Chapter 378 [Sacrifice for millions of families, I am happy alone]

"It seems that the Governor of the Nulin Province is easy... We were worried about the ups and downs here."

Ade had a relaxed smile on his face.

Chen Daolin frowned, looked at Ade, and slowly said, "What did those officials say after receiving the application?"

"What else can I say?" Ade curled his lips: "These officials in Nulin Province are simply a group of land buns who have never seen the world. They have gold coins to open the way. The eyes of these people are bigger than those of cows. They hold our gold tickets in their hands and smile extremely brightly. The documents for purchasing land were quickly obtained, and the application for preaching, too..."

Speaking of this, Ade carefully looked at Chen Daolin's face. He hesitated for a moment, but still couldn't help but say, "Sir... this missionary matter..."

Chen Daolin thought about it and said that this matter would be said sooner or later. After all, although Ade and Montoya were convinced by themselves, these two people were from the Temple of Light. After all, they were dragged by these two guys to spread other religions, which was clearly intended to pull them into the water. To make these two willingly accompany them to be "pagans", they must dispel their concerns before implementing the overall plan.

Chen Daolin brewed his words and looked serious: "You... must have concerns in your heart, right?"

The relaxed expression on Ade's face immediately calmed down, and he glanced at the sacred knight next to him, Montoya, standing by the window, looking out the window, without saying a word.

This is a high-end guest room in a large hotel in Mulan City. The room is on the top floor of the third floor, facing the street. Looking out through the window, it is a bustling main street in Mulan City. Although the economy of Nulin Province has declined, it is the largest street in the capital of a province, and it looks a bit prosperous. There are many people coming and going on the street. Occasionally, some aliens in grassland dressed in strange clothes will be seen walking by with horse teams.

The Holy Knight did not look back, his eyes still looked away. After listening to Chen Daolin's words, Montoya's body seemed to shake gently. Then he slowly breathed and whispered: "When he came out, your Majesty said that no matter what the lord wanted us to do, we should do it... Even if it was a ruthless thing, he would follow the lord's instructions."

Montoya's words were tantamount to expressing their opinions. Chen Daolin expressed satisfaction with his attitude, nodded, and looked at Ade. Ade immediately spread his hands and smiled bitterly: "I mean the same as Lord Montoya...but, I still have some doubts in my heart, I don't know if your plan is..."

"I don't have to tell you all about my plan now." Chen Daolin shook his head and said slowly: "But what I can explain to you first is that what we want to do next will soon become enemies of the Temple of Light!"

"...Enemy?" Ade's face turned pale.

"Yes, enemy!" Chen Daolin deliberately raised his eyebrows tightly and stared at Ade with a serious expression: "I, and you, will all become the 'pagans' you call them. We will preach another religion, spread doctrine here, gather believers. Then... we will all become thorns in the side of the Church of Light! To be serious, you two may very likely become 'sinners' of the Temple of Light, after all, you were originally people in the Temple of Light."

Ade's face became increasingly ugly.

Montoya shook his head and raised his eyelids. He glanced at Chen Daolin: "I believe that you must have a deep intention when doing this, right?"

A strange smile appeared on the corner of Chen Daolin's mouth. He slowly stood up, walked to the window, looked at the bustling streets outside, and suddenly asked: "There is a question... Both of them are outstanding figures in the Temple of Light. I would like to ask them, the temple has been declining for more than a hundred years. When you think about it carefully, what is the biggest reason?"

This question is not new.

The temple has declined from generation to generation, and there are naturally elites in the church who learn from their mistakes. Elites like Ade and Montoya have naturally reflected on such problems.

Everyone had their own answer to this question, so Ade immediately said: "Is this still necessary? Of course, all this is thanks to the first Duke of Tulip!"

There was deep resentment in his tone.

This answer is not surprising.

In fact, what the vast majority of people in the church think is like this. The decline of the Temple of Light is the cause and effect planted after the rise of the legendary figure more than a hundred years ago. The first Duke of Tulip was talented and wise. When he was in power in the empire, he relied on his supreme authority to establish his unshakable prestige in the war. He used all the generals and political power in his hands, waved his stick to attack the church, and no one could compete with it. However, the goddess believed in the Temple of Light has repeatedly shown no miracles. At the same time, the various decrees set by the first Duke of Tulip were targeted and weakened the privileges of the church. It was only over the past hundred years that the church gradually declined.

