Chapter 119 Heart of the Storm (VII)
◎The kingdom of God on earth◎
Raphael stroked the uneven surface of the pendant with his fingers. The exquisite relief totem of the golden eagle was in the shape of a flying eagle with its wings spread, and each delicate feather was clearly visible. Since the day he moved into Sargon's Palace, Raphael had developed the habit of stroking the golden eagle's feathers to calm his mind. Of course, if this method lost its effect, he would need the assistance of medication.
Julius' letter was spread out on the table. The legs and corners of this old oak table were originally decorated with gold. The rebel leader ordered people to roughly scrape away those exquisite and luxurious decorations, melt them into gold balls, and store them in the vault, so the table looked bumpy - not only it, but many furniture and decorations in the palace had suffered the same treatment. However, Raphael did not mind this and rejected the monks' request to redecorate the palace.
The Secretary General of the Papal Palace spent two full pages in the letter asking about Raphael's health, briefly explaining his own recent situation, and finally asked casually about the escape of Francis IV.
"...When he returns to Calais, Alexander VI will sleep uneasy again. The Knights Templar are still in Calais. As long as there is a warrant from the Pope, it will not be a problem to kill him at the border. Alexander VI should be very happy to hear this good news. However, I think you may not have let him go on purpose to let him die at the border, so I deliberately suppressed the news of his escape..."
Raphael frowned. Julius's letter was very cleverly worded. Everyone thought that Francis IV's escape was just an accident full of luck. Only Julius, who knew Raphael very well, saw through the truth of this "accident".
His tone was firm, but Raphael was familiar with this tentative way of using words, and he was also very good at using this language.
Raphael was not angry at Julius's temptation. After all, he was not wrong in his guess.
Raphael did indeed let Francis IV go on purpose.
Otherwise, how could the omnipresent crows under his command have missed the abandoned port so close to the battlefield, and let the little emperor open up the road leading to the port?
Raphael just wanted to let him go, an emperor who had lost his army, an emperor with orthodox succession law. When this madman returned to his homeland, who should he be most afraid of?
Raphael and the Papal States, who caused him to lose everything, would not be his primary targets of revenge, but the rebel who usurped his throne would undoubtedly become a thorn in his side.
Raphael was happy to add some trouble to Calais, no matter how big or small it was, as long as it could make them feel a little bad, and if possible, he would be willing to tear open that gap and divide and devour this huge and ambitious country.
His goal was never just to kill François. Raphael had long been tired of this notorious royal family. It brought this huge country like a shit stirrer to ruin other people's moods. If Calais could not choose a new monarch for himself, then let him end the fate of this royal family.
Julius obviously had a tacit understanding with this student who was thousands of miles away. The moment he heard that Francis IV had fled Assyria, he thought of what Raphael was planning, so he contacted Leshet without hesitation and temporarily blocked the news from Alexander VI - competition always had to be fair enough. Alexander VI had a vast territory and army, so Francis IV must of course have some time advantage.
By the time the letter arrived on Raphael's desk, Francis IV had also stepped onto solid ground on the shore.
Although he escaped from the battlefield, he did not look embarrassed. The golden tassels on his epaulettes hung down neatly, and the tiny diamonds at the end sparkled in the light. His long, thick, fluffy curly hair like wool was scattered on his shoulders. The little emperor was pale, with his hands folded on the top of a lion-head cane, looking thoughtfully at the bustling port in front of him.
He knew very well that there might be other factors involved in his escape, but so what? Would he feel ashamed of this being the mercy of his enemies? No, he would only feel genuine joy because he survived.
As long as he was not dead, there would be plenty of opportunities to wash away the "shame" in the future. What's more, he was happy with everything Raphael gave him.
A small army quickly gathered behind him. The soldiers who had followed him from Assyria were all the emperor's loyal confidants. Each of them carried the smell of blood and murderous intent from fighting on the battlefield. When they all got off the ship, the merchants and sailors who were loading and unloading goods at the port stopped what they did, looked at them with doubtful eyes, and fell silent at the same time.
The suffocating silence quickly spread from this small area to the port in the southeast of Roman. The people who were good at observing people's words and expressions did not need any more prompts. They almost squeezed and retreated, leaving a large open space for this group of people who looked difficult to deal with. This was not easy, as the port was crowded and the space was small. The sound of people falling into the water was immediately heard.
