Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 190 You are the one here

To be honest, the iron bars in the cell are actually not that thick. At most, they are only about two or three fingers thick.

But what about Garys?
Over the past few days, he had shared a small portion of his food with other people in the cell! This person looked much thinner!

And then, just like that, he's a guy who calls himself the Holy One of Jerusalem.

Just because Andrew said "I believe", believing in God is to love God's poor people and believe that they have not been abandoned by God.

Garys stood up and bent the iron railing with his bare hands!
Whether it was Nicholas or Andre, especially the guy who made the sneering sound.

For a moment, it seemed unreal, and for a moment, it seemed that the scene was too bizarre, so much so that the person who made the sneering sound slapped himself in the face to make sure whether this was a dream.

The burning pain on his cheek told him that this was all true.

Garys really broke the iron pillar apart with just human strength.

Some of Andre's prisoners also stood up and tried to follow suit.

However, without exception, those iron pillars might shake or even deform, but they could never do what Garys did and directly create a gap for people to pass through.

Although Gailis looked a little exhausted, it seemed that this scene was not so easy for him.

But what Garys did was what he did, and what they couldn't do was what they couldn't do.

Because the dungeon is quite long, and the jailers at the end of the dungeon are all drinking and playing dice.

Those drunk guys didn't focus on guarding the prisoners.

After all, it's just work, and they are just working for a day to make a living.

Therefore, they did not notice what was happening at the end of the cell.

Garys also made a gesture of silence, signaling the prisoners not to shout.

Considering how Garys had pried open the iron pillar with his bare hands, all of the prisoners were very well behaved.

Regardless of whether they are the people under Nicholas's command or not, all the prisoners with normal brains are now thinking of asking Garys to help them open the door.

In such a situation, Gailis walked through the quiet dungeon corridor and came to the interrogation room at the end of the dungeon.

There is a jailer here. Because he has drunk a lot of wine, he is lying on his back in the chair and looks like he is about to fall asleep.

Garys tapped a jailer on the shoulder and asked him where the key to the cell in the dungeon was.

The jailer complained impatiently and pointed to the key chain on the wall. Those keys were obviously used to open the cell door.

In full view of everyone, Gaillis took the key to the door and opened some of the cell doors.

But there were some that Garys did not open, such as the one who committed intentional homicide or the one who committed rape.

The prisoners released by Garys, except for the rebel members under Nicholas, were basically people who had committed minor crimes.

Because Garys released the others but not those serious criminals, there was a clamor in the dungeon for a while.

At this time, the jailers at the end of the corridor realized what was happening.

The sleeping jailer was shaken awake, and just when he was about to lose his temper, his colleague beside him turned his head to look towards the dungeon corridor.

At least a dozen prisoners have now walked out of their cells.

"What are you doing? Are you going to rebel?"

The jailers, realizing the problem, jumped up hastily.

The originally drunken state suddenly became sober because of this sudden change.

These people hurriedly raised their spears from the corner of the wall and pointed them at the prisoners at the end of the prison. To be precise, the spears in their hands were aimed at Garys.

In this narrow terrain, the spear has an absolute advantage.

For a moment, they were unable to understand what was happening to these prisoners who were imprisoned in their respective cells.

How did he suddenly get the key and open his own cell door?

But no matter how strange it is, these prisoners who are half-starved to death are currently unarmed, so it should not be difficult to deal with them.

After all, who in this world is not a mortal? No matter how good your skills are, you can't stop a bunch of spears from stabbing you.

However, the mortal being in the eyes of these jailers was, to be exact, the Frank.

Not only did he not obediently return to his cell, but he took the initiative to walk towards the jailer.

"Go back! Go back!"

"Come any closer and we'll kill someone!"

Following these warnings, three jailers holding spears began to advance.

In this narrow passage, no one can escape the spears in their hands!
Then, immediately afterwards, for some unknown reason, the French man disappeared.

When they found Garys again, one of the jailers felt that the spear in his hand was particularly heavy!

The Frank actually stepped on the barrel of his gun and rushed towards them!

"what?"

Before the jailers could react, fists as big as sandbags hit them directly in the face!

