I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 878 Let me show you how advanced Europe is!
In the town of Cosimode, north of the port of Civitavecchia, a line of richly decorated carriages passed through the road outside the town, galloping from north to south.

Hearing the sound of horse hooves and wheels, the previously silent sides of the road suddenly came alive, and hundreds of pale, thin, ragged disaster victims suddenly recovered from their semi-dead state of silence.

They supported each other and walked to the roadside, some kneeling or sitting, stretching out their hands, wailing: "Honorable sir, please save us!"

They were all refugees from the neighborhood.

Italy is now divided into pieces. Countries such as France, Germany, Austria, and Spain have to show their presence in Italy from time to time and send troops to fight battles here.

There is even a rule that after being selected as a candidate for the Holy Roman Emperor, he must march to Rome and be crowned by the Pope before he can officially become the emperor.

March, listen to this word.

Can the soldiers under their command behave themselves and not cause any harm along the way?

In addition, the city-states within Italy are controlled by major families.

The Medici family controlled Florence; the Mocenigo, Vinier, and Grimani families controlled Venice; then Spain controlled Naples, Austria controlled Dalmatia and other places, and Spain and France fought for Milan and Genoa.
And there is the big troublemaker, the Vatican!

If Italy didn't fight a few wars every year, with thousands of casualties, it would feel like that year had been wasted.

Where there is war, there are refugees.

The major city-states did not need these people because they had not started the Industrial Revolution like the Ming Dynasty. These Italian city-states were still in the handicraft stage. Craftsmen were valuable assets, but ordinary civilians without any skills were a burden.

The refugees saw from afar a red shield with two crossed keys, one golden and one silver, and a triple crown above the keys.

Oh my God, it's the Pope's coat of arms!
His Holiness the Pope is coming!

He is the representative of Almighty God on earth, possessing supreme mercy and will surely save us.

The refugees' eyes were full of hope as they stretched out their hands toward the carriage, eager to be bathed in the light of the Lord immediately.

This is also the reason why they tried their best to come here. This place is close to the Vatican, and naturally close to God, so they will definitely be saved.

The carriage did not slow down, rumbling past quickly, raising dust like mist, glittering in the sun, slowly falling and covering the refugees.

The refugees had dust in their mouths and looked at each other in disbelief!

Is this the glory of the Lord?
Grant us a mouthful of soil?
The carriage drove quickly into the town and arrived at a church called Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore.

This place is very close to the Vatican. According to the Ming Dynasty, this is the foot of the emperor of Duizhou, so this church is a direct property of the Vatican and is built magnificently and luxuriously.

The carriage stopped and Pope Gregory XIII and six cardinals walked out one after another.

Gregory XIII wore a white robe embroidered with gold edges, a crimson half-cloak over his upper body, and a crimson round hat on his head.

The six cardinals wore red robes and round hats.

They all had a rosary around their necks, with a large cross hanging at the bottom.

The priest of the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore and several priests were standing at the door early in the morning. They held Gregory XIII's outstretched left hand with great trepidation and kissed the ruby ​​ring on it.

Gregory XIII was the first to walk into the church and went straight to the quiet room at the back, where he took the first seat in the middle.

The six cardinals sat down on both sides in turn.

The priest of the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore had someone bring some fine Ming Dynasty tea, placed it in front of the seven people, bowed, and left tactfully.

As the door of the quiet room was closed, the room became very quiet.

Gregory XIII asked, "Vitali, are you ready?"

Cardinal Vitali replied, "Your Highness, I am ready."

Gregory XIII said nothing, but gave Vitali a look, indicating that he should explain the situation in detail.

“Your Highness, we have summoned mathematicians and astronomers from the Florence, Bologna, and Gonzalezia Seminaries, a total of twenty-six people.

Currently gathering at the Civitavecchia Port Town Hall.

The news spread to Italy, German city-states, France and Spain, and many scholars rushed to the port of Civitavecchia to participate in the debate.

Gregory XIII finally showed a smile on his majestic face, "Okay."

Another cardinal spoke up and said, “Your Highness, is it necessary to hold this debate?”

Gregory XIII closed his eyes slightly and said, "Spain is not doing its job, so we have to do it ourselves."

The six cardinals looked at each other.

Vitali, the Pope's confidant, explained: "King Felipe wrote two letters to Your Highness, repeatedly explaining why Spain could not take action against the pagans of the Ming Dynasty."

A cardinal suddenly asked, "What's the reason?"

Vitali glanced at Gregory XIII.

His wrinkled face looked so gloomy that water seemed to drip out of it.

With his eyes closed and leaning back in his chair, it was impossible to see what emotions were hidden in his cloudy eyes.

Vitali lowered his head and remained silent.

A cardinal next to him said: "King Felipe has many difficulties too."

“What’s the difficulty?
Isn't his invincible fleet known as the best in the world? Can't he even defeat a few Ming warships?"

"The Ming warships are strong and powerful, and they are not easy to deal with. Portugal has suffered great losses in India and Africa, and Spain in the Philippines and the New World."

"A few days ago, off the coast of Galis, the Spanish sent out a fleet of privateers to test the Ming warships. As everyone can see, they were defeated quickly and miserably."

Gregory XIII finally opened his eyes and said slowly: "Those stupid and greedy guys in the Spanish Navy don't know how to win the battle, but they know very well whether they will lose.