At this time, no one cared about the unfortunate guys who fell into the water. The sharp businessmen squinted their eyes and looked at the soldiers. Of course, they paid more attention to the leader. As they looked at him, the hairs on their bodies stood up. Even if their reason had not given them an answer, their strong eyesight and instincts from wandering around all walks of life for a long time had told them the identity of this person, but they were not willing to believe the authenticity of this answer.
He was riding on an old ship with a group of soldiers bearing the emblem of the royal lion of Calais, and he looked very similar to someone in the rumors - there was even a beautiful young man behind him, who, according to the rumors, was more famous than he was!
Viscount Yulia was very seasick and still felt dizzy when standing on the ground. The urge to vomit made his face look extremely ugly. This did not diminish his outstanding beauty that was nurtured by the little emperor, but only made him look more pitiful.
However, precisely because he was feeling so uncomfortable at the moment, he did not notice that many people were staring at his face. If it were before, the arrogant Yulia would have ordered his followers to severely punish these rude and barbaric untouchables who dared to look him in the face.
If the little emperor's escape was due to Raphael's letting him go, then Julia's escape was pure luck. It has to be said that the viscount really had some inexplicable luck. He did not follow François to the battlefield, but his personal soldiers had been paying attention to His Majesty's whereabouts, so that they even got to the port and boarded the ship faster than the emperor. Otherwise, according to Raphael's decision, his head should have been sent to Lady Cassandra by now.
Due to Julius's blockade of information, until this moment, Calais had not received any news of Francis IV's defeat and escape. During their stay in Dudlay, the Knights Templar not only served as an envoy of the Papal States, but also quietly brought in many Holy Crows. These people re-woven an information network in the capital of Calais that had been swept clean by the little emperor, and at the same time strangled the throat of Calais' intelligence, which was leaderless after the loss of the little emperor. -
However, the moment François set foot on the port land, the intelligence network silently relaxed its restrictions. Perhaps within a few days, this news would reach the ears of Alexander VI on the throne.
This port is located in the southeast of Roman, and to reach here, one needs to go around Calais. However, François would rather go as far as possible and cautiously avoid all the ports in Calais and choose this port as his destination. His first stop is not to go to Calais to regain his throne - before that, he has to go to Biarritz to see his fiancée.
Roman had maintained an ambiguous neutrality in the war between Assyria and Calais. François needed to borrow enough troops from his fiancée, who looked more and more like the former queen of Assyria, to send the rebel to the guillotine. For Sancha, it would undoubtedly be more beneficial for his fiancée to own the throne of Calais. François did not think that his request would be rejected.
And just as he thought, Sangxia did not refuse his request.
The young queen met her exiled fiancé on the high throne.
She wore a corseted scarlet satin dress, the snow-white lace covering the light wheat-colored backs of her hands. The silk wrapped around her waist was tied into a huge bow behind her waist, with two tails winding to the ground, like flowing and coagulated blood. Countless pearls and gems made every movement of the queen shrouded in a layer of thin light, which was almost invisible. She wore a ruby necklace weighing hundreds of grams on her chest, and the gems on it were like open eyes, staring coldly at everyone in front of her.
Compared to the lively and innocent little princess a few years ago, the young queen, who lost her mother's protection and was forced to grow up in a very short time, became much more indifferent. Even when facing her fiancé, there was no smile on her face, and she completed the handover of all affairs in a businesslike manner.
She seemed to have little interest throughout the meeting, even though it concerned the throne of Calais and the 30,000 Roman soldiers she had loaned out.
The queen signed her name on the contract, took off her ring and stamped it with her personal seal, then handed the thick parchment to her lady-in-waiting.
The lady-in-waiting serving the queen held the parchment in both hands and handed it respectfully to François.
"Thank you very much for your help," Francois said with a smile. When he wanted to pretend to be likable, he would be more normal than most normal people. "Galais will always remember Roman's friendship. As for me personally, I also hope that your glory will always shine on this rich country."
The queen raised her face slightly and looked away from the parchment.
Her eyes, bluer than the ocean, were calm and deep. Her long golden brown hair was coiled behind her head and tied with a crown. At a certain moment, she and the warrior queen overlapped infinitely.
