Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 232: Poor Countries Are the True Reflection of Rich Countries
The world is big, and Palestine is just a tiny place.

However, such a tiny piece of land has condensed thousands of years of tragedy.

The seeds of conflict had been sown since the ancient Israelites conquered the city of Salem.

Jacob, the "wrestler with God," changed his name to Israel. His 12 descendants formed 12 tribes in the land of Canaan, and then they were divided from each other in civil war.

There were two states left in Southern Israel, namely Judah and Benjamin, while the other ten states in Northern Israel were destroyed in the war and gradually lost their Israeli identity over time.

This period of history took place from the 10th century BC to around the 8th century BC.

What is left in southern Israel is [Judaea], with Jerusalem as its holy city, while in northern Israel, Samaria is its holy land.

As of the 21st century, the Samaritans are still continuing.

But those 10 tribes did not disappear, they just gradually lost the identity of Israel, and their bloodline still flows in this land.

They became Palestinians, some became part of the Arabs, and some were assimilated into Greeks...

Of course, even traditional Arabs claim to be descendants of Abraham and Ishmael, Israel's brother who "wrestled with God."

The same bloodline has divided them into different ethnic groups, and because of various disputes, they have been killing each other for thousands of years.

This land of bloodshed has buried countless corpses.

But, so what?

In this world, in corners that have never been recorded in history books, there are not only generals, kings, heroes and tycoons who come and go on stage, but also suffering people who are nailed to the cross.

When the dust of history fell on them, it was like huge rocks rolling down, and they, these people who were no better than the dust, were like Sisyphus, pushing the rocks up the mountain day after day.

But unlike Sisyphus, most people don’t have the chance to start over.

The huge rock called life, rolling down the hillside, could easily crush them with one mistake or accident.

To this day, the descendants of Northern Israel, the descendants of their brothers and sisters of the same ethnic group as the Jews, are still serving the hard labor of Sisyphus.

Tyre, December 1188
Another night has passed, and many people did not survive yesterday, but that was not all.

Those who successfully survived welcomed the early morning of a new day in the humid air of the Mediterranean climate in autumn and winter.

While many people were still asleep, Aaron had already climbed up from his pile of straw.

These straws were just bought from outside the city this year, so they are still fresh and more comfortable compared to the land.

With a layer of sheepskin with almost all the hair gone, it's actually quite warm.

However, he couldn't cover his bare feet, so he felt dizzy and even sneezed.

Without paying too much attention, Aaron casually found a piece of clothing full of holes and without patches and put it on himself.

When he carefully pushed open the door of his house and heard it creaking, Aaron's hair stood on end. He turned around to check behind him to see if there was the drunken figure.

Fortunately, my father was drunk and was still sleeping like a dead pig. He was not woken up by the noise, so I didn't have to deal with his grumpiness when he woke up.

Aaron, 14 years old, is one of the poorest people in the city of Tyre. It is hard to tell whether his ancestors were Franks or locals. They just go with the flow from generation to generation.

Aaron is illiterate, and his ancestors for generations may also be illiterate, but they must have been wealthy in the past, after all, there is still a house left in the city for them to live in.

The only problem was that not only their family lived in the house, but also their uncle's family, who shared the property rights with them, and there were no spare rooms to rent out.

Of course, apart from this room, the few remaining possessions were the clothes he wore or the jingling coins his father kept in his pocket to exchange for wine.

There are not many families like his in Tyre, but there are not few either. As a busy commercial port, Tyre has a large amount of goods to be loaded and unloaded every day, and working hard at the dock is a way to make a living.

His father was a dock worker, so he could earn some money every day.

Especially after Balian's gang came, the original gangs at the port were reorganized, and no one dared to ask for tribute openly. The clinking in his father's pocket would turn into a rattling sound from time to time.

When he returned home after drinking, he could actually save some coins for his mother.

"Thank God, thank Her Highness Isabella, and those Paladins..."

In the past six months, my mother has smiled more and more often, but my father is still drinking and beating me as always.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh before leaving.

But Aaron did not hate his father. After all, although he liked to beat him, he was still the pillar of the family. He even saved some money from his wine money and used it to find a shoemaker for himself.

How nice, shoemaker...

Aaron's feet felt a little cold as he stepped on the stone slabs. Who knows, maybe in a few days, he would have a pair of shoes of his own.

Just because his father could help him find a master, Aaron felt that he was better than at least 30% of his neighbors and was not the worst of them.

Starting a month ago, Aaron would go to his master's place to work and learn the craft as an apprentice, day after day, just like today.

In the past month, I have been exposed to wind and rain, and I have not had a single day of leisure. Even if I have no work, I have to stay at my master's house and serve my master, his wife, and his son...

He fetched water for his master's house, washed his clothes, and swept the floor...

With such hard work, he could feel his master's attitude improving slightly, and he began to reveal some tips on measuring the soles of the feet.

Just like what my mother said, I have to serve my master well, so that I can learn real skills, and then I will have the opportunity to make a living with this skill in the future and then take in apprentices of my own.

As for why not steal the teacher?

Nowadays, if you are an apprentice and learn a skill without the master's permission, no one will care even if you become disabled.

What's more, my master is not bad. He will provide me with a meal at noon. He is more humane than 3% of the craftsmen. He can be considered one of the good guys.

Walking down the street, you can still see traces of yesterday's celebration from time to time. This is the day when the siege of Tyre was lifted one year ago.

For the city of Tyre, this was indeed a festival. His master even let him go home half a day earlier. It was obvious that his master was very happy.

Or rather, his master was actually quite supportive of Her Highness Isabella, and would often complain to everyone about why Her Highness had not yet been crowned.

