Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 191 Rebuilding Rome's glory! Today!
Garys is a guy who likes to win people over with his virtue.

His virtues are well known, and everyone who has had close contact with Gillis has a deep respect for him.

But these farmers in the rain, they saw Gellis for the first time, so they didn't know what they were facing...

The leader had only half-drawn the long sword at his waist when he was kicked far away by Gairis who suddenly appeared.

In this cold winter rain, the surrounding farmers subconsciously rushed forward and tried to capture Garys.

However, accompanied by a burst of rapid beating sounds, those people were kicked over one by one and fell on the muddy ground.

Nicholas, Andre and his group felt a throbbing sensation deep in their hearts.

Every time, every time they saw Garys's physical skills which were no different from miracles, they had the urge to worship him.

This is not something that a human being can do; it is definitely something otherworldly.

Garys’s arrival is yet another reaffirmation of the beatitude.

Only this time the reaffirmation is to announce that the Kingdom of Heaven is about to come.

【Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.】

【Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.】

【Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.】

【Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.】

【Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.】

【Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.】

【Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.】

【Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.】

【Blessed are you when people revile you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you on my account.】

“Rejoice and leap for joy, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

——Matthew 5:3-12
The Father has made promises to His people since Abraham, and Jesus, the Heavenly Brother, has repeated those promises and extended them to Heaven.

Brother Heaven became a poor person in order to share His poverty with the poor. He is in the world but not of the world. He weeps with those who weep and rejoices with those who rejoice.

He pointed out what kind of people can go to heaven.

The appearance of Garys is another continuation. He is telling the world that the kingdom of heaven will come to earth.

Garys is proof that God loves the poor.

Human society, unlike the physical laws of nature, has a force called "belief."

When people believe that they have a common ancestor, a nation may be born regardless of whether that biological ancestor exists.

When people believe that they worship the same gods and are creations of the same gods, then tribes, clans, and nations can unite.

When people believe in the existence of a king who governs them, then the king really exists...

What Gillis swung out was his fist and what he kicked out was his foot, but what struck people's hearts was "God loves the poor."

Therefore, the poor must also rise up to respond to God's love.

Those guys who came with bad intentions didn't think too much. On this rainy day, they were simply scared silly.

Is this half a breath? Or a pulse beat?
Nearly one-fifth of the people were knocked down in the blink of an eye!
Is this within human power?
"You are all heroes who have stood up against Isaac. Why are you quarreling here?"

"Is there anything that can't be said nicely?"

With just two sentences, Garys dealt with the group of people, and everyone present felt that Garys was right.

Especially those guys who fell to the ground in an instant, their groans proved one thing - Garys was right the most.

The rain in the sky gradually became lighter, but it was still gloomy and cloudy.

The people around Garys seem to be numerous and powerful, but their personnel are more complicated and more of a mob than Nicholas's group.

"Now, I propose! Let's all form the Cyprus Liberation Front together, let's all join the Cyprus Liberation Front together! Let's fight against the Komnenos tyrant together!"

"Who agrees? Who disagrees!"

"Tyrant" originally referred to a ruler in the ancient Greek city-state who seized power through illegal or abnormal means.

This word did not have a completely negative connotation in the early days of ancient Greece, but as history evolved, it gradually took on a negative connotation, meaning a dictatorial, tyrannical, and illegal ruler.

In short, tyrant originally referred to a leader who came to power through unconventional or illegal means, but later evolved to describe a dictator who ruled by tyranny.

Gellis said that Isaac was a tyrant, and the Cypriots present, as Romans and Greeks, could understand that.

At first, when Isaac landed on the island, he forged official documents and claimed that he was the governor sent by the empire.

As an island, Cyprus's connection with Constantinople is naturally relatively weak, so when Isaac landed on the island, there was no obstacle at all.

After landing on the island, Isaac revealed his true colors and easily conquered the defenseless island of Cyprus with the military force brought by the mercenaries.

You have to know that in the history of Cyprus, there were only a few times when the army was trained. Basically, the island would surrender to whoever came.

It would be better to use the money for training the army to pay tribute.

Even the Saracens had to pay tribute, and as long as they didn't disturb the islanders' peaceful life, everything would be fine.

It is true. We in Cyprus lack everything except money.

Don't send troops. It costs money to send troops. Let's pay the money on our own initiative. It's good for both us.

