War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Franz looked at the beautiful letter, and he couldn't help but start to wonder what Pius IX was thinking. To be honest, the British attitude towards the Great Famine in Ireland had raised Franz's blood pressure. He didn't want to know what dirty little thoughts the Pope had.

Just releasing all the liberals locked up by Gregory XVI would be enough to give Franz a headache.

Although the leper was not a good person and his methods were not very clever, at least he would not do such a thing as digging his own grave.

Franz really couldn't figure out how those shrewd cardinals could push such a person to the position of pope. What he didn't know was that the latter's intestines were filled with regret at this time.

As soon as Pius IX came to power, he first released the felons in the Vatican, and then in the second step, he swung the knife at the cardinals who pushed him to power.

The status of a cardinal is actually very respected, and even the king usually has no power or even the ability to remove him.

But even the strongest fortress is fragile on the inside. These people who are not usually bound by secular dogmas are unable to resist the Pope's will.

In fact, it is not that no one has thought about removing the pope, but if you want to remove the pope, you must convene an ecumenical council attended by all cardinals.

However, we have to talk about the approach of Pius IX. I don’t know whether the pope had anticipated this day, or he just caught it by chance. As soon as he came to power, he appointed a large number of cardinals from outside Europe, and these people were for the sake of He chose not to obey the edict even if he did not pay the tithe.

The cardinals were absent, so the Ecumenical Council could not be convened, or it did not have enough credibility. As a result, Pius IX was in an invincible position.

The cardinals who had previously claimed to remove the pope through the dismissal of the Ecumenical Council became the next targets. At the same time, the crime of defaming the Holy See was also serious enough.

At this time, the only people these cardinals could turn to were the great powers, but the great powers that had been teased before also wanted to save face, and the latter knew very well that the cost of wading into this muddy water was too high.

Because in the field of religion, the Pope himself occupies the moral high ground, and at the same time, this is an internal matter of the Papal State. Although the Pope's operations are somewhat outrageous, as long as those words are not put into action, the great powers have no right to interfere.

Seeing that they could no longer defeat their opponents using conventional secular methods, the cardinals came up with the idea of ​​spreading rumors.

Just before Pius IX ascended the throne, various natural disasters occurred, especially the failed exorcism ceremony and the devoured Vatican Garden, all of which became the best material.

It's just that the more these people arrange it, the more terrifying it becomes, because the disasters in recent years have indeed been too intensive.

Droughts, floods, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, locust plagues, plagues (cholera), meteors (meteorites), and the completely unexplained potato late blight have also been attributed to strange forces and gods.

From this point of view, Pius IX was completely the devil who came to the world. At this time, he released those "Satan" believers and let them manage the country.

At that time, the church often referred to non-believers as believers of "Satan". To put it simply, it was an either/or dichotomy.

So even if Franz didn't believe in religion, he had to pretend to be very pious, and even acquiesced to the persona of "a born saint."

Because accepting it will save you a lot of trouble, while not accepting it will put you in a passive position.

As for Pius IX, he released political prisoners imprisoned in the Vatican and even appointed a large number of liberal officials.

But no matter where he went, he would choose to sit on the Holy Throne carried by twelve strong servants, and he would always be surrounded by hundreds of noble guards carrying muskets, Swiss Guards holding halberds, and people wearing uniforms. Medieval armored papal generals.

Such ostentation was in sharp contrast to the ordinary people in the Papal State who often had to rely on wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger and were barely clothed.

At the same time, none of the holy water companies, Holy Spirit Banks, and Gospel Vouchers established by the previous pope, Pius IX, were left behind, and he chose to accept them all.

What's even more outrageous is that after the new pope came to power, he planned to launch a new model, which is to join the agency, allowing countries to pay and send people to carry out these projects in the name of the church on their own soil, and then everyone will share the money.

A series of operations almost shocked Franz's jaw. Modern profiteers are nothing more than that. He was ready to use the great powers as tools, and he even cut his own leeks.

Mrs. Sophie actually thought about it seriously, it seemed like it would be profitable for her.

"Franz, it may be beneficial to Austria to have a good relationship with the Papal State, and those companies can also make money. You see, His Majesty the Pope said that these businesses support 80% of the Papal State's tax revenue."

Franz held his forehead, his mother was indeed not suitable for business.

"If His Majesty the Pope really makes money, why does he have to borrow money from us every year? The tax revenue of the entire Papal State is not as large as the donations received by the Pope personally.

It’s not certain whether 80% of the Papal States can be compared to one of our provinces in Austria. There is no need to compare with provinces that are too wealthy.

Compared with the more remote Galicia and Vojvodina, the Papal State's tax collection of millions is a joke, even the Hungarians are better than them. "

Mrs. Sophie was still a little hesitant, mainly because she particularly hoped to get Franz involved with the Pope. In fact, it was a kind of traditional thinking at the time that believed that the royal family should have a good relationship with the church so that it could easily borrow its influence. .

The current situation is that the influence of the royal family is much stronger than that of the church in Austria, and the local church has long been tamed and has no contact with the so-called pope at all.

"Franz, you are so good at business, maybe these businesses can be revitalized in your hands? I still remember that you sold all the military uniforms I produced.

Why can't you do this little thing? "

"Mother, we in Austria also have our own Holy Spirit Bank and Holy Water Company, but the former is used to help farmers and subsidize small businesses, while the latter sells things like alcohol, bleaching powder, toothpaste, soap, and toilet paper.

Although these things have not been fully accepted by the public at this time, the benefits are real.

And what does the Papal State sell? A cup of river water that has been sitting there for who knows how many days costs 20 florins! If you exchange it for copper coins, you will need to fill a bag full!

(20 florins equals 9,600 quarter pfennig. A quarter pfennig is the smallest currency commonly used in transactions. There are smaller currencies, but they are usually only used in the countryside.)

And the so-called Holy Spirit Bank is completely a loan shark company! They would do anything for money. If Jesus found out, he would jump from the cross and beat them! "

When Franz was talking enthusiastically, he was knocked on the head by Mrs. Sophie.

"How can you make fun of the Holy Son?"

"Please forgive me, Amen!" Franz made the sign of the cross. He didn't want to continue to argue with Mrs. Sophie about this, but something must be said clearly.

"Mother, do you think that if it is so profitable and so good, then why don't the Jesuit priests under the Pope do it themselves?

There are seven lies in the East: asking for a child with a lot of money, recruiting with high salary, selling at a loss, transferring a prosperous store, recycling at a high price, joining the agency, and sure next time. "