Chapter XXXVII. The Sad Levels of Productivity in the Middle Ages

Lateran Palace, Rome

This sacred palace, which has been the residence of successive popes (in the early days the bishops of Rome) since the conversion of Constantine the Great, has now become a purgatory of blood. On the pillars of the verandah in the palace and on the trees in the courtyard, there were all kinds of corpses of all kinds, some of whom were disheveled women, except for the priests with mushroom heads. The palace was also a mess, with looted halls and upturned furniture, and the floors and steps were covered with dirty black footprints and bloodstained drag marks.

-- The Italian high-ranking clergy who had just entrenched themselves in this sacred Lateran palace and ruled the Papal States, and who had even ambitiously plotted to "set up another center" and play against the Catholic Church in Avignon, had now become a thing of the past.

These once-powerful fellows, together with their illegitimate children, were stormed into the palace by the angry people, captured and beaten in a futile and desperate revolt, and then were pushed out of the windows from the top floor of the palace to the sound of all kinds of cheers, like fledglings with incomplete feathers, under the gravity of the earth, into a few strange things full of abstraction and flesh and blood. And in those spacious and luxurious bedrooms, their mistresses ♀, young ladies and maids fully endured the "passion and blood" of many desperate rioters, as the most wonderful after-entertainment of this riot, the outside of the dormitory was surrounded by hormonal crowds all day and night, and people kept rushing to squeeze in when they heard the news, and some people kept crawling out...... Until these poor women were so unbearable that they finally died.

However, Pope Clement VI, who was surrounded by the papal guards and strolling through the Lateran Palace, preaching to the victims, looked at the above tragic scene with an expressionless face holding obsidian rosary strings, and his heart was filled with a sense of relief and happiness - God is always the fairest, and the arrogance and sin of these Italian magnates, who have long dominated the Holy See, have finally received the retribution of the pride of the last few generations of French popes

-- For most of history, almost every pope in the papal state around him has always had a lot of political enemies. Since the transfer of the Holy See to Avignon, the attitude of the Italian elites of the Papal States towards successive French popes has been even more rebellious to the extreme.

The term "Papal States" is interpreted in Latin as states subordinate to the Church. That is, secular territories nominally ruled by the Pope. The Papal States were not a unitary state, but rather a loose community of independent or semi-independent city-states, small states, and aristocratic domains.

In a strict sense, the Papal States of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance cannot be regarded as a real state, but if they are a loose combination of feudal city-states or small states with the Pope as the supreme lord, for example, it is a shrunken version of the Holy Roman Empire, considering that the papal position is not dynastic hereditary, nor is it universally elected by the whole people, and from time to time there will be foreigners running for the throne, so the political pattern of the Papal States is more like the Polish aristocratic republic in the Middle Ages, not to mention the spiritual realm, The centralization of power in the secular realm is so powerful that there is nothing to say.

Even in the era of the Crusades, when the authority of the pope was relatively high, due to the political rule of "my vassal's vassals are not my vassals", which was common throughout the feudal society of medieval Europe, the pope's rule over most of the territories under his name was still in name only, and the real masters of the various city-states of the papal state were still the local princes and nobles. However, after the complete failure of the Crusades and the great decline of the authority of the Church, especially after the Holy See moved out of Italy and moved to Avignon, France, the pope of this era has fallen to the point that he can not even control the city of Rome, and there is not even an inch of land that truly belongs to him in the papal state.

Despite this, Pope Clement VI never gave up his attempt to regain the Papal States, and tried his best to infiltrate his own power in Italy and suppress the feudal princes who had not yet fallen in the Papal State.

In 1347, on the eve of the Black Death, that is, last year, the Catholic Church, which had always been conservative and antiquated, actually launched a bloodless "color ♂ revolution" in Rome, so that the papal notary Cora di O Rienzo, who was under the banner of anti-corruption and clean government, was elected by the fanatical citizens as the tribune and consul of the city of Rome, and immediately proclaimed the re-establishment of the Roman Republic - and the establishment of this republic was also strongly supported by Clement VI. The enraged Pope Clement VI has no idea what to do.

Unfortunately, Pope Clement VI's plan to seize power this time was really intrusted. The Monsieur Cora on whom he relied was a street activist by birth, and his eloquence and incendiary ability were first-rate, but his ability to govern could only be said to be ridiculous, and almost all of them lacked even the most basic political common sense except for the dream of recreating the glory of ancient Rome -- this man had just become a tribune, and he had not even fully mastered the city of Rome, so he thought he had become Caesar and Augustus, and without even communicating the news with the Pope, he gave orders to the kings of all European countries in the tone of Roman dollars. asked them to do this and that, and offended countless princes for a while, and became a laughing stock in European politics.

Then, completely ignoring the cruel reality that his "Roman Republic" did not even have an army, probably believing that his tongue could outweigh the soldiers, and did not pay much attention to the formation of an armed force, he began to proclaim one reform after another, trying to abolish the privileges of the nobility, and even confiscate their property and land, thus bursting the hornet's nest...... Then, just a few months later, a mob instigated by the aristocracy launched an arrogant siege on his government, which in an instant overthrew the farce-like "Roman Republic".

