#862 - Expanding the backyard

The surroundings fell silent instantly, with only the distant barking of hunting dogs echoing through the hunting grounds.

The high-ranking officials from various countries stared wide-eyed at the Crown Prince of France, their hearts filled with shock, panic, and a hint of anticipation.

Revenge against the Holy See?

This was no trivial matter!

Although the current Holy See was far from its power of centuries past, no longer able to command Europe, an attack on the Papal States could very well prompt the major Catholic powers of Europe to use it as an excuse to send troops to the Apennine Peninsula!

Thinking of this, the crowd couldn't help but glance sideways at the Count of Floridablanca.

After all, Spain was one of the three biggest supports of the Holy See at the moment.

Joseph also turned to the Spanish Chief Minister at the opportune moment, saying solemnly, "Count of Floridablanca, what do you say?"

The latter did not seem surprised.

The Crown Prince of France had already reached a consensus with him on this matter, and Carlos IV had already approved the plan to dismantle the Papal States, with only one requirement: Spain must not get involved.

Of course, this was also the unanimous opinion of the secular faction within Spain. In the past few decades, the secular faction's numerous attempts at reform had yielded little due to the obstruction of the Church.

Moreover, if the power of the Church could be weakened, the secular ministers would also gain greater power.

At this moment in Spain, Campos had already begun to arrange for checks and balances against the Church's power. As long as there was a problem with the Roman Curia, he would dare to launch a "coup" against the Church!

The Count of Floridablanca made the sign of the cross on his chest and turned to look elsewhere: "The authenticity of the Donation of Constantine is indeed questionable, and a proper 'adjustment' of the Papal States may be necessary."

The "Donation of Constantine" he referred to was a fabricated document created by the Roman Curia after Pepin the Short conquered a large area of Italian land and gave it to the Holy See. The document falsely claimed that in the fourth century, the Roman Emperor Constantine had granted central Italy to the Holy See.

In the era when the Holy See was at its zenith, the Italian states knew that this thing was fake, but they could only grit their teeth and endure it.

Now, however, Spain was taking the lead in questioning the "Donation of Constantine," and its attitude was already very clear.

The eyes of the Italian states' high-ranking officials began to light up.

The Roman Curia had three pillars: France, Spain, and Austria. Now France was calling for action against the Papal States, Spain was at least tacitly approving, and Austria was about to be driven out of the Apennine Peninsula.

Historically, Naples had repeatedly fought wars with the northern Italian states such as Milan in order to unify Italy.

And what separated them from northern Italy was the Papal States.

If the Papal States were attacked, Naples would certainly not sit idly by.

The Governor of Genoa added, "And Tuscany's military strength is not weak either..."

Joseph had long anticipated this situation.

Among these small countries, only Sardinia had some combat power. It would be a bit difficult for them to take on the Papal States and Tuscany with just these 6 countries.

Moreover, even if they could really take them down, they would not be able to hold them.

He immediately waved his hand and said:

"This is the meaning of the existence of the Mediterranean Security Organization. I propose that the Security Organization activate the protection clause to prevent Modena and Parma from being threatened by Austria's accomplices!

"At the same time, France promises that all the land occupied by the Papal States will be returned to the Italian states."

The high-ranking officials of the Italian countries were immediately excited and looked at each other.

They knew that the military action against the Papal States and Tuscany would be mainly led by France, so most of the benefits would definitely go to France, and they would be lucky to get a little soup.

But at this time, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that France would not participate in the division of Italian interests.

Then the entire Papal States and Tuscany would be divided by these 6 Italian states! And France and Spain would stand up for them!

This was simply a good thing that they would never have dared to dream of before.

You must know that the Papal States and Tuscany combined are almost close to the total area of their 6 countries.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Modena no longer hesitated and bowed to Joseph: "Your Highness, Modena will send 3,000 soldiers from the Royal Guard to carry out the Security Organization's resolution."

The other countries also expressed that they would send troops together, each with a more resolute attitude than the last - with French troops backing them up, sending troops was completely free, and anyone who was not active was simply a fool.

At this moment, the representatives of the countries deeply felt in their hearts that joining the Mediterranean Security Organization was an extremely correct decision.

Of course, Joseph was not doing this to be a nice guy.

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Central Italy is far away from France and has no basis for rule at all, so it is better to give it to the "little brothers" to enhance the cohesion of the Security Organization.

Moreover, France would definitely have the final say on how to distribute the territory after the Papal States and Tuscany were taken down.

At this time, it would depend on which of the little brothers was more obedient.

The countries that closely followed France would get more and better land.

This could greatly enhance France's control over its "backyard."

It could even leave some ambiguous areas, so that if any "little brother" had other ideas in the future, it could use these unclearly divided territories as a handle to severely beat the "two-faced traitors."

At the same time, under the attack of the Security Organization's coalition forces, the Holy See could only bow its head to France, and then it could launch the plan for the Holy See to return to Avignon.

Mastering the Holy See would greatly enhance France's say in Europe and its ability to influence public opinion.

Moreover, this was also a powerful weapon for Joseph to launch domestic religious reforms.

Don't think that the French Church has nothing to do with the Holy See, but when you really want to move the Church's interests, they will immediately collude together.

The Church still has a huge influence in France and occupies a huge amount of wealth. A rash reform is likely to lead to social unrest.

But if there is a card of the Holy See, Joseph can immediately use more methods.

As for Tuscany, it was entirely to weaken Austria and expand its own "backyard."

In fact, according to Joseph's plan, Tuscany could be left behind.

Of course, the area would be much smaller than it is now, and the king would never be a Habsburg again.