When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#290 - Understand the spirit of the believers' meeting and implement the Holy Kingdom Edict

At this point, a small number of smart representatives had figured it out.

The lord's land was divided, no taxes were paid within a year, and the mountains, forests, and lakes were opened up. Wouldn't this centurion position be pointless?

Soon, someone asked this question.

"It's not pointless," Horn said with a forceful wave. "You will all receive an annual subsidy equivalent to the Salvation Army's peacetime salary, which is approximately 3 gold pounds per year.

In addition, you can recommend one child under the age of 12 to enter the Joan of Arc Monastery School or the Salvation Army Affiliated School for free education.

In the future, if you do well, you can even become a parish priest or even a bishop after passing the clergy examination."

Even Grossien understood now. Becoming a centurion meant a salary, a chance to provide for their children's future, and even the opportunity to obtain a clerical background.

The flame of piety that had previously been extinguished in their hearts rekindled, and the representatives were eager to advance.

After asking a few insignificant questions, even some that were just flattery, Horn once again heard a question that interested him from a citizen representative.

"Your Eminence, I would like to ask, is the standard for usury set too low?" The citizen representative who stood up looked embarrassed. "You may not know, the bad debt rate for lending is not low.

If you set the maximum annual interest rate for private lending at 20% and don't allow interest to exceed the principal, our gains won't be enough to cover the risks.

In that case, no citizen will be willing to lend money to those in need."

Seeing Horn still smiling, the citizen representative coughed and said, "Perhaps we can relax it a little, to 36% or 40%? Or expand the interest to twice the principal?"

Horn had been waiting for the citizens to ask about the issue of usury for a long time.

The 'Holy Kingdom Land Decree' opened up the free buying and selling of land to give farmers a sense of ownership.

When they truly felt that the land was related to them and that there was surplus production, they would dare to carry out soil improvement and planting innovations.

One of the reasons why ancient Eastern agriculture was able to surpass the West for a long time was that it recognized the free buying and selling of land very early on.

Independent farmers were willing and able to improve the soil and develop agriculture.

The kind of feudal manor planned economy that sustainably fished out resources in the early and mid-Middle Ages largely inhibited the development of agricultural productivity.

However, this also brought drawbacks. For wealthy citizens, lending at high interest rates and annexing land could stably and quickly increase wealth. Who would be interested in investing in real industries?

The problem is that the former model is a zero-sum game. It only distributes wealth and does not create wealth.

The latter may not have as high a profit margin and risk resistance as the former, but it truly creates wealth and jobs, changing daily life.

Therefore, Horn had to block the other outlets of the capital pool, leaving only one opening, which was to develop industry.

"We have all read the 'Gospel.' The Holy Lord and the Holy Father deeply abhor usury, not to mention the buying and selling of sacred offices," the pious Horn said righteously. "It is merciful of me not to have completely abolished this harmful thing."

"Your Holiness, I know you deeply abhor usury, but this standard is too harsh." At this time, Mayor Murat, the second largest lender in Sour Gourd Town, finally couldn't hold back. "If we don't lend money to those in need, they might die.

We are the ones who lend a helping hand in critical moments. Who can guarantee that if they borrow money, they will be able to make a comeback?

Therefore, we suffer extreme risks. Such great risks should have matching income, right?"

Letting out a breath from his nose, Horn picked up the crutches beside the podium, supporting himself as he walked to the front of the wooden platform, saying as he walked:

"I never said I wouldn't let you make money. You can completely invest in workshops. I see a lot of well-run workshops on the verge of bankruptcy because of floods.

Or you can buy our Holy War Bonds, with an annual interest rate of 10%, and annual interest payments.

If you still think it's too little, you can invest in the Holy Plow Monastery and the Holy Scythe Monastery that the Senate is going to establish.

The former mainly engages in reclamation and livestock development, while the latter mainly engages in agricultural integration, agricultural and sideline products, and farm operations.