After a few solid punches, these jailers who were just waiting to die felt dizzy for a moment!

The prisoners behind Garys rushed forward and snatched the weapons from the three jailers.

And he looked at the last jailer.

The man panicked. This was beyond his expectations. He wanted to escape, but when he turned around, he only saw Garys, who was blocking the exit of the dungeon.

In this situation where there were wolves in front and tigers behind, the man raised his hands tremblingly.

There were bursts of laughter in the dungeon as the prisoners realized that their necks were about to be away from the executioner's axe.

The guys in the dungeon are all talented, they speak nicely and do things efficiently, no one is hesitant.

Under the guidance of the jailer, they found the most inconspicuous door in the castle. In the past, only the night soil collectors would enter and exit through this door.

The small gate is on the back of the hill on which the castle rests. No one pays attention to this place. By going around the hill, they can see a prosperous town not far away. If they continue along this path, they can enter an uninhabited wilderness or find a few unknown villages.

"You're not really planning on running into the wilderness, are you?" Gailis saw the hesitation of these guys. Although the weather was no longer as cold as before, it was still enough to freeze a few naked people to death in the middle of the night.

"Not really. We have a hiding place nearby. If you'd like to come with us, you can come along," said Nicholas.

Nicholas owed Garys a life. In fact, half of the people here owed Garys a life. In just a few days, more than half of them would be executed collectively, and the remaining less than half would be sent to hard labor.

They were rebels, scum, or other pitiable people, but the strength and decisiveness that Gailis showed in the dungeon won their recognition.

……

January in Cyprus is the same as in Palestine.

The cold wind mixed with rain poured into everyone's body, extinguishing their passion.

But there are some things, some fires, some anger, that the rain cannot extinguish.

From the moment Isaac landed on the island, he and his mercenaries had been wantonly humiliating the island.

From the day of his coronation, Isaac began to plunder Cyprus, raping women, defiling virgins, inflicting excessively harsh punishments on offenders, and plundering the citizens' property.

[Now, the Cypriots, who were respected and rich like Job, would be left naked and hungry begging in the streets unless they were slain by the sword of this fiery tyrant.]

—Nikitas Joniatus
Job is a wise man in the Bible who possesses countless wealth.

Where there is oppression, there is resistance.

Faced with Isaac's tyrannical and extortionate behavior, many people stood up and tried to overthrow his rule.

But, all these failed.

As an ordinary local noble, Nicholas contacted some nearby relatives, organized an army, and launched a small-scale rebellion.

However, in the end, they were defeated by Isaac's troops.

As a result, for quite a long time, I had to hide from place to place.

The army originally had thousands of people, but now there are only twenty-eight of them left.

"As I said earlier, Cyprus was part of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt before it became a Roman province."

"When Ptolemy X Alexander I died in 88 BC, he bequeathed his kingdom, which at the time included Egypt and Cyprus, to the Roman Republic."

“Initially the Roman Senate was reluctant to accept the kingdom because they feared that whoever was sent to conquer the Ptolemaic kingdom might become too powerful and threaten the democratic principles of the republic.”

"After that, due to some circumstances, Rome eventually annexed Cyprus, but apart from sending a governor and a few officials, Cyprus was largely autonomous."

"With almost no troops and far from the strife of the mainland, the Pax Romana brought prosperity to the island."

In a wooden house, Garys told Andre and others about the history of the island.

This history is actually not unknown, and Nicholas himself is also aware of it. In the process, Gailis repeatedly reminded Nicholas and others why they failed.

Because their uprising and rebellion were essentially just the mobilization of a town and some farmers.

They never put forward a loud slogan, never mobilized the forces of other municipalities, and never gained unanimous support from the citizen groups.

The reason why Gellis repeatedly talked about the glory of the Roman era at this moment was that he wanted to put forward a slogan.

Just like Confucius said in the Spring and Autumn Period when rituals and music were in decline that he wanted to restore the rule of the Three Dynasties.

He, Garys, also wanted to restore the Roman Republic on this island bullied by Isaac.

Most of these arguments of Gellis are actually a bit far-fetched, and belong to the classic history that is repeatedly mentioned in his own favor.

