Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 24 The times are calling

"There are many men in heaven, all of them are brothers; there are many women in heaven, all of them are sisters. The whole world is one big family of the Heavenly Father, the Lord, the Supreme God. No one in heaven is selfish, and everything belongs to the Lord, so the Lord can use it. The whole family in heaven is equal, nothing is lacking, and everyone enjoys happiness. And now that I have come to this world, the Heavenly Father has given me divine power to resurrect me, so that this kind of heavenly rule can be brought to the human world!"

"Behold, the tabernacle of the heavenly Father is with men. He will be with them, and they will be his people; and the heavenly Father himself will be with them and be their heavenly Father!"

Cardoso was a little shaken. He looked at the young man in front of him, felt the determination on his face, and had to admit that he was moved.

Feudal exploitation is like a mountain, oppressing everyone in the village. Even though Cardoso's family is relatively wealthy, he only suffers more when he is blackmailed. When he thinks about working all day but having so much taken away from him for nothing, the anger in his heart only grows.

And when a saint, a powerful man, a man who called Jesus Christ his brother, stood in front of him and described to him the future of "no service, no taxes, and everyone living happily", Cardozo licked his lips unconsciously.

A beautiful blueprint seems to be unfolding before our eyes. This may be the mission of the Holy Church in the new millennium and the call of the times.

……

Ahmed loves this land with its clear skies, moist breeze and the unique fragrance of flowers that mark the transition between spring and summer. He has a deep and irreplaceable love for this land that has bred wealth.

It is this rich, beautiful land full of wild vitality that has brought him endless wealth for generations to enjoy.

It is the farmers living on this land who nourish the farmland with their sweat, flesh, blood and bones, ensuring a good harvest year after year.

It was those crusader feudal lords who came from afar who brought not only tax contracts, but also new peasants for them to devour alive.

As a tax farmer who had served the Lord of Transjordan for generations, he swore that he had actually been a Jerusalem Frank for a long time, but his beliefs had slight differences with those of the Lord, but this did not affect his "absolute loyalty" to the Lord.

In life, friends often ask Ahmed: "This lord has collected taxes for more than 21 years. It is now the st century. The farmers have become poor. Where is the money to be squeezed?"

Ahmed smiled and replied: "Wealth is like water in a sponge. As long as you squeeze it, there will always be some."

He did successfully prove the correctness of his words time and time again by combining theory with practice, becoming a great tax theorist.

Today is also the case...

In a farmer's house, Ahmed sat on a bench and rubbed the sheep dung on the soles of his boots with the clothes of the farmer kneeling in front of him.

When he walked into the farmer's house earlier, he accidentally stepped on those things, which really ruined his good mood since early morning.

But no matter how you feel, you still have to do your job.

After the tax was almost paid, Ahmed asked the farmer to leave his boots and said coldly: "Isaac, it's time to pay the tax!"

The farmer hurriedly took the soldiers behind Ahmed to his mud house where the grain was stored. After a round of inventory, he packed 40% of the stock and loaded it onto a horse-drawn carriage to be taken to a granary not far away.

Then, the farmer searched all the rooms in the house and took out some coins from some corner. He knelt on the ground, held them in his hands and raised them above his head, and handed them to Ahmed. This money was the wealth he accumulated by borrowing from the landlord or the workshop, working cheaply in the landlord's house or the workshop, and working hard for half a year. "My lord, this is this year's poll tax."

Looking at the shiny, golden gold dinar in the pile of currency, which was enough to make many people dizzy, Ahmed licked his lips, counted the handful of dirham silver coins mixed with the gold dinar, and put them into his pocket.

Then he said, "It's too little. I remember there are five people in your family, your parents, your spouse, and your children, but it seems that the money you have here is only half of the share..."

"That was last year. My parents passed away this year..."

"Dead? Where's the evidence?"

"My mother was buried in the back mountain. My father...he...he was washed away by the flood. Our body...could not be found." The farmer spoke incoherently.

"Oh...Is that so? Then how do I know if your father is dead or not? Maybe you saw me coming to collect taxes, so you hid the old man! How can it be so good for two old men to die in one year!"

As Ahmed spoke, the soldier behind him drew out the long sword from his waist and put it on the farmer's neck. The farmer was sweating profusely.

However, Ahmed was not satisfied with this. He continued in a gentle voice, "There is one more thing. The four sheep I lent you two years ago should be returned now. Of course, according to the original agreement, you have to return me eight. After all, these sheep can give birth to lambs..."

Farmers are sponges, and wealth is like water in the sponge. As long as you squeeze it, there will be some. If you can't squeeze it out, then you can use a stone mill to grind it and eventually the blood and water will be squeezed out.

After taking care of this family, the tax collection in this village was considered to be over.

Just as he was counting how many high-quality gold dinars he had scraped out, an attendant ran over from outside the village in a panic and whispered something in his ear.

"What?! The farmers who are not afraid of my nephew are no longer ordinary farmers. I must strike hard! Strike with an iron fist!"

"But Master Feisal said that the Frank was a good fighter. He knocked down the three of them with just two punches. I'm afraid this might be..."

"Can you fight?! How good can you fight!" The fat and strong Ahmed waved his fist fiercely.

"Two fists cannot beat four hands. Call all the private soldiers in your family! I don't believe that anyone can beat ten people alone!" As a family of tax farmers in the surrounding area, the Ahmed family is quite invested in the training of their own military force. The family can mobilize at least 10 fully armed heavy infantry sergeants and a large number of light infantry followers.

This force is enough to destroy some ordinary villages and kill all the farmers.

After all, although the lord can send knights to suppress the peasants' rebellion, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. It is not possible to trouble the lord for everything, wouldn't it appear incompetent? What's the use of him as a tax farmer?
"You two rebels, stay still. I'll send soldiers to send them to the sky one by one!"

　Thank you very much for reading. Dear godfathers, please don't support the book during the new book period! Thank you again!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)