Archbishop Beaumont and others looked at each other with so surprise.
It’s known that the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés is where the Church hierarchy privately discusses matters, so why has Brian co here?
Beaumont hesitated for a mont but nodded: "Invite him to the dean’s office."
More than ten minutes later, in the spacious dean’s office, Brian smiled and bowed to Archbishop Beaumont: "You truly are here."
The latter hurriedly returned the courtesy: "I ca to review so ancient texts..."
Archbishop Brienne waved his hand: "If I’m not mistaken, Thierry and Lancelot should be here too, right?"
He referred to the nas of the Archbishop of Chartres and the Archbishop of Sance.
Archbishop Beaumont frowned: "What do you an by this?"
Archbishop Brienne sat down on the chair: "The Church is facing such a huge crisis, naturally everyone has co to discuss counterasures.
"Oh, don’t look at like that. I am also part of the Church, how can I ignore those opportunistic troublemakers?"
Beaumont’s expression softened: "So, you’re here to?"
Brienne responded with a question: "Have you thought of a solution?"
Seeing Beaumont silent, he nodded: "It seems not yet. Why not listen to my opinion? Oh, invite everyone over."
Not long after, Brian faced the seven most influential archbishops of France, and directly addressed the main issue: "Currently, we face two major problems—
"Firstly, if those ledgers taken by Robespierre are made public, it will certainly create a huge issue.
"Secondly, there’s the public debate with Grénière’s group. Honestly, we cannot win against them, especially with the Holy See’s assessnt pending..."
Archbishop of Sance couldn’t hold back: "Then what should we do?"
In a few words, he had already accepted Brienne as one of their own.
Not surprising, since Brienne himself is the Toulouse Archbishop. Despite dragging his feet before, he certainly helped against the Church Court Review Committee.
Brian sighed first: "If those ledgers are publicized, it will certainly cause a huge uproar; the tithe is likely not to be protected.
"Given that, we might as well proactively announce abandoning the tithe and forgiving Robespierre.
"This way, we can reclaim the ledgers in the na of ’consolidating tax docunts over the years’, and then compile comprehensive reports to submit to the Tax Bureau.
"I can suggest to the Crown Prince at the Cabinet eting to leave the unused tithe to the Church."
Though Archbishop Beaumont and others were visibly reluctant, none voiced opposition.
At least Brienne’s thod ensured they could navigate through the ledger’s crisis. Moreover, leaving the balance of the tithe—although it wouldn’t amount to hundreds of thousands of francs—ant the Tax Bureau wouldn’t inquire into the past tax funds’ whereabouts, allowing their previous embezzlent to be buried in the dust of history.
Archbishop Beaumont and the others briefly discussed it and nodded to confirm Brienne’s proposal.
Brian then sighed again and continued: "As for the public debate, it may not be so easy to resolve... Grénière’s group evidently intends to seize control of the Church."
Archbishop Beaumont nodded gravely: "Thus, we must do everything to prevent this debate!"
Brian shook his head: "Even if it’s stopped this ti, they will seek other opportunities."
"Then what should we do?"
Brian said solemnly: "Preemptively implent what the Reform Party wants to do, so they lose their raison d’être!"
The faces of the archbishops darkened—your suggestion is akin to throwing all the money into the sea to avoid theft, isn’t it?
Brian hurriedly explained: "You see, after giving up the tithe, the Reform Party’s core proposal remains abandoning Church assets..."
Archbishop of Tours glared: "No, that’s absolutely not possible!"
Brian raised his hand to signal him not to get agitated: "We can use so ’techniques’.
"The Church may say it abandons the land but requires tenant farrs to pay for redemption, just like previous land reforms.
"Thus, the most scrutinized Church assets disappear, and what can the reforrs say then?"
He cast knowing glances at the archbishops, lowered his voice: "Moreover, franc is much easier to ’manage’ than those lands."
The crowd nodded knowingly.
Allowing farrs to redeem the land doesn’t cause much loss for the Church, and with so much money involved, it opens up nurous opportunities for graft.
However, the Archbishop of Chartres expressed concern: "What if Grénière’s group targets the land redemption money?"
Archbishop Brian truly wanted to praise him; this was the issue he planned to raise next.
"Indeed, there’s such a possibility." He feigned deep thought, saying, "We could invest the money in the Industrial Developnt Fund or buy Railway Company stocks. As long as there’s no cash on the Church’s accounts, there’s no point of attack.
"Ha, this can also beco my political achievent. You know, my health is not great, and ’raising substantial investnt for the Industrial Developnt Fund’ will allow to retire with distinction."
Archbishop Beaumont slowly nodded: "That’s indeed a decent strategy."
The Industrial Developnt Fund and the railway are highly profitable projects, investing money there ensures future Church inco exceeds rental inco.
He only overlooked one point—that both the fund and Railway Company are controlled by the Crown Prince, and once the Church invests here, there’s no hope of withdrawing again.
Joseph has countless ways to hold up the Church’s principal—
For instance, investigate the corruption of any archbishop advocating fund redemption. Even founding a "Fund Managent Committee" within the Church, with royal characters in key positions.
After all, money, which is fluid, is much easier to manage than fixed lands.
Archbishop Brian stood up, a proud expression on his face: "After all this, the Reform Party will beco like clowns. I am absolutely confident in persuading the Crown Prince to disband the ’Devout French Priest Group’.
"As for any debate, no one will rember it!"
At three in the afternoon, several archbishops saw Brian off to the monastery gate.
Archbishop Beaumont extended three fingers and whispered to him: "Thank you for your help. I’ll have soone send drafts to your steward."
Only saving the Church cos close to a major issue; a ’reward’ of 300,000 francs isn’t much.
Brian smiled and nodded, bidding farewell to the group as he got into his car.
He looked back at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and murmured: "Your Highness, I finally did sothing worth pride for you before retiring."
Indeed, Joseph never intended for the Church and Reform Party to truly engage in public debate, which would severely damage the Church’s reputation and plunge it into internal conflict and division.
During this era, the Church serves as the community committee, even grassroots civil officers, as France’s stabilizing cornerstone at the social level. Not unless absolutely necessary, Joseph does not want the Church to descend into chaos.
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