If you are willing to invest, the investment amount can even be used as a tax reduction for the next ten years.

I can even give you the status of honorary senator. Is that still harsh?

You do business if you do business, and you do charity if you do charity.

Shouting about charity while doing business is like wearing a nun's habit while working as a prostitute, wanting both piety and money."

Seeing Murat speechless, Horn chuckled, wanting to return to the front of the podium with his crutches.

"This doesn't make sense. With this interest rate, I'd rather let the money rot at home."

Although it was just a mutter, Horn still heard it. His original movement to return stopped, and he turned around again.

He didn't know who said it, but he calmly said to the citizens looking in that direction:

"I have no reason? Do I have no reason? Sometimes I even feel like I'm too kind to you.

When I marched into Joan of Arc Castle, those protection army soldiers who had been harmed by you repeatedly asked me to hang you all.

I felt that we should learn from past mistakes and cure the disease to save the patient, rather than cutting off the head for a headache and cutting off the foot for a foot ache.

So I only hanged a part of you, leaving you a way out!"

Horn's voice didn't have many fluctuations, but an invisible sense of suffocation pressed on the citizens' backs, pressing them down like boiled lobsters.

The citizen representatives present trembled one after another, like quails.

Even the surrounding villagers who had nothing to do with this changed their faces, because they vaguely smelled a faint smell of blood.

The representatives finally realized that the young man wrapped in bandages in front of them was not an easy-to-bully new priest.

But the executioner who had personally beheaded thousands of enemy troops on the battlefield, executed hundreds of nobles, and personally chopped off the heads of the duke's entire family, killing so much that blood flowed into rivers.

If they really angered this person, he would wave his hand and directly de-urbanize, hanging all the citizens, and no one else would dare to say anything.

Did they really think Horn was a good student?

"Finally, in the name of the Holy Grandson, the Pope, and the Eye of God, I sternly warn you: the days of lying on gold coins and relying on enslaving civilians to gain unearned income are gone forever!

If you still stubbornly cling to this path, then you are not far from the devil!"

Seeing the trembling citizen representatives, Horn did not continue to put pressure on them, but looked into the distance and continued to ask indifferently:

"Does anyone else have any questions?"

Sitting next to the pale-faced citizen, Grossien's cousin looked around and stood up himself:

"Your Eminence, I would like to ask, how are the centurions and centurion priests of the centurion districts appointed?"

Horn lowered his head, flipped through two pages in the booklet, and raised his head to continue, "They are elected according to the basic law, and of course, the opinion of the College of Cardinals is also very important.

In the Holy War Special Zone, the centurion districts are not equipped with centurion priests. The person who takes office as centurion only needs to obtain the signature and approval of the Salvation Army.

In the Pious Special Zone, the centurion is selected and appointed based on three priorities: the Protection Army, representatives of the people, and ordinary people. The centurion priest is appointed by the monks of the Society of the Holy Father."

"But we are not like knights. We can't beat others. How can we command them?"

Hearing someone ask the key question again, Horn's anger subsided a lot, "You can report to the superior. Cheka will investigate and confirm the situation. If it is true, the gendarmerie will visit with black hat soldiers."

"Then Your Eminence, I also have a small question..."

From noon to dusk, most of the questions had been asked, and Horn's throat was about to smoke.

Fortunately, after this day's meeting, the representatives with varying levels of education finally understood the spirit of the 'Holy Kingdom Land Decree' and were just waiting for it to be implemented.

After the mass believer assembly, Horn also started one-on-two and one-on-three consultation meetings.

After talking with the representatives of each manor or town for about ten to fifteen minutes, Horn asked people to take them to visit the ruins of the Blue Blood Orphanage before letting them leave.

It took a full five days for this dialogue between the new regime and the people to finally come to an end.

By this time, the flags of the Papal State and the Salvation Army were finally planted in the territory of the Kush Territory.