Chapter 410: An unexpected but expected answer

'Pennsylvania was given by the King of England to a good friend of his, and the word Pennsylvania originally meant the forest of the Bin, that is, the fief of the Bin family. The states of North and South Carolina were granted to eight nobles who helped the king ascend the throne. The original name of the state of Carolina was Carolana, meaning the land of Charles, the prince who later became king.

'But compared to all this, the one that has been most forgotten and misinterpreted is New York. It is supposed to mean New York, but the original 'York' was not a place name, but a person's name, the Duke of York, the younger brother of the English king at the time.

'It was called New Amsterdam when the king granted the land to his brother, and it was the territory of the Dutch. But after the Duke of York arrived with his fleet, it was renamed New York overnight.'

Caitlin opened the book and explained to Zhou Ming, line by line. At the time, they were in the café outside the Quincy Branch of the Harvard Library. After all, absolute silence was required. Although they would not make noise in the library, but Caitlin had to keep explaining and talking, so in order to be less conspicuous, they left the library after getting the necessary books and came to this cafe.

Listening to Caitlyn's words, Zhou Ming couldn't help but nod: 'Facing a completely unfamiliar land, in a situation where the central regime does not have enough power to control, feudalism is indeed a good way. In the name of rewards, land was given out as rewards. This not only gave rewards, but also removed threats to the centre, and could even be used as a means of warfare, such as giving a piece of territory that did not belong to you to another nobleman.'

Zhou Ming then changed the subject: 'But the feudal system also had an absolute disadvantage, which was that when the fiefs developed independently, they became too big to control, and even turned against the central government. Our Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period, and even the independence of the Thirteen States, are all good examples of this.'

'Therefore, the so-called independence wars were nothing more than a break between a group of feudal lords and the central government.' Zhou Ming finally asked, 'So are you trying to tell me that the United States is a feudal country controlled by the aristocracy?'

'According to the way he founded the country, this is certain. These aristocrats have discovered the power of wealth, so these aristocrats have gradually transformed from simply feudal lords into a consortium family, and through their plundering of their fiefdoms, they became capitalists one after the other,' said Caitlyn.

Zhou Ming let out a sigh, 'This is to be expected. After all, the revolutionary storms in Europe had already told them that the simple continuation of the past was not an option. People are not slaves who can be enslaved at will. Only change can lead to a way out. way out. That's why Caitlyn said that to understand the outside world, you must first understand the United States. It's because the development of the United States and the changes of the feudal aristocrats in the middle are the epitome of everything, right?'

Caitlyn smiled and nodded, saying yes. Zhou Ming finally asked, 'So since the American aristocracy were all given titles from England, what about the European aristocracy? Who gave them their titles? What organisation is really in control of everything, and who is really in charge in the outside world?'

'In fact, regarding this question, I think Ming Zhou, with your wisdom, already has the answer. Why ask me?' Caitlyn asked in return.

Zhou Ming was momentarily stunned . Indeed, after learning from him that there is an organisation that controls almost all the wealth in the world, he had an answer in mind, but it was a bit of an exaggeration, so Ming didn't dare to believe it: 'So according to Caitlin, is it really the Roman Catholic Church?'

'Ming, you are indeed very clever. The answer is the Roman Catholic Church. It is the one that controls most of the world's wealth, has bestowed titles on all the European aristocrats, and controls everything in the outside world. hand that controls most of the world's wealth, has bestowed titles on all the nobles in Europe, and controls everything in the outside world. In the eyes of the church, almost all the conglomerate families or European aristocrats are merely their stewards managing their wealth,' Caitlin said to Ming Zhou.

'I admit that the has a lot of influence. After all, there may be more than a billion followers worldwide, but they are only a religion, and shouldn't be this big,' Ming asked, feeling very puzzled.

'I know this is Zhou Ming, it may be difficult for you to understand, because in China, no religion can override imperial power, and religion must bow to power. But in the West, this is the case. I think you should know that no matter which king ascends the throne, he must be crowned by the church, otherwise his power will be incomplete, right? This is the power of the Roman Papacy over the kingdom.'

Caitlin thought for a moment and then said, 'As for the wealth of the Holy See, have you heard of the tithe?'

Zhou Ming shook his head to to indicate that he had not heard of it: 'Is this a tax type that the Holy See levies outside the government?'

Caitlyn nodded and said, 'At first, the Holy See was under the control of the Roman emperor, but with the fall of the Roman Empire, the Holy See gradually became independent and emerged as a separate political power. In order to control its territory, the Papacy began to collect a tithe from all the faithful, in accordance with the Bible's statement that a tenth of all wealth belongs to God.

'

'No one knows when the Papacy first no one knows when the tithe was first introduced, but it has been 1212 years since the kings who were baptised by the Pope began to support the tithe. In the UK, the tithe, which was exclusively for the church, was not officially abolished until 55 years ago.

