Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 136: Whatever You Do, Do It Conscience
The northern part of Transjordan is a barren territory. This barrenness does not refer to the barrenness of the land, but the barrenness of human beings.

In this area of ​​thousands of square kilometers, there are only two qualified doctors, Gairis and Abdullah.

Even though Gillis built schools and hospitals, it was only a minor change.

The craftsmen in the river valley of Skarr village use water power to hammer out iron ingots every day, and the apprentices are particularly inadequate.

The farmers in the valley had to harvest olives for two months, plant grains for two months, weed flax for one month, harvest barley for one month, harvest and celebrate the festival for one month, and take care of the vineyards for two months...

The lack of manpower, especially the lack of knowledgeable people, has plagued the development of the territory.

Naturally, Gellis could only turn his attention to the slave market in Damascus.

Islam has a long tradition of slavery.

Unlike in the Islamic world, slavery was not a particularly common condition in the Christian world.

Although the so-called serfs were not necessarily "people", they were still qualified to hold private property, so much so that many Italian or German manors even gave rise to things like "serf knights".

During this period in the 11th century, slavery in Western Europe was almost extinct. It did not begin to revive until the rise of the Crusades. In the 15th century, along with the Age of Discovery, the slave trade began.

Another point is that the original Christian thought already contained reflections on slavery during the Roman Empire. Even though it gradually faded in the continuous evolution of later generations, it was often brought up as a basis for opposing slavery.

Many popes have clearly resisted and condemned slavery. Paul III of later generations bluntly stated that the enslavement of the American people was prohibited, saying that they "should not be deprived of their freedom."

But it is different in the Muslim world, where slavery not only has a long tradition, it is even taken for granted.

[After this, it is unlawful for you to marry any woman, nor to exchange her for another woman, even if her beauty pleases you, unless she is a slave you already have. This is Allah's watchfulness over all matters.]

——Section 52 of "The Allied Forces"

This section protects the rights of Muslim women to a certain extent, but it also provides a basis for the existence of slaves.

One of the biographers of the Prophet Muhammad, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawwuziya, mentioned that the Prophet himself had four female slaves and twenty-seven male slaves.

In 627 AD, the Prophet Muhammad defeated a Jewish tribe called Balukuraiza. He executed all adult men, reduced women and children to slaves, and took Rehana, the wife of the tribal leader, as his concubine.

Of course, given the times, this is nothing to condemn. In those days, everyone else in the Arabian Peninsula was like this.
But as a perfect model of behavior in the eyes of Muslims, the Prophet Muhammad's example made it difficult for anyone in later generations to oppose Islamic slavery.

Even into the 20th century, slave markets open to foreigners could still be seen in the Middle East.

This also gave Garys a warning that everything he did while walking on this land would be regarded as [prophetic teachings] by future generations.

Even if Garys keeps talking about the limitations of the times, there will always be people with granite heads or vested interests who will use his words and deeds as the basis for his crimes...

These things cannot be prevented, we can only try to avoid them.

Just as Calvino said: Once you give up something you thought was fundamental, you will find that you can give up other things, and there will be many other things to give up later. You must hold the bottom line. Once the bottom line is broken once, it will be difficult to have another bottom line.

There are some things that Gary can acquiesce to, but there are some things that Gary cannot compromise on.

Because this compromise is not just his compromise, but will be the compromise of the entire sect for thousands of years to come, and the compromise of hundreds of millions of people.

It is a compromise of countless causes and effects, and the sins of the world.

This is what it means when one person bears the sins of all mankind, because that one person changed all of humanity.

Later generations all take him as a role model. His words and deeds are the words and deeds of hundreds of millions of people, and his behavior is the behavior of hundreds of millions of people.

Gaillis can only do as the Apostle Paul wrote: Watch yourselves, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Whatever you do, do it with conscience.

Therefore, Gellis bought slaves not to enslave them, but to free them and let them stand in this world as real "people".

On this plateau that is closer to the sky than Rome, in the setting sun.

Garys met with these people.

It was the first time for those people to see Gellis. In their eyes, Gellis had a typical Frank appearance and wore ordinary linen clothes, which were cleaner and thicker.

Next to him was the merchant who bought them, and behind these two were several men in armor and holding swords.

