Chapter 373: The state religion also needs to be controlled by the alliance
Koroga's reforms continue to advance.
Although there were a lot of difficulties, Gu Hang actually didn't have any big worries from the beginning.
A gun, a money bag, and a pen. Holding these three things will make things difficult.
It goes without saying that the barrel of a gun has always been the most important thing to Gu Hang. Not to mention his own direct troops, the Dragon Eagle Legion controlled by Lieutenant General Hans seems to be quite obedient at present; it should not be a big problem to get the local defense force with a scale of over 100 million.
At this point, the 'gun barrel' is considered stable.
Not to mention the money bag, Koroga was as poor as a ghost. The alliance's economic assistance, industrial reform, and imperial tax exemptions, all these powers were in Gu Hang's hands, and they were protected by force, and the money bag was also very stable.
With these, it is only difficult to promote reform, but the probability of failure is not high.
The last item, the role of the 'penholder' cannot be ignored.
It's public opinion, it's the right to speak, it's ideology… you can call it whatever you want, but in the final analysis, it's the people's hearts.
In fact, it is very important. In a sense, it is even more important than the first two.
It's not enough to just have guns and money and not have people's hearts attached to them. Society will operate in a high-consumption mode and cannot become the norm.
But fortunately, the alliance's ruling system has always had a good grasp on people's hearts.
The development of productivity and the rise of living standards will directly capture the hearts of the most basic people; the propaganda and mobilization department of the alliance is also doing their work. The most important thing is to tie these good changes in the former to the alliance and Governor Gu. If we stay together, we will naturally win people's hearts.
But this alone is not enough.
Especially the place Koroga.
A point that Gu Hang never had time to care about in the past is becoming more and more important recently.
That is the state religion.
The state religion is a force in the empire that can easily be ignored, but in fact it should never be ignored.
They have some dark history, and under various strict legal restrictions in the empire, their power has been greatly weakened. They can't even create an armed force. They can only create a rather nondescript Order of Battle Sisters, let alone one. One-third of the Sisters of Battle obey the orders of the Inquisition, another third directly obey the orders of the Empire, and although the remaining one-third obey the state religion, half of them are still very independent.
However, they still cannot be underestimated.
The most important point is their influence on people's hearts.
The entire human empire has the Emperor as its universal belief. From peddlers to fearless heroes, from poor people at the bottom to powerful people at the top, from psychic scholars to minions of the Inquisition, who doesn't shout "Emperor's blessing"?
Even those crazy people from the Mechanicus Adeptus Mechanicus who dared not change anything but their brains and wanted to replace everything else with mechanical parts, shouted "God of All Machines", they also admitted that it was the incarnation of the Emperor.
The Emperor's influence is everywhere.
And Koluojia is the core area of the state religion among the recent star districts. The reason is that there are many people here, and the state religion needs to expand its influence here, so hundreds of years ago, it established a diocese, set up a cathedral, and even sent a sister order of fighting sisters such as Holy Mercy Lily to be permanent. Here it is.
Holy Mercy Lily is small in size, but it is also a serious religious order.
In Koroga, the priests of the state church really go to the lowest level. Some of them ascetics, dressed in the simplest and tattered cloth, go to the lower areas to treat illnesses and save people, distribute food, and act as arbiters to resolve disputes... Of course, these things are secondary. The most important thing is to preach and appease people.
In Gu Hang's observation, many of these members of the state religion, especially the upper class, are also very extravagant, which fits Gu Hang's stereotype of decadent religious forces. But objectively speaking, what they have done in Koroga over the past long years has still played a role in stabilizing society, and has also been widely recognized among the people.
However, Gu Hang has always been relatively uninterested in religion, and even has a vague feeling of rejection. Moreover, in the highly centralized political system ecosystem of the Alliance, there was no place for the power of the state religion from its initial design.
When you get to Korodya, you can't do this.
If the issue of the state religion is not properly handled, the reform policy implemented by the Alliance in Koroga will not only be difficult to implement, but will at least achieve twice the result with half the effort.
After several rounds of internal discussions, Gu Hang and his officials probably had a plan.
However, before meeting with Bishop Zhao Qinghong of Koluojia, Gu Hang met with another person first.
