Realm of Power

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Please enter the text. The cold wind in winter blows through the wilderness of the Jersey coast. In the silvery white earth, the low-hanging grass stems are all covered with a layer of white frost, like a huge white carpet, decorating the entire land into a vast expanse of white. scene, sun It has not yet risen from the distant horizon, leaving only a beautiful long red thread on the distant horizon, like a layer embroidered on the edge of Rovka City on the huge carpet of heaven and earth. Since it is a simple yet exquisite rug edge,

Amidst the crisp sound of horse hooves, a group of black-armored cavalry with white thorn flower badges on their armor passed through the red pine gate of Rovka City like a wind. It fluttered like a large ball of red flames along with the red velvet cloaks behind the cavalry. These cavalry were wearing uniform black armor, with heads on their heads. Wearing pointed helmets with iron-clad faces, the torch light at the city gate shone on these cavalrymen, who were all covered in black armor. In silence, the imperial soldiers on both sides of the city gate were uniformly uniform without exception. He stood up straight, put his right hand on his left chest, and looked at the group of black-armored cavalry riding past with envy, admiration and adoration.

"Your Majesty, I just received the news yesterday that the saint of the Sky Temple was injured. High Priest Parszina insisted on rushing back. My subordinates really couldn't stop me and could only..." Imperial Navy Minister Dostelenko looked on. Ashamedly, he walked over from the opposite side, took the snow-stained cloak from His Majesty the Emperor who had just dismounted, and reported the emergency.

"Have you figured out the specific situation? Which party made the first move?"

The fat man waved his hand and walked up the steps with a livid face. He asked the military to warn those who tried to harm Parstina, but he did not expect that these guys would find that they could not attack Parstina. He would actually target the newly selected saint.

It might be an accident." Dostelenko followed behind and said with an embarrassed look on his face as he walked.

"An accident? What do you mean?" The fat man stopped on the steps. He rushed back all night despite the wind and snow. He didn't just hear the accident.

There has been a fierce quarrel between the two parties in the temple recently. With the news that Parstina has made it clear that she will not return in the south, the two sides have reached the final moment of tension over the position of the future high priest of the temple. The original faction, led by the priestly faction, contends that the current development of the Sky Temple has deviated from the temple's purpose. The most basic prerequisite for serving as a high priest is a person with ten years of sacrificial experience. Only in this way can the piety of the high priest of the temple be maintained. However, the new faction believes that the temple is no longer what it used to be. A small sect on the island of Salander, it is the first state religion with tens of millions of believers spread across more than 60 provinces of the empire. Such a super religion, compared with old-fashioned piety, needs a leader who can adapt to the current situation. guide.

"It was indeed an accident," Dustelenko explained with an embarrassed look.

"This incident happened so suddenly. I heard it was due to a debt dispute. When Lisbon was in economic crisis, the father of the new saint borrowed large sums of money from many big businessmen in the name of the saint. He bought up spirits at low prices. Iron, as a result, the Lisbon Tuo incident went smoothly. Not only did he lose all his money, but he also incurred hundreds of thousands of debts. The incident broke out when everyone was collecting debts. The saint of the temple happened to be visiting her home, but she was detained by these creditors. Fortunately, Lisbon asked the Supervision Department to quickly intervene to control the situation, but it was still impossible to prevent the saint from being slightly injured. , this is a very common thing, but it still caused quite a shock inside the temple."

"Shock?" The fat man narrowed his eyes slightly.

Dostronkai paused and said hesitantly, "Some people say that among the creditors who detained the Saint, several of them are Salanders and are closely related to the original sect of the Sky Temple! Therefore, my subordinates estimate that this The thing is, maybe someone wants to ruin the reputation of a saint. After all, even a saint will be scorned by the daughter of a debtor who refuses to repay her debts. According to what my subordinates know, most of the supporters who asked the new high priest to adapt to the current situation were able to enter the temple management in the name of the new saint. If the incident of the new saint's injury is expanded, The original faction can legitimately purge these people, and may even ask the empire to select new saints."

"If that's the case, it's hard to say there's nothing fishy about it."

The fat man's eyes flashed and he glanced coldly at the corner of his mouth. He went to form a group to collect debts on the day the saint returned home. This act was too fake.

