Chapter 482: First is the newspaper

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

Some unknown rumors began to spread in the city. People secretly gathered in houses after dark to discuss the dwindling ration supply and the locked gates of the church district. Some people said that they saw a car and a car. Carts of food were transported to the church district. Some said that there was enough food stored in the underground of Luhan Cathedral to feed the entire city for a year. Some more disturbing news pointed out that the priests in the city had already Preparations for escape began - all kinds of rumors bloomed as if they appeared overnight, and then spread rapidly throughout the outer city.

And more leaflets and brochures entered the city through secret ways amid this undercurrent.

The burning and burning in the square did have a strong intimidation effect, and a large number of civilians were frightened. After the new leaflets appeared, many people immediately chose to hand them in, but others did not. Choosing to keep those things secretly - the second batch of leaflets not only exposed the Holy Light Church, but also described another kind of beautiful life: a more enlightened faith, a richer life, and belonging to The holy light of everyone, these things have an indescribable appeal to the people of Luan who have endured a long-term high-pressure blockade life.

Therefore, while a large number of leaflets were voluntarily handed in, other leaflets were transferred to more secret circulation channels. They were spread in unattended alleys, in dark nights, and in hungry people. They may have spread more difficultly, but they have left a deeper impression on people's hearts. In the process, Lu'an City is gradually splitting apart in an imperceptible way.

The priests in the cathedral will probably never understand why those leaflets are so attractive to civilians, but the officers of the Military Intelligence Bureau who are carrying out sabotage operations in the city can understand all this deeply: Before the rise of Cecil, there had never been any group of extraordinary beings or nobles in the world who would talk to the people with a "human" attitude, even if the conversation was just a few words printed on paper, just a few greetings, A few words of encouragement and a few promises, the warmth they carry is precious even in this cold era.

The civilians in Luan City are considered to be the upper class among civilians. They are wealthier, more decent, and have a higher literacy rate than ordinary civilians. But after all, they are just civilians. In this everyone-level In a clear era, they were still the lowest class of people in Luan City. In times of peace and prosperity, they might still be able to compete with others.People in other places live a better life, but after the situation becomes difficult, their living conditions will take a turn for the worse, and this huge gap will exacerbate their dissatisfaction and create a deeper gap between them and the priests in the city. .

Of course, the cathedral is not always unaware of all this - the edge of the church area and the outer city are inextricably linked. As new leaflets are discovered and handed over, the high-ranking priests are finally alert. When they got up, they were shocked by the number and speed of replenishment of these leaflets, and immediately began to conduct searches and interrogations in various areas. During this process, Bishop Fran Béran of Luan also specially summoned the entire city's residents, And gave a sermon in the square. He told everyone that the current difficult situation in Luan City was caused by the blockade of the Cecil people. The Cecil people were the culprits of the difficulties. He called on everyone to maintain their faith in the Holy Light. God's piety and loyalty to the church face the current difficult situation with the greatest tenacity.

This was a successful sermon. Fran Béran slightly restored the confidence of some civilians. However, after the sermon ended, dozens of civilians who were suspected of privately talking about the church and discussing leaflets were publicly tortured. As the whip fell, more people only accumulated resistance and resentment towards Louan Cathedral.

It may have been the Cecils who blocked the city, but it was the monks who wielded whips and looted rations. For most ordinary people, they actually didn’t care about the details of this confrontation at all. They just Just care about your own life.

More image data were immediately transmitted outside Luan City, to Cecil itself, and to the printing factories in the four new industrial cities in the south, turning into tens of thousands. The planned newspapers were distributed throughout the southern border.

With the application of industrial printing machines, the circulation and frequency of Cecil Weekly have greatly increased. Now it can not only be published throughout the country, but also changed from one issue a week to two issues a week. issues, and occasionally a special issue.

The Cecil Weekly, which has a growing audience, now has more and more readers. 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. , changes in government orders, even illiterate people will gather around literate people and listen to others read the contents of newspapers to understand the changes in this land, because this information is closely related to their food, clothing, housing and transportation.

Benny, who lives in Carroll City, is a person who is closely related to newspapers. He will come to the place where newspapers are sold early on the first and sixth days of every week. I got the latest issue of Cecil Weekly before, and I picked up many copies at once.

Because he is a newsboy.

This is an emerging "profession", not even a profession - in order to enable newspapers to be distributed as quickly as possible and reduce the pressure on the newspaper bureau, officials from the Government Affairs Department started working in the newly established public relations department. A group of children were recruited from the school. The recruitment criteria were that their families were poor and their grades were good. These children attended school on Monday and Saturday mornings when there were no classes.Although the income for half a day's work is not much, it is still a valuable subsidy for them and the family behind them. Benny did very well in school because he learned some spelling skills from his father. , and got this valuable job.

In the early morning, the first ray of sunlight was still hesitating on the horizon, and the newly installed magic crystal street lights on the city streets had not yet been extinguished. Benny had already arrived at the door of the newspaper office, with ten people lined up behind him. There were several people, half of whom were half-grown children like myself.