Whether it was the Eastern Empire or the Arab Empire, seeing that Cyprus was so sensible, they stopped at the right time.

It's free money anyway, so why not waste it?

But this was obviously not the case with Isaac. The reason why he was able to rule the island of Cyprus was not because there was some giant standing behind him.

He controlled the island with mercenaries, and there was a cost to his rule over Cyprus.

He paid the cost himself, not the Eastern Empire or the Arab Empire.

That is why his plundering of the island of Cyprus seemed so cruel, and the mercenaries under his command were even more determined to do evil.

When Garys called Isaac a "tyrant," everyone present understood what that meant.

Isaac is a leader who came to power illegally and has no legitimacy.

If the legitimacy is low, rebellion will be particularly easy to break out.

Scattered rebellions are easy to be defeated one by one, but when the rebels are united together, there will be something to deal with.

This is also the purpose of establishing the Cyprus Liberation Front proposed by Gellis.

There is one thing that Gellis always insists on, that only the fruits of liberation that these people have obtained with their own hands will be cherished by them.

If Garys were to kill Isaac today, it would simply be replacing the previous idol tyrant with a new one.

The people present looked at each other and no one expressed any objection, so the matter was actually settled for the time being.

Of course, it is said that the Cyprus Liberation Front was formed, but in the eyes of those on the other side, this is actually naked annexation.

Seeing that no one objected, Gailis immediately shouted the slogan:
"Drive out the tyrant! Restore Rome!"

"Drive out the tyrant! Restore Rome!"

Garys shouted twice first, and behind him, those people who originally belonged to Nicholas also shouted together after hearing Garys's preaching in the past few days and hearing Garys's miracles.

"Drive out the tyrant! Restore Rome!"

"Drive out the tyrant! Restore Rome!"

Compared with the mob in the mud, the unanimous shouts of the people behind Garys seemed particularly intimidating, united, and infectious.

These newcomers seem to be numerous and powerful, but compared with the people behind Garys, what advantage do they have?
As for the leader, he looked dejectedly at his sword that was kicked away, and then he was frightened and looked like he had seen a ghost.

Because the sword was inserted straight into the tree trunk beside it!
It can be seen that if Garys had kicked someone else instead of the sword, he might have died immediately!

In this situation, how could he dare to question Gérice, the Frank, to his face?
Therefore, the general tone has actually been set.

After all this trouble, those who were caught in the rain hurried to the nearby houses to dry themselves, and those who were hungry started cooking porridge.

After a conversation with the leader, Gaillis also knew his name - Elias.

Elias and his gang had complicated backgrounds. They were not rural gangs like Nicholas. Instead, they were a mixture of many urban unemployed vagrants, guild members, landless farmers, etc.

Such complexity has seriously weakened the team's combat effectiveness.

Since Gellis wanted to set up the Cyprus Liberation Front, he naturally had to reorganize the organizational structure and make these people more organized.

"Elias, since we are all here to expel the tyrant and restore the republic, let's unite our two groups into one army and issue a unified command!"

As soon as Gairis said this, Elias couldn't help but twitch his lips. In his opinion, Gairis's intentions were too obvious.

However, at this time, behind Garys, whether it was Andre or Nicholas, they all took a step forward and stood behind Garys.

Coupled with the slightly forceful palm of Garys's hand on his shoulder, Elias felt a heavy pressure.

He was afraid that if he uttered a single word of resistance, his shoulder and collarbone would be crushed.

A few drops of liquid dripped from Elias' forehead, and he couldn't tell whether it was rain or not. He looked around.

In the end, he could only nod tremblingly.

With the addition of Elias and his group, the small Cyprus Liberation Front team instantly expanded to a size of hundreds of people.

Garys broke up and mixed up these hundred people, dividing them into three squadrons and a total of ten teams.

However, in order to prevent Elias from feeling that he was being taken advantage of.

Gally deliberately left behind a squadron of more than 30 men, all of whom were Elias's subordinates.

Sure enough, after listening to Gairis's assignment, Elias looked much better and nodded, thinking that this Frank was quite kind. Nowadays, such kind people are rare, so he even called Gairis in a more intimate way.

"Brother Garys, I think your arrangement is feasible!"

And seeing that Garys was kind-hearted, Elias suddenly had an idea.

"But how do we arrange for the squadron leaders and team leaders? I have so many brothers here, don't I have to talk about it?"