But he does give a core idea about why Rome declined.

That is, the change in power relations during the transition from the republican system to the imperial system was one of the keys to Rome's decline from strength.

In Gellis's discussion, the strength of the Roman Republic was closely linked to its unique republican system, which emphasized citizen participation and the state belonging to all Romans, creating a strong sense of civic responsibility and community awareness.

During the Roman Republic, citizens had the opportunity to serve the country through elections and military service. The power centers in Rome were decentralized, and the consuls, the Senate, and the People's Assembly all represented the interests of citizens to a certain extent.

This system encouraged people to actively participate in state affairs, and citizens fought for Rome because they felt that Rome belonged to them, not to a certain ruler.

However, when Rome transformed into an empire, especially after Augustus established the principate, although the emperor was nominally the "first citizen" (Princeps) and a certain republican appearance was retained, in reality power began to gradually concentrate in the hands of the emperor.

Over time, the Roman emperors increasingly viewed the state as their personal property, and their power became absolute, especially during the reigns of Domitian (81-96 AD) and some later emperors, when the despotism of the empire became increasingly apparent.

This concentration of power has led to a greater sense of distance between the state and its citizens.

When citizens no longer felt that they owned Rome, but that Rome owned them, the sense of public participation and responsibility gradually disappeared.

The citizens of the Roman Empire gradually changed from free republican citizens to subjects subject to the emperor. People no longer felt proud of their country, nor were they willing to sacrifice for it, because they no longer felt that Rome belonged to them.

When this bond between citizens and the state is severed, the state loses the core force that supports it - the loyalty and spirit of sacrifice of its citizens.

The lack of this shared sense of social responsibility caused Rome's vitality to begin to decline, ultimately leading to the decay and collapse of the empire.

"The state became the 'private property' of the emperor, and the citizens gradually became passive subjects and no longer the masters of Rome."

"Thus, the army gradually became a professional mercenary army, with soldiers fighting for personal gain or the emperor's reward rather than to defend their common Rome."

"Rome belongs to all citizens, not just one family!"

The rain was dripping outside the window, and everyone in the room, especially Nicholas, kept tapping the floor with their fingers after listening to Garys' words.

He had to admit that he lacked something, and in fact everyone in this room lacked that thing.

These people have never figured out why the situation in Cyprus has deteriorated to the point it is today.

They simply attributed the fall of Rome to external challenges such as barbarian invasions and pressure from Germanic tribes.

They simply blamed the current situation in Cyprus on the "emperor" Isaac, but never thought that it was the "emperor" system itself that made Rome no longer Rome and Cyprus no longer Cyprus.

Garys' words became more and more tempting. Of course, Garys knew what was wrong with his words. He knew that many of his arguments were untenable.

But for Gellis, if "Rome does not belong to the citizens", then it would be better for such a Rome to perish as soon as possible.

Just like he deliberately said that it was "Caesar" who killed "Jesus".

Garys was of course well aware of the record of Brother Tian's death in the scriptures, but that did not prevent him from deliberately highlighting the existence of "Caesar" for his own point of view.

[“If you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar, for anyone who makes himself a king rebels against Caesar” (John 19:12)]

【Therefore, people in the world must choose between Caesar and the Kingdom of Heaven. There is no two suns in the sky, and no two kings in a country. The peace of Rome is a sacred peace, and the Kingdom of Heaven is not allowed to disturb it.】

[Jesus was executed not for secular reasons, but for divine reasons, because "Caesar is divine"]

"Rome without Caesar is the good Rome, and Rome without Augustus is the real Rome."

"Cyprus, there should not and cannot be any more 'Caesar'. The only one we truly and only need to worship is the Father in heaven. We are all his people."

“Any secular tyrant is an idol and needs to be overthrown by us.”

"As the Holy One of Jerusalem! This is my proclamation!"

There was a flash of lightning outside the window, followed by the roar of winter thunder. At this moment, a man hurriedly pushed open the door.

The cold wind and rain outside splashed into the house.

Garys noticed something was wrong. There seemed to be a lot of people outside the house.

