Cromwell cupped his cheeks and thought for a moment before the conversation began.

"Horton is actually a person who is very similar to you. The cardinal shrugged, "Of the three cardinals, he is the least in charge: because he rarely goes out and is always in his own room to do research." ”

Yo Academic Talents?

Lu Chen smacked his lips with interest, his fingers gently scratching the black cowhide cover of the "Geographical Atlas of the Empire".

Truth be told, before he crossed over, the revered Divine Envoy, Mr. Eliot Savile, was also a dead otaku who was reading all day. Eliot spent most of his life in the vast expanse of church books.

How boring it must be to squat at home in the steam age without computers......

- Lu Daguan was cranky again, until Cromwell's reminder pulled him back to reality:

"Hey!"

"Listen! Listen!" Lu Chen shook his head, grabbed the teacup and took a sip to hide his wandering.

"In short, it's rare to see Cardinal Horton these days. "Besides, he's in his sixties, and we don't want to bother him with all this tedious—as far as I know, his work is done by a few young bishops." ”

So, this Lord Horton Bishop is now happily doing the shopkeeper?

Lu Daguan was disdainful in his heart, but he completely forgot that he was on earth and was also a leader with a similar style.

"Then what is he doing in the house?" Lu Chen asked curiously, "Studying history, doctrine, and literature?"

A hint of embarrassment crept up Cromwell's cheeks.

"Alchemy. The cardinal replied in a slur.

Lu Chen's mouth opened wide, and he didn't say a word for a long time.

I can't imagine that alchemy, an ancient discipline on earth, actually exists in this world!

However, in Lu Chen's impression, alchemy has never been a good thing: most of the alchemists in the West are trying to turn stones into gold, while the alchemists in the East – if alchemy is also alchemy – are busy pouring arsenic into people's mouths and making tofu.

"The alchemy that Lord Horton studied......" Lu Chen pondered the words, "Is it the kind of alchemy I thought?"

Cromwell nodded bitterly, his face full of sorrow for his father's death and his mother's remarriage.

Lu Chen was speechless.

The Holy Church is a very traditional organization that opposes all mystical practices except sacred arts—and at the height of its conservative history, the Church has even hunted and captured magicians on a large scale.

The infamous "Inquisition" and "Wizard Hunters" are anti-magic organizations that have actually existed in history and belong to the Church. Although the Holy Church has been relatively mild on magic in recent years, it is definitely not the kind of organization that would approve of magic.

In addition to magic, occult methods such as alchemy and shamanism will undoubtedly be resisted by the church. Even at the very beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the Holy Church questioned the flourishing science and technology.

As a result, after a long time, the cardinal who taught himself was also studying alchemy?

What is this? Carrying the red flag and opposing the red flag?

Cromwell clearly understood the Divine Envoy's feelings. He scratched his head in embarrassment and whispered:

"Lord Horton is studying alchemy, it's a tacit thing...... In the past, there might have been someone who took care of him, but now that we are surrounded and take care of ourselves, everyone will turn a blind eye to him. ”

Lu Chen frowned and said:

"Alchemy is classified as heretical, cardinal, how can you make up these things?"

"Leave him alone. Cromwell sighed with a wry smile, "Thanks to his addiction to alchemy and his abstention in voting, the resistance and capitulation factions in the church can maintain the balance of power!

Although he was unhappy in his heart, Lu Chen still had to admit that Cromwell had a point.

There are currently five members of the Church at the top of the Church in the central cathedral: the Divine Envoy Elliot Saville, Pope Gregory XV, and the three cardinals Cromwell, Benedict and Houghton.

Of the five, Eliot and Cromwell are the resistance, Pope and Benedict are capitulation, and the neutral Horton just presents a delicate equilibrium.

"One day, I'm going to teach this old thing a good lesson!" Lu Chen gritted his teeth and lashed.

Cromwell nodded in agreement, feeling a little strange in his heart:

Hasn't Eliot always been mild-mannered, why has he been so aggressive lately?

"Cardinals generally support the split between surrender and resistance, what about the bishops, the clergy?" Lu Chen touched his chin and pondered for a moment, then raised his head and asked.

Cromwell picked up a piece of papyrus from the desk at hand, picked up a quill pen, and made a few rough strokes.

Lu Chen leaned over to take a look, and found that Cromwell had drawn a diagram of the personnel structure: at first glance, it looked like an upside-down dead tree, extending down from the topmost roots, scattering leafy branches.

"You see, the church is structured like this. "At the top is the Pope, who has seven cardinals, each of whom has a number of archbishops, and the archbishop is in charge of the dioceses of the empire, and under the archbishop is a large number of bishops, who are the heads of the churches, and below the bishops, the priests, deacons, and congregations of the churches, which are the general members of the church." ”

Sure enough, it is a hierarchical personnel structure. Lu Chen stared at the tree diagram for a long time, and suddenly found a serious problem:

"What about me? Why isn't the oracle on this picture?"

Cromwell glared at him a few times, and said slowly:

"The oracle is a fictitious position with no real power, why should it be drawn on the organizational chart?"

At a certain moment, Lu Chen had the urge to strangle Cromwell.

"You know the wishes of the top, but the thoughts of others are interesting. Cromwell, apparently unaware of the danger to his life, explained earnestly, "Most of the middle ranks of the church, such as the archbishop and bishop, supported surrender, but the priests, deacons, and congregation at the lowest level demanded resistance, and as for the guards, paladins, and other armed forces, their attitudes varied. ”

He paused, looked at the divine envoy and said solemnly:

However, most of these people are grassy and will still follow the opinions of the top - and it is because of this that the current balance at the top has led to an equal balance between the capitulation and resistance factions. ”

So what you mean is that as long as there is agreement among these five at the top, the policy of the church can be determined. Lu Chen said thoughtfully.

"Not bad at all. Of the five, you and I are of the same mind, the Pope insists on resisting, Horton remains neutral, and Benedict is one of the Pope's loyal dogs. Cromwell glanced at the door and said in a low voice, "So the key to the problem is the Pope - as long as we control the Pope, we will be able to hold the highest decision-making power in the Church." ”

Pope...... Lu Chen stroked the brass oil lamp in his hand, and a cold light flashed in his eyes.