The old Pope, who had been in power for 52 years, finally died in office.

The uproar caused by his will was completely unknown to Horn, who was a thousand miles away.

However, this had little impact on Horn, as Prince Kongdai and Banifus now governed the entire Thousand River Valley.

As long as these two were present, there would be no major changes in the grand scheme of the Thousand River Valley.

However, the changes in Langsande County were greater than everyone had imagined.

......

April 15, Joan of Arc Castle.

The first rays of morning sunlight softly spread over the ancient cobblestone streets.

The warm and cool breeze blew through the exquisite arches and spires.

The morning light, stirred by the wind, shone on the saints in the wall shrines, as if they were all smiling at the passersby.

As Horn walked out from the duke's villa in the backyard of the City Hall, he could already smell the fresh scent of baked bread in the air.

Not far away, the holy and distant sound of church bells rang, and just a few seconds after the bells stopped, vendors began shouting their wares loudly.

A few white pigeons flew overhead, their destination unknown.

Humming a tune, Horn entered through the back door of the hall, went up to the second floor, and reached the private room that used to belong to the duke.

Before he was ready, Busak handed him a schedule, and Horn quickly glanced through it: "Hmm... Oh, has the land allocation been announced as complete?"

After a month and five days, the land division team and the survey team finally completed their tasks.

"Yes, Your Grace," Busak replied softly, "We have compiled all the specific details in this booklet."

Only then did Horn realize that at some point, a book had suddenly appeared on his desk.

"Is this the register of households?"

"No, this is just a brief statistical book calculated based on the register of households; there were too many originals." Busak said, "I reorganized and summarized it with the help of local junior priests to compile this book of statistics."

Out of curiosity, Horn opened the preface on the first page, which was mostly filled with flattery towards the Saint's Grandson.

The contents did not include the household list but rather the specific data of the land allocation and the encountered issues.

Opening the statistical book of land registers in his hand, Horn first turned to the summary page and started calculating the data against the map.

The total area of Kush Territory is about 7,800 square kilometers, consisting mainly of forests, plains, and lakes.

Among them, the cultivated area is about 1,200 square kilometers, equivalent to 1.8 million acres.

With an average yield of 90 pounds of rice per acre, 81,000 tons of grain can be produced annually, equating to about 820 pounds per person.

As of now, the Kush Territory has more than 198,000 people, divided into 363 Hundred Households, totaling nearly 40,000 families.

Among them, the Devout Special District has 197 Hundred Households, while the Holy War Special District has 166 Hundred Households.

The population of each Hundred Households District ranges from 400 to 600 people, essentially merging one village or several nearby villages into one Hundred Households District.

To have Horn manage nearly 200,000 people in one go, truth be told, he couldn't do it.

But transforming the management of 200,000 people into managing 363 Hundred Households Captains, or even just 40 Wandering Cultivators, became considerably simpler.

Horn was extremely familiar with the Hundred Households District structure, as he designed its basic framework.

Each Hundred Households District has the same setup: one Hundred Households Captain, one Captain of the Church Protection Army, and three representatives of public opinion.

The Hundred Households Captain is responsible for receiving, transmitting, and executing the Pope's orders, organizing production, and managing finances, often handled by locals with prestige.

The Captain of the Church Protection Army is part of the military, responsible for security and managing the Defensive Army, usually veterans of the Black Hat Army.

The representatives of public opinion are temporarily elected from each village, responsible for primary judicial and dispute resolution in the Hundred Households District, also assisting the Hundred Households Captain and the Captain of the Church Protection Army in completing tasks.

The decisions and execution of matters big and small within a Hundred Households District primarily fall on these five individuals.

In a sense, this is a grassroots administrative unit that has achieved autonomy.

Except for the Captain of the Church Protection Army, who requires a direct appointment from the Salvation Army, the rest are elected by local people themselves.

This form of autonomy minimizes chaos during power transitions and provides farmers with a certain capability to resist risks.

These Hundred Households Districts can provide Horn with a continuous supply of food and manpower.

Meanwhile, Horn can deploy more manpower, focusing his main efforts on the military.

As for these Hundred Households Districts, they are autonomous but not completely autonomous.

Not to mention the Captain of the Church Protection Army in each Hundred Households District, basically acting as Horn's eyes.

In the Devout Special District, every ten Hundred Households Districts will have a Wandering Priest from the Saint Father's Association.

However, unlike the church's Wandering Priests, the Wandering Cultivators from the Saint Father's Association genuinely wander.

They tour once a month, with each tour lasting a month.

This task is generally rotated by the Wandering Cultivators of the Saint Father's Association based on odd and even months.

The main roles of the Wandering Cultivators are supervision, judiciary, and proselytism.

Supervision and inspection are meant to prevent any absurdities from happening in these Hundred Households Districts.

Such as appearing to obey while actually resisting, excessive execution, negligence, or corruption.

Wandering Priests will investigate during their missionary work and even request Cheka's assistance.

Once confirmed, the Military Police will step in to "warmly visit."

The small court formed by the three public opinion representatives is used to mediate minor civil disputes.

Criminal conflicts must be adjudicated by Wandering Cultivators of the Saint Father's Association.

If any judicial decision made by the three representatives of public opinion is unsatisfactory to either the Hundred Households Captain or the Church Protection Captain, they can request a retrial by a Wandering Priest.

If even the Wandering Priest is uncertain, it can be forwarded to Horn.

However, Horn usually hands it to professionals like Marshall for resolution.

The last role, missionary work, essentially serves as the Salvation Army's mouthpiece, responsible for propaganda and public opinion.

They need to gradually change the villagers' perceptions and impressions to eliminate their biases against spells and witches.

They must also prevent the Hundred Households Captains and Church Protection Captains from becoming new lords.

House-to-house missionary visits may seem inefficient, but such work is inherently tedious.

The Blago Monastery's rise from obscurity to being the largest force in Kasha County is thanks to Juanuo's contributions.

The birth of the Juanist Faction relied on his own iron feet, traversing the entire Kasha County.

Helping farmers chop wood and do farm work, telling children stories from the Gospel, using his monk status to fight for fair treatment for villagers.

For over a decade, this gradually built his current reputation.

Horn learned a technique from Juanuo's missionary work, which involves mediating conflicts while proselytizing.

When farmers in Kasha County have disputes, their first choice isn't the manor court or the church but Juanuo for resolution.

Because Juanuo is more just, understands them better, and thanks to his reputation, his judgments are more readily accepted.

By handling these troublesome basic missionary tasks that no priests wanted to do, Juanuo stiffly extracted judicial power from the Kasha District Church.

For the farmers of Kasha County, the Juanist Faction is their legitimate spiritual leader.

Horn's Saint Father's Association aims to repeat this process in Langsande County.

After reading through the entire approximate register, Horn closed it with satisfaction: "How are the Holy Hoe and Holy Scythe Monasteries doing currently?"

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