The plan to abolish the high priest and establish the Judgment Council of the Order is still only confirmed in his heart. Except for Palstina, no one else should know that the Sky Temple is now the first state religion of the empire, and the new saint is even more so. Appointed by himself, the selection of the Sky Cult saint from among the civilians was a necessary means for the empire to completely suppress the power of the Sky Cult. These former priests really dared to think of anything. What made Fatty feel a little angry the most was that under Fatty In my impression, the new saint is just a child who doesn’t understand anything! It has just become a tool in the power struggle. Even so, such an all-out method is a bit too much. The guys and elites in the temple are still thinking about the revival of divine power. This is absolutely not allowed!

"Leave this matter to your Navy Department. Just say that the father of the new saint is your Navy Department's agreement merchant responsible for material procurement. This can reduce a lot of unnecessary guesses."

The fat man hesitated for a moment and said to Dostronkai, "As for the apparent investigation results, it is very simple and there is no problem. The father of the new saint is a very innocent and good businessman with no foreign debt. As for those slanderers, the Navy The Ministry is trying to protect its contract merchants, so it needs to be detained and investigated thoroughly. "

"Detain it? Isn't it inappropriate to do this in this matter?" Dustrengka was stunned for a moment. Detaining a businessman because of investigation and slander shows a biased stance. It can be said to be naked. Fair enough, but the emperor's intention is to suppress this matter completely. Indeed, in the face of such a behemoth as the Imperial Navy, a few businessmen are nothing! What's more, Lisbonto, where the Sky Temple is located, is also one of the important bases of the Imperial Navy and the largest maritime trade center in the central part of the empire. The Imperial Navy is like a protective god. Just for such a thing, it is not worth it for the Imperial Navy to go to war in such a big way.

After all, the Imperial Navy is one of the two major military departments of the empire that competes with the Imperial Army. The entire inland sea area is controlled by the Imperial Navy. If converted into land area, it is probably half the size of Barro in Northern Europe.

"The empire will soon reform the temple, cancel the succession system of high priests, and replace it with various sacrificial groups in the empire." The emperor clearly saw the doubts in Dostelenko's heart, and snorted "This matter will definitely happen." The new factions that advocated power sharing caused an uproar within the temple. It can be said that they are emerging groups. , if you want to get more say within the temple, the sacrificial group is the organization method that the other party wants most. The biggest resistance should be the original sects of the temple. The task of the Navy Department is to use the incident of the saint's injury to If we thoroughly investigate these original sects, I don’t believe that these guys’ foundations will be much cleaner!”

"Yes, I understand."

Dostronkai showed a look of surprise, it turned out to be like this, this is the empire showing its power. Dostronkai has been stationed in Salander for a long time and is no stranger to these Salander original sects. Most of the predecessors of these Salander original sects are former Salander nobles. Some lost their southern territories during the Norman invasion and were treated unfairly in Salander. They had no choice but to join the temple and hang out, and partly because after the empire conquered Salander, in order to avoid the empire's purge of nobles, they joined the Salander Sky Cult to avoid trouble. In this way, a group of nobles who fled the war can have How many are stiff-necked? The hard-necked ones all died in the battle, and the remaining group is just a bunch of weaklings who can adapt to the wind. His Majesty the Emperor's hand can be regarded as a soft knife to kill people without blood. He used the incident of the saint's injury to let these original sects know that the empire He has enough power in his hands to make them disappear legitimately. As long as these original sects bow their heads, there will be no resistance to the empire's reform of the Sky Temple!

At the port, Fatty stepped onto an Imperial Navy transport ship that was raising its sails. At the bow of the ship, Temple High Priest Palstina, dressed in a white sacrificial robe, was looking at him with a pair of shining beautiful eyes, with a complicated expression. The sea breeze blew the white sacrificial robe, and the white shell-like teeth gently bit the red lips, letting out a soft sigh.

