I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1235 Miracle
Napoleon listened to the Native American's broken French as he followed him around the stream between two small hills.

As he turned his head, he saw that the view ahead suddenly opened up, with a small town sitting in the middle of a wide plain.

In reality, the so-called town was just a wooden fence casually enclosed on the outside, with a large number of small wooden houses scattered around, and even quite a few thatched huts inside.

However, Napoleon immediately spotted a towering bell tower and a cross on top, which clearly indicated that it was a church.

On his way here, he heard that almost all the Native Americans converted to Catholicism after arriving in St. Louis.

This kind of thing is not uncommon. Spanish missionaries used to recruit many believers, but none of them did it as well as Father Vigne.

Napoleon gestured toward the church and asked Rocard with a hint of sarcasm, "Do you really believe in God? Or is it just that if you go to church and make a show of it, the priests will provide you with technology and weapons..."

He was not a devout believer; the church was always just a tool in his eyes.

To his surprise, the Indian patrolmen reined in their horses and stared at him with hostile expressions, as if they were about to draw their guns at any moment.

“I believe in one God, the Almighty Father!” Carroll said solemnly. “We have all witnessed miracles!”
“If you question our faith, it will be considered an insult.”

Napoleon had not expected such a strong reaction from them, and quickly waved his hand, saying, "No, you misunderstand. I have always believed that you are the most devout Christians."

He swallowed his pride and explained to the natives for a long time before Rocard and the others finally felt relieved.

Napoleon then asked curiously, "The 'miracle' you just mentioned, are you referring to something like a Mass?"

“No, that was a true miracle performed by God.” Carroll’s eyes seemed to shine with holy light as he spoke. “Every Cherokee, Creek, and Iroquois is able to live peacefully in this world because of the Lord’s protection, keeping them away from the devil.”

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

The other Native Americans immediately followed suit, making the sign of the cross and saying, "Amen."

Napoleon was a little bewildered, feeling that these natives were a hundred times more devout than the Europeans.

He became even more curious: "Can you tell me what kind of miracle that was?"

“Of course. Everyone has a duty to spread the Gospel of God.” Carol pulled down her sleeve, revealing a scar on her upper arm. “Look, this is it.”

Napoleon blinked: "What is this?"

He was exiled relatively early, before the French Ministry of Health and Welfare had completed smallpox vaccination. Although he later saw news about it in the newspapers, he never saw the actual vaccine.

Carol replied matter-of-factly, “It is a blessing from God. It keeps people away from Beelzebub’s curse.”

Beelzebub is a demon in Catholic legend who spreads plagues.

Napoleon asked cautiously, "Is it useful?"

“Of course!” Carol was very dissatisfied with the white man’s attitude of questioning the miracle, and her voice turned cold. “Smallpox can no longer harm those who have been blessed.”

"The Cherokee tribe hasn't had smallpox for a long time. In fact, cholera and fever have also decreased significantly."

Well, smallpox certainly didn't prevent diseases like cholera, but at the request of missionaries like Vigne, they stopped randomly drawing water from the wild to drink. They also learned some simple disease prevention methods, such as isolating sick people and burying their excrement.

These measures significantly reduced the incidence of disease among the Native American tribes. And all of this was attributed to a "miracle." Upon hearing "smallpox," Napoleon immediately remembered and pointed to the scar on Carroll's arm, saying, "Vaccination?"

The latter, clearly unfamiliar with this concept, patiently asked, "Haven't you received a blessing? Aren't you a believer?"

"Oh no, of course I am."

“That will do. You can go to the Cathedral of Oborusus for the first three days of each month and pray there. If the deacon deems you devout enough, you may receive God’s blessing.”

Napoleon was a smart man, and he immediately understood what was going on.

So this is how Father Verne preached; no wonder the Native Americans were so devout.

In fact, once the smallpox vaccination technique was perfected, Father Vigne immediately planned to introduce it to North America—smallpox was the leading cause of death among Native Americans, with mortality rates exceeding 60% during large-scale outbreaks. This severely limited the population of Native American tribes.

After receiving his application, Joseph remembered that he had mentioned last year that many Native Americans had converted to "modified" Catholicism, but only superficially, for example, by not attending Mass at all or even bothering to pray.

The Gospel of the Indians was a core means of uniting the various Indian tribes. This would not achieve Joseph's requirements.

So Joseph came up with the idea of ​​linking smallpox vaccination with miracles.

The results were simply amazing.

After the most recent smallpox epidemic in North America, the Native Americans who had received "God's blessing" would have been almost unaware of the outbreak unless they saw large numbers of their tribesmen dying from the disease in the western and northern tribes.

They suffered almost zero casualties!
This curse, which had tormented all Native Americans for hundreds of years, was suddenly conquered. What else could it be but a miracle?!

Both the Creek and Cherokee tribes were instantly swept up in Catholic fanaticism.

After that, the church was bustling with people every day, Mass was packed, and religious holidays were celebrated with great fanfare.

Father Verne and other missionaries became the most respected "prophets" among the Native Americans, their words carrying more weight than those of the tribal chiefs.

After the news spread, even the Comanche and Navajo Indian tribes, which lived far away in the Rocky Mountains, traveled thousands of kilometers to the vicinity of the Mississippi River to convert to Catholicism.

Of course, if they wanted to enter towns in the French colony, they had to first swear an oath to obey Louisiana's laws.

Faced with the difference between life and death, no one would choose to refuse.

In this way, almost all the tribes east of the Rocky Mountains automatically joined the Louisiana system, or at least announced their full cooperation with the colonial government.

As Napoleon and Carole were talking, they had already walked into the fence outside the town of Geausay.

On both sides of the rammed earth street, several vendors selling pumpkins or beef were loudly hawking their wares in the Indian language.

In front of the surrounding log cabins, the Native American women, busy drying meat, chatted quietly, their eyes glancing at the group of white men who had just walked by.

Carroll already knew that Napoleon had come to recruit soldiers, so he personally led him toward the patriarch's house: "It's just ahead, the biggest house is it."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a round ball wrapped in cowhide suddenly flew out of the dust in the distance and hit Napoleon squarely on the shoulder.

(End of this chapter)