Caitlin continued 'In modern countries, although the feudal concept of tithing has long since disappeared, other things like church taxes and internal church tithes have taken its place. Although they are not as large as in the past, they still indicate its existence and are also a huge fortune that should not be underestimated.'

In the end, Caitlyn asked 'I think I can say that with your wisdom, Ming Zhou, you can already understand why the organisation that controls the outside world is the church, right?'

Upon hearing the number 1212 figure, Zhou Ming couldn't help but gasp in horror, because this was really terrifying. You see, many banks rely on profits of 6 to 7 percentage points per year to make a bank make a fortune, and grow into a giant, so what about the wealth that the church takes away every year without fail, 10 percentage points?

What's more, the bank only earns interest on capital and investments, and also bears the risk of investment failure or loan defaults. There is no guarantee that the interest can be obtained 100%; but the church is different. Their tithe tithe is risk-free, and it is still one tenth of all wealth, whether it is the wheat that grows in the fields, or the cattle and sheep that are raised in the backyard, etc.

In short, within the take a tenth of all the wealth that grows within its jurisdiction. The church has been taking a tenth for more than a thousand years, so Zhou Ming can do the simple math to see how much wealth has accumulated over such a long period of time.

'In addition to collecting tithes, they also have a very important characteristic, which is tax exemption. Simply put, as long as the church is doing business, no matter what the income is, it does not need to pay taxes,' Caitlin continued, 'Of course, the church had expenses such as missionary work and church construction, but these were insignificant compared to the income it received. So for a period of time in Europe, almost all the land was under the control of the church.'

Zhou Ming expressed his understanding: 'This is normal. It was actually a kind of land annexation. So when the church had control of the land and wealth, it began to control all the European countries, right?'

'Although at the beginning, the Church was at a loss as to what to do with its enormous wealth and influence, but then, with the Crusades, it gradually found its way in, through the Florence merchant guilds, by financing the wars.'

Caitlyn said, 'Since then the Church firmly grasped the whole of Europe through its wealth. All the nobles, whether they were royalty or families like ours from Harburg, only had power over their fiefdoms if they were the recognition of the Holy See, that they have the power to rule their fiefdoms. No matter how powerful a kingdom is, it can only be called a kingdom through the coronation by the church!

'So, in other words, is a fiefdom, even though it is separated from Rome by the Atlantic Ocean, the Church's influence also reaches this side?' Ming asked.

'Since you ask, Ming, I don't think you've heard of the Ecclesiastical Prime Meridian,' Caitlin said.

Ming nodded to indicate that he had indeed . Caitlin then told Ming that 'this line was drawn by the Pope 500 years ago when Spain and Portugal went to war over the ownership of newly discovered territories in the New World and Africa. the Pope stepped in and drew this line for them, dividing the Americas in half, with the western half of Brazil going to Spain and the eastern half to Portugal.'

Zhou Ming smiled after hearing Caitlyn's words: 'It sounds ridiculous, but I think it's also because the military power of the two countries was actually in the hands of the Vatican, or the weapons were supplied by the Holy See. Otherwise, there would be no reason for them to listen to an outsider and give up occupying new territories.'

'That's true. If they lose the the two countries will not only be unable to continue the war, but also unable to continue discovering new continents. After all, sailing requires a lot of costs,' said Caitlin. 'Now let's about the United States. Ming, do you know that the Mayflower is considered to be the real beginning of the United States and is also the most famous ship of American immigrants? Do you know what kind of people were on board?

' 'Protestants,' Ming answered without hesitation gave the answer.

'So it's easy to understand,' said Caitlin. 'It is undeniable that the first group of Protestants to come to the United States were persecuted by other denominations in the country. But as the Protestants took root in the thirteen states, various factions and consortia within the church also came to the new continent one after arrived in the New World, and these papal delegations not only included missionaries, but also brought the wealth of the Holy See.'

'The Puritans who first immigrated to the New World were all so poor that they could only emigrate because they could no longer live in their home country. The richest people to arrive in the New World with the pilgrims were the churches.

Caitlin says, pointing to a nearby teaching building, she said, 'Just like Harvard University, which is the oldest university in the country, it was originally founded by the church as a school to train clergy for missionary work . Apart from Harvard, all the other universities that were first established on this land were also universities under the name of the Papacy. After all, at that time, other immigrants were very poor, and the only ones who could afford to pay were the churches.'

'After the schools, the churches established many companies according to their respective different sects set up many companies. They seized the Indians as slaves to mine for them, grow cacao and sugar cane, and produce for them all kinds of goods that could be sold in Europe for wealth. In the end, these church companies slowly formed into consortia.'

Caitlin concluded, 'In fact, not only in the United States, but also in the East. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom uprising also had the shadow of the church. First, the Jesuits invested, lending money to Hong Xiuquan to finance his agitation, and then selling weapons weapons to help him start the uprising. However, when Hong Xiuquan decided to make the capital Tianjing and the Jesuits demanded to be paid and share the world, Hong Xiuquan refused, which ultimately led to the failure of the entire uprising.