"You're here after all"

"Why are you leaving? Don't you want to unlock the prophet's diary?" The fat man stopped and took a deep breath. His eyes were sharp and cold. He could hear a deep farewell message from Parstina's tone. meaning

Parstina said in a slightly hoarse voice, "I know what you want to say, but this time, I have to go back, because I know that you will definitely use this matter to cleanse the original sect, although I don't really agree with it either." They, but they are all Salander nobles after all, and there are even many people among them who can more or less be regarded as my relatives. I can't pretend to know nothing and watch them fall under the butcher knife of the empire! "

The two looked at each other in silence,

"Everyone, please get off first." Imperial Navy Minister Dostelenko looked embarrassed. He waved his hands to the Imperial sailors around him, and then left with the sailors, leaving only a man and a woman on the deck. This kind of thing, It's better to leave it to the emperor to solve it himself

"It's just an investigation, not a purge. It doesn't necessarily require killing people."

The fat man sighed helplessly. Parstina was indeed the leader who had been in charge of the Sky Temple all year round. She was very sensitive to the incident. She had just assigned Dustelenko to be responsible for this matter, but she was immediately exposed in person. , even with a fat man’s face as thick as a city wall, he didn’t know what to say for a moment. Think about it carefully, Parstina is a goddess. The Saint of the Sky Cult, and then the High Priest of the Sky Cult, is one of the top nobles in Salander. How difficult it is to make such a decision between her own tribe and men. In a sense, Pa Erschina's departure may be a break with her man. It is imperative for the empire to reform the Sky Sect, and it will spare no effort to eliminate resistance! But will he really do anything to Palstina? The fat man also regretted that he should not have informed Palstina of the empire's reform plan in advance.

"I hope Your Majesty can promise that if I can persuade the original sect to give up their position, you will let them go!"

Parstina's beautiful eyes flashed, and there was a hint of pleading in her tone. The fat man said he would not necessarily kill people, which basically meant that he would definitely kill people, but he would kill fewer people.

As for the original sect within the temple, Palstina still knows very well that it is the most pious existence in the temple. Although there are many people with different agendas, those who have truly served the Sky Sect for more than ten years are also There are no small number of these people who have experienced the glorious era of Sky Religion’s theocratic rule, and have also experienced suppression by the empire. They are also the people who are most concerned about the current situation of Sky Religion. If these devout original believers fall in the imperial purge, then Sky Religion will What is left to teach? A group of profit-seeking businessmen? Or a group of priests vying for power? Obviously, the structure of the sacrificial corps mentioned by the emperor is undoubtedly prepared for these people. The true devout believers will either be squeezed out of the core of power, or they will be purged by the empire as resistance!

Under Parstina's resolute gaze, Fatty knew that he could not prevent the high priest from leaving, and said categorically, "Okay, I can give you a promise that as long as they do not block the reform of Sky Cult, the empire will not harm them." Since Parstina Erschina had already reached this point, so she had to give her a chance.

Looking away from the Imperial transport ship that had turned into a small black dot on the sea, the fat man turned around and took the cloak from the Imperial Navy Minister Dostronkai. At this time, an Imperial Guards Cavalry rode up from a distance. The fat man dismounted ten meters in front of him and ran over with a report in his hand. "Your Majesty, the report has just been sent from Fort Lahras. The Fezer royal family is requesting negotiations with the empire!" "Negotiation? This time!"

The fat man looked slightly stunned. He took the report, glanced at it, muttered "I don't know what it means", then closed the report and threw it to the Minister of the Navy, Dustelenko. This time, the Fezer royal family was indeed at the end of its rope. , under the attack of Crolisat's northwest army, more than 20,000 troops collapsed on the first day, and a request for negotiations was issued. It was Prince Albert who now represented the royal family. In the face of the imperial military front, this Prince Albert also believed that the empire sent troops for the west coast issue. He proposed that the Fezer royal family recognized the empire's control of the west coast and agreed to sign a formal agreement. As long as the empire agrees to withdraw its troops from the agreement, it is simply a joke to not understand the situation clearly!

"Tell the Northwest Army that the negotiation is rejected and everything will proceed as planned," the fat man said to the cavalryman who reported the message.

[515 is coming soon, and I hope to continue to hit the 515 red envelope list. On May 15th, the red envelope rain will be able to reward readers and promote promotional works. One piece is also love, I will definitely update it! 】(To be continued.)