"Money!" Count Rusiva suddenly shouted, "No matter what, the nas and addresses on the bill are correct. They can’t deny it."
"You possess the calst mind in all of Switzerland!"
Count Erlach praised, pulling his colleague and jumping onto the carriage.
However, by noon, they returned to the gates of the Palace of Versailles, looking ashen.
Several banks had shown them confirmations of Viscount Nobert revoking the bill of exchange. Not a single cent of the 400,000 francs reached the hands of French officials.
Baron Fred stared blankly at the fountain in front of the Palace of Versailles, muttering, "So, we have been deceived?"
Count Erlach held his head in pain, squatting on the ground as if he were suffering torture.
This was a full 400,000 francs!
Not to ntion that the Bern Parliant would never forgive him, and among this money, there were his personal 20,000 francs. One could say his life was completely ruined.
Baron Fred, feeling weak in the legs, simply knelt on the ground and began to pray: "Jesus, please save us..."
...
In the room on the second floor of the rear hall of Notre Da de Paris, Archbishop Beaumont was diligently studying the map of North Arica, cross-referencing several docunts.
He had not yet received the notification of the Holy See’s examination committee, but from prior examination results, the overall failure rate exceeded one-fifth!
Especially the high-ranking clerics, whose examination content was extrely complex, with more than half facing retakes.
Archbishop of Blois’s plight served as a constant "whip" for everyone.
Though the ntors sent by the Holy See were blocked in every way by the French Church in Marseille, Blois stayed in a state of constant anxiety—if that damned ntor arrived in Paris and admonished him by patting his head, he would imdiately beco the laughingstock of everyone’s casual conversations.
A rapid knocking on the door rang out, and as Archbishop Beaumont barely said the word "please," a priest rushed in hurriedly.
Beaumont raised his head unpleasantly: "Father Grenier, I’ve said not to disturb recently..."
"I apologize, Your Excellency, Archbishop, but you must look at this." Father Grenier said as he placed a newspaper in front of him, "Now, many people are expressing their support for them..."
Archbishop Beaumont picked up the newspaper and saw the headline on the front page: Suggestions for the Imperative Church Reforms.
He imdiately frowned; the article was signed by Father Gregorie.
"Who is this person?"
He continued to look down, his brows furrowing even deeper.
The article began with the poor examination results of French clerics this ti, suggesting that it was because the Church held vast wealth, leading middle and high-level priests to beco decadent and relax their study of theology, even neglecting their service to Jesus.
Then, Gregorie ntioned that the reason Protestantism could "snatch" a large number of followers across Europe was that they were not obsessed with a money-laden church, thereby exhibiting high efficiency and using chastity to "deceive" the good-hearted.
Thus, the French Church must undergo thorough reform now.
First is severing ties with money, such as giving up control of the tithe, even the church properties, leaving the governnt to allocate the expenses needed to serve Jesus.
Secondly, to make the Church more fair and efficient, the selection process for clerical positions should be made public, and deductions from clergy salaries reduced. It would be best for the French Governnt to issue the clergy’s salaries, which would reduce the ti wasted by the Church on financial matters and allow for more focus on theology.
Archbishop Beaumont’s face turned extrely grim; soone dared to slander the Church by taking advantage of the Holy See’s examination and even launch so church reform!
He thought for a mont and instructed Father Grenier: "Find an excuse to transfer this Father Grénière to Nice."
He suddenly caught sight of the North Arican map on the table: "No, just send him to Saint Louis Louisiana."
Father Grenier cautiously said, "Your Excellency, Archbishop, I’m afraid that’s not possible... Discussions about church reform have been widespread lately, and Father Grénière is quite popular among the clerics. Handling him might cause a severe backlash."
Archbishop Beaumont irritably rubbed his forehead. Lately, they, the archbishops, had been busy dealing with examinations; who knew such a big ss was brewing underneath.
He had no choice but to signal his secretary: "Go inform Archbishop Shate’er, Archbishop of Tours, and the others, that there will be a eting at noon tomorrow at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés."
The next day.
Archbishop Beaumont’s carriage just stopped near the steam tram station, and he noticed a priest standing on the steps of the station, giving a speech to dozens of people around him.
As he approached, he finally heard the man’s words clearly, "Those archbishops and priests can’t even pass the theological exams.
"If things continue this way, we’ll all face Jesus’s punishnt along with the Church..."
People in front of the station nodded in agreent. No one told them how difficult those "theological" exam questions for the high-ranking clerics were.
Archbishop Beaumont initially wanted to order his subordinates to disperse the crowd, yet he saw another seven or eight priests gather around, hesitated for a mont, then turned around and quickly boarded the steam tram.
This is Joseph’s open stratagem.
Ordinary priests don’t care about tithes and church properties, but they all long for the French Governnt to handle their salaries—church leaders had long deducted their salaries under various pretenses, and over the years, everyone knew that civil servants’ wages were fully and punctually paid.
As for making the selection process for clerical positions public, it was equally appealing to ordinary priests.
To be precise, setting a public selection process isn’t just an attraction, they are satisfied as long as all clerical positions are occupied. That ans many will get promoted—currently, nurous clerical positions are vacant while archbishops take salaries ant for them.
This easily garnered widespread support among ordinary priests for church reform.
Talleyrand assigned the task of shaping public opinion to the politically savvy Sais. In just over half a month, he heated up the topic of church reform among clerics, even bringing it into public discourse.
Archbishop Beaumont sat in the first-class seat on the car, casually took a copy of the Paris Comrcial News from the newspaper rack on the wall, and started leafing through it, his brow imdiately furrowing.
The front page featured an interview with Archbishop Talleyrand, mainly discussing church reform, and between the lines, his supportive attitude toward reform was unmistakably clear.
Though Talleyrand was no longer involved in church affairs, his influence remained substantial.
Beaumont imdiately recalled that both the Minister of Civil Affairs and the Minister of Science and Technology Education supported the idea of the tax departnt taking over the tithe.
In other words, they’d be quite favorable toward church reform since relinquishing control of the tithe was part of it.
Things were becoming rather tricky...
While Archbishop Beaumont pondered his next move, the steam tram had already stopped not far from the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
The Archbishop of Tours was waiting at the monastery gate, and upon seeing his figure, he hurried up and greeted him with a dark face: "Did you receive the notification? We are being examined in three days..."
Archbishop Beaumont took a deep breath and said through gritted teeth, "I heard that Archbishop Brienne has arrived in Strasbourg and will soon et the Crown Prince. Perhaps it won’t be long before the Holy See’s people are driven out of France."
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