I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 670: The Strangeness of the Vatican

In the Crown Prince's cabin, Perna sat behind an exquisite wooden table, eating breakfast in small bites, but from time to time she would secretly glance at Joseph opposite her, and her cheeks suddenly turned red.

Her eyes were filled with a happy smile, and she quickly lowered her head, pretending to concentrate on the food on the plate.

She didn't do a routine checkup for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince today. He had a full body checkup last night, and everything was normal. In fact, it was a little over the normal range...

Just as her thoughts were wandering, Emmanuel knocked on the door and came in with a tray in his hand. He placed two servings of fried fish fillet toast in front of the prince and her respectively, and bowed to them.

The butler looked calm, as if the scene before him was just a daily occurrence.

A maid walked around Emmanuel and along the corner towards the inner room of the cabin.

Perna was stunned for a moment, and suddenly she jumped up as if she was electrocuted. She took a few steps forward to block the maid and showed an awkward smile: "Um, Diana, wait, let me clean the room later..."

Well, there was limited space on the boat and the bed was very narrow, so last night's bedding was still on the floor. Maybe some marks were on it too.

If the maid saw this, she would die of shame.

Joseph had gotten used to having others make his bed and fold his quilt over the past few years, so he realized what was happening and coughed dryly, "Hey, Diana, don't worry about it."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Joseph looked at the shy Perna again, and they both smiled knowingly.

Joseph motioned for Emman to go out as well, and pressed Perna to the chair beside the dining table, and said softly, "Have breakfast first. You will feel dizzy after the boat starts, and I'm afraid you won't have an appetite."

"But in the room..."

"Just leave it to me."

Perna looked at Joseph's busy figure, and her heart suddenly filled with sweetness.

The chimney of the "Boroskafi" was emitting black smoke, and it set out on the race again, but the prince's cabin was still not tidied up...

Two days later.

The steamer returned to Paris first, leaving the second-place "Seven Birds" more than 90 kilometers behind.

The entire inland shipping industry was immediately shaken! Hundreds of reporters quickly sent countless reports about the competition back to China.

Camelia was still a little weak, she had a low fever since yesterday morning. This made Perna very anxious, and she ordered the imperial doctor who came to greet her to carry her to the carriage.

Annemarie Herriot was taken away directly by the palace guards. What happened on the ship had already been reported back to the Palace of Versailles by land.

Count Herriot, the father of the noble lady who pushed Camelia into the water, had been waiting nervously at the dock. He waited until the Crown Prince presented the prize to the winning boat before he approached cautiously.

"Your Highness, I swear to God, that was just Annemarie's own stupid behavior, I was completely unaware of it..."

He had already found out that the Austrian girl was not only the Crown Prince's maid, but also the granddaughter of the Queen's wet nurse.

His arrogant daughter certainly didn't understand these things before taking action.

Lord Herriot had seven children, three of whom were daughters, and he did not want to expose his family to the wrath of the royal family because of Annemarie.

Joseph just glanced at him coldly, turned around and walked into the carriage: "The judge will make a fair judgment."

When Joseph returned to the Palace of Versailles, he had lunch with the king and queen whom he had not seen for many days. When he returned to the palace, he saw Talleyrand waiting for him at the door.

"You're back from Rome?" Joseph raised his hand to signal the reception room, and said to Talleyrand, "Let's go inside and talk." The Foreign Minister limped up, lowered his head, and said with an annoyed look, "Your Highness, the Pope has expressed his unwillingness to let the Holy See interfere in the situation in Poland."

Joseph sat down on the sofa, frowning slightly: "Have you mentioned the matter of 'Reforging the Spear of Catholicism' to him?"

Talleyrand nodded. "Yes, Your Highness, I have seriously mentioned this to the Pope, and he seemed to have, ah, some concerns. I mean, he was obviously interested when he first heard it, but then he refused to continue on this topic."

"Please take a seat." Joseph clasped his hands and shook his head, "The Pope's decision will have a certain impact on our Polish strategy.

"What do you think His Majesty Pope Pius VI is worried about?"

Talleyrand hesitated and said, "Perhaps, he does not want to offend the Russians?"

Joseph shook his head again: "Russia has no influence on the Papal States. Even if there is some trade, this little benefit is nothing compared to regaining power close to the Holy See in Eastern Europe.

"Even more, if Poland can defeat Russia, it will be a holy blow dealt by the Spear of God to the Orthodox heresy. This will increase the prestige of the Holy See exponentially."

The Roman Curia at this time was far from the glory of the Middle Ages.

Although France is known as the "Catholic Son", it actually has its own independent church system and does not accept the management of the Roman Catholic Church at all.

Britain, Prussia, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries, and most of the German states have converted to Protestantism.

The few remaining Catholic spheres of influence, such as Bavaria and Salzburg, were already experiencing the Protestant Reformation movement.

Only Spain and Austria are considered the last "reserves" of the Holy See.

Therefore, Poland, which recently enacted the constitution to stipulate that Catholicism is the state religion, has become a rare "growth point" for the Holy See over the years.

Joseph originally wanted to use this opportunity to gain the support of the Vatican for Poland - although the Vatican's control has declined, it is still the legitimate spokesperson for God in the hearts of tens of millions of believers in Europe.

If the Holy See could call on Poland to "resist Orthodox heresy", not to mention that it would enable Catholics from various countries to go to Poland to participate in the "holy war", it would at least greatly boost the morale of the Polish people.

The spirit of simply resisting aggression and resisting aggression in accordance with God's will are completely different.

This was also one of Joseph's Polish strategies.

Unexpectedly, Pope Pius VI refused.

"So, why did the Pope give up such huge benefits?" Joseph stroked the armrest of the sofa and fell into deep thought, "There are greater benefits..."

Talleyrand continued: "Or he may be facing a threat that forces him to give up his interests."

Joseph looked at him and said, "You are quite right. Of the countries related to the situation in Poland, Russia is a heretic and Prussia is a Protestant. Only Austria can be related to the Holy See."

Talleyrand was surprised and said: "But Austria adheres to the national policy of maintaining Poland, it should not..."

Joseph narrowed his eyes. "No, I think it's probably Austria."

He knew very well that in history Austria had never shown mercy when invading Polish territory.

"If the Papal States gave up supporting Poland because of Austria, then everything would make sense."

The Papal States has territorial disputes with almost all the neighboring Italian countries - this is not the era of Pippin. Although Sardinia, Tuscany, and the Two Sicilies are all Catholic countries, they also firmly demand that the Pope return their respective territories.

(End of this chapter)