Chapter 718 Information Gap
You know, according to the speed of communication in this era, even if the horses are exhausted, it will take four or five days to get from Rome to Paris.
In fact, most of the two days between the assassination and Joseph receiving the news were spent on the road from Rome to Lyon.
It actually only took 40 minutes for Lyon to send the message back to Paris via the signal machine!
This was when the signalman had just started working, was very unskilled in his work, and the report from Rome was a bit long.
According to Schaap's estimation, if the signal tower is connected and everything goes well, it will only take less than half an hour to transmit 20 words from the southernmost point of France to the northernmost point.
It is completely the telegraph of this era!
Joseph looked at the secret report and nodded: "This matter will have an important impact on the political structure of the entire Europe. Emman, please ask Archbishop Brian and Mr. Talleyrand to come over immediately."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Not long after, two French ministers came to the Crown Prince's drawing room.
Joseph signaled that they did not need to salute and handed the secret report directly to them: "What do you think of this matter?"
The two quickly read the secret report. Brian thought: "Although the Pope escaped, Archbishop Einaudi was seriously injured trying to protect him. The Pope must be very angry at this time and severely punish the Emperor of Shinra."
Talie Lang shook his head and said: "I think the Pope doesn't seem to want to have too much trouble with the Austrians."
"Oh?" Joseph looked at him and said, "Please tell me your reasons."
"Yes, Your Highness." Talleyrand leaned forward and said, "If the Pope decides to take revenge on Shinra The emperor will publicly announce his crime and punishment as soon as possible
"But he chose not to announce the attitude of the Holy See. Instead, he sent a special envoy to Vienna without even clarifying the envoy's mission.
"This is obviously to facilitate the envoy's flexibility in negotiations. "
Joseph nodded, tapped the armrest of the chair with his finger, and said, "What you said makes sense. So, what does the Pope want? "
Brian continued: "Austria will fully support the Holy See and make a commitment to protect the Papal State. "
Talleyrand also added: "The Holy See has more control over church affairs in Austria. Even directly asking for a large amount of money is not impossible. ”
Joseph nodded slightly: "If Austria chooses to cooperate with the Holy See, although it will be under deeper control by the Holy See, it will gain a lot of benefits in the short term.
"For example, a war in Poland will be more justified.
“Perhaps we should do something.”
What Joseph did not say was that in his long-term plan, the Papal States would be dismantled, and the orthodoxy of the Holy See would eventually Transferred to Avignon, France.
But if the Papal States and Austria are deeply bound, the former will obtain a more stable political and military environment, which will bring huge obstacles to its dismantling.
Brian said: "You can choose to assassinate the papal envoy on Austrian soil. This will deepen the pope's anger towards Austria."
Talleyrand continued: "Or our country can directly come forward and condemn Austria for assassinating the pope. . In this way, the Holy See must punish Austria for the sake of dignity, and private transactions will no longer be possible."
Joseph suddenly narrowed his eyes. Squinting: "I'm thinking, if Austria and the Pope reach a compromise, what should Cardinal Muzarelli do?"
Muzarelli refuted rumors in Vienna that the Pope had called a "Crusader" "After the incident, the Holy See has remained silent. Coupled with the delicate relationship between him and the Pope, it is easy to imagine that he should have made some kind of deal with Austria.
Talleyrand said: "He will probably be abandoned by Austria. And the Pope will then liquidate his act of making decisions without authorization."
"So, if he knew in advance that the Holy Roman Emperor was going to negotiate with the Pope, what would he do?" Talleyrand said immediately: "Do whatever you can to sabotage the negotiations."
Joseph Nodding, he looked at Fouche: "The papal envoy departed from Rome "How long will it take to arrive in Vienna?"
"About 20 days," Fouché said, "The various arrogance of the Holy See will slow him down."
"And we. When will the message reach Vienna? ”
"About 10 days. The signal machine first sent the news to Lorraine, and then sent people on horseback to Vienna."
Joseph smiled: "In other words, if we intervene, Archbishop Muzarelli Will be given 10 days to prepare?”
“That’s right, Your Highness.”
…
Vienna.
Schönbrunn Palace.
Francis II said to Chiaramonti with a sullen face: "I said that the assassin had nothing to do with me, and I deeply regret what happened to the Pope.
< "At the same time, Archbishop Muzzarelli and I have a deep friendship and I will not allow anyone to hurt him. ”
He has also been troubled by the assassination of the Pope recently.
And that damn assassin turned out to be an officer of the Royal Carpathian Regiment!
Francis II knew that the Pope would come to cause trouble, and had already made some preparations, but he did not expect that the Pope's envoy would target Muzarelli as soon as he came up.
Chiaramonti said in a high-pitched tone: "Obviously, you were bewitched by Muzzarelli in some way, and then you killed the Lord's agent in the world. The Pope can completely rely on the Hadith. , you will be punished with 'excommunication'!"
The so-called "excommunication" is a punishment of "excommunication". Those who are punished will not be able to participate in any Catholic religious activities, cannot enter churches, will not be recognized as believers, and will not be able to ascend to heaven after death.
For Catholics, this is simply more terrifying than killing them.
Especially Francis II, if he is excommunicated, he will even lose the qualification to become the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Because the most basic condition for a Shinra Emperor is that he must be a Catholic.
Historically, after Napoleon occupied Rome, he suffered excommunication from Pius VII. However, Nahuang, who had hundreds of thousands of troops at his disposal, did not take this seriously at all.
Francis II's face turned completely dark, and he stared at Chiaramonti coldly: "Is the Pope going to declare war on me?"
Chiara Monty suddenly put on a smile: "It all depends on your choice, Your Majesty.
"As long as you no longer accept Muzarelli's temptation, the merciful Pope will forgive all your sins.
“As for the rumors about the Crusades in Poland, the Pope will not support them.”
When Francis II heard that the Crusaders could be discussed, he immediately relaxed: "I can no longer cooperate with Archbishop Muzzarelli. I hope the Pope can also remember his promise."
Kia Lamonti shook his head, lowered his voice and said, "No, Your Majesty, what you have to do is to secretly arrest the person who led you astray."
Francz II frowned: "He is a cardinal. Do you know how much impact his arrest in Austria will have?!"
"Please rest assured that the Holy See will not If this move generates any criticism, I believe you can do it.”
(End of this chapter)