#857 - Iberian Apennines Summit
Count Floridablanca was immediately alarmed, his voice even trembling slightly:
"You... you mean to say, regarding the Holy See..."
He didn't even dare to say the last word.
For someone like him, who had grown up under the influence of the church, reducing the Holy See's control over Spain was already the best-case scenario. He never imagined that the French Crown Prince would be so bold!
This was simply blasphemy, utter rebellion...
Joseph patted him on the shoulder to reassure him: "Don't be nervous, I don't intend to do anything to the Holy See, but simply to restore it to its original state."
"Its original state?"
"Exactly." Joseph nodded, "The Holy See should be the representative of God in the world, wholeheartedly serving the Lord, rather than wasting its energy on managing taxes, bureaucracy, and territories like a secular monarch.
"You know, the Holy See originally had no territory, and even the city of Rome should not belong to the Holy See.
"As clergy, they only need a church and their devout souls.
"However, worldly desires have controlled those less pure priests. They have greedily occupied large tracts of land such as Lazio, Umbria, Marche, Abruzzo, and extended their power-hungry hands to various European countries."
He took a deep breath: "Therefore, the original state of the Holy See should be to stay in the Vatican and sincerely serve the Lord."
Count Floridablanca didn't dare to respond, but he quickly imagined the situation described by the French Crown Prince in his mind—without the Papal States as a foundation, the Holy See, shrunk back to the Vatican, would indeed no longer be able to interfere with the Spanish church. At that time, His Majesty the King only needed to issue an edict to completely reform the church.
In fact, Joseph had one last thing he didn't say, which was—to return the Holy See to Avignon, without even leaving the Vatican for them.
Then, France could arbitrarily beat the Pope like in the era of Philip IV, and even "coerce the princes with the Holy See."
Joseph glanced at the Spanish Chief Minister, who was breaking out in a cold sweat, and smiled:
"You see, I said this was a gift I wanted to give to Spain, so you don't need to do anything."
He pointed his nose at the people from the Italian states outside the hall:
"They very much hope that the Holy See can wholeheartedly serve the Lord. And Spain only needs to remain silent at a certain time."
He said it seemed simple, but it was already commendable that Spain could suppress the domestic church forces and not aid the Roman Curia.
Joseph's words today were to prepare Carlos IV in advance.
Two days later, still in this hall, the Iberian-Apennine Summit officially opened.
The name of this summit did not seem to mention France, but the inner meaning was: the Iberian Peninsula (Spain) in the west and the Apennine Peninsula (Italian states) in the east were connected by France, operating synchronously with France as the central axis.
After a series of tedious diplomatic rituals, representatives from various countries sat around the oval conference table, and Joseph, at the head of the table, began the main topic of the meeting:
"Today, all the countries here are connected by deep friendship with each other.
"And how can we maximize the effectiveness of this friendship and bring us more benefits?
"I believe everyone must already have the answer.
"We will establish an internal tariff mechanism to block foreign goods from entering the common market.
"In such a large market, any goods produced by everyone can easily find a sales channel, and no matter how many goods can be 'eaten' by buyers.
"And every country here will have this huge market!"
Representatives from Spain, Sardinia, Genoa, and other countries immediately had their eyes light up. What were European countries desperately trying to grab overseas colonies for? Mainly for the colonial market!
If a huge market spanning the Mediterranean Sea could be built, what colonies would they need?
What overseas colonies are richer and have stronger purchasing power than European countries?
This was simply a dream come true!
However, Prince Ludovico of Parma cautiously stood up and looked nervously at Joseph:
"Your Royal Highness, as you said, a huge market will bring us rich returns, but you know, without tariff protection, many of our workshops will close down, and even... cheap wheat from North Africa will lead to the bankruptcy of farmers."
Joseph nodded and said, "You probably misunderstood. I don't mean that all member states of the common market should abolish tariffs. Everyone can propose industries that need protection at any time and set tariff rates under the coordination of the Market Arbitration Committee.
"Just ensure a unified high tariff on countries outside the common market."
The "Iberian-Apennine Common Market" and the "Seine-Rhine Trade Agreement" are completely different.
The latter is dominated by countries in the German region, and the right to speak is in the hands of Austria, so France's goal is to earn as much as possible.
The former is led by France and belongs to its own backyard, so it must consider sustainable development and whether member states have grievances.
So, Joseph copied the WTO model of later generations.
Tariffs can be discussed by everyone, and the tax rate can be appealed and adjusted if necessary.
Trade disputes are resolved by arbitration institutions, and efforts are made to ensure that the balance of payments of each country does not experience serious imbalances.
Ludovico breathed a sigh of relief and slowly sat back in his chair.
Joseph gestured to the documents that had already been placed beside everyone: "These are some rules and clauses of the common market, you can take a look.
"Let me talk about some of the more important ones—the principle of equality among member states. For example, preferential conditions granted to a certain member state will automatically extend to all members.
"The principle of consistency of laws and regulations. Imported goods will be consistent with domestic goods in terms of taxation and regulations...
"The principle of fair competition. It is forbidden to maliciously dump goods, and it is forbidden to use unfair competition methods such as slander and deception...
"The principle of unified patents...
"The principle of specific protection...
"And the most core one, the dispute arbitration institution.
"All member states will elect members of the arbitration committee to handle trade disputes and other disputes. No country shall retaliate trade by means other than arbitration..."
The representatives of the countries in the hall were already surprised and opened their mouths wide.
When have they ever seen such a scientific, detailed, and standardized trade system? The lines between the lines of these clauses reveal fairness and justice, which fills them with a strong sense of security.
