After returning to the residence, after finishing the rest, Bishop Torres knelt down in front of the small shrine placed in his bedroom, and confessed religiously to the icon of Christ:

"Lord, I am guilty, I confess to you..."

After sincerely confessing his crime, Bishop Torres went to bed with peace of mind, still wondering how much he had earned in the transaction just now. But he was indeed too tired, so not long after, he fell asleep deeply.

Because he had been forgiven by God in his confession, Bishop Torres slept particularly steadily and did not wake up until noon the next day.

In the afternoon, Bishop Torres and Victor went to meet the slaves who had been determined to be Christians. Most of these slaves have lived here for several generations. In addition to still retaining their religious beliefs, most of them no longer speak the language of their ancestors. Most of them can only speak Arabic or Turkish too.

However, this does not weaken their gratitude to the French and the Holy See who have liberated them now. Especially when Victor and Bishop Torres once again assured them that they would not only be free from now on, but also a piece of land that belonged to them completely. These former slaves all wished to kneel down and lick their toes.

"My children," Bishop Torres said in Turkish, "I heard that not all Christians have left Egypt. Some of our brothers have also been hidden by pagans. These pagans are not willing to let our These brothers are free from slavery and labor.

Almighty God heard the prayers of our brothers. He also saw the suffering you have endured over the years and your devotion to God. So just like when he appeared before Moses and ordered him to rescue the Jews from the slavery of the Egyptians and lead them to the land of milk and honey, he appeared to his most pious servant, the Pope. Under the crown, the most loyal warrior-the king of the world, the anointed one of God, the great Roman emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, issued to them the highest order that cannot be ignored and disobeyed:

‘Go, go to Barbary, go and save my lamb from the pagans. Not only will I let them be free, but I will also make the heathens cede their land and give them compensation. I will exalt them so that they are far above the pagans who enslaved them before. ’

My children, this is the will of God and it will be done. Today, I and the consul of Trevel, sent by His Majesty Bonaparte, the anointed person of the Romans, and I have negotiated with the leaders of the pagans, accusing them of breaking our promise and taking our Some brothers hid. With the help of God, the leaders of the pagans could not deny it, so they had to agree to look at all the slaves in their hands to see if there were our brothers in it.

Brothers, those who have been hidden by heathens are like you are the Lamb of God, brothers to all of us. You and them have lived together for a long time, and you will witness the glory of God together in the future. So, at this time, I beg you to join us in the screening activities to save those brothers who were hidden by the heathen. Are you willing to help us, help your brothers? "

"We are willing." everyone below shouted.

"Very well, very well, God has seen your piety, and you will surely be rewarded in heaven in the future." Bishop Torres said, "You used to be in a manor, and you would recommend the most reliable and intelligent person to come out. , Help us..."

Looking at the boiling crowd below, Victor couldn't help feeling that the burden on his shoulders was very heavy-these people's religious enthusiasm was really too high. It's really not easy to compete with the Holy See for their influence.

Early the next morning, Ben Harden Pasha sent personnel to the residence of Bishop Victor and Torres and invited them to join the screening activities.

To say that after solving the problem of interest disputes, Bin Harden Pasha really no longer set up obstacles for screening, and even actively provided some convenience. To be honest, this greedy infidel is still very business ethical. Under such circumstances, the entire screening process went smoothly. Basically, as long as they could be slaves of Christians, they were all selected.

In fact, for those Christian slaves, there are more "brothers" rescued, which is not particularly beneficial to them. Because according to the agreement, the land allocated to Christians for farming is fixed, which actually means that the more Christian slaves rescued, the less land they can allocate.

But those simple slaves couldn't think of this for the time being, and they were inspired by religious enthusiasm, and they would not even think about this problem.

But when the screening is over, a more realistic problem comes, and that is how to allocate land.

If before this, relying on the religious appeal, the Holy See took the lead, then in this matter, Victor, who holds the administrative power, must work hard to regain a city.

Victor gathered the liberated Christians for a meeting and introduced them to land-related policies.

"Gentlemen," because he wanted to compete with the church for leadership, Victor deliberately did not use the name "brothers" full of church colors. "First of all congratulations to everyone for gaining freedom. But getting personal freedom is only one, but financial freedom. There are many things to do to get a happy life. Some of you, if you still have an industry in Europe, and your relatives, you can choose to sell the land that should belong to you here into francs, Return to Europe. If you are willing to stay here, then you will get a piece of land of your own. As long as you follow the rules to cultivate and pay taxes."

Having said this, Victor paused first, so that the liberated Christians could digest the news. The news has actually been known to the liberated Christians. But that was all known through various gossips. The authoritative official news from Victor at this time still made those Christians excited. They shouted: "Thank God!"

Their statement made Victor very unhappy, because what he needed was to make those people thank France and chant "Long live the emperor", not to make them thank God.