In front of the bright sword, Cora, who thinks highly of herself, has no choice but to shave off her beard, try to get away with it by disguise, and escape from Rome all the way north, and now she is wandering in the middle of nowhere. Pope Clement VI, who was a supporter, also aroused public anger in the Papal States, and his nominal vassals began to collude and discuss countermeasures everywhere in Rome, and even tried to overthrow the papal throne that was the mastermind behind the scenes.

Fortunately, at this tense juncture, the Black Death exploded. A qiē struggle between people is immediately buried by death......

Therefore, Pope Clement VI did not have any pity for the tragic death of the whole family of these political opponents, and even a little afraid, secretly complaining that he had been too hasty with the angels when he was preparing to set off - if he had come a little earlier, and had not waited for these difficult bastards to die in the riot, the subsequent takeover of the Papal States would have been much more troublesome.

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It was because of these considerations that after the riots had subsided, the Pope did not punish anyone, but generously forgave the sins of every sinner, presumably applauding in his heart for the complete eradication of so many old political enemies - and treated the plague equally in the following plague prevention and control process, even if some were injured in the process of robbery and killing.

But the problem is that although these thugs wept bitterly one by one, saying that they wanted to change their minds and change their ways. Soon after, however, there was a saying in Europe that "even if the Papal Palace in Rome was burned, if you sincerely repent afterwards, you will be forgiven by God", which inspired generations of violent Christians to emancipate their minds, throw away their burdens, and fight hard when looting religious sites......

Well, anyway, before that, those robber barons were also unkind when they attacked the monastery and ransacked the church, and even some poor and frightened kings were taking the robbery of the monastery as one of their hobbies, so for the church, there are no more lice and no debts

As the Pope passed through a corridor with open windows, he saw that the angels had erected a huge statue of a cat outside with cement—the angels had been insisting that rats were the source of the plague and that God had punished humans for years of unjust cruelty to cats. If you want to repent of your sins, you must love cats as much as you love the Lord, and although the Pope was skeptical, he personally took the lead in getting a cat to raise.

In any case, it is much easier to have a cat at home than it is for ascetics to wear sackcloth and thorns and whip themselves.

I don't know what kind of mana the angels used, but this three-story tall colossus of cute cats has been basically completed in less than a day. Thousands of Roman citizens and pilgrims knelt around the statue of the cat, pouring money into the donation box at the foot of the statue and praying in various dialects for forgiveness from the merciful God and the "generous" cats.

- Although it may seem awkward for medieval Europeans to have them bow down to a statue of a cat, Christianity is strictly very resistant to heresy such a thing. But in the face of the angel's rebuke and the threat of the plague, people really have no choice - they have been tormented in an atmosphere of infinite despair for a long time, and they do not want to let go of the last straw.

Then these penitents who changed their hearts and gave generously in the presence of the angels were rewarded with their promises.

“…… Meow something brighter than the sun, something more adorable than a holy cat, appear in the flow of time, in your great name, I swear in this light, to these lambs who believe in the Lord, to give equal salvation meow group healing meow (Japanese)"

-- With the incantation chanted by a certain "angel", a dazzling white light that the believers had been waiting for for a long time burst from the clouds, and in an instant it poured down like a tsunami bursting its banks, flowing like a substantial flow over a large area of the ground. And it goes on and on, and it seems to never end.

The light was so dazzling and brilliant, so holy and peaceful, so fluttering, dazzling but not dazzling, as if the most peaceful, gentle, and purest existence in the world, not only purified the hearts of all witnesses in an instant, but also made every plague patient instantly healed

All of a sudden, all kinds of chaotic shouts of "thank the Lord" and "praise God" resounded from the square like a tsunami from the mountains.

Standing in the corridor of the Lateran Palace, seeing such a scene through the window, Clement VI could not help but smile a little smugly - the city of Rome, and indeed the hearts of the entire Papal States, were now completely in the palm of his hand. Even those famous Italian families who claim to have produced many generations of popes are no matter how unruly they are, and now they can only kneel at their feet in fear...... If they hadn't been devoured by the plague.

But the thought of the high price to be paid for these miracles made Pope Clement VI feel a pang of pain in his heart.

“…… One and a half million ducats in gold tsk, should it be said that the angels' appetite for bribes is really a level that only heaven has? That's enough to buy nineteen Avignon cities, of course, if it's to save such a great plague, then it's worth it. But the question is, with such a large amount of filial piety, I don't want real estate such as manors and mansions, where should I raise it......

How exactly should this huge amount of money be apportioned among the dioceses? How much should be raised from which cities? Or is it an equivalent physical object?

Bathed in the afterglow of the light, Pope Clement VI touched his chin and pondered deeply about how to satisfy the angel's request for bribes......

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Seven days after the "coming of the angels", the Holy See of Avignon, from France, had taken over Rome, the holy city of God, by the gift of angels, the light of the plague and the lightning of the mob.