The young queen thanked Francois for his blessing in a low and soft voice, and then whispered: "I also hope that you can take back everything that originally belonged to you and restore the glory as a monarch."
After the emperor and his entourage left the luxurious palace, the queen, who had been sitting motionless on the throne, whispered the second half of the sentence: "... Then I can chop off your head when you are happiest, and let you know what it feels like to be in hell."
Conquering a country is not the starting point of ruling. In addition to using tough measures to clear out small groups of rebels entrenched in the city, Raphael began to re-establish his rule.
It was not an easy task to try to bring Assyria back on track by creating a new ruling system. Assyria had been trapped in war for too many years, and people had long forgotten how to live in a normal unified country. It was difficult enough to teach them not to use violence to solve problems, let alone make them trust a new ruling group.
Raphael racked his brains to set up a functioning government agency. Of course, he could not leave all the positions to people brought from the Papal States, as this would cause great resentment among the local Assyrians. And it was really difficult to select staff from the local Assyrians - the long war and backward education made the common people other than the nobles lack the ability of logical thinking. Even among the nobles, those who could read and write documents fluently were a minority.
So before that, Raphael had to establish some schools to teach writing and logic and quickly train officials.
The only good thing in this chaotic situation is that through the war, Raphael gained supreme voice in Assyria, and no one would deny his decision, even if his decision sounded incredible.
As a result, his decrees were implemented in Assyria at an incredibly smooth speed. The tough monarch overthrew Assyria's corrupt and backward aristocracy and slavery system, and dragged Assyria directly into another new stage of civilization in an almost ferocious manner.
He ordered people to build cities in major settlements, and to lay tracks for steam trains between the major cities - this was unprecedented in Assyria. The people here were accustomed to riding horses, and they were as happy and comfortable on horses as on the ground. The nomadic people did not care much about a fixed residence, and their cities were quite primitive and simple. But no one would protest against these decisions. Under the command of one man, this ancient country was striding towards the advanced countries on the other side of the Black Sea today.
The monarch of the kingdom of God on earth banned the export of all minerals. For the first time in many years, Assyria's rich resources were all used for itself. Tall walls, winding tracks, and magnificent cities gradually appeared on the vast plains. Flags with eagles and irises were erected on the city heads. Snow-white steam spewed out between the mountains, brutally gluing the country's wounds together and pushing it forward.
These projects could not be completed in a short period of time. Raphael stayed in Assyria for seven months. It was not until the war in Calais was in full swing that he put aside the affairs he had just started and returned to the Papal States to briefly resume his duties as Pope.
Nearly two years have passed since he left Florence, and nothing has changed here. Time has entered the year 1085 of the Catholic calendar. Raphael is 28 years old, an age he has never reached in his previous life. Everything seems like a new beginning.
The Pope's carriage drove into the gate of Florence, and the people gathered on both sides of the street cheered thunderously. Each of them had an almost crazy excitement and joy on their face. The unification of Assyria meant that the Holy See had achieved an unprecedented success - the establishment of a true kingdom of God on earth! This is a scene that many believers will never be able to see until they die! And Saint Sistine I - he accomplished this unprecedented feat! He can thus obtain the title of "pioneer" or "founder". The previous owner of this title was St. Leah, who laid the cornerstone in Florence. In any case, his name is destined to be recorded on the most glorious page of the Holy See and be worshipped forever by future generations!
There is a pearl symbolizing Assyria on the Pope's crown. If Raphael does not cut it off, the throne of Assyria will be combined with the Pope's throne. One can imagine how bloody the fight for the Pope's throne will be in the future.
Raphael turned down all the welcoming banquets, but still approved all the expenses for the banquets. Although there was no host in attendance, Florence was destined to be brightly lit all night long. A banquet was once again set up in the square for everyone to attend. Even larger banquets than the ones at his coronation were held in various places. Unlike the Pope's tight financial situation at the time, Raphael no longer needed to worry about these expenses, but to say how happy he was... he didn't seem to be that happy.
The young Pope declined all invitations to meet. He curled up in a large satin chair, quietly smoked two cigarettes, and let the drugs take him into the long-lost blank dream. In the dream, with the subtle waves and ethereal singing everywhere, he finally got the first peaceful sleep in more than a year.
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