When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Imperial Calendar, September 30th, 1444, Monday.

“Bishop Madelaine.” Madelaine was walking hurriedly when he heard Grampwen’s voice from behind.

“Are you also going to the Stag Chamber for the Privy Council meeting?” Grampwen, with four cloth bags hanging from his waist and leaning on his bishop's staff, was quickly approaching. “Let’s go together; I have something to ask you.”

Madelaine and Grampwen walked side by side in the corridor, conversing rapidly as they went.

“How are the prisoners of war from the previous battle?”

“Those without ties were kept, those with families were released. That Quincy was injured and died because we didn't treat him. The monk, however, is doing well.”

“Is Thornley still alive?”

Grampwen choked for a moment: “His leg wound has never been treated, and his lower body is basically rotten. He’s hanging on by a thread, but he still has 30 strokes to take, so…”

“Give him a quick death; don't leave him to the Church, lest our secrets are leaked. This is also His Holiness the Pope's wish.”

“I understand.”

Wiping the cold sweat from his face, Grampwen and Madelaine arrived at the entrance of the Stag Chamber.

Before they could even get close, groups of child soldiers hurried in, and groups of tithing captains or soldiers hurried out.

From morning prayers to midday prayers, the door of the Stag Chamber had not been closed.

After all, with the “Special Retreat Competition” about to begin, it was right to prepare more.

Child soldiers came and went, delivering orders from the Papal State's central authority. Bishops went in and out, relaying information about logistics and investigations.

On either side of Horne’s wide desk sat a monastic scribe, responsible for organizing documents and categorizing them.

When tithing captains and bishops came in to report, if Horne didn't have time to listen, the scribes would convert it into written form.

As for Horne's orders, they were delivered by the child soldiers acting as messengers.

“No, no, no, we are not retreating. I'll say it again, unify the wording to the four legions: it's called directional advance, or 'retreat' for short.”

“Slogan? What new slogan? … Unite the will, defend the Pope? Sounds pretty good, let's use that.”

Sitting at his desk, after this period of training, Horne, while not exactly managing these 1200 people perfectly, was at least not in chaos, much better than before.

“Sit.” Raising his head, Horne glanced at the two people in front of him. “The Privy Council reform, have you read it?”

“We've all read it. His Holiness the Pope is wise and divine; we admire him immensely.”

At least for the next month, the entire Papal State would be undergoing a long-distance retreat, and would also face pursuit from the Church's army.

This kind of retreat was different from Horne's previous staying in place. Once it started moving, things could easily become chaotic.

So Horne needed to prepare and arrange things in advance, especially the need to establish many Papal State government agencies.

You should know that Horne had always adopted a small government operating model, but now he had to reform towards a large government.

Military retreat, and political retreat too.

Under the Papal State's Privy Council, five new institutions were established.

The Ministry of Truth, headed by Cose as Minister of Truth and Armand as Deputy Minister, was responsible for preaching, explaining the Gospel, and psychological counseling, totaling two people.

The Ministry of Manufacturing, headed by Jeanne as Minister of Manufacturing, Rector as Deputy Minister, and Gillo as a member and director of the Horned Beast Bureau, was responsible for supervising the construction of weapons, armor, textiles, and tailoring, totaling three people.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by Chilves as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Sissi as Deputy Minister, was responsible for diplomacy and etiquette, mainly focused on diplomacy with Duke Kush and the Secret Party, totaling two people.

The General Staff, headed by Bussac as Chief of Staff, was mainly composed of small merchants, peddlers, and monks from the armed farmers, mainly responsible for relaying messages and organizing documents.

This was a giant department under the Privy Council, with a total of ten people.

The Logistics Department, headed by Madelaine as Minister of Logistics, was responsible for logistical support and material allocation.

Of course, to prevent unspeakable things from happening, the positions of Keeper of the Sacred Treasury and Grand Marshal were both held directly by Horne.

As an accountant and the commander of two major battles, no one understood finance and war better than Horne.

“Alright, it's time for the Privy Council meeting. All irrelevant personnel, please leave.”

After driving out most of the irrelevant personnel and rearranging the seating, Horne directly began this Privy Council meeting.

“Before reporting on the work, let me first talk about the general process of our retreat operation.

According to Sissi's brother, from here to Joan of Arc Castle, I calculated it to be about 500 li.”

This distance is equivalent to the straight-line distance from Shangluo to Luoyang.