Speaking of which, although Duke Tulip is a hero of the empire, he is undoubtedly the most unpopular and hateful person for the Temple of Light.

But no one dares to say such things publicly.

Chen Daolin was not surprised to hear Ade's answer, and turned his head to look at Montoya.

Montoya thought for a while and shook his head, "I don't know... what Ad said makes sense, but I always feel that things are not that simple. I think... there are some problems within the church itself."

After all, Montoya is somewhat different from Ade. Although they are both elites of the church, Montoya has a higher status in the church than Ade, so he can also see some things that Ade cannot see.

Chen Daolin smiled: "Ade's answer is only 30% correct, and as for Montoya, your answer is 50% correct."

"Fifty percent?" Ade frowned and looked at Chen Daolin: "So... what about your opinion?"

"If I were to accurately explain the reason for the decline of the temple, it would be a long story, I am afraid it would not be clear in a day or two. But... When I was in the Magic Academy, I was idle. I studied history and studied the history of the temple carefully and came to a conclusion... but this conclusion may not be acceptable to you."

Ade and Montoya looked at each other: "Oh? Please say it sir."

"My conclusion is..." Chen Daolin sighed intentionally: "Even if there is no Tulip family, the situation of the temple will last for decades at most. It will still decline. Even if there is no character like the first Tulip Duke, as long as the imperial emperor in later generations appears one or two powerful characters, the situation of the temple will not be much different from that now."

“…”

Montoya didn't say anything about this answer. Instead, there was a little disagreement on Ade's face, and the young priest couldn't help but say, "Why did the lord come to such a conclusion? Before the tulip family appeared, the temple was deeply rooted in the empire, and even the royal family had to look at the temple's face... How could such power be shaken easily! If not..."

"There is no if." Chen Daolin interrupted Ade's words with decisive words. He said decisively: "The demise of the temple is ultimately due to the problem with its own system! In this world, any force, group, organization, or even country. All development is ultimately a problem with the system! The new system will inevitably defeat the old system, a reasonable system will inevitably defeat the unreasonable system, and an advanced system will inevitably defeat the backward system... This is an unchanging rule! Even if there are some special exceptions occasionally, it is a short-term exception and will be corrected soon... You must understand that history itself has an irrefutable rule!

The prosperity of the Temple of Light is closely related to the founding of the Roland Empire. It can be said that at the beginning of the founding of the Roland Empire, the system of the Temple of Light was very reasonable at that time. The Temple relied on the founding emperor to help him conquer the world and accumulate a lot of prestige. Pacifying wars, unifying the country, and restoring peace in the human world, these are in line with the wishes and interests of the majority of people, so the Temple can take the opportunity to rise. But after a thousand years of development, this world is no longer the beginning of the founding of the country.

It looks like it, but the system of the temple itself has not changed, so it no longer conforms to the development of the world. From the original reasonable system to the unreasonable system now, it will naturally be abandoned by people! This has nothing to do with whether the Tulip Family appears or not. As I said just now, even if there is no Tulip Family, as long as one or two emperors with ability and determination emerge in the royal family, the temple will be suppressed and fall to its current level."

Ade's face looked a little ugly, and it was really hard to accept Chen Daolin's words emotionally.

Chen Daolin saw Ade's face and smiled coldly: "Don't you agree? OK, then I'll ask you, throw out the factors of the existence of the Tulip Family, tell me, what is the significance of the existence of the Temple of Light to the people of the Roland Empire?"

As soon as he heard this question, Ade received education from the temple since he was a child, and naturally replied casually: "Believing in the great goddess is the natural obligation of every Rolander. As the people of God, we worship the goddess, and we will only get a home after death in the future, and with the protection of the goddess..."

"Okay." Chen Daolin waved his hand, interrupted Ade's words again, and said coldly: "The destination of the soul after death is too illusory. As for any natural obligation, he can only deceive those ignorant people. I only know that I was born in this world, and I was born to me by my mother who was born for ten months, but not a goddess of light. My parents raised me, nor was it a goddess. If I were to believe in the goddess and let me take out the proceeds of my hard work to worship the temple... Then if someone with a clear mind would be unable to help but think: Why?"

Ade stopped talking.

