Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 135: Heresy and Paganism

He ordered the craftsmen to replace the neck strap tied to the horse's shoulder blades with a collar, which would disperse the force and make the horse feel more relaxed when pulling the carriage. At the same time, he placed the shaft flat on both sides of the horse, lowering the center of gravity of the carriage and further enhancing its stability. These modifications in details significantly improved the performance of the carriage, while the cost increase was not much.

Orville knew almost nothing about many chemical or physical problems, but he could still give some pointers on applied technology. These craftsmen were professionals who had been immersed in the industry for more than ten years or even longer, and they were basically the type who could learn things quickly. Orville gave them a rough design direction and draft, and they could figure out a finished product by themselves.

Everyone was surprised at how Orville could come up with these designs. If you rely on imagination without personal practice, there will always be shortcomings. However, this is not always the case with Orville's designs. They are all very practical.

Orville casually said that this was wisdom from the East. The craftsmen probably knew that he had designed an upgraded version of the Roman javelin and a new bow before, so they just regarded him as a very smart inventor. Although there were not many similar people in this period, there were some.

After arranging the work of each subordinate, Orville only needed to deal with necessary government affairs every day. Unless he found something to do himself, the governor was not so busy that he could not spare the time.

He was quite confident in some of his subordinates. The commanders of each legion were responsible for maintaining law and order in various places, while Belisarius patrolled the cities in the province to ensure that the Roman soldiers did not excessively oppress the local people, or at least slightly curbed the occurrence of such a situation.

After the test, he retained some local officials and recruited some temporary officials from Gaul. Together with the people sent to him by Vespa, it was not difficult for these people to maintain the daily operation of the government.

The situation is now settled, and Orwell has announced that he will not impose taxes on the locals. There is no unscrupulous behavior in daily governance, which has significantly reduced the locals' enthusiasm for resistance. In this way, Orwell's first-stage goal has been achieved. Maintaining the status quo in Gaul and preventing the situation from further deteriorating and getting out of control is Orwell's bottom line requirement.
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Since the Romans conquered Gaul from south to north, the Romans set the capital of Lugden Gaul in the city of Lyon in southern Gaul. The degree of Romanization here was the highest, and commercial and cultural activities were relatively prosperous. It was one of the most suitable Gallic cities for Romans to live in.

All the successive governors have established their palaces in this city, and overall it looks quite grand and luxurious. However, in order to carry out his plan to conquer Britain in the future, Orville did not establish the palace far away from the front line.

He directly set up his governor's palace in Caen. Originally, he wanted to make do with the tents in the army, but in order to show the nominal separation of military and politics, he finally requisitioned the property of a wealthy man in the city and lived in a Romanesque mansion in the city.

This was not considered forced conscription. Orville gave the task of purchasing food for the Vikings to the rich man, and therefore gave the other party enough benefits. Both parties were quite satisfied.

After finishing the necessary work for the day, Orville called Jeanne Dacre. He wanted to verify something from her.

Jeanne did not wear the expensive and exquisite clothes that Orville had prepared for her. She was just wearing ordinary clothes. Her expression was neither humble nor arrogant. There was no sign of submission or humility. She was still the same as at the beginning.

"It's definitely a little late to confirm some things with you now, but I haven't found the right time before. Now I think we should have a good talk and at least have a basic understanding of each other."

"Of course, what do you want to know?"

Some of the decisions Orville made after taking office as the interim governor and tax collector should have satisfied the other party. Jeanna Dacre's attitude towards him has obviously softened during this period. It can't be said to be enthusiastic, but at least it's not cold. "Regarding the angels who talked to you and taught you, I don't question the authenticity or piety of your faith, but you need to understand that there has been no one who truly communicates with God in our world for more than a hundred years. I can't directly confirm that what you said is true."

Strictly speaking, a certain prophet who was crucified should also be God's chosen one, but the Romans at this time did not know much about him. On the one hand, time was the reason, as he had just died not long ago, and on the other hand, the Parvi people had been obstructing the spread of Christianity within the empire.

Heresy is more hateful than paganism, and this is probably the meaning, and it has never changed. Although it was the Romans who finally executed the prophet, the reason for this was the fault of the Parvi people themselves.

The right to interpret their belief in the Eternal One is in the hands of a few elders, who are in a monopoly position. They certainly do not want to see another belief model emerge, as it would be a challenge and impact on their authority.

The Parvi people tried the prophet for treason; they accused him of betraying the Roman Empire, which seemed somewhat unfounded.

Therefore, in fact, most Romans now do not know that there is such a prophet. The Gauls far away in Gaul do not have a deep understanding of this person. It is estimated that his deeds will not be widely known in the world until many gospels are circulated in the empire.

"Do you need evidence?" Jeanne asked without thinking too much.

"That's what I mean. I need to confirm that you have some corresponding ability."

Jeanna was not angry, but nodded and agreed: "Well, let's do this. Since I am your messenger, you can call a few people in. I will prove my ability to you, and then you should no longer doubt the existence of God."

Orville agreed to the other party's request and randomly pulled in a few lucky passers-by from outside the mansion to select as many samples as possible.

Jeanne walked closer to these people, observing their appearance and behavior, and after a few seconds began to call out their names one by one.

"Your name is Jacob, and your recent trouble is that your horse is sick. Your name is Guillaume, and your recent trouble is that your children often go out to play. Your name is Craig, and your recent trouble is that you have a bad relationship with your wife."

The people who were called all looked surprised, it was obvious that what Jeanna said was true.

Orville's expression had changed from subtle to surprised and even shocked.

(End of this chapter)