amaotonovel Chapter 977: Making money with one hand, and working as a laborer with the other?
Chapter 977: Making money with one hand, and working as a laborer with the other?
Anti-counterfeiting?
That wretched place in Europe has neither decent printing technology nor decent anti-counterfeiting technology.
However, the Vatican is absolutely confident that no one would dare to forge indulgences.
Yang Shaofeng said with a smile, "For the Ming Dynasty, it is still quite difficult to forge indulgences."
"Because the printing technology of the Ming Dynasty is far superior to that of the barbarians, the counterfeit indulgences are too exquisite. It is obvious at a glance that they are not something that the Church of Yeli Kewen could print."
"To make it exactly the same, you have to find a master craftsman to make a woodblock with a lower printing quality."
Zhu Biao felt he had seen through Yang Shaofeng's scheme. After blinking and pondering for a moment, he suddenly smiled and said, "Just now, my brother-in-law asked me if I wanted to get money from the Yelikewen believers. Are you planning to have someone get some low-quality printing plates, print more indulgences, and then sell them back to Europe through those Yelikewen believers?"
Yang Shaofeng did not answer Zhu Biao's question directly. Instead, he looked at Zhu Biao again and asked, "Does Your Highness know that Europe believes in the divine right of kings?"
"It is not the emperor who governs the people on behalf of Heaven, but the Church of Yerekwen that crowns the monarchs of the European countries on behalf of their God."
"If any monarch disrespects the Papacy of Yelikov, the head of the Papacy can punish the monarch who disrespects the Papacy."
"As far as I know, there was once a king of a small European country who wanted to depose the head of the church. As a result, the head of the church issued an excommunication order, expelling him from the church. In the end, he had no choice but to kneel in the snow for three days and three nights to admit his mistake."
Zhu Biao felt a little confused.
Zhu Biao was not entirely ignorant of the Yeli Kewen sect.
In fact, the Yelikewen sect spread widely during the Hu Yuan period, and the Hu Yuan court also treated the Yelikewen sect with some favor.
However, after the Ming Dynasty came to power, Emperor Zhu treated Buddhism and Taoism with preferential treatment, and established the Buddhist and Taoist Registries, but abolished the Chongfu Bureau, which was specifically in charge of managing the Yelikewen sect.
However, Zhu Biao never expected that the Yeli Kewen sect would be so arrogant in Europe.
Is it possible for a monarch to be considered legitimate only if the head of the religion crowns him?
The king of a country actually had to kneel in the snow for three days and three nights to admit his mistake?
This world is fucking insane, I don't quite understand it.
Who can imagine the scene of a Taoist priest from Longhu Mountain crowning an emperor?
Who could imagine that a Taoist priest from Longhu Mountain would issue an edict of extermination to the emperor?
If any of the bigwigs of Longhu Mountain dared to have such an idea, the mountaintop would be smashed, earthworms would be chopped vertically, eggs would be shaken until the yolks were broken, and even passing dogs would be chopped into mincemeat!
Zhu Biao was about to make a few comments when he suddenly remembered what Yang Shaofeng had just said: "The ruler of a small European country wants to depose the head of the church."
That's right.
No matter how small the country is, the ruler would not be willing to be controlled by a charlatan and would inevitably want to take back power from the Papacy.
As for the king of that small country being excommunicated by the Papacy and forced to kneel in the snow for three days and three nights...
This isn't a big deal.
King Goujian of Yue once endured hardship and humiliation to achieve his goal.
Han Xin also suffered the humiliation of crawling between someone's legs.
Temporary forbearance is not shameful.
As Zhu Biao slowly sipped his tea, he pondered the purpose behind his brother-in-law's words.
It's clear that the brother-in-law wasn't just trying to forge a batch of indulgences.
More likely, they want to use this opportunity to extend their reach into Europe.
Then the problem is coming.
Europe is far west of the Western Regions, so sending troops there directly is unrealistic, at least not until the railway is built to Europe.
As for building railways to Europe?
Stop joking. The railway on our own territory hasn't even started construction yet, so how can we possibly care about Europe?
Indulgences.
The ruler of the small country wanted to depose the religious leader.
The religious leader can issue an excommunication order against the ruler of a small country.
Zhu Biao unconsciously smacked his lips.
It seems that this so-called leader of the Yeli Kewen Church is not very popular in Europe.
It's estimated that the extermination order has been used more than once or twice, and many rulers of small countries may already be dissatisfied with it.
and so……
Zhu Biao pondered for a moment, then looked at Yang Shaofeng and asked, "Brother-in-law, do you mean to use those few followers of Yelikewen to get in touch with the rulers of many small European countries and incite conflict between them and the leader of the church?"
Yang Shaofeng nodded and said, "Don't underestimate Europe just because it's a small country. It's divided into dozens of countries, and the royal families of each country are all related by marriage. Often, a king is a duke or nobleman from several countries."
"However, no matter how related they are, these kings all have their own agendas."
"In this way, it will be impossible for the European countries to unite as one."
"Even though the Church of Yerikov is not very powerful, the European countries have no choice but to submit to it."
Yang Shaofeng curled his lips, "Yelikewen's power is so great, but the succession is not hereditary, but rather a system of abdication and recommendation."
Zhu Biao blinked again.
Having summarized what Yang Shaofeng had just said, and combined it with his own understanding of the Yelikewen sect, Zhu Biao had a vague idea in his mind.
The status of the Yerikovic sect in Europe is roughly similar to that of the Zhou royal family without real power, or the rulers of various small states, much like the feudal lords enfeoffed by the Zhou royal family.
Unfortunately, the succession of the leader of the Yelikewen sect is not as stable as that of the Zhou royal family; instead, it is based on an earlier system of abdication and election.
The advantage of the abdication system is that it is less likely to produce incompetent rulers, because incompetent rulers usually do not have a good reputation.
Those who are recommended, whether truly wise or not, are not simple characters.
However, the downside of the abdication system is also obvious: it makes it easier for the problem of "a new emperor, a new court" to arise.
To solidify their position in the martial arts world, a newly appointed leader must cultivate their own power, win over existing forces, and secretly eliminate them all.
It's even possible that, in order to prove that he is better than his predecessor, the new coach might overturn the rules set by the former coach.
This means there's a lot more that can be done with it.
As for the idea that a ruler of one country is a duke or nobleman of several countries, Zhu Biao automatically transformed that into the image of Su Qin wearing the seals of six states.
After pondering it for a moment, Zhu Biao smiled and said, "I think I understand."
"Currently, the situation in Europe is that the Church of Yerekvin is more powerful than the other European countries."
"But the combined strength of all the European countries is enough to surpass that of the Papacy."
"So, my brother-in-law plans to use those few Yerikow believers to incite conflict between the Papacy and the European countries, while simultaneously stirring up internal strife within the Papacy, causing the new and old kings to fight for power?"
"Making money with one hand and hiring laborers with the other?"