Chapter 116 Heart of the Storm (IV)
Alexander VI
Leshet's army rushed all the way to Dudlais, the capital of Calais. This process was not easy, but it was not as difficult as a normal war. After all, he had the noble Duke François as a guide. Many nobles preferred the duke, who was in his prime and emotionally stable. Although they cunningly did not raise the blue lion flag in front of him, they intentionally or unintentionally slowed down Leshet's progress and allowed the Knights Templar to speed up their advance.
As for those diehards who were loyal to the little emperor, they guarded some important choke points. Most of the losses and delays of Leshet were due to the resistance of these people. It must be said that although the little emperor was cruel and moody and looked like a lunatic, he also inherited outstanding talents buried deep in his sinful blood. Even if he was not there, the royalists would still bite the tail of the Knights Templar and continue to cause trouble for them.
The royalists were waiting desperately for the emperor to return. They firmly believed that as long as the emperor came back, those fence-sitters and nobles who had ambiguous attitudes in private would crawl in front of the emperor's horse's hooves like pugs.
Their idea was correct. If Francis IV were here, those nobles would never dare to have any second thoughts. They were terribly afraid of the little emperor. That fear was like a lingering ghost that forced them to be unable to sleep well every day. They would not have the courage to rebel, but they would not hesitate to secretly support the little emperor's uncle. But if the little emperor came back at this moment, they would definitely rush to him to show their loyalty.
However, the royalists' expectations were destined to be dashed.
Raphael tried every possible means to get the little emperor to leave Calais and go to Assyria in person - although there were some errors in the process, it was just to give Leshet and Duke François the opportunity to take advantage of the situation. How could he let the little emperor return to Calais at this critical juncture?
In order to completely block Francis IV and his army in Assyria, Raphael became ruthless and ordered his men to do everything they could to hollow out and sink all the ships in the port that could cross the Black Sea into the harbor. All the ships of the Vatican returned to the Papal States. The entire Black Sea was cleared by force. Not a single sail could be seen on the sea, and the harbor was filled with densely packed sunken ships.
If Francis IV wanted to leave Assyria, unless he built a large ship that could cross the Black Sea or used a small dinghy to row through the storm, he would have to stay in Assyria and fight Raphael to the death.
Otherwise, he would take his army and spend a year heading north across the mountains and primeval forests, across the border between two continents and Rome, to fight the well-rested Leshet - and by that time, Calais would have already had a new owner.
Of course, the consequence of this extreme approach was that the Pope himself could not leave Assyria and could only wait until the chaos was completely over and a clear winner was decided. Only then could the winner return to the land of the Syracuse Peninsula with the crown and glory.
Without the worry of someone stabbing him from behind at any time, Leshet's progress became more and more smooth. Four months later, Duke François stepped into the gate of Dudley again. The gentry and people on both sides of the street bowed deeply and lowered their heads to greet him with the etiquette of a monarch.
He had once been beaten out of here like a desperate dog and fled to the Papal States alone, but things were so unpredictable, and this time it was his turn to return here in a swagger.
The Duke smiled triumphantly.
He did not forget his allies. Before stepping onto the golden carriage prepared by the nobles, he held the door frame with one hand and said to Leshert on horseback: "I hope to invite Your Majesty to come and crown me at my coronation. If I can get this opportunity, I will be very grateful."
News from the Papal States would not be revealed to him, so he did not know that in order to implicate his nephew in Assyria, the Pope had single-handedly severed ties between Assyria and Calais, making the transmission of news extremely difficult.
Of course, Lesherte would not tell him about this. The Knight Commander looked forward. The reputation of the Knights Templar resounded throughout the Syracuse Peninsula after several months of fighting. The devout believers looked at the army wearing silver armor and white cloaks, holding the lily flag of the Church, and closed their eyes and murmured prayers. The Knight Commander undoubtedly received the most cheers. He closed the door of the carriage for the Duke with one hand and said calmly, "I will convey your invitation to His Majesty."
The Duke's invitation and Leshet's letter were sent to Florence, and then flew to Assyria. Due to the Pope's maritime ban and the numerous shipwrecks near the coast, the Papal States' large ships could only stay far offshore after crossing the Black Sea and could not move forward. Instead, they lowered the small boats, and the messengers rowed to the shore themselves. Of course, in order to prevent wind and waves and accidents from causing the destruction of the ship and the death of people, they lowered three small boats and three messengers.