The Spanish Armada suffered heavy losses. Who will stop the attack of the Ottoman Mediterranean Fleet for us? There are also North African pirates. In recent years, they have plundered millions of people in the coastal areas of the Christian world and sold them to Saracens* as slaves.

These Christians pray to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. As the Pope, I must protect them.

How to provide protection without the Spanish Armada?

In France, the Low Countries, Germany, Britain and Northern Europe, Protestantism is becoming more and more rampant. Without the Spanish Armada, how can we suppress these heretics? "The room was silent for a while, and a cardinal said quietly: "Heretics are more hateful than pagans!"

The other cardinals nodded and echoed.

"That's right! Pagans can be converted, but heretics can only be sent directly to the stake."

"Your Highness and King Felipe are right. We cannot push the Ming people to the Ottoman side, let alone to the damned heretics."

"The Ming people have strong ships and powerful guns, and they are still very capable of fighting. We really can't push them to the enemy side."

Seeing that Gregory XIII had made the cardinals present reach a consensus with just a few words, Vitali continued the topic.

“Although the Ming people had strong ships and powerful guns, their understanding of the world was extremely backward.

Missionaries who have lived in the Ming Dynasty all said that the people of the Ming Dynasty believed that the world was a piece of land floating on the endless sea, carried by four giant turtles.

The sky is supported by the stone pillars of the mountains surrounding the land. According to their legend, in ancient times a god broke a stone pillar, and as a result, half of the sky collapsed."

The faces of several cardinals were full of pride and sarcasm.

"These pagans, not basking in the glory of the Lord, have become so ignorant!"

"Such an absurd and uninhibited view of the world shows that their understanding of the universe and the world is extremely ignorant."

"Yes, you can imagine how shocked the Ming people would be when those knowledgeable astronomers from our seminary showed them the theory of the earth moving in the sky."

The cardinal was so proud and excited that he couldn't help but make the sign of the cross on his chest.

Another cardinal immediately said, “I really hope that after these pagans see the truth of how God created the universe, they will suddenly become enlightened and convert to the embrace of our religion.”

"Yes, the Lord is extremely merciful. Only by bathing in the glory of the Lord can the sinners of the world be redeemed."

Yeah!
If all the people of the Ming Dynasty believed in God and converted to Christianity, they would obediently pay money to buy indulgences.

It is said that they number over 100 million, more than the entire Europe.

Oh my God, we are going to be rich!

Gregory XIII asked, "When will the Ming envoys arrive?"

"Your Highness, they set out from Lisbon and made friendly visits to ports along the way, including Seville, Cadiz, Ceuta, Malaga, Valencia, Palma, Barcelona, ​​Marseille, and Genoa. They stayed at each port for three or four days to communicate with local merchants and scholars.
Vitali glanced at Gregory XIII and continued, "According to the spies we sent, the Ming ship planned to leave Genoa the day before yesterday and will arrive at the port of Civitavecchia at noon today."

"Okay, Vitali, Tribuno." Gregory XIII pointed to the two cardinals and said, "On behalf of me and the College of Cardinals, you two will go to Civitavecchia to welcome the Ming Dynasty envoys and take them to the City Hall."

"Yes."

Gregory XIII left first, followed by the other four cardinals.

Two cardinals were talking in low voices.

"Will this work?"

"What do you think?"

"Haha, the Ming people created such tall and sturdy sailing ships, with so many powerful cannons, and they were able to sail smoothly all the way to the New World and here. Do you think they are really so ignorant?
A whole piece of land, surrounded by the sea, floating on four turtles, and supported by high mountain stone pillars in the sky. Can the Ming people who believe in such nonsense create things that scare us?"

"But we and our Pope have to do something. Portugal and Spain can pretend nothing happened and continue to have normal dealings with the Ming Dynasty.

But we, our Pope, cannot pretend that nothing happened. The secular world can be snobbish, but theocracy must always pretend. "

"Don't show your face, show your butt. Then the Vatican and our Pope will become the laughing stock of the whole world."

"He's become a laughing stock, isn't that good?"

"quack!"

At noon, when the sun was high in the sky, the dock of Civitavecchia Port was crowded with thousands of people.

The Yunyang and Koi of the Ming escort fleet slowly approached the shore.

"Wow! These pagan ships are really big!"

"Look at the gun ports on both sides of the ship. They are so densely packed. How many guns are there?"

"If they fired at the port of Civitavecchia, I can't imagine it."

"It was a disaster, a huge disaster."

"Look, the Ming people still have several ships in the open sea, all of which are that big."

"Why don't they all stop in?"

“They’re really cautious.”

In the crowd, there were several young men wearing linen robes and cloaks, looking up at the Ming Dynasty ships at the dock.

"Bruno, do the Ming people really have more advanced science and philosophy?"

"Yes, I have a good friend whose two cousins ​​and one cousin were sailors on Portuguese merchant ships and had been to Ming. One of his cousins ​​and the cousin became naturalized residents.

The cousin who came back said that the science and technology of the Ming people were terribly advanced, and their understanding of the world and the universe was extremely novel. It was said that they talked about materialism and were a group of atheists. "

hiss--!
My companions took a few breaths of cold air.

Are there still atheists in this world?
One of his companions trembled and said, "They are so bold."

"They were pagans to begin with."

“But the Vatican says they are ignorant”

"You believe what the Vatican says, but you don't know who is truly ignorant."

Suddenly, the crowd at the dock cheered loudly.

What happened?
(End of this chapter)