"Brother Elias, do you understand democracy and republic? You know the Roman Republic or Greek democracy!"

Although Elias' status is not as high as Nicholas', he grew up in Cyprus after all, even though the power of Cyprus has now been usurped by Isaac.

Even though the Eastern Empire was a highly centralized monarchy, there was no independent parliament or local self-government body to participate in management.

However, Cyprus still retains some parliament-like institutions. These institutions inherited from the ancient Roman era are another evidence of the island's past glory.

Therefore, when Gellis talked about the Roman Republic and Greek democracy, Elias could understand it.

"Since we want to expel the tyrant and restore Rome, then we have to think about what Rome we want to restore."

"Should we restore the Roman monarchy, the Roman republic, or the Roman empire? It's impossible to restore the Holy Rome of the Germanic barbarians!"

Elias felt something was strange when he heard Gellis say that the Germans were barbarians, and then he cursed them in his heart as Frank barbarians.

"If you ask me, whether it's the Roman Empire or the Roman Empire, we won't have a good life anyway."

"If the Roman Empire is really restored, Constantinople will probably send a new governor right away. Now that the Eastern Empire is in turmoil, do you still expect the new governor from Constantinople not to continue plundering?"

"As for tax collection, I have only heard of tax increases, but as for tax reductions, those are very rare!"

"Could it be that expelling the tyrant and restoring Rome is just a way to change a father for yourself?"

"If we want Cyprus to belong to the Cypriots! Then we must become a Roman Republic!"

“So whether we revolt or revolutionize, it is not only to expel the tyrant, but also to fight for the interests of the Cypriot people!”

Gellis walked into the crowd and was watched by the group of Greeks. He spoke loudly about the interests of the Cypriot people and encouraged those present to fight for their own interests.

However, except Elias, no one found it strange.

"We are all comrades in the Liberation Front now, and we are all patriots who will fight together to restore the glory of Rome!"

"In that case! Whether it's the Roman Republic or the Greek Democracy! We should start by electing captains of all ranks!"

Roman Republic? Greek Democracy?
Isn't this voting to elect captains at all levels of the Liberation Front a Renaissance and a restoration of ancient rule?
Anyone here who can read has some ideas in mind, right?

Even those who are illiterate have heard about how great Rome was and how wise the Greek philosophers were in the past.

"One of the most important aspects of this so-called republican democracy is elections."

"Although I am the Saint of Jerusalem, I am not a tyrant like Isaac, so how can I appoint captains at all levels?"

At this time, the people on Nicholas' side were fine, but the people under Elias were a little agitated.

Someone subconsciously twisted his mouth and muttered in a low voice: "If you don't come to appoint, we have more people and more power, so we will have to choose our people. If you make trouble over there, who will obey you? This is just nonsense."

Garys had sharp ears, so he heard it clearly.

In fact, even among Nicholas's group, some people began to murmur, thinking that Gailis was going to give up the advantage he had previously gained.

Of course, things definitely don't turn out that way, and many people have never thought about it.

【Voting and elections themselves cannot truly reflect public opinion.】

In fact, according to Gellis's own understanding, there is a very interesting statistics on voting and elections in the UK.

In the UK, a single party has held a majority of seats in Parliament 21 times, but only twice did the majority of voters support that party.

Although the party only received votes from a minority of voters, it often ended up getting the prime ministership because it was the largest party in parliament. The prime minister then appointed cabinet ministers, making it a winner-takes-all situation.

In other words, the total number of voters supporting the party often does not exceed half of all voters, but the votes of this small number of people change the country.

Of course, although voting and elections are difficult to reflect the overall opinions of voters, they are at least much better than "tyrants".

Especially when there is actually a tyrant in Cyprus today.

As the person who elects and appoints captains at all levels, Garys naturally has an exceptionally high say.

He planned and designed this voting and election.

First of all, because of literacy and efficiency issues, Gellis directly proposed that we should first learn the early Republican Roman election model.

Everyone simply raises their hands and cheers to show their approval. When the number of people cheering in approval is the largest and exceeds half of the total, it means that the candidate has been successfully elected.

Then, Garys said that it would be too troublesome to hold elections for hundreds of people at one time, and it would be difficult to distinguish them from each other.

Now that the squadrons have been distinguished, we should select them one squadron at a time.

Then each squadron not only had to elect a squadron leader, but also two squadron military tribunes.

