Chapter 152 Theocratic Supremacy

After the death of Shang Tang, the Great Shang Dynasty no longer had a successor whose strength and ability surpassed that of Pope Alexander I.

Moreover, even when Shang Tang was there, it did not completely solve the Church of Light, so it is even more impossible for those successors to have a solution.

When Alexander broke through to Tier 3, he became the most powerful person in Yani Continent, no one.

At the same time that the power of the Church of Light began to expand rapidly, Alexander I established three core powers: the Cardinal Council, the Inquisitors, and the Judiciary.

The College of Cardinals is the highest religious institution of the Church of Light, directly under Pope Alexander I. In addition to strong strength, every cardinal must also have a devout faith.

They are not only Alexander's most effective assistants and advisors, but also the candidates for the future pope.

The magistrates are responsible for investigation, trial, and ruling. As long as the Church of Light considers heretics against the church, as well as those with heretical thoughts, they will be arrested, sent to the tribunal for trial, and publicly sentenced to capital punishment.

The Judgment Division is the armed force of the church, leading the Judgment Knights and the Priests, and eliminating all heretics who dare to go against the Church of Light.

After the establishment of these three major institutions, the influence of the Church of Light was expanded to the extreme.

The beliefs and believers of other gods are all denounced as heretics, and either convert their beliefs or be ruthlessly eradicated!

The Church of Light became the only religion of the human race, and its influence covered the entire human kingdom, and even began to expand to the orc kingdom.

One hundred years after Shang Tang's death, the power of the Church of Light reached its peak. Although it is not said that everyone in the Shang Dynasty believed in the Goddess of Light, at least 70% of them did, and even about 40% of the powerful class of the Shang Dynasty. People believe in the goddess of light.

However, Alexander I has always abide by the constraints of the "Edict of the Emperor", dedicated to preaching, and let the brilliance of the goddess of light cover the continent, and he does not have much desire for secular power.

But after the death of Alexander, the successor Gregory II did not take this decree seriously at all, and began to actively expand the political influence of the Church of Light in the Shang Dynasty.

The rulers of the Great Shang Dynasty could no longer bear this situation. If they were just propagating their beliefs, there was still room for change.

However, the church had sharp contradictions with the rulers of the Great Shang Dynasty on the issue of law enforcement and taxation.

Those who were found guilty by the laws of the Great Shang Dynasty could be recognized as devout believers because they donated all their family property to the Guangming Church, and thus obtained exoneration.

Believers of the Church of Light can get asylum by donating to the church, and qualify for tax exemption or reduced tax payment.

With the penetration of church power into secular power, when it became the dominant force of the state, the confrontation between Gregory II and the Shang Dynasty reached its peak and reached an irreconcilable level.

On the one hand, Gregory II believed that he had the supreme authority, and on the other hand, the king believed that he was the supreme ruler of the country.

In the year 301 of the Holy Calendar, King VII of the Shang Dynasty agreed on Ding Wu to announce the expulsion of the Church of Light.

However, the influence of the Guangming Church at this time was deeply ingrained. In the hearts of the believers, they were first the devout followers of the Goddess of Light, and secondly, the people of the Great Shang Dynasty.

Gregory II declared the negotiated martial arts to be a heresy, and he led a powerful corps of priests and knights of adjudication.

When they arrived in the capital of the emperor, the guarding officers who believed in the Church of Light actually opened the city gate and welcomed Gregory II into the city.

In this way, the Church of Light entered the royal city without spending a single soldier or soldier.

When Gregory II originally thought that he would take the capital of the emperor without blood, the Knights of Glory suddenly came out and caught the Church of Light by surprise.

After a fierce street battle in the royal city, the Knights of Glory saw that the situation was over, and they had to fight their way out, escorting Xian Dingwu out of the capital.

When the Bishop of Judgment offered to pursue him, Gregory II refused.

"The Knights of Glory's belief in glory is no less than our belief in the Goddess of Light. Such warriors should not disappear into the hands of the Church of Light, let them go."

The words of Gregory II made the brave and fearless name of the Knights of Glory resound across the continent again.

After Xian Dingwu escaped, Gregory II announced the abolition of his throne and crowned Xing Dingwu's nephew as King VIII.

Since then, theocracy began to completely shroud the kingship. From princes and nobles to commoners and slaves, they had to recognize the theocratic status of the Church of Light.

However, Xian Dingwu was not reconciled to failure. With the loyal follower of the Knights of Glory, he overcame all obstacles and finally regained a firm foothold at the southernmost end of the Dashang Dynasty.

Immediately afterwards, Xing Dingwu declared the Guangming Church a cult, calling on all the nobles in the Dashang Dynasty to resist the cult's rule.

Most of the ordinary people of the Shang Dynasty believed in the Guangming Church, but the noble class was not popular. For them, gods and other things were more important than the power in their own hands.

In particular, the Church of Light has become more and more influential in their territory, and the idiots are talking about the Goddess of Light all day long, so that the words of the bishop of the diocese are more useful than those of the nobles.

But now, even the king has been driven down by the Church of Light. In addition to being shocked by the terrifying power of the Church of Light, the nobles are more in danger.

Even the king can expel, not to mention the nobles.

It's just that the influence of the Church of Light is at its peak at this time, and within the scope of their influence, no one dares to make a difference.

But in areas far from the influence of the Church of Light, it was different. All the nobles announced the expulsion of the Church of Light at the same time, and the people in the territory were not allowed to believe in the Goddess of Light.

These nobles are actually the new nobles born in the era of great development.

With the continuous advancement of the era of great development, the footprints of the human race and the orcs gradually spread to the entire Yani Continent, 80% of which were occupied by them, and the remaining 20% ​​were those monsters with branches and loose leaves. their territory.

With such a huge area, the problem is also coming.

With the administrative capabilities and ruling techniques of the Great Shang Dynasty and the Orc Kingdom at that time, it was impossible to manage such a huge territory and population.

Often, an administrative order can be conveyed in ten days and a half months in the near future, and even a month or two in the farther.

Therefore, whether it is a human race or an orc, they all chose the feudal system in the era of great development. Whoever develops a new territory is the new lord of this land.

They have independent judiciary, law enforcement, taxation powers and their own military in the territory, and they only need to pay a certain amount of tax to the country every year.

This also caused them to be actually an independent kingdom, and it was difficult for the king's power to affect them.