Chapter 701 Transaction

Chapter 702 Transaction

Papal States.

Rome.

The black carriage rolled over the muddy road, splashing large amounts of sewage and messing up the exquisite red pants of the guards on both sides.

In the carriage, Austrian State Minister Baron Thugut folded the secret letter he had just received before departure and put it back into the envelope.

Baron Walter, who was sitting opposite, looked at his frown, picked up the nuts on the table and threw them into his mouth, and said casually: "It seems that Your Majesty still hasn't been able to get the silver mine?"

Thugut didn't want to talk to this idiot, but he didn't want to offend the royal family, so he nodded and said:

"General Wurmser lost a battalion ten days ago. He requested reinforcements and heavy artillery to be transported to him. You know, his soldiers are very lazy..."

After all the miners were transferred to the mountains, they fought hard to delay the Austrian invasion for 8 days, and finally waited for the reinforcements sent by Warsaw.

The five regiments of soldiers greatly improved the situation in Krakow, and even used the familiar terrain to recapture the town of Chebinia. Although they failed to hold it later, it dealt a heavy blow to Wurmser.

Nearly two months after the Austrian army entered Krakow, they were still fighting over a small town, and the Holy Roman Emperor finally couldn't sit still.

Wurmser attributed the poor situation to low morale, and the biggest factor affecting morale was the damn rumor that "the Pope called for a holy war."

So, after repeated discussions, Francis II and his ministers finally finalized a solution.

And Thugut came to Rome as the emperor's special envoy to implement this plan. And Walter had to go with him in order to take credit.

"The Pope will definitely not be able to resist the huge temptation, and then the lie will be shattered," Walter made an exploding gesture and said proudly, "The poor Poles gave up Krakow. You and I accept His Majesty's commendation, it's that simple."

"I hope it will go as smoothly as you said." Turgut looked out the window with a complicated expression.

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

Turgut walked out of St. Peter's Basilica with a solemn expression.

Walter, who was waiting in the corridor, hurried over and asked, "How is it? When will the Pope go to Vienna?"

Turgut frowned and shook his head: "His Majesty the Pope rejected our proposal."

"How is this possible?!" Walter stared and screamed, "All the archbishops in our country are nominated by the Holy See and protect the absolute integrity of the Papal States, and he only needs to go to Vienna to say a few words. He actually refused such a good thing!"

No wonder he was so surprised, the conditions proposed by Franz II this time were indeed generous.

During the reign of Joseph II, Austria had begun to learn from France to cut ties with the Roman Catholic Church, and the archbishops of important dioceses in the country no longer accepted the appointment of the Holy See. This has greatly reduced the influence of the Holy See.

In addition, although the Holy See has a huge influence in Europe, the Papal States has territorial disputes with almost all the surrounding countries - the territories of the Papal States were basically taken from them during the era of Pepin and Charles.

And because the Papal States has few troops, even a small country like Modena can threaten it.

The Italian countries have always lacked an excuse, otherwise they would immediately go to war with the Papal States.

Historically, after the Emperor provided this excuse, the Papal States were quickly divided by the Italians, leaving only a small city of Rome.

So the Holy See has always lacked a sense of security, but no major country promised to protect it -

France is eager for the Roman Catholic Church to die quickly. Avignon can become the leader of the Catholic world.

Spain is powerless, and its close relative, the Two Sicilies, has huge territorial claims on the Papal States.

Austria was also undergoing religious reforms before, trying to get rid of the influence of the Holy See as much as possible.

And this time, all Francis II wanted was for the Pope to go to Vienna and publicly deny the rumor that he had called for a "new crusade".

It can be predicted that as long as the Pope personally dispels the rumor, the soldiers invading Poland will no longer bear a huge mental burden and their morale will be restored immediately.

At the same time, the morale of the Poles will decline as a result.

With the increase and decrease of one side, the battle of Krakow will soon end.

However, the Pope rejected the Austrian deal.

There is no other reason, because the "New Crusade" designed by Joseph was originally an unsolvable conspiracy.

Now, Poland and Russia are in a national war, and under Mesmer's "deception", everyone regards it as a collision between Catholicism and Orthodoxy.

If the Pope says "there is no Crusade" at this time, it means that he has admitted defeat to Orthodoxy, which is equivalent to throwing the face of the Holy See on the ground and stepping on it a few times.

The Roman Catholic Church, which has been declining, is likely to be completely devastated by this incident.

Especially Pius VI himself, he will bear all the responsibility.

He can't afford to gamble.

Three days later, Thugut met with Pius VI again, but still failed to convince the latter.

Baron Turgut was desperate and had to prepare to return to Vienna.

That night, Walter mysteriously took him to a cafe.

In the VIP room, a hooded man was already waiting there.

Seeing the Austrian Minister of State coming, he immediately stood up and said, "We meet here under the arrangement of God, your Excellency the Baron."

When he lifted his hood, Turgut was stunned: "Archbishop Muzarelli?"

Muzarelli is one of the most powerful cardinals in the Vatican, in charge of the Vatican Secretariat and has a great say in the Vatican's finances.

Muzarelli politely asked Tugut to sit down and said straight to the point: "I heard that His Majesty the Emperor has some small troubles to solve?"

Tugut immediately turned his head and looked at Baron Walter. This guy actually told other people about such a confidential matter!

Muzarelli smiled and said: "Excuse me, Baron Walter was right to mention this to me."

Tugut turned back and said calmly: "So, you asked me to come here for this matter?"

"Indeed." Muzarelli folded his hands and smiled, "Only I can help His Majesty the Emperor with this matter."

"Oh? What are you going to do?"

"I often contact dignitaries from various countries as the Pope's special envoy. In other words, I can speak for the Pope."

...

Minsk, eastern Poland.

The front line of the Polish-Russian War.

An inconspicuous carriage slowly drove into the Russian-controlled area along the village road accompanied by the sound of artillery in the distance. Immediately, several Russian soldiers pointed their guns at this place. One of them shouted in Polish: "Stop! What are you doing?"

The Polish king's secretary Spione Piatori got off the car and said to the highest-ranking Russian officer: "I am the king's secretary. I have something very important to do and need to see General Korezhnikoff immediately."

An hour later, in the command post of the Russian Lithuanian Front, Korezhnikoff looked at Piatori in shock: "You mean... His Majesty the King wants to surrender?"