Alice, who was extremely disappointed with her husband, was finally moved by her husband, and even deliberately brought out her daughter to make props. She was finally moved by her husband's request to seek the job of "drawing a collection of coronation paintings" for him.

At this time, Egron was heartbroken about another thing.

Because, his grandmother, Empress Dowager Letizia, and his uncle, Cardinal Fish, made a farewell to him and prepared to return to Rome.

When he heard their request, Egron's first reaction was naturally to keep it as best as possible.

"Grandma, you have been away from France for so many years and finally returned here. And finally reunited with us, why did you have to leave?" Facing the old lady in front of you, Egron said sincerely to her, "Your grandson and great-grandson are here now. Don't you want to spend more time with us?"

Faced with the grandson's attempt to keep him, the old man also showed reluctance in his eyes, but she still insisted on her own ideas.

"My grandson, how could I not miss you? But there are always times of separation in life. Since I have witnessed the moment when you put on the crown, I am already satisfied. Now it is time to go back..."

"This is your home, where do you need to go back?" Aegron asked, "If you think Paris is too noisy, then we will go to Fontainebleau in a while. I believe the environment there must be very suitable for you-"

"Silly boy, what else is there that I haven't seen here? I know which is better for me." Letizia smiled, and then stroked his cheek lovingly. "This country is indeed prosperous and beautiful, but Rome is my destination. I am too old and just want to stay in my most comfortable place..."

Seeing the old lady persisting so much, Egron knew that it would be useless to say more.

In fact, he also felt that for an old lady who was used to living alone and living a life of purity and desire, the wealthy life in the palace was indeed not as attractive as a quiet and religious place in Rome, and it was more conducive to her life.

In the past imperial era, she would have preferred to live in Rome. The mother of the founding emperor of the French Empire was actually an Italian.

Because of this, Egron couldn't force his grandmother to stay too hard, so he could only agree to her request reluctantly.

"Well, since you are so persistent, I will obey your will. I will arrange for the manpower to escort you back, be careful along the way."

"Thank you, child." Letizia smiled and comforted her grandson. "Don't feel sorry for this. I will always be with you wherever you are. I will pray for your career and your health. Now we can have the status we are today, all by God's blessing. You must also respect God's will and seek benefits for your people..."

Then, like her ordinary grandmother, she talked to Egron a lot of words such as fearing God and obeying faith.

Of course, Egron just went into his left ear and out of his right ear. After all, the word "pious" has nothing to do with him.

However, that's it, since Egron had reached the throne of the monarch, he became the natural leader and guardian of the Gaul Church, and the Catholic Church also became his "ally" of his rule. Even if he did not take the church and doctrine seriously in his heart, he could only put on a respectful attitude on the surface.

So he patiently listened to his grandmother's words and said with all his might that he would do his best to protect the faith of God and protect the Roman Catholic Church. He also asked his grandmother to pass a message to the church's top leaders after returning to Rome - if Rome is in trouble in the future, he would have no choice but to define it.

In history, France's royal power has always been in a state of cooperation and conflict with the church, both exploiting and guarding, and fierce conflicts occurred many times: First, in 1303, King Philip IV of France sent people to beat Pope Bonifas VIII, and forcibly moved the Roman Catholic Church to Avignon in his own territory. Later, in 1494, Charles VIII led his army into Italy to start the Italian war that lasted more than half a century. Of course, there are classic masterpieces of Emperor Napoleon's imprisonment of the pope.

Conflicts between royal power and church power occur from time to time. In essence, the church not only wants to occupy the "spiritual high ground" but also wants to have realistic lord power. It has a "pope" territory centered on Rome, and interferes in secular politics in order to realize its own interests, which will inevitably lead to a fierce struggle with the royal power that wants to promote centralized power.

After hundreds of years of struggle, secular power finally won a great victory. The authority and influence of the Roman Catholic Church gradually weakened, and finally had to start relying on secular royal power.

Because of Italy's chaotic state, the church began to regard France as its "protective man", so the Pope did not hesitate to flatter Emperor Napoleon and personally crowned a monarch who was not orthodox.

In this era, with the rise of Italian nationalism, the call for national unity became increasingly louder and the "Papal State" as a separatist force also became the target of these nationalists. At the same time, Italy's Enlightenment thought was also spreading, and awakened intellectuals also began to regard the reactionary and the corrupt Roman church as an annoying obstacle. They believed that if the church had been entrenched in Rome and controlled the surrounding areas, then Italy would not be able to achieve national rejuvenation, so they hoped to completely remove this obstacle and realize their great ideals.

Under the impact of nationalists and intellectuals, the Roman Church and the Papal Kingdom are increasingly in danger.

On the original historical line, in 1848, a revolution broke out in Paris, and the Orleans family's July dynasty completely collapsed; and this revolutionary wave soon spread beyond the border and spread to many European countries. In February 1849, a group of republicans and intellectuals in Rome launched a revolution, drove away the pope, and created the "Roman Republic", announcing the implementation of the separation of church and religion, and creating a brand new political system.

The Pope fled in a hurry to the two Sicily kingdoms, and then immediately sought help from France (among the European powers, Britain had already broken with the Roman Catholic Church and established the Anglican Church, Russia was an Orthodox country, Prussia was a Protestant country, and they had no motivation to save the Roman church, but they were happy to be laughed at; Austria was also trapped in the quagmire of revolution at that time, and the rebellion of Lombardy, Hungary, and the war against the Kingdom of Sardinia made him unable to make any move. The only powerful Catholic power was France, which had just come out of the quagmire.)

