"Isn’t Horn, with his cryptic tactics, digging his own grave?"
Grandiva slamd the Truth Gazette onto the solid wood table, hands on hips, pacing back and forth in the muggy room.
"Your Eminence..."
The attendant had just opened his mouth when Grandiva raised both hands in a fiery gesture.
"He’s so despicable. He can’t get the redemption ticket himself, so he’s trying to dig out the roots of those behind. Does he really think he’s a living Saint?"
"Your Eminence." At this point, the attendant finally cut in, "It’s best not to respond to this matter, or at least not personally."
"Why?"
"Firstly, it diminishes your status. Secondly, Horn, as the opposing Pope, has personally expressed not wanting redemption tickets. If you rebut, it might seem a bit..."
"Greedy? Are you saying I’m greedy? Holy Father, I am the least greedy person I’ve ever t!"
"We all know you’re not, but the ignorant believers don’t know."
Grandiva finally quieted down, closed the blinds, and sat back in the velvet chair covered with silk: "Montena, give your analysis."
Seeing Grandiva calm down, the attendant Montena quickly ordered an attendant to fetch mint water.
"Your Eminence, this congress eting appears to be a debate but is actually a battlefield.
You must understand that the final result will not be determined by who debates more successfully, or who is more reasonable, but by who can better sway the bishops and priests."
"Do you think those bishops will elect a Pope of farr origin?"
The door was pushed open, and Montena took the mint water from the attendant, handed it to Grandiva before speaking.
"Your Eminence, many bishops and abbots co from humble origins.
To put it bluntly, they don’t like the nobility, and Horn’s farr background is an advantage."
This is no exaggeration by Montena, as the monastic and clerical classes generally harbor considerable resentnt towards the nobility.
Accurately speaking, weren’t redemption tickets a way for so lords to seize the right to levy taxes from the church, forcing the Southern Church to take shortcuts?
A century-long war in the south led to the rise of citizens and new nobility, while in the north, it similarly caused a significant decline in church power.
After all, no matter how generous the blessing, a knight is needed to carry it on, right?
Moreover, with the rise of the citizen class, secular intellectuals also climbed the political stage, with half of the clerical civil functions ceded to the citizens.
Originally without your church, the kingdom would be dood!
But now, it’s hard to say.
The Southern Church had long been overpowered by the nobility and the Falan Royal Family, wholeheartedly serving the aristocracy.
This has always been regarded as a sha by the Northern Church’s clergy, as the previous pope Johnny VIII would rather incite conflicts over legality just to keep the papacy in the north.
Ecclesiastical authority declines, royal authority revives - this seems to be a trend.
Except the south is where royal authority suppresses church authority, while the north sees ecclesiastical authority barely equal to royal authority.
And at this ti, in the desolate empire frontier, suddenly erged a regi with a zero royal content in its ecclesiastical unity.
If it were just fleeting, it would be a joke.
But now, not only has it survived, it is thriving, even showing potential to replace Leia as the empire’s third major force.
If Horn were from the Divine Essence Sect, then the day after Puliano’s death, the Leia dioceses ought to have elevated him as Pope.
But Horn is not only not from the Divine Essence Sect, he isn’t even from the more radical Juanuo faction of the Reformation, but rather even more radical Holy Sect.
The clergy’s dream of ecclesiastical unity was realized by Horn in a manner completely contrary to their dreams.
"The Northern clergy both admire and revere his ecclesiastical unity while despising his criticism of the Divine Essence Sect and his political stance.
The Northern clerical community didn’t have much fondness for you initially, but from rumors, Horn seems even more unbearable.
If we lose this round as well, in the ensuing discussions, it would be uncertain."
Upon hearing this, Grandiva’s face alternated between blue and red as he drained the mint water from the crystal cup.
"Then I must endure, is that enough?"
Grandiva could never abandon redemption tickets, as they are the Southern Church’s flagship product.
Originally, all sorts of taxes and rights were seized by the Falan Nobility and Royal Family, with cities massively redeed by the citizens.
