dispatching equipment.

Simply put, it involves running errands, delivering documents, setting up meeting venues, serving tea and water, and cleaning up after meetings.

Although the position is low and the work is varied, the advantage is that you can attend various high-level meetings, make your face in front of big shots, and broaden your horizons.

At first, Delavan thought the department was quite meaningful, as it allowed him to have close contact with the high-level politics of the Holy Alliance.

However, after witnessing it, he felt as if his worldview had collapsed.

Delavan had previously thought of high-level politics, with the Holy Grandson's profound wisdom and strategic brilliance, capable of making decisions on the two capitals (the Holy Armory and the Heavenly Maiden City) and twenty-four prefectures with a single word.

At this moment, Delavan witnessed the high-level politics: Saint Sun was dozing off, Exorcist Master Hakuto and Saint Treasury Master Sisi were slamming their fists on the table and shouting at each other to see who could shout the loudest, Judge Martial was trying to break up the fight, Truth Master Madeleine was studying a recipe, the Chief Judge and the Chief Purifier were fighting with swords on the terrace, and the Chief Engineer and the Chief Evangelist were absent.

This was a relatively peaceful weekly meeting.

If it were a quarterly meeting, with the abbot, university president, and general manager of the holy institution in attendance, it would be even more likely to turn into a brawl.

Draván didn't even dare to imagine that the elected representatives and local religious groups would be present at the year-end meeting.

Fortunately, Hakuto and Sisi's discussion about the military spending budget didn't last long before Horn called it off.

“Didn’t we say we’d issue paper money? Let’s give gold pounds to the soldiers stationed in the five new counties and paper money to the soldiers in the directly administered territories.” This was about the year-end bonus. Sisi thought the five new counties should receive in-kind bonuses and the inner counties should receive gold pounds, but Hakuto disagreed.

The five new counties were, in a sense, the front line. The front line needed money, so it should be given money. What's the point of giving goods?
Hakuto and Sisi were both surprised, and then asked in unison, "The soldiers of this inner county must be dissatisfied."

“I was just about to say this,” Horn continued. “Catherine and I have decided that, to encourage people to use paper money, everyone who buys goods at Grace Department Store with paper money will receive a 20% discount.”

Actually, Horn didn't finish his sentence. The Holy Union currently has nearly 300,000 gold pounds in circulation, but he has only issued 100,000 gold pounds worth of piety notes.

So what if we lose a little? We can just make up for it by issuing more paper money in the future.

The main purpose is to cultivate the public's habit of using paper money and gradually build up the credibility of Saint Lian paper money.

Especially after the Holy Throne City was captured, the Empire's precious metal currency market was bound to be in turmoil.

Although the storm hasn't hit the Holy Alliance yet, Horn still needs to make plans early.

"You all know that the Holy Throne City has been breached, right?" Horn suddenly changed the subject and brought up the Holy Throne City.

Madeleine immediately put down the menu: "Is Your Majesty worried that the Francans are using gold pounds as leverage, which could hinder the export of Holy Alliance goods?"

As the chief cardinal, Madeleine's judgment was quite accurate.

Golden Horn Bay was not only the religious and printing center of the empire, but most importantly, it was the largest minting center in the entire empire.

Along the banks of several rivers in Golden Horn Bay were numerous mints that used water power to stamp and mint large quantities of gold pounds.

The empire passed a law establishing a unified standard for gold pound coinage, a standard personally set by Mysera.

The mints of the Golden Horn obtained large amounts of gold from trade with the Royal Court and, under the supervision of the Council of El, minted gold pounds of sufficient purity.

This is why Horn wanted to reform the paper currency system, because the gold pound coin is not a sovereign currency.

Although the Pious Banknote is not a sovereign currency to some extent, it is at least much more flexible than the gold pound.

Now that Golden Horn Bay is in chaos due to the cannibalistic warlord Cancun's madness, the empire's currency is bound to fluctuate wildly.

As for the Kingdom of Fran, it controlled the second largest minting base.

When the northern mints ceased operation, the mints under Charles VIII became the largest producer of gold coins.

"Yes, intelligence from Windmill Land indicates that this news has shocked everyone, including the vampires of the Royal Court."

Horn took out a copy of "Pravda" and tossed it to the crowd.

"The royal court claimed it was a misunderstanding and ordered Cancun to withdraw its troops, while the civil wars in Leia and Norn were quickly suspended in preparation for the expulsion of the vampires."

Although the empire had become numb to the royal court due to the influence of the Hundred Years' War, it hadn't yet reached the point where it would only react when the knife was at its throat.

The fall of the Holy Throne City surprisingly united the previously chaotic empire.

“There’s just one thing I don’t understand,” Madeleine frowned. “I can understand the others, but why did Priano dare to commit suicide?”

Very few people broke through the mental constraint that "those who commit suicide are not allowed to go to Mount Elysium." Prince Condé, Lavrov, Genigis, and others preferred to live and suffer humiliation rather than commit suicide.

But surprisingly, Priyanov, a pope, decided to commit suicide!

Generally speaking, suicide is mostly caused by the collapse of the faith of fanatics.

What could have happened to cause a pope's faith to crumble?

According to survivors, he was still devoutly reciting prayers before he died!

This really confused everyone on the Holy Alliance's side.

“Let’s talk about this later,” Horn said, pulling the building back on track. “According to the information we have so far, a large number of holy relics and rare treasures hidden in the Holy Throne City have gone missing.”

Charles VIII immediately issued a statement to preside over peace talks between Leia and Fran, preparing to jointly resist the Royal Court and support Geniquis to ascend the throne again.

The royal court has been sending envoys frequently to request peace talks, but in general, the embargo against the royal court will likely continue for quite some time.

The future remains uncertain, but the death of Priano and the fall of the Holy See have brought us an unexpected problem.

"What trouble?"

"The illegitimate pope is dead, the Battle of Windmill Land is over, the Kingdom of Fran has withdrawn its attention, and Grandiva is preparing to officially assume the position of pope."

Horn picked up a letter from the government: "Grandiva demands that we revoke the title of Pope, or he will call on believers to refuse to buy any goods produced by the Holy Alliance in protest against my usurpation."

(End of this chapter)