Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 140 May the Divine Seal Never Be Destroyed
After Pierre packed his luggage and walked out of the military camp with other brothers who were on vacation, which was the compound of Ahmed, the former tax farmer, he couldn't help but feel secretly happy.

Sure enough, when the company commander arranges holidays, he will refer to the daily performance of different soldiers.

When Pierre first heard about the vacation system, he realized that too frequent short vacations would affect the image of soldiers in the company commander's mind.

It’s not a big deal on weekdays, but when it comes to harvest in May and everyone is eager to go home, doesn’t this brother who has never had a holiday have to be given priority?
There was still some distance from the military camp to the town of Alhadi, and along the way, Pierre kept thinking about what he could buy.

4 gold dinars can be exchanged for 48 silver dirhams, which is a considerable amount of wealth for ordinary people.

When Pierre and his three companions walked into the town, they couldn't help but sigh that the town was becoming more and more prosperous.

In addition to the original Muslim indigenous people, some nearby Franks also gathered here because the religious sect opened caravans and set up shops here.

With the addition of hospitals and schools, nearby residents gradually came to regard the town as a good place to go, and more and more people came here to attend the market.

As more people came to the market, the caravans realized that the town's commercial potential was increasing.

Therefore, some larger caravans simply bought land here and built trading posts.

Anyway, Alhadi Town is a must-go place on the trade route. Setting up some industries here will only make it more convenient for those large caravans to transport supplies.

As a result, the town's permanent population has increased from 200 to nearly 600 in the past year.

The street was changed from a long one to a two-way street, and it still seemed insufficient, so they planned to add another street.

While chatting with his two brothers, Pierre heard that, as the town gradually became more prosperous, many people were worried about being targeted by nearby thieves, and were considering building a mud wall to surround the town.

But Pierre had no control over those things; they were just thoughts in his mind.

The three of them avoided the Arabs who were enthusiastically soliciting customers and headed straight for their destination.

The sign of this store looks no different from the surrounding ones, but it says: Hegu Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

When Pierre walked in, he saw a wide variety of goods placed behind the counter. If he needed anything, he had to ask the salesperson for help.

In addition to some more common items, there are hard soaps with the fragrance of essential oils, metal kerosene lamps and kerosene, pottery with tin glaze that reflects light, and even magnifying glasses called reading stones, as well as pencils produced in the village of Skar.

They are all high-end goods, so high-end that ordinary farmers will turn around and leave when they see the prices.

Finally Pierre picked out some sweets and bought a nice earthenware vessel for holding water.

The candies are for your younger brothers and sisters, and a beautiful pottery container for holding water, placed at home as a decoration, will also make your family look extra prestigious.

When paying the bill, Pierre took out an ID.

It was a certificate made of lambskin, clearly stating that Pierre was a professional soldier belonging to the kingdom.

After double-checking, the salesperson recorded Pierre's number in a ledger.

Then she said to Pierre unhappily, "I can give you 20% off on the candy, but only 10% off on the pottery jar."

Pierre paid no attention to the salesperson's angry face and promptly paid the bill.

As for his other two brothers, they bought something more flashy, and Pierre was shocked when he paid the bill.

After leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, Pierre pulled his brother beside him and said, "No, don't you spend sparingly?"

Then the other party spread his hands and said: It's okay, I won't starve in the company anyway... Pierre's mouth twitched when he heard this.

After buying gifts to take home, someone suggested going to the Grapevine Inn for a drink. The military camp didn't provide alcohol most of the time, which made them feel very uncomfortable.

Pierre rolled his eyes, but had no choice but to join in the indulgence.

After all, the three of them are all from the same hometown, and were all born in Labret Manor. They must go back together during this holiday, and no one can leave anyone behind.

I have to get drunk tonight!

However, when Pierre walked into the hotel, he suddenly realized that the two guys seemed to have almost spent all their money!

Eh?
Then who will pay for the drinks and dinner?
……

[For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, fountains and springs flowing out of valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, a land of vines, fig trees, pomegranates, olive trees and honey.]

—Deuteronomy 8:7-8
In May at La Brette Manor, the sun casts a soft glow on the sky, and the wind between the hills brings the breath of May, mixed with the sweet fragrance of ripe wheat.

In this fertile land, golden ears of wheat rise and fall like waves, spreading from under your feet to the end of your vision.

The farmers bent down in the fields, the sickles in their hands flickering in the light and shadow. They gathered and bundled the golden wheat and piled them into hills.

Sweat slid down their cheeks and seeped into the soil, injecting their own lives into this land.

But among these farmers, there is a group that seems particularly different.

He was a Frank, leading a group of young men who were slightly younger than him.