Taking out a pen and drawing a winding, crooked line on a crude map, pointing directly to Joan of Arc Castle on the map.

Horne used a charcoal pencil to draw a circle on the first half: “However, these 500 li are not entirely in the Wild Spider Forest and Black Bone Swamp.

The first 150 li and the last 50 li can be traveled on the main road. Only the middle 300 li are in the Wild Spider Forest and Black Bone Swamp.

The first 150 li are mountain roads, difficult for horses to ride, which can avoid the knights, but cannot avoid the infantry. We must complete these 150 li in 8 days.

The period is full of dangers. In order to protect the safety of the Papal State's citizens, we need to carry out a new round of military expansion.”

Taking out two pieces of paper and handing them to these Papal State dignitaries, Horne said to the two legion commanders:

“Jeshka, Das, I hope that the two major legions, the Guards and the Black Hats, will complete the major expansion by noon tomorrow.

The Black Hats will expand by 60 Edict Companies, and the Guards will expand by 65 Edict Companies. In this way, the Black Hats will have three divisions with 180 men, and the Guards will have two divisions with 120 men.

In addition, with ten large carts as the center, expand by 60 Edict Companies to form the Holy Armored Division, directly under my command and attached to the Guards.

The Holy Armored Division has a total of ten armored brigades. Armored brigades are listed as special formations in the Papal State's army sequence. Each brigade has only 6 Edict Companies.”

In addition, Horne's military reform plan also delegated security tasks to the Knights of the Holy Grail, borrowing 1 brigade each from the Black Hats and the Guards.

Increase the number of logistics camps by 15 guard companies, jointly managed by Bussac and Madelaine.

If this military expansion operation is successful, the total number of troops in the Papal State will reach 405 Edict Companies.

In this way, the vast majority of the young and middle-aged men among the 1200 people in the Gulag Papal State will have joined the army.

As a military-first country, the Papal State is almost entirely composed of soldiers, with almost every household having one or two soldiers.

“What is the reaction of the tithing captains?” Horne asked, looking at Chap next to him.

This once-wooden and honest villager from the Red Mill Village, relying on his steady progress without any merit or demerit, had actually become the centurion of the 200th tithing.

“The tithing captains are still very cooperative, but they have also been complaining recently, saying that the soldiers of those legions are difficult to manage.”

“Difficult to manage? Why?” Horne looked at Jeshka. “Are you aware of this?”

Jeshka said with a wry smile: “I have reminded them many times, but they actually don't listen.”

“Soldiers are unruly, and generals are arrogant. This is not the way for the Papal State to have long-term stability.” Bussac immediately said sarcastically from the side.

Tapping the table with his knuckles, Horne stopped the two from arguing and continued to ask: “What is the reason? Have you investigated it?”

“I investigated it. Those soldiers consider themselves to be junior generals, higher in rank than the tithing officers, so they don't really listen to the tithing captains of their respective tithings.”

This is a side effect of Horne's indiscriminate awarding of titles.

Since the soldiers were too high in rank, and anyone was a general, they naturally didn't want to listen to a small tithing captain.

“Then how about this.” Coughing awkwardly, Horne tapped his head with a quill pen. “I remember that the El Empire has a Senate, doesn't it? Let's confer the title of Senator to all tithing captains.”

Many of the knight stories circulating in the market, including the stories of various saints in the Gospels, took place during the El Empire period.

The senators in these stories have always been big BOSS-level figures, and even generals dare not neglect them.

That way, those junior generals might be much more obedient.

“Speaking of which, this is a good way to let them form a Senate. Some trivial matters can be decided by the tithing captains themselves, otherwise they will always come to me.”

“Excellent, excellent, I will draft the edict now.” Hearing this, Bussac's face broke into a smile.

He picked up the radish seal on the table and was about to write the radish seal edict.

“Wait a minute, there are other things.” Cose stopped Bussac.

Armand immediately stood up: “Our Gulag Papal State has a clear and bright government, with harmony between the ruler and his subjects, unity from top to bottom, and the Holy Pope reigning by non-action, with peace and tranquility throughout the land.

Now that Prince Condé's army is at hand, we are unwilling to engage in war with our fellow brothers, so we have chosen to avoid it slightly.

But we know these things, but the citizens do not. The only thing we worry about is the views of the twelve-hundred-and-ten citizens of our great Papal State.”

ps Transition chapter, only one chapter, sorry.

Nearing the launch, I hadn't thought about some things before, so I'm a bit stuck.

I'll make it up later.