Under the recommendation of his old acquaintance, Sister Gerrit, Gu Hang personally visited the leader of Holy Mercy Lily, the Mother Superior, Ms. Mei Dixi.
This is their second meeting.
Ms. Mei Dixi looks very old. According to her own words, she is 128 years old this year and has never had any life-extending surgery.
This is very rare and has almost reached the theoretical limit of human lifespan.
Gu Hang believed that this might really be the emperor's blessing. After all, he had also seen that when Gorruite was fighting, her illusory golden wings stretched out from behind her. She killed the enemy like chopping melons and vegetables. She was no worse than the leader of the regiment next door, Martins.
Medixi was once a member of the Order of the Blood Rose and a war hero with outstanding merits. Later, due to some differences in ideas, she no longer agreed with the overly intense and cruel ideas of Blood Rose. She and some like-minded people established the lower order of Blood Rose, and then became independent, which is now the Holy Mercy. Lily.
Anyway, now Gu Hang has no idea what the relationship between the kind-hearted old lady in front of him is and the rumored Blood Rose, the executioner of the Inquisition, who is frightened by countless people.
"Sister Mei Dixi, I am very happy to see that you are in good health."
"Thank you, Governor Gu." The old lady said with a smile, "But let's just say hello. Just tell me, why are you looking for me? If it's about the state religion, then it's not necessary. It's all about the state religion. , you should go to Bishop Zhao. We at Holy Mercy Lily only do what we should do and never interfere with anything else."
Hearing this, Gu Hang felt more relieved.
Although Mei Dixi seemed to realize that he, the governor, cared about the influence of the state religion, so he pretended to be the first to say ugly things, but in fact, this was the attitude that Gu Hang wanted.
"If that's the case, that's the best. I have always admired the idea of Holy Mercy Lily, do what you should do, do the right thing. The warriors of the Sisters are not afraid of sacrifice, and in the Raging Owl Star Gang He has passed me many times and made outstanding contributions on the battlefield of Koroga. I also know that when there is no war, the non-combat order nuns of the Holy Mercy Lily will go to the bottom of the nest to preach. In the future, I will still I hope that the Holy Mercy Lily will play a corresponding role, which will be of great help to Koruga's recovery."
"We will." Mei Dixi responded.
But in fact, she was a little unsure about what the Governor-General meant.
Is this what you came to visit in person just to say this?
No need for the Governor to tell them, they will do the same.
They've been doing this for thirty years.
And Gu Hang was still talking.
He said: "I will provide all necessary help to the Sisters. Your development in Koruga and even within the entire alliance will receive strong support from the alliance government. We will provide all necessary conditions to help the Sisters missionaries; the Sisters can expand even further, and you can recruit whoever you want; you can start classes of nuns in our colleges;"
"If your nun needs customized power armor, I can find a way to provide it for you. My soldiers have also seen that the performance of the 'Samurai God' series of power armor is better than the 'Universal' series commonly used by Holy Mercy Lily. It is more suitable for the nuns to play. If the nuns lack funds and corresponding support, the alliance can even provide it in the form of donations..."
"Wait a minute... wait a minute, Mr. Governor." Mei Dixi quickly stopped. Although Governor Gu claimed a series of help, why did she sound so frightened?
At her age, she has never believed that there is a free lunch in this world.
If you take these things, of course you have to pay a corresponding price.
"I'm old, Mr. Governor." Medici said, "It's hard for me to think about the twists and turns behind many things. It's better for us to be more direct. Frankly speaking, these things you provided are indeed the most important things of the Sisters. What you need and care about most is what do you want Holy Mercy Lily to do?"
Gu Hang smiled and said, "It's very simple. You just need to do what the Sisters did in the past. Relieve the sick and weak, punish rape and eliminate evil, and spread the gospel. Isn't this the purpose of the Holy Mercy Lily?"
"that's all?"
"That's it." Gu Hang's smile became even brighter, "Just do these things. There is no need to intervene in other things that the nuns should not do. What do you think?"
Mei Dixi understood.
She couldn't help but ask: "Are you going to attack Bishop Zhao?"