Although in theory, "thank God" is not wrong. Because theoretically, His Majesty the Emperor also followed the will of God to rescue them. So theoretically they should thank God. But they thank God first, which will only increase the influence of the church, which is obviously dissatisfied with Victor.

But Victor couldn't lower his face and say, "Don't thank God, thank the emperor." So he could only wait for these people to finish before continuing:

"If you continue to stay here as a homesteader, then you will face a problem, and that is your nationality. To put it more clearly, it is which country you are from now. According to general rules, you should be Ottomans. People from the Turkish Empire. But the land allocated to you belongs to the French Republic. This involves the question of how to pay taxes.

Since you are cultivating land in the French Republic, you should pay taxes to the French Republic. But you are also members of the Ottoman Turk Empire, so you must also pay a poll tax to the Ottoman Turk Empire, and serve in the same way as other Ottoman subjects. In addition, as believers, you also need to pay eleven taxes. In general, although you can get a piece of land, your life will not be easy in the future.

However, the first ruler of the great French Republic, the Roman emperor, His Majesty Napoleon Bonaparte, cares about your well-being very much. Therefore, he specially provided you with such generous conditions. First, he proposed to the French State Council to exempt you from taxes for three years. In other words, within three years, you can pay one less tax-this should make it easier for you to survive the initial difficult period. "

"My merciful Majesty!" someone hurriedly shouted.

"Praise your benevolent Majesty, may God bless him, Amen!" Then someone followed.

"Long live your majesty!" someone even shouted like this.

This reaction made Victor happy, so he continued to throw more bait.

"In addition, the first ruler of the great French Republic, the Roman emperor, and His Majesty Napoleon Bonaparte also chartered the same treatment as European Christians. That is, if you are willing to swear allegiance to the French Republic and pass the French exam, you You are eligible for French overseas citizenship. Once you have obtained this status, you will no longer be subjects of Ottoman Turkey, and you will no longer need to pay various taxes, including poll taxes, to the Ottoman Turk Empire and undertake other duties. .

And if you are insulted by any other country or force, our French Republic can give you some support. Please remember that no matter where you are in the world, the powerful French Republic and the invincible French army are always your strong backing. Please remember that once you pass the exam, you are a French citizen. You will be granted asylum in the French Republic. Even if you kill someone here, the Ottoman Empire has no right to try you. Only the French courts can convict you. "

"Ah?..." Obviously, Victor's words surprised and envied these newly liberated Christians.

"Mr. Consul, Mr. Consul, do you mean that we can become French citizens as long as we pass the French exam?" a liberated Christian asked.

"Yes, it is a French overseas citizen. Compared with ordinary citizens, there are still some differences, for example, in terms of voting rights." Victor said.

The emancipated Christians simply don’t understand or care about voting rights. But there is no need to pay taxes or work as a errand, which is a real benefit.

"But who can teach us French?" asked another young liberated Christian. Judging from his skin color, he has obvious black ancestry.

"This question is very good." Victor said. "Young man, what's your name?"

"My name is Jiang Ge," the man replied, "Jiang Ge Freud."

"Well, boy." Victor said, "What you worry about, the great French Republic, the first ruler, the Roman emperor, His Majesty Napoleon Bonaparte has long considered it-he is so considerate of the difficulties of the poor. Good Majesty. He will send a special teacher to teach you French for free. The teacher will arrive soon, and after he arrives, we will also arrange a special place in the evening as a classroom for you to learn French. Now young people, Do you still have questions?"

"Yes, Mr. Consul." Jiang Ge hesitated suddenly, and then said, "You can see that I have black ancestry. But my grandfather is really white. But they said, a person, as long as there is a drop of black on his body Blood, that is black. I want to ask... like me... can a black like me become a French overseas citizen?"

"Of course this is not a problem." Victor replied immediately, "Jiang Ge, I ask you, will God's heaven reject you because of your skin color? No. Our God is merciful, and he treats every believer equally. .So shouldn’t the anointed of God be like this? I can even tell you that in Santo Domingo, an overseas territory of the great French Republic, a black man without any white descent even became its governor. .So what can you worry about?

My friends, do you know what kind of country the French Republic is? "

"Mr. Consul, you just said that the French Republic is the most powerful country in the world and has an invincible army." Jiang Ge replied.

"Yes, the French Republic is the most powerful country in the world." Victor smiled. "But the French Republic is not just the most powerful country in the world. My friend, let me tell you with pride, the French Republic. It is a free country and a democratic country. The creed of the French Republic is:'freedom, equality, and fraternity.' France believes that all human beings are equal is a self-evident truth; France believes that we should not be alone Origin, wealth, and skin color determine a person’s value. The only thing that can determine a person’s value is freer, that is, his piety to God and his virtue. What is France? France is a paradise on earth and light The lighthouse is the city on the top of the mountain. Now, do you have any questions?"

"Long live France!"

"Long live France!"

Everyone shouted.