Louis Bonaparte, who had just won the election to be president at that time, happily sent troops to Rome under the clamor of French religious figures and conservatives, and finally destroyed the Roman Republic and took the opportunity to become the guardian of the church.

It is worth mentioning that Charles Lucien Bonaparte, the Roman branch of the Bonaparte family, was the eldest son of Lucien Bonaparte, stood on the side of the republic faction, participated in the Republican army, and carried out an armed struggle with his cousin, and was eventually forced to go into exile.

Like Egron, Louis Bonaparte could not be a devout believer. The reason why he stood up to arm the Roman church was ultimately to gain the support of conservatives at the beginning of his career and play the role of a "European Order defender" to dispel the outside world's doubts about the Bonaparte family coming to power again.

Like that cousin of the historical line, Egron also has similar needs.

As the ruler of the French Empire, his natural obligation is to ensure France's advantages over its surrounding land neighbors. Naturally, he has the natural motivation to maintain the fragmented pattern of neighboring countries. He is unwilling to see Germany's consent, and of course he is unwilling to see the unification of Italy.

His mother, Louisa, is even now the ruler of the Principality of Palma.

Napoleon III in history was somewhat capricious. He knew the real political logic and had been supporting the Pope with force and trying to maintain the division of Italy. However, at the same time, he had been helping the Kingdom of Sardinia, accelerating its war of unity. He even took the initiative to start a war against Austria in 1859, sending troops to defeat Austria, which allowed Sardinia to obtain the richest province of Italy from the Austrian Empire at a very small cost, while France itself gained nothing.

What's even more annoying is that in 1871, the Kingdom of Sardinia took advantage of the failure of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War and marched into Rome to annex the Papal State and forced the Pope to live in the Vatican.

This is equivalent to Napoleon III's all investment in Italy, whether it was in Sardinia or Rome, and no one would be grateful to him.

Naturally, Egron would not do such stupid things.

He would unswervingly maintain the balance and division of Italy, and even interfere with force when necessary - at this point, his ideas were almost exactly the same as Metternich, and he deserved to be a student he taught.

Therefore, he made the promise of "armed defense of the Roman Church" in private not to satisfy the piety and superstition of an old lady, but to his own real interests.

Once there was any revolution in Rome, as long as the Roman church asked him, he would send troops to help without hesitation like Napoleon III in history and restore the status of the Holy See - unlike other unpopular wars of Napoleon III, his approach to "supporting the Holy See" was relatively favorable among European neighbors. At least one of the great names in hand can cover up those naked intentions in private.

Of course, Egron also knew that he could not completely go against the trend of history. Although Italy's military power was weak and the strength of the democrats was very poor, the corruption and scandals accumulated over the past thousand years made the Roman Church really unpopular. Faced with the increasingly urgent threats with the development of the times, the Roman Church would inevitably make continuous concessions and reforms - as it happened in history later.

Therefore, Egron believes that if he really saved the Roman church, then using the huge influence of "protecting people" to promote the church's reform and ultimately create a Roman cultivator with a moderate republican color, at least to a certain extent, can alleviate this deep-rooted contradiction.

Although this cannot eradicate the contradiction, as long as it can be alleviated, it is enough. He can only manage the affairs of his generation.

Of course, the old lady Letizia could not understand that she was just extremely happy with Egron's statement.

For her, the most heartbreaking thing in her life was that Emperor Napoleon broke with the church and imprisoned the pope, and was eventually expelled from the church. In her opinion, this was the decisive factor in her son's final defeat - because he angered God.

Now, seeing her grandson respecting the church so much, she was naturally moved.

"My good grandson! It would be great that you can be so sensible... The late Pope once praised you in his sermon, and everything has gone well since then. I hope you can always follow this correct path and never make any mistakes..."

Next, she promised repeatedly that after returning to Rome, she would convey his determination and good intentions to the top leaders of the church.

Of course, Egron would not just put his hope on his grandmother.

In order to establish good relations with the church leaders, he has been constantly drawing influx of powerful cardinals through his uncle Cardinal Fish, and Cardinal Esposito, his secretary Leon's uncle.

Anyway, since he became the French emperor, he has some jewelry collected in the palace, and he will never feel distressed if he takes out some of them to give them to others.

Although the church sign has been fading over hundreds of years, there is still something worth using for him now.

Today, when the Habsburg family has declined, no one can compete with him for the title of "Catholic Protector".

In this case, the Catholic forces in France will naturally eliminate their preference for the "orthodox royal family" and take the initiative to stand on the side of supporting him.

However, in any case, religion is only a tool of rule rather than a purpose of rule.

Before he came to power, Prince Talleyrand had cleaned the government, Marshal Sirte had cleaned the army and eliminated the aliens in these two places. Then the next cleaning of the church will naturally be natural. After the opposition in the aristocratic house, Egron will follow the same path within the Gaul Church and implement an oath system. Whoever refuses to be loyal to the Empire and His Majesty of the Emperor will have to get out of here.

Although he acted piously on the surface, all the Dharma kings of all generations tried to firmly control religious affairs and the French church under their control, and Egron was naturally no exception. What should the Catholic Church in Gaul should do, what should be done, and who should do it can only be decided by His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire and his assistant ministers. No one else has the right to argue, even the Pope himself. If the Pope is ignorant, then he would not mind learning from the sages of all generations to teach the Pope a lesson.

With a mean sarcastic sarcasm to the Pope, Egron said goodbye to his grandmother with a smile.

"Grandma, I wish you good health and longevity!"

()
Chapter completed!