"Of course not." Gu Hang said, "I am an extremely loyal governor of the empire, how could I be an enemy of the state religion? I have always respected the role of the state religion in the construction of the planet. However, the state religion should be in the alliance Only in this way can we work together better, what do you think?"
Mei Dixi sighed: "If it's too much, it won't work."
Gu Hang knew that the matter was settled.
He said 'no', but this was obviously a tacit attitude.
It's not too much, isn't it?
Gu Hang stood up with a smile: "Don't worry. I sincerely hope that the Sisters will develop better and better in the future. After all, in this cruel universe, the light of the Holy Mercy Lily is greatly needed."
...
As the saying goes, eating people has short mouths and taking people has short hands, and this is the case with Holy Mercy Lily.
After Gu Hang promised to provide various supports and even various future donations, they probably had a tacit attitude towards what the alliance would do next.
And that's not all.
After Holy Mercy Lily accepted all kinds of assistance from the alliance, how could it stay aloof from many things?
One hundred sets of 'Samurai God' in the alliance's inventory were quickly shipped over, and they were painted in the white and green colors of the Holy Mercy Lily when they were shipped out of the warehouse.
In addition, the promised nun class and the promised missionary protection are all in place.
What's wrong with this?
If you wear my 'God of Service', don't you want to work for me?
The nuns who went to preach were quickly pulled together by the alliance officials to work in various production teams, engineering groups, and factories. Of course there are sermons and spiritual comfort, but also taking care of work-related injuries and boosting workers' morale, right?
The nuns are working. As sisters who wield force, the battle nuns can't just watch, right?
With dozens of Battle Sisters stationed in one neighborhood, can a large part of the alliance's military control troops be withdrawn?
As Gu Hang said, he didn't need Shengci Lily to do anything extra. As long as they did their job well, it was already a great help.
The Holy Mercy Lily is the most important power controlled by the Koroja National Religion. Not only the force, the Sisters have always had a great soothing effect on the people of Koluojia, especially in Mingyan City.
But after they had no problems, Gu Hang no longer had such big scruples when it came to attacking the state religion.
A series of laws were promulgated.
Gu Hang certainly does not want to abolish the state religion, but the state religion under the alliance system should act under the management of the alliance.
They no longer have economic privileges and cannot intervene in production;
Donation cannot be forced, semi-forced, or induced;
Non-public preaching and secret gatherings are prohibited;
Corrupt elements should be eliminated;
The alliance will not interfere with the financial resources allocated by the superior state religion, but the purpose of use needs to be reported to the alliance...
This series of measures almost stepped on the tail of the state religion. Zhao Qinghong was so anxious that she quickly came to see Gu Hang.
He has no cards left to play.
Even if you want to engage in confrontation, how can you do it? With no military power and no finances, even if they want to inspire people, there is still Holy Mercy Lily to do the work of stabilizing people for the alliance, but the effect will be greatly reduced.
Gu Hang's attitude towards Zhao Qinghong is still very good, but the rules mentioned above are iron laws, and Gu Hang is not going to compromise.
But it has also relaxed in some areas. For example, in terms of missionary work, Gu Hang is willing to provide strong support to the state religion. Faith in the Emperor can significantly inhibit the corruption of cults.
At the same time, the alliance is also willing to provide a special religious allocation.
Gu Hang essentially has one request: money can be given to you, support can also be given, but you should do your job honestly and contribute to the development of Koluojia. As for abnormal means of raising money such as economic privileges, holding sectarian gatherings and getting involved in politics are not allowed.
Zhao Qinghong compromised on this.
Even the last one, 'Allocations from state church superiors need to be supervised by the alliance,' he accepted.
In many worlds where the state religion is weak, local governments often make such requests, which is not excessive.
If you don't want to cause trouble, then what kind of funds should you not tell the government about?
----
I saw an alliance leader!
thanksgiving!
Thank you to [Mountain Ax] for your support!
Wait...did I say that the leader will have 10 additional chapters?
Ahem... There really isn't a single scrap saved now. You'll know just by looking at the update time...
The promise will not change! Must be fulfilled!
But let me owe it first...
10 chapters = 2 words. I will try my best to make up for what I owe in one month!
(End of this chapter)