Although Gellis's clothes were not luxurious, he must be a powerful person because he had an entourage and was respected by the merchants.

In such a scene, Gellis spoke and the slaves heard his words.

"I know that for you and for the vast majority of people in this world, the world is like a dark tunnel that is so long that it has no end."

"The land beneath our feet flows with tears and blood. In this hopeless world, you can hardly see a ray of hope." "To you, this world is a valley of tears, with only the master's punishment and each other's tears everywhere."

“But I tell you, you are the chief guests in the kingdom of heaven, and God will raise you up from the dust and dung!”

“All people are God’s creatures, all people are God’s children, all people are created by God in His image and likeness, and all people can be holy…”

"Therefore you are free. No, you have always been free. It is only sinners who have put chains on you."

As Gailis spoke, the servants behind him, or more precisely, the warriors of the order, walked forward with him, opened the shackles of the dozen people one by one, and loosened the hemp ropes on their bodies.

The slaves that Gellis asked Zayd to find were mainly of two types: one was intellectuals who could write and do math, and the other was mainly young men and women.

In the vast territory of northern Transjordan, the average cultural level of the Arabs is actually just barely acceptable, while the Franks are simply dropping out of prenatal education.

So if it weren't for Gairis's forced balance, the teachers in Alhadi Town School would probably be all Arabs.

Although it is true that Arab culture is more advanced in this era, this does not mean that Gelis can abolish the Frankish language.

Therefore, the school actually adopted bilingual teaching, but it was in a dilemma where Arabic was stronger than Frankish.

Considering that it is impossible for Gellis to teach for a long time, he can only find a way to introduce talents from outside.

Unlike the large-scale plantation slavery of later generations, the Middle East slave market at that time was actually no different from the talent market of later generations.

In the slave market of Damascus, you can find female slaves, cooks, porters, soldiers, clerks, accountants, eunuchs...

Islamic slaves are basically used in the service industry rather than in agricultural production.

Of course, beautiful female slaves were expensive, and so were clerks or accountants who could write and do math.

This kind of high-quality goods have always been in great demand in the market. Even though Garys indicated to Zayd that he could offer a high price, only four people were invited in the end.

Among them were a Greek doctor, two Italian small businessmen, and an Orthodox priest.

After their shackles were undone, these people remained silent. They could not imagine that there was a person who bought them just to set them free?
But as people with a certain level of knowledge, they are embarrassed to ask directly.

Apart from these four people, most of the others are young boys and girls, ranging in age from 7 to 14 years old.

Most of these children were the result of slavery captured by the Turks. Many of them came from Armenia, the Caucasus, the Black Sea coast, Turkestan, and of course there were also Franks from the Crusader states.

When Gaillis came in front of a young man, he noticed that the boy's eyes were different. They were not numb, but rather revealed a sense of arrogance.

The boy was about fifteen or sixteen years old, just a little younger than Gaillis, with sharp features and a complexion between olive and light brown.

In terms of facial features, the boy's cheeks had a slightly sculpted feel that was unique to the Greeks, his nose was high and straight, his eyebrows were thick and curved, and his hair was black and naturally curly.

They seem to have Greek ancestry, but overall they are more Turkic.

He was the only one of the children or teenagers who was bound with shackles instead of ropes.

When Garys uncuffed him, the boy looked at Garys deeply, then turned around and ran towards the east with his back to the setting sun.

The thin clothes he wore could not hide his strong physique.

He ran for his life, as if trying to get rid of everything behind him.

But when he ran nearly a thousand meters, the only scene he could see remained unchanged, and no one came to chase him.

The afterglow of the setting sun shines on the empty plateau. Large tracts of wasteland stretch to the end of the sight, covered with dry loess and scattered short grass.

The wind blew by with a low sound, stirring up a few wisps of dust. The boy looked back and realized that in this world, only that small town was shining with the spark of human civilization.

If he continued to run, he would either die of hunger and thirst or become food for wild beasts.

free?

Human freedom can only be reflected in human society. After leaving society, most people can only choose how to die freely.

So he turned around and saw the man who had untied his shackles standing not far behind him, looking at him quietly.

Under the dark red sky, in this lonely and desolate wasteland, that man was the only one like a candlelight, emitting light all around.

　First update, there will be a second update later, ε=(ο｀*))) Alas

　　
　
(End of this chapter)