"Gentlemen who support reforms, it is said that the abolition of serfdom is your consensus, and it is fair to say that I do not like serfdom either, but I am compelled to raise the question of where slaves come from, which has been deliberately or unconsciously covered up by reformers" "If we do not try to eliminate the root causes of serfdom and are content with the abolition of serfdom, then it is conceivable that when you emancipate a group of serfs, a new batch of serfs will be made, and such a reform will not be doomed to failure" "The answer is actually in front of us, it is precisely because of the intensifying land annexation that more and more rural people have lost their foothold, if they sell their land and still cannot pay their debts, the only thing they can sell is their own freedom, in addition to selling themselves into slavery, is there a second way to go, is this not the source of slavery?"
Bishop Claude's eyes were like lightning, and he glanced at the room, as if he heard someone whispering, and the corners of his lips rose slightly.
"I heard people say that it is naïve to flee, young man, you think that you can start a new life by escaping debts, don't forget that the creditor still has the weapon of law in his hands, don't forget that our government still owes a lot of debts to the merchants, and the entire imperial bureaucracy has to serve the interests of the creditor, even if you flee from your hometown and escape from the debt prison, you still can't escape the crime of being a fugitive, you don't have a legal identity, you can't engage in a legitimate business, you can only hide in the gutters and alleys, and live a shady life like a mouse."
"Are there still few such debt fugitives, in the dark corners of our city, filled with tens of thousands of displaced people of unknown origin, most of whom are riddled with debt, have no hope for life, and only resentment in their hearts" "Well-dressed reformist gentlemen, do you know what kind of tragic life these poor people who have lost their land live in the slums, just outside your mansions and your study, the undercurrent of despair is surging in the slums, and we are sitting on the crater at the moment, and if these angry vagabonds are not properly accommodated, sooner or later the volcano under your ass will erupt, and then we will lose not just the Far East, but the whole empire" "Gentlemen who claim to be progressive, aren't you calling for reform all day long, I'm not against reform, the question is what is the purpose of reform, so that the poor who occupy the vast majority of the population of the empire can have at least a bite to eat, so that they will not starve to death on the roadside and have no corpse to collect, or will it further exacerbate the land annexation and the gap between the rich and the poor, and further intensify social contradictions."
Bishop Claude was so distressed that his eyes were filled with tears, and at last he choked up and let out a deafening roar.
"Isn't this so-called reform more terrible than tyranny if it enriches only the small group that advocates it, but doubles the poverty and misery of the silent majority?"
Bishop Claude finished his speech, wiped the corners of his eyes, and sat down slowly.
There was silence in the conference hall, and people were still reminiscing about Bishop Claude's denunciation, some of whom were deeply in agreement, and others who were thinking of countermeasures.
Prince Frank coughed lightly and gave Alberton Weinstein Jr., the number one theoretician of the "reformers" sitting across from him.
Little Alberton took a deep breath, solemnly raised his hand, and asked to speak.
Bishop Claude's eloquence put a lot of pressure on the "reformist" camp, but Alberton Jr. was no ordinary person, withstood the pressure, stood up to speak in an elegant style different from that of Bishop Claude, and refuted his accusations point by point.
"I deeply agree with Bishop Claude's denunciation of the evils of land annexation, but the Bishop seems to be deliberately avoiding the fact that the main force of the empire's land annexation is the Church of the Light."
"Let us recall the history of the life of the commoners in the provinces, published in 1613 by the historian Gyanona, who, for the purpose of writing this work, traveled all over the empire, searched for thousands of local chronicles, interviewed innumerable inhabitants of other provinces, and sorted out the land annexations throughout the country through detailed data, and the conclusion struck us to the surprise that half of the property in our country was in the hands of the Church and its subordinate monasteries, and as for the moneylenders who insidiously seized the landlords' estates, as for the moneylenders who insidiously seized the landlords' estates, as for Mr.
Claude, With only one-tenth of the country's land, it is not clear who is the culprit of the land annexation compared to the Church."
Alberton Jr.'
s speech caused a controversy in the conference hall, with the "conservatives" complaining that he should not use the work of Gianona, a "heretical scholarly authority", as an argument, while the "reformers" emphasized that Gianona's scholarly character was well known, and that it was precisely because of his writings and criticisms of the Church's greed that he was retaliated against, forcibly accused of "heresy", and forced to go into exile.
When Roland was looking for materials in the Imperial Library yesterday, he paid special attention to the land annexation of the Assanian Empire.
Although the "forbidden book" of Gianona could not be borrowed from the public reading area, Roland's calculations based on the data from the Almanac published by the Imperial Statistical Office confirmed that Gianona's conclusions were reliable, and that nearly half of the estates of the Assanian Empire were indeed listed in the name of the Church.
Thus, Alberton Jr.'
s criticism of conservatives hit the nail on the head.
Alberton Jr. gave the conservative clergy a "dismissal", and then went on to make a ruthless move, bluntly accusing the senior clergy of betraying Perrault's teachings and becoming a vested interest in obstructing reform.
"It is very surprising to me that Bishop Claude accuses the merchants of extravagance and depravity and mercenary, and that His Excellency the Bishop only sees the shortcomings of others, but does not perceive that the Church itself is becoming more and more corrupt and degenerate, and look at the life of the bishops, church priests, abbots and high deacons in those regions, most of whom are not also rich in fine clothes and even wives and concubines, who occupy large tracts of land in their own diocese and accumulate thousands of fortunes by virtue of the rent and lending that His Excellency Claude has condemned, Living a life of princely luxury, from the Holy City to the provincial countryside, who owns the most magnificent and splendid buildings, are not the churches of all places more magnificent than the government offices and even the governor's mansions, when the poor in the countryside are starving to death, and the high clergy live in their own splendid churches and castles built with the hard-earned money of countless taxpayers, why does Mr.
Claude not condemn these robed moths a word?