Chen Daolin said quickly: "Farmers work hard, and the goddess will show their strength to bless the weather and the land is good? Sorry, I haven't seen such a thing... Little vendors sell goods hard all over the country. Will the goddess come forward to protect them for a prosperous business? Sorry, I haven't seen such thing happen... In the army, the goddess comes forward to protect them for invincible battles? Sorry, this kind of thing never seems to have happened. A coolie works hard every day. When he is poor, will the goddess appear and give him enough food and clothing? Sorry, this kind of thing does not exist. A dying patient struggles to survive. Will the goddess appear and give him health and life? This kind of thing still does not exist..."

Chen Daolin glanced at Montoya who was thinking about it, changed his tone, and slowly said: "But what about the existence of the empire? The stability of a country. The stability of the empire can at least provide a stable environment, make laws, and give everyone a stable order. Whether it is a farmer who farms, a business vendor, a hardworking laborer, or a war soldier, all these people must depend on the stable order of a country to survive well. In other words... the importance of the empire is far more than a false one for everyone.

An illusory religion is more important. In other words, a stable national government can allow people to live with a full meal, and the meaning of religion is more about satisfying people's spiritual pursuit. So I ask you, is it important to live with a full meal or to satisfy spiritual pursuit? I don't deny the importance of the latter, but things always come in sequence. Without having a full meal, I think most people will temporarily abandon spiritual pursuit and find a way to live first! If you have to choose one of two, then I think more than 90% of people will choose to live first!"

"Sir, what do you mean?" Montoya looked at Chen Daolin with a serious expression.

"My meaning is very simple... The most fundamental doctrine of the Temple of Light, from its inception, was wrong! So, to this point, it is also an inevitable result. Now there are decadent high-level leaders in the church, and those extravagant borers appearing. These are not the main reasons... Are there no corrupt officials in the government of the empire? Of course, there are also. But why did most people abandon the church?" Chen Daolin took a deep breath. At this moment, in Montoya and Ade's eyes, Chen Daolin seemed to be covered with a layer of light, and he heard Chen Daolin say word by word: "The foundation of the founding of the Temple of Light was originally wrong!"

"...Creation, the foundation of the creation of religion... is it wrong?" Montoya was shocked and looked at Chen Daolin in dismay.

Chen Daolin's face was full of mockery and sneered: "The fundamental purpose of the founding of the Temple of Light is to completely make the royal family bow their heads, seize the royal power, and then replace the imperial power with the divine power. Your ultimate goal is to establish a world of unity of politics and religion, and to rule the human world with the church... In your heart, it is best to kill all the emperors, imperial governments, and rule humans with the Temple of Light. You have set such an ultimate goal since the creation of the church. Therefore, for the past thousand years, the Temple of Light has been confronting the royal family from beginning to end, fighting for power and profit with the royal family, desperately suppressing the royal family, suppressing the other party's living space, and seeking greater power for yourself...

But what is ridiculous is that this is your biggest fundamental mistake! The regime is in the hands of others, and the foundation for all Rolanders to eat and survive is in the hands of others! And you can only provide everyone with some illusory spiritual pursuits. Even if some ignorant people will be deceived by the set you promote, more people, once they face the choice of survival, will resolutely choose to support the imperial government and abandon you. After all, people must always put survival first."

What Chen Daolin said made Ade and Montoya shocked!

Neither of them are stupid people, they are both elites trained by the church, and their horizons are extraordinary. But after all, they have been in the church for many years, have rigid thinking and preconceived ideas. From childhood to adulthood, they have been instilled with the revitalization of the church, let the glory of the church be re-shrouded this land, and to make all people feel attentive to the church, and ultimately, the church is stronger than the emperor, and to make the divine power the supreme authority in this world...

But I never thought that this idea was fundamentally wrong!

From the first day of its establishment, the church's fundamental purpose is only one in its position to treat the royal family: kill the other party! Even if it cannot be done for the time being, it will suppress and fight step by step, but the long-term goal is to kill the other party!!

Only Chen Daolin, who comes from the real world, can see at a glance how ridiculous and absurd the fundamental purpose of this kind of education is!

This is absolutely impossible to achieve!

Judging from the normal development trajectory of civilization, the inevitable rule is that the state's system must override the religious system!