The Italian nobles and lords in the Papal States, who had been unruly and disobedient to the law for many years, as long as they still had the breath, also sent people or rushed to Rome in person, crying and shouting to Kneel down to Pope Clement VI, who had been blessed by angels, to repent and confess their sins, only to be healed by angels and to be given the "holy seal" (vaccination) to ward off the plague. As for the conditions for being a vassal and paying taxes, repentance, land entitlement, and property surrender, they all agreed without thinking -- even if their lives were about to be lost, where could they care about their dignity and power?

Of course, after surviving the plague, will they regret and deny it...... That's something you need to think about after you survive.

For these political changes and reversals, the angels don't care much about them. As long as the Pope is still doing everything possible to collect money and possessions for them, let this old man fake the tiger - all the traversers who came to save these medieval Europeans, whether they have sufficient discipline or lack of discipline, whether they are Japanese or Chinese, other problems are easy to say, only the problem of money is absolutely bitten to death.

Unfortunately, even Pope Clement VI was already 200 percent diligent in his search, and the faithful who had just come from the brink of death were extraordinarily generous in their donations, and so many wealthy people who died in the plague even gave their entire possessions...... But given the miserable productivity of medieval European society, the amount of money received in the end could not satisfy Doraemon, who was heavily indebted.

-- In a conference room that had been temporarily requisitioned, a group of angels with snow-white wings behind their backs were discussing the copper smell without any scruples.

“…… Only 3.8 billion yen in total? The dignified capital of the Roman Empire and the thousand-year-old Christian center, the spiritual hub of the European Catholic world, can only squeeze out such a little oil and water? It's a long way from paying off that fateful loan shark loan," Doraemon looked at the account books with a frown, "...... Could it be that the city of Rome has really been squeezed to the limit, and it can't squeeze more oil and water? ”

“…… I'm afraid it's the limit. When I was blackmailing the church, I had even removed the gold and silver ritual objects, the statue of Jesus and the statue of Our Lady from the church, which almost provoked a great riot among the clergy, and finally had to give them many brightly colored plastic icons and ritual objects printed on 3o printing in lieu of them, in addition to a batch of religious-themed oil paintings printed on plastic sheeting, which barely calmed them down. Wang Qiu shook his head and said.

“…… Moreover, since we had taken so many gold and silver coins from the city at once - in fact, almost all of them - the circulation of goods in the market was in crisis, and the bazaar trade was even forced to degenerate into barter, and the Holy See could not even collect the transaction tax, which was really anxious. For this reason, we had to make a lot of 'holy coins' out of plastic and give them to the church to see if they could do it. ”

Professor Guo also added that the monetary crunch in Rome - the fact that a small village can spend hundreds or even thousands of gold coins to reward adventurers will only be saved in PP games such as Dragon Quest. If it were in real medieval Europe, many remote villages would not even have a single gold coin...... Even in a place as populous as Rome, where wealth is concentrated, after being siphoned off more than 100,000 gold coins in cash at one time, it will fall into an extremely terrible crisis of currency shortage.

Next, Professor Guo also took out a bunch of samples of "holy coins" for everyone to see. These coins are made of polished hard plastic and come in gold, silver and green. The pattern on the front is Jesus crucified, and the pattern on the back is the head of a cat with its claws raised, which is very subtle and apt to cater to the main theme of Christianity and Doraemon's preferences, not to mention whether this kind of light coin can be recognized by the market, at least in terms of anti-counterfeiting, it can stump counterfeit dealers for 500 years - where to find plastic these days

In short, the above situation has fully demonstrated that the wealth of the city of Rome has indeed been squeezed to the limit by these pseudo-angels.

“…… It only took a week to loot 3.8 billion yen in the city of Rome, which is actually quite good. As far as I know, many believers have donated their treasured fur shawls and woolen coats, and there is really no more good stuff to come up with."

Paladin Levi touched his chin and pondered for a while, and finally sighed and comforted everyone, "Today's Roman City, although it is still ranked first in Europe, is no longer the world's metropolis with a population of one million in the era of the Roman Empire, especially in recent decades, it is not even the residence of the Catholic Church, and the wealth accumulated in the city is naturally not too much." Not to mention the so-called rich people of this era, in modern society, they are often not even well-off, as for the poor in medieval Europe, I don't know why they can still live - according to the social standards of this era, many poor people's homes can pass on a set of clothes from grandfather to grandson, and the decent dresses in rich homes are often only a few pieces that can be counted on one hand. As long as a person can have three changes of shirts, he is already considered middle-class."

Hearing this, the "Purple Angel" Minami Sayaka and the "Golden Angel" Shizuka Jukawa, who were listening to the audience, couldn't help but exchange a meaningful look - these two are bare-bottomed naked people who don't like to wear clothes very much, unless they come to menstruation ♀ to pad sanitary pads, and they usually don't even bother to wear "fat times" (underwear ♀). But even so, their bedroom was filled with several cabinets of all kinds of beautiful women's clothes, and there was a drawer of bras ♀ and pants alone...... How pathetic it would be to compare those medieval Europeans whose whole family did not fit enough for a crate.

Well, why do you suddenly have a subtle sense of shame that "you are robbing poor beggars even though you are a rich man"?

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