"Oh no! Hector and his gang are surrounding us!"

The sky outside the house was gray and gloomy. The heavy rain mixed with the cold winter wind, cutting through everything on the earth with its chill.

Outside the house, dozens of people gathered, standing densely in a circle. Many of them held sharp farm tools with the front ends ground to a sharp point, which could be used as weapons.

From Garys's observation, these people were surprised when they saw Nicholas and his group. They had never thought that they would meet in such a place.

Dozens of people were breathing rapidly in the cold, constantly exhaling white mist.

Dozens of eyes were staring at Garys and his gang, revealing indescribable expressions, like fear and admiration.

Gailis whispered to himself: "Those who come with bad intentions, those with good intentions do not come..."

Nicholas on the side responded with a few words and introduced the other party: "You are the one who is coming."

"And they weren't actually enemies. They were all heroes who rose up together to fight against Isaac."

Garys frowned. If the other party was also a hero who rose up against Isaac, then what was going on now?

Nicholas explained this by saying, "They did something bad. They tricked us into resisting Isaac's army and then they ran away."

When Nicholas said this, his expression became stiff.

Although at that time, everyone with a discerning eye knew that they could not defeat Isaac's mercenaries, they were fighting desperately, while the team in front of them sold out their allies in exchange for a chance to survive.

And this behavior, just as Garys said, this group of people don't know why they are fighting.

They were a mob, motivated only by superficial agitation, or the temptation of some money, or based on hatred for Isaac.

Therefore, when the situation becomes bad, everyone runs away and no one cares about anyone else.

The rain was pouring down, and the rain from the sky wet Gailis's clothes and hair. He took the initiative to walk into the rain and look at these people.

Garys's calm and almost indifferent appearance made the dozens of people nervous. For a moment, they didn't know whether the rumors about Nicholas and his gang were true.

According to legend, some time ago, when Nicholas was captured and thrown into the castle dungeon, this group of people took the opportunity to escape from prison.

They killed their way out of Isaac's castle. No matter who they were or what they were, as long as they were a living thing, they were slaughtered by this group of desperadoes.

And this group of people had done something unkind again. If they had not been severely hunted down by Isaac's troops, they would not have thought of hiding in Nicholas's hiding place.

I originally thought that there was no one here, or that Nicholas and his gang should not be here, but I didn't expect to run into them face to face.

The leader was a little exhausted. He pointed at Nicholas behind Garys and shouted:
"Nicholas! If you hadn't instigated everyone to join you in the rebellion, how could we have fallen to this point!"

"Now everyone has no home to return to! Those Turks are circling around our village. If it weren't for the bishop and his people protecting us, our families would have been killed!"

The rain was still falling, and facing the accusations of these people, Nicholas could only lower his head.

The passion was so intense when we started the rebellion, and the desolation after the failure is so bitter now.

Thousands of brothers are now dead or scattered, and some of them who were famous have to hide their identities and move from place to place.

Cyprus is a small island country, and these people will eventually be caught and hanged in various cities and intersections to announce to the people the fate of the rebels.

Listening to the words of the man opposite him, Garys laughed instead.

"So, are you going to get down on your knees and beg for mercy from Isaac?"

"Or, do you think the emperor's rule over this island is reasonable?"

The man on the other side was speechless for a moment. That was not what he meant. He just wanted to put all the blame on Nicholas to cover up the ugliness of his own people deserting the battlefield.

"Come here, I have something to tell you." Gailis waved his hand.

The other party was a little stunned, but he certainly wouldn't listen to Garys just like that.

Garys shook his head, knowing full well that there were some contradictions between the two parties at the moment, which were neither big nor small.

Each of them disliked the other. One side felt that the other side had deserted the battlefield, while the other side blamed Nicholas for destroying their peaceful life.

And in Garys' opinion, it is not difficult to get these two parties to talk calmly.

Garys began to move forward, his movements gradually becoming faster and faster, and the distance covered by each step became larger and larger.

By the time the people on the opposite side reacted, Gailis's figure had disappeared in the rain, leaving only a passage that had been opened.

　It's still a 6000-word chapter.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)