If religion wants to survive, it can only compromise with the state system step by step.

In Chen Daolin's opinion, the mistake of the Temple of Light is ridiculous... If you really want to overthrow the royal family and replace the royal family to establish a divine kingdom, then you should take advantage of your strength to rise up early! Just raise your troops to rebel!

This is something that no one has done in the real world history. Zhang Jiao, the Yellow Turban, and the Heaven is dead.

But even if you really do this, even if you kill the royal family and overthrow the current national government, you can only turn the Temple of Light into another national government. If you want to rule this country, you can only turn the religious system into the national system! If you continue to use the religious system to rule the country, it is absolutely impossible!

After all, the state system and the religious system are originally two completely different things.

If we have to force the use of "theocracy" to rule the world, then the only result will be overthrown in the future!

This is the inevitable result of the development trajectory of history and civilization!

If the religious system is backward, the backward system will inevitably be overturned.

In medieval Europe, the power of the church was so huge! The Pope's will command the whole of Europe, even the kings must obey the pope's will. Disobedient kings can be directly dismissed or deposed!

But what is the result? In today's real world, the Pope's government orders are not even out of the Vatican, except for the title of a spiritual idol!

Forced religious systems to rule over the state system, it will not work at all.

Although there are still countries in the real world with strong religious power in the Middle East, such as Islamic countries such as Iran, with the development of human civilization, these countries are also changing little by little, and the power of religion is slowly leveraging...

The general trend of this development will never change.

So in Chen Daolin's opinion, the set of the Temple of Light could not work at all.

In this way, there are only three possible outcomes for the Temple of Light:

The first possibility: confrontation with religion and the state system will only end up being suppressed by the state system!

The second possibility: Take a step back, even if the Temple of Light rebelled, overthrew the emperor's rule, destroyed all government officials, and ruled the empire with the church's theocracy, it will be overthrown sooner or later. It will never last long!

The third possibility: the rebellion succeeded and replaced the imperial government, but the church must also transform from a religious system into a new state system, and must give up the "religious theocracy"... But in this way, it actually goes against its original intention. If the church system becomes a state system, it means that a new state system emerges, and its own theocracy can only be discarded... But in this way, it means that the religious system itself destroys itself, and what is left is also a new state system. It has no meaning.

"If the church wants to develop, the only way is to abandon your wrong purpose of building a church. In terms of attitude towards the imperial government and the royal family, don't always think about killing each other and replacing it. Instead, rely on each other, work hard to develop yourself, deepen and expand your influence, and silently influence generation after generation. This impact does not lie in how much religious tax you charge, nor in how many powerful Holy Knights you have.

You are essentially a group that satisfies the spiritual pursuit of the people. Just do your job well and don’t always think about seizing power.”

"But...but wouldn't you be subject to others?" Ade was still a little confused after all: "In that case, wouldn't our Temple of Light all rely on the breath of the imperial royal family?! Look at the faces of others?! If the royal family wants to attack us, wouldn't we even have room to resist?"

Chen Daolin sneered: "If you are always thinking about killing the royal family and replacing it, why should the emperor attack you? He is full and full? You can calmly meet the spiritual needs of the people, fill the people's faith needs, and not compete with the emperor for power. Doing so is equivalent to helping him consolidate his rule and appease the people's spiritual world... There are only benefits and no harm to the emperor's rule. Which emperor has a broken mind and wants to kill you?"

"this……"

Ade was speechless.

But Montoya asked his own question: "So as you said... sir, what is the point of the existence of our Temple of Light in this way?"

"What's the meaning?" Chen Daolin sneered: "The meaning of existence must be killed and replaced by the government. Is this meaningful? It is necessary to make all the people of the empire obey your orders and take them away. It is meaningful? It is necessary to make your pope the emperor, the senior officials in the church, the archbishop become the prime minister. The presiding judge of the court becomes the imperial minister of justice, and the leader of the Holy Knights becomes the military minister. What's this meaningful?"

After hearing this, both people from the church had no way to refute it.

Chen Daolin sighed a long sigh and said meaningfully: "I know that it may be difficult for you to accept my words in your heart for a while. But I still want to tell you that the true meaning of a religion's existence is not about fighting for power, but about long-term!"

"Long-lasting?" Both of them looked at Chen Daolin blankly.
To be continued...