Lu Chen repeatedly assured An Jie that it was only then that he persuaded the little maid to convince the other party that his emotions had stabilized.

However, until she was leaving, An Jie still stared at the divine envoy with suspicion for a long time, and kept telling her to come to her if there was any problem.

Lu Chen could only smile with embarrassment on his face, and sent the maid away with a thousand thanks.

But as soon as the maid left, Lu Chen immediately threw himself on his bed.

The bed was piled with soft and delicate cushions and quilts, and at once half of the body of the oracle was buried, making him look like an ostrich.

"Niang Xipi...... What is this called......" Lu Chen let out a muffled wail under the quilt.

I don't blame An Jie for being overly concerned, nor do I blame him for knocking on the table too much, but the maid's words made him suddenly recall how fucking sinister the current situation of the Holy Church is......

With the revival of his memory, Lu Daguan suddenly felt that he was really a tragedy.

Purebred.

He definitely chose a "good" time for this crossing!

Fifty or a hundred years ago, the Holy Church was indeed a powerful force in control of the entire empire. In those days, when almost every citizen of the empire was a devout follower of the Most High Spirit, the Church could effortlessly collect tithes from its followers, and even maintained a religious army comparable to the regular army in its heyday: the "Rosus Crusaders"!

In this case, it is not an exaggeration to say that the oracle and the Pope are the uncrowned kings of the empire!

With the greatest military power, financial power, and popular support, the Holy Church is the true master of the empire!

But since thirty years ago, things have changed.

The emergence of a new invention called the "crystal burning machine" brought new energy to the empire, and also set off an industrial revolution, pulling this ancient civilization into the age ......of steam! Countless new inventions have completely changed the face of society, and even the decaying imperial government has begun a vigorous system reform......

But with that change is the belief in the Most High Spirit.

With the advancement of science and technology, more and more people began to question the authority of the Holy Spirit in this new steam age, and the appearance of muskets, cannons, and bombs gave them weapons to challenge the rule of the Church!

Even the Imperial Government, which has always supported the Church, has its eyes on the rich tithes in the hands of the Holy Church because of the shortage of financial funds!

In this way, the suppression of the Holy Church and the restriction of religious power gradually became the consensus of society.

Although a large number of conservative people still devout themselves in the Most High Spirit, the power of the Church was being eroded by the Imperial Government little by little, first the amount of tithes was legislated, then the Rosary Crusades were disbanded, and finally even the daily religious activities of the Church became subject to the approval of the Parliament.

The contradictions between the Church and the imperial government were radically intensified at the beginning of this year.

The Imperial Diet suddenly ordered the Holy Church to surrender its financial powers and put the Church's funds under the unified management of the Parliament!

Who doesn't know that finance is the lifeblood of an organization: once the government controls the financial power of the church, it basically turns the church into its vassals!

Of course, the church leadership, headed by His Majesty Gregory, could not accede to this ridiculous demand, but their arguments inadvertently angered the parliament and the government even further.

As a result of the incident, the angry parliament finally introduced the famous "June Act", which demanded the complete dissolution of the Holy Church!

This aggressive "June Act" is basically a death sentence sent to the Holy Church!

The Holy Church is not a soft egg, and of course it cannot be restrained in the face of the "June Bill".

In fact, as soon as the "June Act" was introduced, Eliot immediately announced on behalf of the church that he would fight the council to the end and resolutely defend the survival and independence of the church. Therefore, since August this year, the parliament has sent national defense forces to surround the central cathedral of the imperial capital, the stronghold of the Holy Church, completely cutting off the communication between the central cathedral and the outside world.

The council's calculations were well struck: by besieging them, they could force the Holy Church into obedience without a single soldier.

It's Christmas at the end of December, and the Central Cathedral has been under siege by the Wehrmacht for four months!

For fear of angering a large number of believers, and because of the traditional law to protect the Central Cathedral from the invasion of secular forces, the Wehrmacht is currently besieging but not attacking......

Guess and guess, after that, Elliot, as an oracle, will not end well......

Lu Daguan really couldn't imagine that he was not only a religious puppet, but also about to become an unlucky king of the dead country!