The leading Frank didn't look very old, maybe seventeen or eighteen years old, and his light blond hair looked dazzling in the sunlight.

The fertile land was reflected in his light green eyes, and in his hand, he raised and swung the sickle, harvesting the wheat swiftly and accurately.

The young men on the side were also learning from the Franks, injecting their sweat and their lives into the earth.

[In the days when the kingdom of heaven is about to approach, they praise the God of life with their prayers, they cultivate the land that nourishes life with their sweat, and they use the weapons in their hands to straighten the way to the Lord]

— Transjordan 5:23
In a class a few days ago, Gailis told these young men, who were also candidates for the Order and Palatine attendants, that "it is the peasants who support the idle and wasteful nobles."

“But whenever people think of labor, they think of peasants, of dirtiness, lowliness, and ignorance.”

"An instinct, a natural aversion, has tarnished the reputation of labor, and some people even prefer to advocate plunder and robbery, and believe that labor is a bad thing and shameful."

"Those gentlemen believe that priests who do not have to work are supreme, so all the second sons of noble families must take up the priesthood."

"To put it simply, the nobles and clergy are often rentiers who only know how to squander and do not produce anything. They despise labor, believing that it is something that slaves do and that it is a form of enslavement."

"Those people are sinners, and the gate of heaven has long been closed to them."

"what about you?"

"Do you want to be as splendid and magnificent as they are, and pursue the splendor and magnificence of ceremonies as they are?"

“Therefore, before you receive Holy Orders and proclaim my name, there is one more lesson that I cannot let you miss.”

Then, Gailis took these children, who were only a few years younger than him, out of the classroom of books and came to the classroom of the fields, to the Labret Manor.

Perhaps, most of these children came from poor backgrounds and had already experienced a lot of hard work.

But people will change. Some people who become rich will try to erase their origins because they think it is shameful.

The church will also change. Today, perhaps only poor people become priests, but what about the future?
To purify others, you must first purify yourself;

In order to teach others, one must first be taught;

To illuminate others, you must first become the light;
To bring others near to God, you must draw near to God yourself;
To sanctify others, you must first be holy yourself...

The Christian sacrament of Holy Orders is the recognition of the church's clergy.

This sacrament, through the special grace of the Holy Spirit, makes the recipient like Christ and makes him or her an instrument of Christ in the service of his Church.

By the conferral of holy orders a person is enabled to exercise the proper office as a representative of Christ, the Head of the Church.

The sacrament of Holy Orders will give the recipient an indelible divine seal...

Simply put, it is a system given to the church.

In theory, only a bishop is qualified to perform the sacrament of Holy Orders.

But if Gillis says he can do it, then he can do it.

After all, Jesus himself was not a priest, but a layman. As Jesus' brother, Gérice could also perform the sacrament of Holy Orders on behalf of priests as a layman.

But before that, these young people still have to go through the tests of farmers and nature.

In Garys's eyes, there is no such thing as an indelible divine seal in this world, and even he cannot give it to others.

But the poor people who carry the word of God and this vast world can place such a holy seal in the temple in the hearts of the young people.

May that divine mark never be erased.

……

As Pierre walked on the road, he often looked up at the sky and sometimes lowered his head to stare at the road. Beside him were the two bastards.

"Don't be angry, Pierre. It's just a few silver dirhams. I'll pay you back when I get the money next month."

"That's right! That's right! There's no need to worry about such a small amount of money."

The two shameless guys kept teasing each other, and then looked at Pierre's expression and tried to play a trick on him.

"Hey, have you ever thought about what you will do after you retire?" Pierre asked with a straight face.

"Retire? Isn't there a retirement bonus? I remember the company commander calculated it for us. If you serve for 5 years, you will get 10 gold dinars. If you serve for 10 years, you will get 30 gold dinars. If you serve for 20 years, that's a full 90 gold dinars!"

However, just as the two men were counting their retirement benefits and thinking about how to live a carefree life in the future, Pierre, with his head down, suddenly had a serious expression.

"Do not talk."

Hearing Pierre's serious tone, the two idiots beside him also realized that something was wrong.

They followed Pierre's gaze and saw many fresh horse hoof prints on the ground.

"what happened?"

"These hoof prints were not made by horseshoes."

Looking in the direction of the horseshoe prints, Pierre's eyes were a little dull and his expression was frozen, because that direction happened to be his hometown, Labret Manor.

"It's the Bedouin bandits!"

The two guys next to Pierre also reacted. It was very clear that if there was any nation in Palestine that did not like to nail horseshoes on their horses.

For a moment, the three of them were extremely anxious and wanted to fly back to the manor immediately.

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(End of this chapter)