The Pope sent a letter back to Florence in the same manner, and His Majesty's reply was very concise: let Julius perform the coronation ceremony on his behalf.
This is actually not quite appropriate. Although Julius is the Secretary General of the Papal States and is actually the number one person after the Pope, that is because the Pope himself is extremely powerful and the Secretary General is very strong, which has led to this situation. In fact, Julius himself does not even have a church position, and he cannot exercise the authority of the Pope.
But for the same reason, once the Pope gave an order, who would dare to raise any objections?
After the Knights Templar swaggered into the gates of Dudley, the reputation of Saint Sistine I had become like the papal monarch who controlled the entire Syracuse hundreds of years ago, and became a real existence that could shake the power of the continent.
His power comes from himself, not the Holy Lord, so the words he speaks have unparalleled power.
Half a month after receiving the Pope's letter, Julius rushed to Calais with a group of Vatican officials.
According to tradition, the court painter will follow the whole process
, and painted a portrait of the emperor's coronation, which was hung in the royal studio. The new emperor chose an ancient crown for himself as a coronation crown. This crown was cleaned and refurbished, replacing some of the too decayed pearls and velvet padding, and was sent to Julius, who was carried by the Pope's envoy to crown the emperor.
Julius was sitting behind the curtain by the oriel window reading a book. Not far from him, on a high stool was the glittering crown. The golden base and the crown made up of a large number of diamonds looked like a burning torch under the light. No one could resist this symbol of pure wealth and power, but Julius was a little absent-minded about it.
His eyes passed over the crown without stopping, immersed in his own thoughts.
As the Secretary General of the Papal States and the head of the Portia family, there are many complicated things that he needs to think about. Every day is occupied by a large number of affairs, and he has very little time for himself. Of course, Julius is not a person who complains. He is an invisible control freak with a strong desire for control. He is not afraid of too many things, but is afraid of having nothing to do. But occasionally, he will quietly think about other things, such as Raphael, and their twisted and secret relationship.
His rose became a huge tree in the wilderness that blocked out the sun. He needed to look up high to touch the soft branches and leaves, to find the bright stamens in the cold green. He needed to watch the wind, frost, rain and snow hitting the tree, but he couldn't just reach out and shield it from all the wind and rain. He needed to watch the other vines and flowers surround it, rely on it, and even own it and share it.
Julius admitted that he was jealous of Ferrante to the point of madness, and if possible, he would not hesitate to inflict all kinds of torture on Ferrante in order to calm his twisted heart.
Whenever he thought that in faraway Assyria, Raphael might be lying in Ferrante's arms, they might be hugging and kissing, Ferrante's hand stroking Raphael's long golden hair, they were looking at each other and smiling... Julius hated it so much that he wanted to bite his teeth to pieces.
People always say that women are jealous, but that's because the men who control the power of speech like to create an image of themselves as broad-minded and not fussy, so they never say that in fact, men are much more terrifying than women when they are jealous.
The coronation ceremony began with a horn sound in the early morning.
The side door of the palace opened, and the chief attendant in black held the horn and pointed to the north - that was the birthplace of the first monarch of Calais. The dull and penetrating sound of the horn blew away the morning mist. After three long trumpets, the palace gate opened, and the knights on horseback filed out in two columns. They wore the traditional high-brimmed hats of Calais with long black feathers on the back. Following the cavalry was the foot guard of honor. They held their heads high and chests out, holding flintlock rifles in their hands. As the emperor's personal guards, they stomped the ground hard with proud marching steps.
Surrounded in the middle by them was the emperor's carriage. This golden carriage, which had been inherited by the royal family for hundreds of years, was five meters long. The arched carriage was made of hundreds of kilograms of gold and gems, and scarlet velvet curtains draped luxuriously. The emperor sitting in it had a reserved smile on his face, and occasionally raised his hand to wave to the people on both sides.
As emissaries of the Holy See, Leschert and his knights also became part of this political show. The Grand Master himself was not interested in this, nor did he want to become a stepping stone for the new emperor to consolidate his rule, but the Secretary General coldly rejected his objection. The presence of the Knights Templar at the emperor's coronation was not only beneficial to the emperor himself, it was also a great opportunity to promote the authority of the Holy See and the Pope himself.
