I Became A Black Merchant In Another World Chapter 172

When the Papal States were at their peak power on Earth.

At that ti, they had a fairly large territory centered around central Italy.

However, the Papal States on the Albanian continent, based on the holy city of Shakoshi, only control around 2-3 counties.

Well, judging their power simply by their territory would be a mistake.

No, it’s even more absurd than imagining the taste of a waterlon just by hearing rumors about it.

“What’s clear is that the Pope needs a ‘religious reform’ to purify things right now.”

It’s strange, though. Clergy are supposed to live celibate lives, yet the Pope seems to have an unusually high number of unfortunate cousins.

There’s even a small problem where our unfortunate friends look very similar to the Pope and have similar personalities.

The Pope, under the pretense of pitying these children, treats them like ‘the Pope’s sons and daughters’ and arranges strategic marriages for them, turning them into core mbers of noble families, regardless of gender.

The Pope’s fatherly love is so intense that the true high-ranking nobles of our continent would likely go mad trying to compete for it.

If you reject the Pope’s familial favor, he will doubt your faith and engage in all kinds of petty acts until his death.

But if you don’t refuse, you’ll have to give away family lands or high-ranking positions.

“Is it really right for those who should be most detached from worldly wealth to enjoy all the riches and even desire a high position in heaven?”

Ah, right now, I almost miss that person who advocated for ‘the opium of the people’.

“My Lord, I’ve gathered all the requested information.”

“Co in, Sebastian.”

Sebastian imdiately placed a summarized report in front of on my desk.

“Good work.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

“What’s going on in the Papal States right now?”

From what I’ve heard, the newly appointed Pope Pius XII is an ambitious man.

He has a wide-ranging interest in interfering in wars in the secular world to expand the papal power.

Every year, he demands a special donation from the rulers of each country, and in return, he gives them only a single golden rose.

The golden rose, blessed by the Pope every year on the Feast of the Virgin’s Birthday, is of great significance, but...

Don’t the kings know that the rose, blessed annually by the Pope, is nothing more than a talisman, not sothing with real divine power?

‘They must be completely losing their minds.’

If I don’t have that golden rose, my prestige will suffer. But if I accept it, I’ll have to provide positions for the Pope’s illegitimate children, which would be a headache.

“The Pope seems to be preparing for war right now.”

“War? That’s absurd. Is he trying to expand the Papal States?”

“That doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“Then tell more.”

One common misconception about the Pope is that, before the Thirty Years' War, the Pope was both the leader of the Catholic Church and the ruler of the Papal States.

As a result, many of the popes who were obsessed with power expansion directly engaged in wars.

Of course, a lifelong priest (who had fallen from grace) might not be the best strategist in battle.

More often than not, these popes would start off winning, only to lose everything in the end, just like being scamd at a gambling table.

“Right now, the Papal States are hiring a large rcenary army. I can’t be certain of the exact scale, but based on the rumors that the entire Papal treasury has been emptied... it seems like it could be in the tens of thousands.”

The refined and rational wisdom of the British Empire does not exist in this world.

But just like how I was scamd by Archbishop Urban, this era is governed by dieval barbarism.

The mont you let your guard down, you’re bound to fall into traps you couldn’t predict from a rational perspective.

So, I had to put away the wisdom of the British Empire and put on the mindset of dieval barbarism to start making judgnts.

‘Why is that crazy pope doing this?’

“Seeing that they’ve hired an army of tens of thousands, it seems like war is about to break out. Do you have any predictions on where they’ll send them?”

“The rumor is that it will be the Archbishopric of Mainz.”

‘Archbishopric,’ a term unfamiliar to most commoners.

You might have heard of terms like Baronies or Counties in fantasy novels or history lessons.

But why would a bishop, a clergyman, have his own ‘domain’?

In fact, the term ‘archbishopric’ might sound like a bishop, but in reality, it refers to a prince-bishop of the Holy Roman Empire.

This ans a bishop holds the rank and territory of a duke.

And since bishops are clergy and cannot have families, they don’t have heirs. So, if an archbishop dies, the Pope can appoint a successor.

‘That ans the Pope can even intervene in the election of the Emperor.’

“If the Pope is sending soldiers to the Archbishopric of Mainz, does that an he plans to wage war with the Kingdom of Lyon?”

Even though the Pope controls three bishops who are essentially his subordinates, and they nominally have the right to declare war, they wouldn’t wage war alone unless they were completely mad.

The neighboring nations are too large for them to handle a war on their own.

“It seems like the Pope plans to participate in the war against the Kingdom of Lyon, earn so rit, and use that as leverage to increase the number of clerical rulers (lords who are also clergy), thereby expanding papal power. What do you think, Sebastian?”

“I believe that’s the case. The Pope seems to have great ambition.”

The more ambitious soone is, the easier they are to manipulate.

If you can plant the illusion that you’re fulfilling their vanity and hunger for power, they’ll gladly pay the price.

Even the great Qin Shi Huang, who was never fooled by scams, when he beca obsessed with immortality, was deceived by all kinds of seemingly plausible theories (according to his standards), and ended up losing vast sums of money.

“So, do you intend to intervene in the war?”

If I were just a re rchant, I could probably participate in the war and make a nice profit.

If I sent the Pope a generous donation and helped out with logistics a few tis, I’d likely be richly rewarded.

But if a re baron from the Tuscany Empire gets caught up in the Pope’s war?

‘I’d lose all my wealth and be wiped out along with my family.’

Unless the Emperor permits it, the situation could change in the event of a victory. But with the Pope at the command, this war is bound to fail.

“Send a letter to Mayor Guillau and tell him to stockpile as much war-related material as possible. Let him know that war is imminent, but don’t inform Baron Guillau yet.”

Guillau is naturally a vassal of the baron and should prioritize his interests.

But right now, who is providing the most economic and political benefits to Mayor Guillau?

It’s .

So, he has no choice but to listen to , unless the Baron orders otherwise.

“I’m sure the Pope will lose this war.”

Just like the Joseon navy, under Admiral Yi Sun-sin, fought against the Japanese with impossible exchange rates and eventually wiped out the enemy, even though they were outnumbered,

If the Pope and his commanders, who are incompetent, lead their army, there’s no way they’ll succeed.

Ah, of course, the actual main force in the war between the Kingdom of Lyon and the Holy Roman Empire will be the Empire...

But the command will likely be split, so it’s hard to say how well it will go.

“Start buying up chickens and food around the surrounding areas and prepare to sell them to the Kingdom of Lyon at warti prices. Let’s make a big profit from this.”

It’s too obvious to ntion, but...

Just like how politicians and businessn hide all their assets in Swiss bank accounts,

The money we make from this will also go into dummy accounts or fake business nas.

There’s no way they’ll catch on.

Since it’s not even an age of computerized records.

“Sebastian, you’re in charge of this. Do whatever you want. This ti, I’ll give you a 1%, no, 1.5% share of the net profits.”

This all started with trying to deal with Archbishop Urban.

I was planning to improve my relationship with the Pope to get rid of Urban.

But now, I think I’ll have to change my approach.

I’ll push the Deus Church into a corner and make the Pope believe that no one can be trusted except .

When the situation gets desperate, I can easily sacrifice Urban’s position.

“Tell Erika that I’ll et with the Archbishop of Florence.”

I’m planning to get an introduction from the Archbishop of Florence and et with the high-ranking clergy of the Papal States.

Once there, I’ll make sure to badmouth Archbishop Urban as much as I can.

And then, after making the necessary preparations, I imdiately set off for the Papal States.