Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 75: Imitating the Wisdom of Later Generations

Zayd felt that some of his ideas were wrong. He previously thought that the farmers in Transjordan were all poor and could not afford to spend money.

But the fact is that he was somewhat frightened by the farmers' enthusiasm for consumption.

It doesn’t mean that the farmers here are stupid and have a lot of money.

But compared to the impoverished farmers in Egypt who didn't even dare to come up to look when the caravan passed by, the farmers in Skar Village were very proactive and willing to come forward to bargain.

Merchants are not afraid of your bargaining. At least if farmers are willing to bargain, it means that they are willing to buy and have some money in their pockets.

No matter how much money you make, you can always make a few deals.

Salt, needles and thread, cloth... these are what the farmers are concerned about. Some knights from the Skarl village simply bought up all the iron ingots and paper in Zayd's caravan.

For those blacksmith knights, there are no iron mines for smelting nearby, so it would be a bit disadvantageous to buy ironware directly from merchants. It would be better to buy iron ingots by themselves and make them into weapons or farm tools.

Watching the crowds and listening to the rising and falling hawking sounds, Zayd felt confused by such a lively market.

What Zayed didn't understand was that the farmers in Skar Village were different from farmers in other areas.

Whether they were farmers in Egypt or farmers under the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

In the eyes of the feudal lords, they were all walking animals and "slaves" who dug gold from the land.

What the feudal lords needed to do when dealing with peasants was to exhaust all their resources.

As long as the peasants do not rebel, they can take as much as they can.

In the eyes of most feudal lords, the order of the world seems to be fixed and the output of the land will not change.

Since there is no better way to increase land output, the relationship between them and the peasants is a classic zero-sum game, and the noble lords are the ones who hold the initiative.

It’s a sin to give all this food to poor people!
It's a sin to throw those shiny gold coins to a poor guy!
If the peasants eat one more bite, the knights under the noble lords will have to eat one less bite.

If the peasants spend a little more, the noble lords will spend a little less.

The noble lords relied on the knights to maintain their status, rather than on the love and respect of the peasants.

Noble lords needed to use gold coins to hire soldiers instead of relying on the voluntary defense of the peasants.

But this logic does not hold true in Gellis's view, and it is meaningless to the Taiping Sect.

At this time, a new cognition must be introduced, just like the "Social Contract" proposed that sovereignty lies with the people.

For the religious group, it can only exist because of the faith of the people.

When a sect has no followers, it will naturally dissipate.

Rather than exploiting the people to feed the mercenaries and gain the power to suppress the peasants.

It would be better to directly put the people first, feed the militia directly, and establish a community militia system.

It would be better to be direct, people-oriented, keep wealth and manpower within the constituency councils and use them to develop productivity.

[6. In the name of Isabel, authorize the constituency council to form its own militia, hire instructors to train, and defend the fairness of the constitution.]

This clause is actually a copy of the wisdom of Calvinism 350 years later. Calvinism was a Protestant sect in the 16th century Reformation. They were quite good at fighting in religious wars...

In Calvinist communities, while believers have gained a high degree of autonomy to form a city council, all adult males are obliged to participate in militia training, are required to bring their own weapons to deal with emergencies, and take on defense tasks and maintain public order.

At the same time, in Calvinist doctrine, every believer has the right and responsibility to communicate directly with God without the need for church clergy as intermediaries. Therefore, in their view, defending faith is defending themselves.

This system enhanced community cohesion to a certain extent, as each member was given the responsibility to protect and maintain the community. It also gave citizens more say in political life through the participation of the militia.

These militiamen were not only warriors defending their homes, but also participants in their own community politics and staunch believers in Calvinism.

They firmly believe that guarding the community is guarding themselves, guarding their faith is guarding themselves, and they firmly believe that God stands behind them.

The mutual embedding of the three identities of military, politics and religion has given them unshakable faith.

You have to know that slaves who have nothing will not defend the property of their slave owners.

For Gellis, the villages and towns around him, while gaining a high degree of autonomy, will inevitably face a more tragic ending if they are unwilling to defend themselves.

But if they are willing to firmly defend their rights and interests, as the sect's ideas spread abroad, they will have more and more like-minded people.

At the same time, after the head tax was waived and more food was kept at the grassroots level, the population growth was bound to accelerate. The remaining currency could also be used to purchase more iron tools, making it easier for them to cultivate more land.

More farmland, more people, more iron tools, in this era, this region is the only way for rapid development of productivity and military.

There is no need to rush to develop steam engine technology. As long as the population here reaches 10,000, it means that at least 3,000 people will receive military training, and there will be a militia of at least 2,000 people who will defend their homes.

What binds these people together and gives them a common goal is faith, the faith that Gellis spreads.

The divine faith unites every believer.

Let them stride forward on the road without getting lost.

While Zayed was doing some small business, he noticed one thing: a lot of local Arabs had come to the village.

Although the local Arabs also joined in the joyous atmosphere, they were obviously not farmers.

Out of curiosity, Zayed stopped a Muslim who was passing by and asked them why they were there.

Then he got a not very clear word.

"Assembly execution?"

Then after some explanation, Zayd became even more confused.

"A mass execution? The person being executed is a tax farmer? And the soldiers from Lord Reynard?"

"But..." Zayed was a little confused. Could tax farmers be used for execution? And what about the soldiers sent by the lord?

It was as if in Skar Village, this magical land, many of the iron laws that he had known in the past no longer existed.

Looking in the direction that the man pointed, it seemed that something was being built in the threshing ground not far away.

　Second update. I'm going to take a break and then write the third chapter.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)