Leshert followed the emperor's guard of honor without any emotion, politely returning the greetings of the believers who bowed to him.
The gilded wood, marble, mirrors, satin and velvet in the Coronation Church... everything was polished to a shine, and passers-by could even smell the perfectly smoked fragrance from the velvet curtains that were brushed in the same direction.
Julius sat in the first row of the viewing stand, which was the best position because he was also responsible for conferring the crown on the emperor. Calais had never declared independence from the rule of the Holy See, but the fact was that eight emperors had been crowned in Calais without the approval of the Pope. The loss of the right to coronation was undoubtedly ironclad evidence of the decline of the Holy See, and today, Saint Sistine I was taking it all back.
The coronation process was long and boring. The Grand Chancellor announced the emperor's name and title, the emperor took the oath... As the process went on, everyone watched with excitement and excitement. Only Julius found it boring. He waited calmly, and at the right time, he stepped forward, held up the crown - this thing looked very beautiful, and was also heavy in line with its value - and gently placed the crown lined with sheepskin on François' head, then turned to face the guests.
"In the name of the Holy Lord and the Holy Father, please allow me to declare that this is the King of Calais, the Emperor who inherits the will and glory of his ancestors, His Majesty Alexander VI!"
The guests stood up and bowed to the newly crowned monarch on the throne. The dark crowd was silent. They bowed, then stood up and shouted "God bless your majesty!" three times in a row under the leadership of the etiquette officer.
The full name of the new emperor was François Alexandre de Gallé. According to custom, he should have been ranked as the emperor's title "François", but the embarrassing thing was that his nephew had the same name as him, so he would become "Francois V", which sounded like the son of Francis IV. In short, this uncle who brazenly usurped the throne was not happy to be a head shorter than his nephew for no reason, so he chose "Alexander" as his title. This little episode made many nobles smile tacitly.
What followed was a parade and a meeting, but Julius did not care and got away early. He was about to return to the Papal States. Raphael spent a lot of money and used the Knights Templar, which he had trained for a long time, to help Alexander VI seize power. It was not a good thing. The emperor promised to convert to the Vatican again, and return all the churches in Calais that originally belonged to the Vatican to the Vatican, allowing the Vatican to send people to move in and restore the parish planning of hundreds of years ago.
Considering the vast territory of Calais, this is equivalent to tearing off a large piece of flesh from Alexander VI. The benefits are so fertile that no one can take it lightly. Even Julius, who controls the Bank of Portia, couldn't help but be tempted by it, let alone others?
Such huge profits are pouring back into the Vatican, and how to divide them is a big problem.
Julius needs to return to Florence as soon as possible to discuss the planning of the Calais Diocese. This vast land is enough to support two more cardinals, and they are powerful cardinals with land, dioceses, and believers. This is a big challenge for the Pope, and he must have someone who is trustworthy enough to take over.
Not only Julius was troubled by this, everyone had already set their sights on the fertile land of Calais. On the evening of the day when Julius returned to Florence, the elders of the Portia family, who had been silent for a long time, could no longer hold back and held a family meeting.
Julius, who lacked sleep, sat at the head of the table with a blank expression on his face, looking at the people on both sides of the long table with emotionless eyes.
The elders of Portia had a very clear meaning. Calais could be divided into at least eight archdioceses, so there would be eight archbishops. The Portia family needed at least five seats and two cardinals.
Julius could only promise three archbishops. As for the cardinals, he did not think it was appropriate for the Portia family to add another cardinal at this time - this would bring great mental pressure to the Holy See, which was already a little overwhelmed by Saint Sistine I.
In just fifty years, the Portia family has produced two popes. Looking at history, this is not a special statistic. There have been four or five popes among the old Florentine nobles. This is not a big deal. The problem is that the time interval is too short, and the two generations of Portia popes have been tough. If a Portia cardinal appears at this time, it will easily give people the illusion that the Portia family wants to monopolize the throne of Pope.
The hereditary monarchy is an inevitable trend, but it is unacceptable for religion to be controlled by one family.
If the Holy Lord, who loves all people equally, limits his representatives to one family and uses bloodline to symbolize nobility, then the foundation of the Holy See will be destroyed.
Julius' refusal obviously displeased the elders.
The author has something to say:
I'm back I'm back! ! ! ! 【The pigeons are well behaved】
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