Chapter 482 First, the Newspaper

The priests of Luan City do not know what is going on outside the blocked city wall. In fact, even if there is no blockade, they will not notice the infiltration and destruction from the bottom of the people-since that day, the public in the square After the burning, the city of Luan calmed down temporarily. The priests of the cathedral believed that burning the propaganda materials would solve the problem, at least preventing the further destruction of the Cecil people in time. However, in fact, the more turbulent force was calming down brewing under the illusion of - brewing in every corner of this blocked city.

Some unexplained gossip began to spread in the city, people secretly gathered in the house after dark, discussing the dwindling ration supply and the locked doors of the church district, some people said they saw a truckload of food being shipped to the church In the district, some people say that the underground of Luan Cathedral has enough food to feed the whole city for a year, and some more disturbing news points out that the priests in the city have begun to prepare to flee—— All kinds of rumors bloomed like they appeared overnight, and then spread rapidly throughout the outer city.

And more leaflets and brochures entered the city through secret channels in this dark tide.

The burning and burning in the square did have a strong intimidating effect, and a large number of civilians were shocked. Immediately after the new leaflets appeared, many people chose to hand them in, but others chose to secretly keep those things. Next - In the second batch of leaflets, there is not only an exposure of the Holy Light Church, but also a description of another kind of good life: a more enlightened faith, a more abundant life, and the Holy Light that belongs to everyone, These things are indescribably attractive to the Luan people who have endured a long-term high-pressure blockade life.

Therefore, while a large number of leaflets were actively handed in, another part of the leaflets was transferred to more secret circulation channels. They were spread in the unattended alleys, in the dark night, and among the hungry and frightened people. , they may be more difficult to spread, but they have left a deeper impression in people's hearts, and in the process, Lu'an City is gradually splitting in an imperceptible way.

The priests in the cathedral will probably never understand why the flyers are so attractive to the civilians, but the MI agents who are carrying out sabotage operations in the city can understand all this: Before Cecil's rise, In this world, there has never been a group of extraordinary people or aristocrats who will talk to the people with a "human" attitude, even if the conversation is just a few words printed on paper, just a few greetings, a few encouragements, and a few promises , the temperature they carry is precious in this icy age.

The commoners in Luan City are considered to be the upper class among commoners. They are richer, more decent, and have a higher literacy rate than ordinary commoners, but they are only commoners after all. Ancheng is still the bottom group. In the days of peace and prosperity, they may be able to live better than people in other places, but after the situation is difficult, their living conditions will deteriorate sharply, and this huge The gap further exacerbated their dissatisfaction and created a deeper estrangement between them and the priests in the city.

Of course, the cathedral isn't always unaware of all this - the edge of the church district and the outer city are inextricably linked.

As the new leaflets were discovered and turned in, the high-ranking priests finally became alert. They were stunned by the number and replenishment speed of these leaflets, and immediately began to search and interrogate each area again and again. During this process, Lu Bishop Fran Berand of Ann also specially summoned the residents of the city and delivered a sermon on the square. He told everyone that the current difficult situation in Luan City was caused by the blockade of the Cecil people. Cecil Talent is the main culprit in causing difficulties. He appealed to everyone to maintain their devotion to the God of Light and loyalty to the church, and to face the current difficult situation with the greatest tenacity.

This was a successful sermon, and Fran Bertrand regained the confidence of some civilians. However, after the sermon, dozens of civilians who were suspected of talking about the church and leaflets in private were publicly flogged. When the whip fell, more people only accumulated resistance and resentment towards Luan Cathedral.

It may be the Cecilians who blocked the city, but it was the monks who wielded whips and plundered rations. For most ordinary people, they didn't really care about the details of the confrontation at all, they only cared about their own lives.

More video materials were immediately transmitted to the outside of Lu'an City, to Cecil's mainland, to the printing factories in the four new industrial cities in the southern border, and turned into tens of thousands of newspapers, which were sent to the entire South.

With the application of industrial printing presses, the circulation and frequency of Cecil Weekly have been greatly increased. Now it can not only be published all over the country, but it has also changed from one issue a week to two issues a week, with an occasional increase of one issue. special issue.

The popular Cecil Weekly has more and more readers now. Businessmen use it to sniff out business opportunities, scholars use it to accumulate knowledge, and literate civilians also rely on it to understand changes in food prices and government orders, even if they are not. The literate people will also gather around the literate people and listen to others reading the contents of the newspaper to understand the changes in this land, because the information is closely related to their necessities of life.

Benny, who lives in Carroll City, is a person who has a close relationship with the newspaper. He comes to the place where the newspaper is sold early on the first and sixth days of each week to get the latest issue before everyone else. Cecil Weekly, and many, many copies at a time.

Because he is a newsboy.

This is a new kind of "professional", and it is not even a profession. In order to allow the newspaper to be distributed as soon as possible and reduce the pressure on the press bureau, the officials of the Government Affairs Department recruited a group of people in the newly established general education school. Children, the recruitment criteria are poor families and good grades. These children go out to work on Monday and Saturday mornings when there are no classes. Although the income for half a day is not much, it is still a valuable contribution to them and the families behind them. stipend, and Benny got the precious job because he had learned some spelling skills from his father and did well in school.

In the early morning, the first rays of sunlight were still hesitating on the horizon, and the newly set up magic spar street lamps on the city streets had not yet been extinguished. Benny had already arrived at the door of the newspaper bureau. There were more than a dozen people in line behind him, half of them were A half-old child like myself.