After saying hello to his friends, chatting about the latest news in the city or the teachers in the general school, time passed by unknowingly, and Benny enjoyed this relaxed and comfortable life. Feeling - although he couldn't put it into words, he knew that the arrival of the Cecil people had changed everything in the city. Many adults seemed worried about the changes in the city, but Benny felt that life was pretty good now.

Shortly after the first ray of sunlight rose above the horizon, the newly built mechanical clock two streets away rang. Along with the first chime of the day, the magic crystal lamps on both sides of the road rang. One by one, the lights were extinguished, and the door to the newspaper office opened.

It didn’t take long for Benny to receive the newspapers that were to be delivered and sold today - he prepared two large satchels. One satchel contained newspapers ordered by others, and the other satchel contained newspapers ready for retail sale. newspaper.

Wealthy people - such as businessmen and scholars - hope to see new newspapers as soon as possible. They usually spend a few more copper coins to apply for a month's "newspaper delivery service" by a dedicated person. Get newspapers delivered directly to your home. It is said that in the big cities in the south, such work is completed by professional postmen, but there are not enough local postmen in Carroll, so the job of delivering newspapers is also handed over to the newsboys.

Benny walked quickly towards the street with a heavy satchel on his shoulder. He first quickly completed the task of delivering the newspaper to the block, and then found a quiet place to take out the newspaper himself. A newspaper looks serious.

This is considered laziness, but on the street corner where no one is paying attention, no one will bother him about it.

Benny is not worried that he will not be able to complete the day's sales task because of reading newspapers - because more and more people are reading newspapers, this thing has always been in short supply.

At least that's the case now.

Benny watched carefully. He finished reading the news and current affairs on the first page, and then started to read a new section that recently attracted his attention.

The name of this section is "Faith and 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 was not unusual. It mainly contained classic religious allusions and easy-to-understand fables, as well as some common sense about religious rituals and knowledge about gods. Sexual content, whatever it is, is interesting to Benny——He is reading these as interesting stories.

But this time the above content seemed a bit unusual. Benny did not see those short stories and fables, but saw a full page of articles, as well as the eye-catching headlines on the articles: < /p>

"How the Northern Holy Light Church operates - Where does the priests' wealth come from"

Benny was a little curious, but just before he wanted to continue reading, there was a sound from The curse coming from the side interrupted him: "Damn it!"

Benny was startled. He turned around and saw that it was Old Tom who lived in the same neighborhood - this guy The old cobbler was holding a newspaper in his hand, looking very angry, and cursed again: "I don't believe it!"

Benny shrank his neck, he was a little afraid of this old man: Old Tom is a believer in the Holy Light, devout and stubborn. It is said that he donated half of his family property to the church after his wife's death, and lives 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 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 reading. Looking at the content on it - almost cursing at every 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 stepped back, preparing to leave quietly, but he hadn't moved yet. , the eccentric old cobbler stopped him: "Child! Do you think the things in this newspaper are nonsense!?!"

Benny suddenly shrank his neck again, he was so bold He raised his head, ready to say a few words and leave. However, the moment he raised his head, the half-grown child froze in shock——

He saw the old widower with a strange temper and a solitary life staring at him. His eyes were squinting, and his eyes were frighteningly red, and his face, which had always been cold and cold, was full of pain and distortion.

"This is all nonsense! This must be nonsense!" Old Tom grabbed the newspaper, and the newspaper almost crumpled into a ball in his hand, but his voice trembled, "They are talking to What I said...said...as soon as the gold coins jingle, my name will be in the Kingdom of God, and Martha will be waiting for me in the Kingdom of God..."

Benny blinked Blinking, he didn't know what the old cobbler in front of him was talking about, but his eyes swept over the newspaper in his hand. On it, the words written by the "theological commentator" signed "White Knight" were clear, Clearly:

"...They (pastors) are good at using all kinds of unverifiable empty promises to defraud believers out of money. There are several common sayings...the jingle of gold coins can Reserve your own place in the Kingdom of God, or send the souls of your recently deceased relatives to the Kingdom of God, but in fact this has nothing to do with the teachings of the Holy Light...

"In the original scripture of the Holy Light ,closeThere is actually a clear statement about the salvation of the soul, but the priests never let ordinary people see this part, or they will not interpret this part in detail..."

Old Tom's mood seems to have finally stabilized a little. When he came down, his eyes were still red, but he no longer cursed. Instead, he picked up the newspaper and read the contents quickly again.

"Bah. ”

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

Benny looked at this scene in confusion, and then noticed that there were more people around with newspapers in their hands.

People gathered in twos and threes, discussing the contents of the newspapers. Some people were worried, some looked angry, and some looked confused.

No one seemed to react as violently as Old Tom, but they were undoubtedly paying close attention to the newspaper.

Benny thought about it and suddenly knew what he should do.