The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1675 Doomed

The anticipated major war did not occur, which caused headaches for all parties. Austria, Britain, and the Ottoman Empire were busy negotiating with each other, and even Greece announced that the previous exercises were merely routine drills.

Franz finally breathed a sigh of relief. If a fight had really broken out, all his efforts would have been in vain.

However, it's quite troublesome now. The mobilization of hundreds of thousands of troops and corresponding supplies is a considerable expense, and the total cost of the colonies is also significant.

George Hamilton Gordon’s first act upon returning to power was to reduce spending in the Near East and demand that the Ottoman Empire repay interest.

However, just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief and was preparing to sheathe their weapons, the war broke out.

1856 2 Month 14 Day.

Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, priests from different factions continue to vie for the limited space, a conflict that has persisted for centuries.

The various factions of the Roman Catholic Church, Greek Orthodox Church, Protestantism, Russian Orthodox Church, and Armenian Apostolic Church vied for every inch of territory and every chandelier within the church.

The central altar belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, while the altars on either side belong to the Greek Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, respectively. The Armenian priests, on the other hand, steadfastly preserve their ancestral altar and holy oil.

A Greek believer accidentally bumped into the incense burner as he passed by, causing the base of the burner to shift a few centimeters further toward the Russian Orthodox area.

However, those few centimeters of distance caused a disaster a few minutes later when the Russian missionary was very unhappy to find that the other party's incense burner had crossed the line.

After all, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre had limited space, and everyone was vying for it. Without saying a word, a Russian missionary kicked the incense burner that belonged to the Greek church back.

"God! What have you done, you damned heretic! This incense burner is seven hundred years old!"

An old man from the Greek church immediately ran over and tenderly stroked the incense burner, while glaring angrily at the Russian priest.

The other party retorted, not to be outdone.

"You're the heretic! You crossed the line first!"

The old man looked at the boundary line on the ground. There was no doubt that his incense burner had not crossed the line, because there were strict requirements for the placement of all items. No priest dared to move them easily. He could even find a person in charge to take charge.

"Pan As! Brother Pan As, come here! This area is your responsibility. Tell me, after you cleaned the ground under the incense burner this morning, did you put it back in its place?"

"Of course, this is a rule that's been around for hundreds of years. I know it perfectly well. How could I forget when I just cleaned this place?"

The old man looked at the tall Russian missionary.

"What else do you have to say?"

The tall Russian missionary snorted coldly and did not reply, because he and his fellow missionaries had all seen that the incense burner had crossed the line, and whatever the other party said was meaningless, so he couldn't be bothered to pay attention to them.

However, the Greek Church viewed this as a blatant provocation. Both sides already considered each other heretics, and the Russians' attitude only added fuel to the fire.

Just then, there was a candlestick belonging to the Russian Church nearby, and the little old man stepped forward and pushed it over. That candlestick was said to have belonged to Saint Bartholomew, but now it crashed heavily to the ground.

The tall Russian priest tackled the old man to the ground, and the two immediately began to fight.

The Zabutiye (a local policeman in the Ottoman Empire) standing to the side with a stick just smiled without saying a word. After all, they had seen these Christians insulting and fighting each other all day long.

Unless someone pays enough tribute, it will come down to who is stronger. The sounds of fighting quickly attracted the attention of other priests, who gathered around. Only then did someone notice that the fallen candlestick had ignited the shroud on the altar of the Latin church next door.

"God! What have you demons done?!"

A group of Latin priests joined the brawl, which spread rapidly. An Armenian Apostolic priest had a front tooth knocked out just for smiling.

But the Armenians were not to be trifled with, especially within the Ottoman Empire, where they were not only numerous but also had the closest ties with the Ottomans.

"Stop! Stop!"

Finally, a high-ranking priest tried to stop it all, but it was too late; the priests were clearly in a frenzy.

To make matters worse, the pilgrims also joined their own faith camps, and the scale of the melee continued to expand. The Zabutiyes on the sidelines were laughing so hard that they were doubled over, and no one realized the seriousness of the problem.

The main problem is that this phenomenon is so common in the Holy Land that Christians often get into fights like this.

The Zabutiyes couldn't understand what the Christians were saying; they just thought it was a bunch of heretics acting crazy and making a joke.

On the other hand, the various church factions view each other as heretics, and there is already a strong chain of suspicion between them. Once something happens, it will easily ignite a conflict.

Besides the issues with the doctrines themselves, these priests also had commercial competition with each other.

After all, these priests cannot survive on incense offerings and prayers alone. In addition to donations, they also need to sell candles, icons, medals and other related products to make a living, and they even run some hotels and restaurants.

This was Ottoman land, and the Ottomans had no reason to treat so-called infidels kindly. Under such harsh conditions, the priests had to learn to be flexible.

However, some are simply fake priests and real businessmen. But in any case, the conflict is multifaceted, with beliefs and interests intertwined, making it difficult to distinguish right from wrong.

Franz found this utterly absurd. What were the original purposes of those priests who came to the Holy Land? And what did they end up doing?
It evokes a sense of bewilderment, as if the Buddha had seen Mara.

Mara, the Demon King: "When the Dharma-ending Age arrives, my demonic sons and grandsons will enter your precious temples, wear your robes, destroy your Buddhist teachings, and ruin your scriptures. What will you do then?"

The Buddha wept bitterly, saying, "We should take off our robes and enter the world to practice."

The melee inside the church continued, but the Ottomans had had their fill of watching.

So, as usual, they picked up their big sticks and began to "quell the situation," but this time the scale was so large that even the Zabutiye men wielding the sticks were injured.

These Ottomans were also spirited; they began to swing their clubs even more vigorously, and after a fierce battle, they finally gained the upper hand.

However, at this moment a group of richly dressed Europeans suddenly rushed in. These Europeans seemed very dissatisfied with the behavior of the Zabutiyes and even resorted to violence.

Many Ottomans had been wounded in the earlier melee, and were now somewhat enraged. When they saw the arrival of fresh reinforcements, they lost control, wielding their clubs with ferocious force.

But this new force was exceptionally fierce, and for a time it was difficult to determine a winner.

Just then, another group of Europeans arrived, and an Ottoman took the opportunity to knock down the leader with a stick.

The blow landed squarely on the back of Neserlov's head, and the 76-year-old Russian Foreign Minister collapsed and died on the spot.