If redemption tickets aren’t allowed, Grandiva won’t be able to pay the wages of his attendant.
"Endure for now; once the Great Duke eting officially clears the air, you’ll be the imperial Pope. At that ti, who would dare to challenge you?"
Grandiva knew Montena was right. The cooling mint flavor burned his throat as he put down the cup: "Is this Horn’s first thesis? What about the others?"
Always prepared, Montena took out a manuscript from his pocket.
"Apart from abolishing redemption tickets, there’s the limited abolition of the ban on suspicious teachings, and doctrines about the interpretation of liberty rights which you’ve been preparing."
"Is that all?" Grandiva lowered his head, flipping through the manuscript.
"Besides these, there’s so scattered minor stuff, like simplifying sacrants and moralizing beliefs, etc."
Grandiva paused: "Resolving all these in one eting; he sure likes to achieve it all at once."
Having read through the manuscript, a calm Grandiva closed his eyes, pondered for a long ti before reopening them.
"You draft an article to rebut the abolition of redemption tickets. We resolutely oppose any doctrines proposed by Horn and steadfastly support anything he criticizes!"
Soon after Grandiva’s instructions, batches of Southern clergy began posting rebuttal notices near Spring Castle.
As for clergy supporting the Holy Alliance and Holy Sect, they often printed rebuttals to the rebuttals the next day and continued posting.
We must thank Horn for rewriting and improving the lead type printing technology of Joan of Arc Castle, making it possible to produce five hundred notices and theses a day.
The walls of Spring Castle and the notice boards were updated daily, as was the approach of the Great Duke eting.
In early September, Charles VIII arrived at the capital city of Red Leaf Hill, and at the sa ti, the Southern Pope Grandiva arrived at Spring Castle.
Two days later, the Holy Alliance Pope’s flagship, escorted by two thousand Imperial Guards, arrived at Spring Castle.
No one knew when the tower and walls of Spring Castle beca adorned with the iris banners and the red-black flags of the Holy Alliance.
Spring Castle, although situated near mountains, rivers, and forests, was not the actual venue for the Great Duke eting.
The real venue was the Bolon Cathedral outside the castle.
Being a semi-abandoned Gothic cathedral, it underwent three months of renovation, finally accommodating the nurous attendees.
On the morning of September 10, attendees gathered outside the cathedral, standing on tiptoe to peek inside.
Inside Bolon Cathedral, the floor was paved with marble, the do painted with creation scenes, and the altar adorned with a gilded cross and Saint Lanlian’s relic.
Two stained glass windows on the sides cast colored fragnts of light, and even outside, one could sll the mingled scent of incense and candle wax perating the air.
Flags of Falan and the Holy Alliance hung in the cathedral foyer, while the heralds loudly announced nas at the door.
"His Holiness the Pope from the City of Onewere arrives!"
"His Holiness the Pope from the Court Barracks arrives!"
"The great King of Falan, Charles VIII arrives!"
"The Archbishop of Huaqiu City arrives!"
"Chief Justices Quivarin and Hadythusius arrive!"
In a variety of carriages and cavalries, various powers successively entered the eting venue.
In the clear morning light, all participants stood as the choir sang ’Glory be to the Father’ in Ael language.
The two Popes simultaneously held the Gospel and recited prayers, seeking "the Holy Spirit to guide the Church away from heresy."
After the prayers’ recitation, with a nod from the host Xie Li, the heavy oak doors closed, proclaiming the official start of the Great Duke eting.
"Today we wise ones gather to dedicate ourselves to the future of Miseria Church, but for the legitimacy of the Great Duke eting, shall we verify the representations of the dioceses first?"
According to previously agreed procedures, Great Duke eting attendees require signatures from most local clergy or abbots.
Everyone naturally accepted the checks, but the herald took a detour here, arriving before Horn: "Mr. Horn, what identity are you utilizing to attend this Great Duke eting?"
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