Chapter 951: Chapter 284: Gold Pounds Pave the Way (10,000)

And they want to convey their spiritual needs to life through the clergy in the Church.

The existence of the Church precisely meets the needs of ordinary people.

Because of this,

the number of followers the Church has is extremely vast.

The Church may find it a bit difficult to recruit these followers to join the wars of external expansion.

But if the Church encounters a crisis of life and death, as long as the Church Bishop issues a decree, these followers will unhesitatingly step forward.

This is why all the Lords feel anger towards the existence of the Church, yet are helpless against it.

Even if a Lord suppresses all the Church Officials in their territories and burns the Church to the ground,

it won’t take long before a new Bishop is spontaneously elevated from among the ordinary believers.

This Bishop will lead the followers to construct a Church anew and organize a team of clergy.

They sprout like bamboo shoots after the rain, impossible to eradicate.

Because this is the most important spiritual support for the residents, aside from material life.

To completely overthrow the Church, there is only one possible way.

Create a territory where the residents do not need to seek spiritual support externally!

Where all the residents are well-fed, leading happy lives, without worrying about any wars.

Their spiritual support would be themselves.

Or it would be,

the Lord who allows them to live such good lives!

Residents would no longer need to confide in or seek shelter from the Church!

By then, even if the Lord doesn’t actively eradicate the Church Church,

the Church Church will inevitably collapse due to the lack of donations and offerings from followers.

As a member of the Church Officials, he understands better than outsiders how to deal with the Church.

However, Samuel knows even more clearly.

Achieving such a state is nearly impossible!

Neither Viscount Jon Zuck of Kasong City nor Marquis Mark Duca,

nor even the previous Emperor Charlemagne VI of the Empire,

could achieve this!

Because the essence of a Lord is being a landowner, a political ruler, an economic exploiter, and a military commander.

Everything they do is to maintain their own interests and rule.

How could the Lords be willing to sacrifice their own interests to let the ordinary residents in their territories benefit and live good lives?

Such thoughts could never appear in the minds of these Lords.

Therefore,

the Church can always survive within the territories of the Lords.

And even affect the Lords’ power and status!

Suppressing the thoughts in his mind, Samuel looked at a Church Guard beside him.

He opened his mouth and said, "After deducting the fifteen Gold Pounds for tithing, the remaining fifteen Gold Pounds will be one per person."

The four Church Guards accompanying him showed a flash of delight in their eyes.

Before they could speak, Samuel continued.

"What you just saw, I think even without explicit instructions, you understand what to do, right?"

The four Church Guards, without any hesitation, unanimously responded.

"Of course, Captain Samuel."

"We only received instructions from Bishop Semo to follow you to this territory and collected the fifteen Gold Pounds for tithing."

"We know nothing about anything else that happened!"

Samuel nodded in satisfaction, "That’s good."

"As long as you follow me here, you can receive one Gold Pound each time."

"As for where your Gold Pounds come from, what they are used for, how they are used, I know nothing as well."

The four Church Guards replied again, "Yes, Captain Samuel."

Listening to their words with evident joy,

a hint of brightness appeared on Samuel’s calm face.

This month there are fifteen Gold Pounds, but he is willing to allocate only one Gold Pound per person to the four Church Guards.

This is already his grace towards the Church Guards!

Starting from this month, he can obtain an additional thirty Gold Pounds every month.

He would be able to receive twenty-four of them, already a sizable extra income!

For these Church Guards, it’s the same!

Samuel tightly gripped the reins and said to the four Church Guards: "Increase the speed and return to Kasong City."

"If we delay too long, Bishop Semo might think we absconded with the money."

Hearing Samuel’s seemingly joking words, a smile appeared on the faces of the four soldiers.

They quickly responded with a smile.

As Samuel’s legs tightly clamped the horse’s belly, his warhorse let out a pained neigh and suddenly leaped forward.

As the sharp sound of horse hooves fell, the warhorse moved in stride, galloping along the dirt road ahead.

The four Church Guards behind, without any hesitation,

urged their warhorses onward, following Samuel forward.

Perhaps due to collecting the tithing, or possibly because they received extra income,

the pace of Samuel’s group returning to Kasong City became much lighter.

...

Until nightfall.

After resting for a while, Lynn rose from the bench and stepped back towards the castle.

As he walked, thoughts spun in his mind about how to deal with Viscount Jon Zuck of Kasong City.

Up to now,

he had a rough understanding and grasp of the military power Jon Zuck possessed.

Eighty Manor Lord supporters, totaling a force of seven thousand.

Among them, the number of cavalry and infantry in armor was less than two thousand.

Less than two hundred archers, the rest were all infantry.

Such military power in front of his nearly four thousand fully armed soldiers was nothing to mention.

However,

Viscount Jon Zuck possesses Kasong City and its walls!

To breach the walls and annihilate Jon Zuck’s active forces is not simple.

First,

in siege warfare, the defenders have the advantage of fortifications provided by the walls.

They can use the walls for cover and hold steadfast.

This advantage

can greatly compensate for the shortage of cavalry and armored soldiers.

Secondly,

the soldiers led by Rose are only undergoing the most basic physical and weapons training, and relatively basic defense training.

If they were sent into siege warfare, only one scene would unfold.

That would be these soldiers, burying their heads, bending low, rushing up the cloud ladders without regard, climbing towards the walls.

Clearly,

such a siege method, while perhaps somewhat effective, would result in heavy casualties among the soldiers!

Even with four thousand soldiers now, he couldn’t afford to squander their lives to such an extent.

To attack Kasong City, an effective strategy to reduce soldier casualties was necessary!

As Lynn entered the castle, climbed the steps, and reached the reception hall, his eyes suddenly lit up.

He had already thought of a tactic!