Greeting buddies, talking about new things in town or talking about the teachers in the general school, time flies by without knowing it, and Benny enjoys the relaxed feeling—although I can't really put it into words, But he knew that the arrival of the Cecil had changed everything in the city, and many adults seemed worried about the changes in the city, but Benny felt that life was pretty good now.

Shortly after the first rays of sunlight rose to the horizon, the newly built mechanical bell rang two streets away, and with the first time of the day, the magic spar lamps on both sides of the road went out one by one. , and the doors of the Newspaper Bureau opened.

It didn't take long for Benny to receive the newspapers to be delivered and sold today-he prepared two large satchels, one with newspapers ordered by others, and the other with newspapers for retail sale.

Wealthy people—such as businessmen and academics—want to see the new newspapers as soon as possible, and they usually pay a few extra coins for a month-long “paper delivery service,” which delivers newspapers directly to their homes. It is said that in the big cities in the south, such work is done by professional postmen, but there are not enough postmen in Carroll, so the work of delivering newspapers is also handed over to the newsboys.

Benny walked quickly towards the street with a heavy satchel on his back. He first quickly completed the task of the block where he wanted to deliver the newspaper, then he found a clean place, took out a newspaper, and took it seriously. it looks.

It was lazy, but no one would bother him about it on a street corner where no one was paying attention.

Benny wasn't worried that he would miss the day's sales due to reading the newspaper - because more and more people were reading newspapers, and this stuff was always in short supply.

At least for now.

Benny watched intently, he read the first edition of news and current affairs, and then began to read a new section that had recently caught his attention.

This section is called "Faith and the Church"

This is a new section that first appeared in Cecil Weekly in a special issue three issues ago.

In the first two or three issues of the newspaper, the content of this section is not unusual, mainly classic religious allusions and easy-to-understand fables, and also some common-sense content about religious rituals and knowledge of gods. It's interesting to Benny - he's reading these as interesting stories.

But this time the above content seems to be a bit unusual. Benny did not see those small paragraphs of stories and fables, but saw a full page of the article, as well as the eye-catching headlines on the article:

How the Church of the Holy Light in the North Works - Where the Clergy's Fortune Comes From

Benny was a little curious, but just before he wanted to continue watching, a curse from the side interrupted him: "Damn!"

Benny was startled, he turned his head and saw that it was old Tom who lived in the same block - the elderly cobbler with a newspaper in his hand, looking angry and swearing again :"I do not believe!"

Benny shrank his neck, he was a little afraid of this old man: old Tom was a believer of the Holy Light, and he was devout and stubborn. It is said that he donated half of his family property to the church after his wife's death, and he lived a frugal and lonely life on weekdays . As a cobbler, Old Tom's craftsmanship was unquestionable, but as a stubborn and withdrawn old man, he seemed very difficult to get along with.

The children are very afraid of him.

At this time, old Tom continued to curse in a low voice. He seemed to be very dissatisfied with what was written in the newspaper. However, while cursing, he couldn't help but pick up the newspaper and continue to look at the content on it—— It's almost a curse word.

The more Benny looked, the more frightened he became. He felt that this lonely old man was probably really out of his mind, so he quietly backed away, preparing to leave quietly, but before he could move, the eccentric old cobbler stopped. He stopped him: "Child! Are you saying that the things in this newspaper are nonsense!?!"

Benny shrank his neck again, and he raised his head boldly, ready to leave after a few words, but the moment he raised his head, the half-old boy was stunned—

He saw the eccentric, reclusive old widower staring at him with scary red eyes, and his face, which had always been cold, was full of pain and distortion.

"It's all nonsense! It must be nonsense!" Old Tom grabbed the newspaper, which was almost crumpled in his hand, but his voice trembled. "They told me... say It's over...the gold coin jingles, my name is on the kingdom of God, and Martha will be waiting for me in the kingdom of God..."

Benny blinked, he didn't know what the old cobbler was talking about, but his eyes swept across the newspaper in his hand, on which the "Theological Commentator" signed "White Knight" wrote The words are clear and clear:

"...They (pastors) are good at defrauding believers of money with various unverifiable empty promises. There are several most common sayings... With the jingle of gold coins, you can reserve your place in the kingdom of God, or Sending the soul of a recently deceased loved one into the kingdom of God, but in fact it has nothing to do with the teachings of the Holy Light...

"In the original text of the Holy Light, there is actually a clear statement about the salvation of the soul, but the priests never let ordinary people see this part, or interpret this part in detail..."

Old Tom seemed to have calmed down a little at last. His eyes were still red, but instead of cursing, he picked up the newspaper and read it quickly again.

"Pooh."

He spat to the side, then seemed hesitant to throw the newspaper away, but in the end he tucked the newspaper into his clothes and walked away slowly, hunched over.

Benny watched the scene in bewilderment, then noticed that more people around were holding newspapers.

People gathered together in twos and threes, discussing the contents of the newspaper, some people were worried, some people were angry, and some people were confused.

It seems that no one reacts as fiercely as Old Tom, but they are undoubtedly very concerned about the content of the newspaper, and there are many who do not have the newspaper in their hands and seem to be inquiring about something from the people next to them.

Benny thought for a while, and suddenly knew what to do.

He held up the newspaper in his hand and shouted loudly: "Sell the newspaper! Sell the newspaper! The new Cecil Weekly! Check it out! The inside story of the church's operation! First-hand news!"