Todd, walking toward the audience chamber of the palace, looked at Emerson and Moore sitting in the side hall awaiting his summons, and turned to Huggins, saying, "Bring me the person I need, and... have the servants bring me some refreshments and some drinks."

As Todd, with a somber expression, entered the audience chamber, Emerson frowned and whispered to Huggins, "His Majesty seems to be in a bad mood?"

Huggins didn't say anything, but he subtly gestured for the other person to "watch your words."

Emerson and Moore exchanged a glance, then perked up, knocked on the door, and went into the room.

“Don’t be shy, have a seat.” Todd opened a document on the table and got straight to the point: “First, let’s talk about the impact of the book ‘Justification by Faith’.”

With only one arm left, Moore leaned to one side and laboriously sat down on the soft chair. Hearing the king's question, he nodded to Emerson and spoke first: "According to people's feedback, the clergy in various kingdoms, including the monks, have reacted strongly to this book. Some support the views in the book, while others refute them."

Todd then asked, "And what about the kings' attitude?"

Emerson continued, “The secular rulers seem to have little interest in this book; they treat these debates more as a word game between theologians. But a few wise kings have seen the subtlety in it, but they have all chosen to remain silent.”

Todd tapped the table lightly with his knuckles: "That's because what this book talks about doesn't involve their interests. So, pretending not to see it and not expressing any opinion is their best option for self-preservation."

Moore leaned forward slightly, looked into Todd's eyes, and said earnestly, "Your Majesty, if you agree, I would like to organize a doctrinal debate!"

"Doctrinal debate?"

“Only by maximizing the impact of this book can we get theologians and the Vatican to take facts and truth seriously!” Moore said firmly. “In the past, when there were disputes over doctrine, the best way was to hold debates. Priests and bishops would sit together and express their views freely. This method can quickly increase the book’s influence…”

Todd pondered for a moment, then suddenly said in a low voice, "Too slow."

Emerson and Moore were both taken aback. The latter asked curiously, "Your Majesty, what do you mean by 'too slow'...?"

Todd pursed his lips and pondered for a moment before saying, “Debate might increase the book’s popularity and get theological people to agree with our views, but that’s all. This approach cannot fundamentally shake the church’s religious foundation—the believers, namely those secular kings and people. Because what we are doing has nothing to do with their immediate interests, they will not care about or support our approach. Therefore, the next step in the Reformation should be to target the church’s exploitation of the secular world.”

Emerson swallowed hard and asked cautiously, "Then, according to Your Majesty, what should we do?"

“Directly attack all the tools the church uses to amass wealth and power, such as tithes, indulgences, and even… church-led divine right of kings ceremonies!”

The king's words surprised both Emerson and Moore.

Even someone as audacious and eccentric as Moore Rupert was terrified and at a loss for what to do when Todd made such remarks about the Reformation.

Todd stood up from his chair and paced around the room, saying thoughtfully, “The Bible mentions that one-tenth of agricultural and pastoral products belong to God, but in practice, the church levies tithes based on the nature of the products, such as large tithes (grain), small tithes (vegetables and fruits), and blood tithes (livestock). The tax amount often far exceeds one-tenth of the taxpayer's income, a practice that causes immense suffering for farmers. Therefore, in the Reformation, our demand is to abolish the tithe, which will draw farmers to our side.”

"As for indulgences, that's utterly absurd! They say that sinners can ascend to heaven after death simply by buying indulgences? If people sincerely believe in God and are justified by faith, their souls can be saved after death! Therefore, indulgences should also be abolished. This will help us win over the vast majority of nobles and wealthy merchants!"

"As for the church-led divine right of kings ceremony..." Todd paused for a rare moment, a look of hesitation on his face.

After much deliberation, he finally said: "The enthronement ceremony of any king requires the presence and presiding over by members of the Church. Otherwise, the Vatican will call the new king a 'false king who does not follow divine law.' Even if the enthronement ceremony is successfully passed, the Church can still arbitrarily strip a secular ruler of his power by excommunicating him."

“What we need to do is weaken the relationship between the church and the monarchy, and protect the power of secular rulers during the Reformation. This will draw the royal family to our side…”

Todd sighed, then turned to Emerson and Moore: "What do you think?"

Moore suddenly jumped up from his chair, his face flushed, and shouted, "Your Majesty! This is wonderful! This is the religious reform I've been dreaming of!"

Compared to the priest's excitement and agitation, Emerson's face was full of worry. He looked at Todd and whispered, "Your Majesty, the book 'Justification by Faith' is still only at the level of doctrinal debate. Even if the Church is dissatisfied, it won't take much action. But what you just said has completely touched the foundation of the Church. Do you know what this will lead to?"

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