Military tribune was an important official position in the Roman Republic and the early empire.

They are responsible for protecting the rights of civilians, have the right to propose bills, and can veto the decisions of the nobles under certain conditions. They can also provide military command in emergencies.

Of course, for Geiris, the military tribunes he established were actually similar to the "political commissars" of later generations.

Then, the captain of each squadron, together with two military tribunes, became the representatives of the squadron and formed the brigade committee.

The brigade committee will elect and appoint a new brigade leader.

This system is very simple. First, the crowd is divided into three squadrons, and then each squadron raises their hands to elect their squadron leader and military tribune.

These squadron leaders and squadron tribunes then elect and appoint the captain.

This electoral system was created by Gellis to help everyone understand what the Roman Republic and Greek democracy are, and to make everyone understand the benefits of republican democracy.

It is also necessary to make everyone understand that only in this way can the power of the people in Cyprus be mobilized, which will be conducive to cleansing the remaining poison of the "tyrant".

After spending some time, Elias couldn't figure out what was wrong. The people he brought accounted for at least two-thirds of the total.

According to Gellis's election plan, doesn't it mean that nearly two-thirds of the positions will fall on his side?
This Garys is no longer just kindhearted, he is a great benefactor! He is a true saint!

Only a true saint can give up the power in his hands!

If this is the Roman Republic and Greek democracy, it would be wonderful!
Elias saw that Garys's expression was no longer friendly, but could be called intimate.

In accordance with Gellis's request, each squadron began to hold elections to elect their squadron leaders and tribunes.

This was the first time for everyone to encounter such a thing. They had only heard about it before but had never put it into practice.

Especially Nicholas's group, who have been instigated by Gairis again and again these days, and have long been itching for the so-called Roman Republic and Greek democracy.

This was my first time putting it into practice, and I was extremely excited.

It didn't take long for the voting process designed by Gellis to end.

But it wasn't long before Elias was stunned.

Except that all the positions in the third squadron were taken by his people, only one of the positions in the first and second squadrons, a total of six squadrons, was taken by his people!
After going through this process, Elias naturally figured out what was going on soon.

Garys arranged more than 30 people into the third squadron, which was not giving him any face.

It was to ensure that the other two squadrons, Garys's men, were roughly on par with those that originally belonged to him.

In the first and second squadrons, the number of people on both sides is equal.

The candidates who took the initiative to stand up on Garys' side all volunteered with confidence and spoke very fluently when giving their speeches.

Words like "rebuilding the glory of Rome", "remembering the Greek sages", and "making Cyprus great again" came one after another like a machine gun.

These were the words that Garys had repeatedly emphasized and preached in prison, and they seemed particularly noble just by reciting a few sentences.

Just for this eloquence, this Greek speaking ability inherited from Gellis, the mob under his command all applauded.

As long as two or three people are attracted to Garys's side, the vote will immediately become unbalanced.

On the other hand, Elias's people were all inarticulate and made a fool of themselves after taking office.

In this way, there will be no suspense in the election of the squadron leader and the tribune.

After the squadron-level election is over, the election of the team leader will be even less of a suspense.

On the one hand, it is because of the difference in eloquence between the two sides, and on the other hand, it is because people are easily inclined to follow and imitate authority when they are in chaos and confusion.

So, when electing those team leaders.

Many people will subconsciously vote following the squadron leader tribune they elected.

The squadron leaders and tribunes were naturally those who had followed Gellis in prison earlier, so the people from the first and second brigades basically took over the positions of squad leaders.

This blind obedience effect is also one of the reasons why Roman elections changed from public voting by raising hands to anonymous voting.

After a while, all the elections were over.

In the brigade committee, two of the three squadron leaders were from Gellis, and three of the six tribunes were from Gellis.

The total number was 5 to 4, and this one vote difference determined that Garys would become the captain of the brigade.

At the team leader level, Garys’s men also occupied 5 seats, while Elias’s men only occupied 4 seats.

But no one thought there was a problem except Elias.

These people were simply excited because for the first time in their lives, they were able to truly exercise their right to vote.

　Gareth de Villeroy

　　Sex: Male
　　Race: human

　　Faith: Jehovah of Hosts

　　Strength: 20 Intelligence: 15
　　Agility: 18 Perception: 16
　　Constitution: 14 Charisma: 18
　　Ability: Tide of Action

　　
　
(End of this chapter)