"Friends here, you are young and vigorous, dissatisfied with the state of the country, and feel that it is your duty to stand up and do something to change the current predicament of the empire. With all due respect, you are still too young, and you must know that in the long years of the sixteenth century, our motherland has had countless ups and downs, ups and downs, ups and downs, countless times facing more severe tests than the present, and at a far more dangerous juncture than at this moment. In those stormy days, there were young and vigorous reformers like you who tried to turn things around, but were they the ones who ultimately helped the Empire get through? My lord, if you know enough about history, you will know that most of the so-called reforms are counterproductive and really save the empire from collapse...... This is the very church that you despise at this time! ”

Patriarch Gregory's oratory style was not as ornate and passionate as Claude's, nor was it as elegant and calm as Alberton the Younger's eloquence and precision; This old man who has experienced the vicissitudes of life does not have a loud voice and a rich expression, but he has an indescribable persuasiveness, like a thick parchment scroll, slowly unfolding in front of you, presenting the tragicomedy that has been staged in history before your eyes. After reading this book, you will realize that there is nothing new under the sun, and that everything that happens in front of you can be found in history, and these historical facts provide lessons for the contemporaries, and make you suddenly realize that what you thought was the right path is nothing more than repeating the mistakes of the ancients.

"Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to say a few words from my heart, although I am regarded by you as the leader of the conservative faction, I am not conservative, and I am even more eager than you to launch a great change to get our country out of trouble and make our society a better place, but I know deep down that all social reforms that are not backed by religion are in the air." "Without the support of faith," said Grigory, "the motivation of mankind to fight for great causes will sooner or later be exhausted, and those who have devoted themselves to reform will become physically and mentally exhausted, lazy, and will no longer serve the well-being of all mankind in favor of private interests, when the policies, regulations, and institutions set up for the reform of the old era will all be ineffective and will become obstacles to the continued progress of society, and those reformers who are dressed in glamour will be doomed to become worse than the local tyrants and gentry of the old times." Bring people a greater disaster! ”

Finally, the Ecumenical Patriarch concludes his speech with a bow and a supplication.

"So, I implore the young people who advocate the Reformation to treat the church as your friend, not your enemy, for this is the only way for the Reformation to succeed! Thank you, I'm done. ”

Seeing the centenarian humbly bow to the reformist camp and make a proposal for peace, Roland didn't know what Frank thought of them, but he, an outsider, was deeply touched.

Patriarch Gregory's words of caution made Roland ponder. When idealism fades and the passion for the well-being of all mankind and the common good of society is gone, how can one face the spiritual crisis and reposition one's career?

If former servants of the people will inevitably slide into the abyss of corruption and depravity in the sense of probability, how can the people prevent the damage caused by their corruption and degeneration, and how can they prevent them from becoming bad?

Modern politics and economists have repeatedly examined the above-mentioned "principal-agent" problem, and the only solution that can be provided is "incentive" and "supervision". But further analysis reveals that neither of these methods can be effective in reality, and even counterproductive:

The "option reward system" formulated by the agent to "incentive" the agent has instead prompted the agent to be opportunistic, not to care about the real performance, and to be keen to use the so-called "accounting magic" such as "share repurchase" to create "false prosperity".

Democracies designed to supervise bureaucrats either go down the path of party struggle and harm to the country, or they are so thoroughly "democratic" that they lose their rationality and evolve into a manic "populist" movement of the whole people.

In the face of these embarrassing dilemmas, how can the superstructure of human society be improved?

In order to build the Far East after Roland's crossing, he also thought deeply about this problem, and practiced his own ideas through the reform of the Far East countryside.

The biggest difference between Varess and the earth, the fantasy world and the technological world, is that the latter's theology, religion and belief only stay at the metaphysical level, and cannot really get rid of the crisis brought about by the materialist trend; The former is the existence of gods and demons, and the clergy also really have the power to transcend the mundane, this power from the true God is like "five loaves and two fish", which can really strengthen the faith of the clergy, and urge them to stay away from worldly interests, and gain more divine skills through the practice of faith, and they are revered saints when they are alive, and their souls will also obtain eternal happiness in the kingdom of God after death.

Patriarch Gregory is clearly aware of this, as he points out: social reform requires a constant burning of energy. This energy is, first of all, the idealistic aspirations of a generation, without which there would be no first impetus for the social revolution; But ideals alone are not enough, and a second energy must be injected into this bureaucratic machine, the Leviathan, assembled by the human elite, which Roland calls the "faith dividend" and Gregory calls the "religious spirit", which is essentially the same thing.

The energy that comes from faith is not as passionate, flammable and explosive as idealism, but at the same time it can be rewarded by the gods, and each time you receive a new divine skill and a new level of priesthood, it is a strong self-affirmation that you are on the right path.

Self-affirmation is the best motivation, self-supervision is the best supervision, and the "principal-agent" problem has ushered in the dawn of a perfect solution.

If Roland has any regrets, it is that this set of theories based on the "faith dividend" has strong exclusivity. Believers of all religions believe that they are on the right path, but each other's paths may conflict, and they are all inspired by their faith, they are willing to shed their blood and sacrifice to stick to their own path, and they do not hesitate to kill their opponents in order to advance their own cause, then it is conceivable that war will be inevitable, and mankind will have to kill each other on the road to truth and happiness, and step on the bones of countless infidels.

In order to avoid the above conflicts, people who seek truth need to build consensus. So is there a consensus that is good for all of humanity and at the same time opposes cannibalism?

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