Now that Isabella is here, their lives will be better! Once the Paladins start working, there will be no thieves in Tyre!
Since farmers outside the city were taxed less, more people came into the city to buy shoes.

Life seemed to be getting better, but at the same time, nothing seemed to have changed. My father earned more copper and silver coins, and had more meals every month, but my mother would complain every month.

"Hey, it's gone up again! It's gone up again!"

The extra money earned by the family ends up in other people's pockets because of various expenses.

Aaron was speechless. He was uneducated, so he couldn't think of any words to describe his emotions.

My father made more money, and the kingdom abolished the poll tax, but life did not get better. It seemed that things should not be like this, but it was natural.

Such is the case with those who have never seen the light.

Those who are sinking do not know what it means to be sinking.

Those who are truly numb will not feel that they are numb.

Aaron's heart only fluttered when he saw the people patrolling the streets led by the Paladins.

Those figures are like torches, bringing a touch of warmth.

In the past year, thanks to these Paladins, the gangs at the docks have been reorganized, there are fewer thugs on the streets, and even the thieves and pickpockets in the market are being properly managed.

These Paladins are free.

They seem to be born to live under the sun, brimming with the breath of life and filled with inexplicable faith and hope.

Yes, he is indeed a person from a completely different world from himself. He is just a rat in the gutter, peeking at the beauty that does not belong to him through a tiny crack.

However, as soon as I reached the intersection, my already dizzy head began to hurt even more.

Aaron pinched his eyebrows, his body was shaky and he couldn't walk steadily. The sky and the earth were shaking at the same time.

Just at this moment, a group of people who were hurrying on their way bumped into him.

Aaron was not careful and fell to the ground, his body twitched and he lost consciousness.

Before he fainted, Aaron seemed to see the sun setting beside him in a daze.

……

Gellis returned to Tyre with a small entourage. He did not inform anyone. He and several Paladins of Alexandros mixed in with the refugees on the border and entered the city of Tyre.

Gellis' current identity is very special. In the Kingdom of Jerusalem, apart from his identity as a knight, there is nothing noteworthy about him.

The Order is now lurking below the surface again, so he is not the leader of the Second Kingdom.

In fact, publicly speaking, that was the only position he held.

But in fact, the head of state is just a nominal position. The real person in charge of Cyprus is Archbishop Anthony of the Church of Cyprus.

In the Second Kingdom, he was neither a king nor a leader. Like Samuel, he was a prophet who conveyed God's will and changed the country.

[In those days, the word of the Lord was rare, and revelations were infrequent.]

【As Samuel grew older, the Lord was with him, and none of his words fell to the ground. And all the Israelites, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that the Lord had made Samuel a prophet.】

Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Then he cried out to the Lord for the Israelites, and the Lord answered him.

This kind of identity is currently only valid in the three counties of Transjordan and has not been implemented throughout the entire Second Kingdom.

After all, now that the Third Crusade has begun, Gailis doesn't want too many variables.

Even if we want to preach in the future, it should be when we have a large number of systematic missionaries under our command, so as to reduce the influence of people misinterpreting the scriptures.

As such a "prophet", Gellis wanted to see the city of Tyre, a city where he had not stayed for long before handing it over to Isabella and the others.

I want to know what this city has become.

From my personal perspective, the city has indeed changed. There are more workshops outside the city and fewer refugees inside.

Doctors from Transjordan opened a hospital here...

“There are more jobs, lower taxes, and a growing economy, but have people’s lives improved?”

In a ward, Gailis asked Alexandros beside him.

Now, the two of them are in the Tyre Hospital, and next to them is a child in tattered clothes and barefoot.

"Duce, farmers' lives have indeed improved, I am sure of that."

Alexandros thought of the wedding he encountered on the road. Although it was still poor, it was full of vitality and there was a whole roasted lamb to share.

"Farmers' lives have improved, I am sure of that," Gailis said affirmatively.

"Most of the farmers around Tyre own their own land. As long as we reduce taxes, they can have more food. Moreover, there are troops stationed near Tyre, and they can purchase various foods from the surrounding farmers, which significantly increases their income."

"But what about the city dwellers? These are the poorest people living in the city. They have no money and no land of their own. Have their lives really become much better because of our arrival and economic development?"

The issue that Gellis mentioned actually had a similar discussion in Latin America in the 20s.

From the perspective of modernization theory, underdeveloped regions such as Latin America need to "connect" with developed countries and become developed countries by learning from the modernization experience of developed countries.

In other words, you have to repeat the path of your predecessors, the path of the rich, and become rich yourself through development.

And this theory, in a sense, has failed in the 21st century.

The opposing theory, which is also the cornerstone of liberation theology, is dependency theory.

The basic idea of ​​dependency theory is that the wealth of rich countries and the poverty of poor countries are inseparable and are in the same historical process.

The poor countries are dependent on the rich countries. Poverty is not a necessary prerequisite for wealth, but a consequence of plunder.

[The Lord once said: "There are poor people in the world because there are rich people; there are rich people because there are poor people."]

[A poor country is a true reflection of a rich country. The hunger, cold and distorted faces of the poor are the evidence of the crimes of the rich.]

[The rich, just as they rejected Christ in the past, are abandoning today’s poor to the brink of death.]

"If you don't investigate, you won't have the right to speak. We need to explore this issue."

Gellis patted Alexandros on the shoulder, looking rather lost.

Everything is changing irreversibly.

The wheel of time is rolling because of Garys, and this wheel is bound to move in a direction that has been expected.

"Hopefully, this time it will be better."

　Continue to retreat and write.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)