- He slammed his head against the mattress, and the scene that came to mind was that of the old crooked neck tree of the coal mountain......

As it was getting late, the Christmas carols outside the window had gradually stopped. Instead, there was a uniform shouting - Lu Chen certainly knew that this was the Wehrmacht surrounding the central cathedral practicing in the middle of the night.

This historic central cathedral, which has been a lonely besieged city in the imperial capital since four months ago.

Lu Chen rolled over on the bed and stared blankly at the white-gold bed.

Is it really necessary to surrender to the Wehrmacht and the Parliament, as His Holiness the Pope said?

In fact, shortly after the siege of the Central Cathedral by the Wehrmacht, two factions were divided within the Holy Church.

The "capitulation faction" led by His Majesty Pope Gregory, aware of the disparity between the power of the church and the government, advocated surrendering to parliament and the Wehrmacht, and dissolving the church in accordance with the requirements of the "June Act", so as to finally ensure the safety of church members.

The "resistance" led by the divine envoy Eliot Savile, out of devout belief in the Holy Spirit, advocated fighting to the end, even at the cost of his life, to maintain the authority of the Holy Spirit and the Church!

The two factions have been at loggerheads because of differences of opinion, and several votes within the church's hierarchy have failed to reach a unified conclusion.

The struggle between the surrender faction and the resistance faction reminded Lu Chen of the treacherous Southern Song Dynasty.

Tonight, His Holiness Pope Gregory spoke to Eliot precisely to discuss the future of the Church: the Pope had proposed to him nothing other than to ask God to make the adults surrender to the council as soon as possible......

Although the Pope is the de facto head of the Church, the stakes are too great for him to determine the future of the Church without the permission of God's theocratic spokesman.

Gregory's heart-wrenching words are still ringing in my ears:

"Lord Eliot! The council is already determined to eradicate us, so what's the point of resisting any longer? After being surrounded, we can't even supply food, and by this Christmas, the cellar is running out of food! I'm an apostle of the Holy Spirit like you, and I don't want to see the church dissolved, but I don't want to see these fellow believers starve to death because of their own decisions! We really have only one way to surrender, my Lord Eliot——!"

Recalling the Pope's persuasion, Lu Chen sighed and got up from the bed.

He walked over to the window and pressed his forehead against the cold glass.

The cold touch calmed his mind slightly.

As a modern man and atheist, he actually agreed with the Pope's decision in his heart: with the development of the industrial revolution and the progress of the times, it has been the trend of history for science to replace religion......

But at the same time, as a Chinese and an idealist, Lu Chen despised the Pope's cowardly behavior! This kind of turtle behavior of shrinking his head and surrendering when he saw difficulties would only remind him of Qin Hui, Wang Jingwei, and other traitors and scum in history!

What's more, could it be that he, a senior official, could really raise his hand and surrender, and then turn from a noble divine envoy to a religious prisoner and a prisoner of the imperial prison?

No way!

He Lu Chen traveled to another world, not to be Chongzhen or Empress Li!

However, the sound of the Wehrmacht's drills clearly heard outside the window made him clearly aware of the bleakness of his future.

Compared to the powerful imperial government, the church today is too weak.

Not to mention how to restore the authority of the church, even dealing with the current defenders outside the church seems like an impossible task.

"Dad, what should I do......" Lu Chen closed his eyes softly and muttered in a low voice.

Father's admonition, even after many years, is still deafening-

"Xiaochen, Lenin said, "The world will not satisfy people, and people are determined to change the world with their own actions......"

"Change the world".

Lu Chen learned the tone of his childhood and repeated these four words in a low voice.

When did your childhood dream start to be forgotten?

- Do I still have a chance to pick up this dream again?

Lu Chen reopened his eyes, his gaze sharp and determined.

The decision was made, and it was easier than he expected—

Parliament, right?

You want to me, right?

You want to dissolve Lao Tzu's church, right?

I'm sorry, then I really can't let you get your wish......

Elliot Savile, your wish to "revive the church" will be fulfilled by me, Lu Chen!