บท 147: 145 The Future Pope
For Cardinal Francesco Barberini's arrival from Rome, we had to wait almost three weeks, unfortunately... three weeks which I spent mainly visiting the monuments of Constantinople, or getting drunk, sometimes I even combined these things.
"Lord, a ship has come from Rome, papal emissary has arrived." (Servant)
I lifted my aching head from the bed, looked at servant... why do I have deserts in my mouth, I don't think the local air serves me well... but ship from Rome, I never thought I'd be so happy to hear about the priest's arrival.
"Finally... another week or two, and this climate will kill me or develop an aversion to alcohol. Bring the Cardinal to me, I'm too tired to leave the tent." (MC)
The servant proceeded to obey my order, and I dragged myself out of bed, poured water into the bowl and plunged my head into it.
"Ahem!" (Francesco Barberini)
I took my head out of the bowl and turned around. Before me was Cardinal Francesco Barberini... I didn't even hear when the servants and the Cardinal entered the tent.
"I'll wait outside until the prince gets dressed." (Francesco Barberini)
I didn't even notice that I was standing completely naked... but the Cardinal offered to leave the tent, so he wasn't interested in me, maybe I wasn't in the appropriate age range, twenty-nine is not the age for an altar boy.
"Stay, you were in a seminary, so the sight of a naked male body is not strange to you, and I do not like to waste time... Tell me, dear Cardinal, why is the King's brother still in the Kingdom of Poland? I asked you that the Pope would send him somewhere far away... to some god-forgotten place where he would convert savages to the only true faith." (MC)
"Prince, we talked about many things, one of them was getting the Spaniards into this war. I don't see Spaniards in your camp." (Francesco Barberini)
I remember that I actually had such a conversation with the Cardinal in Warsaw, but I did not promise anything, I only said that I would try. It is not my fault that Spaniards feared the French more than the devil of holy water.
"Not all plans succeed, but I gained something else... Jerusalem. Have you thought, dear Cardinal, to become Pope in the future? If so, then you have the perfect opportunity to build up your reputation... You may be remembered as one of the many Cardinal or as a Cardinal who obtained Jerusalem for the Christians... but I hold the key to this future. King's brother must go on a long journey, I hope we understand each other?" (MC)
I was already a little irritated by the attitude of the Holy See, the pathetic sums they spent on the war with the Ottomans, not keeping their word... unfortunately I still needed them, but even my great patience had limits.
"Prince, what you are saying is madness..." (Francesco Barberini)
"It's madness to do the same thing in the same way and expect different results... what I say may be bold, risky, but not crazy, and even if there is a hint of madness to it, it's still nothing compared to your Cadaver Synod" (MC)
I covered myself with a piece of rag, I went to the cardinal, looked him in the eyes.
"You were one of the few judges who would be reluctant to sign Galileo's conviction, so I think you are the right man..." (MC)
I patted him on the back.
"Together, we can do great things... but don't answer now, think about it, first we need to sign a treaty with the Ottomans. Familiarize yourself with all the arrangements by the evening, you must know what you are signing and do not think about further negotiations, this is the final form of the treaty." (MC)
The cardinal left my tent and went to rest, in a few hours the last stage of this war would be over. It was quite funny and idiotic at the same time, one country attacks another, people die... and when it comes to peace, all animosities are dissolved by one signature.
One hour after the meeting with the cardinal, I felt so well that I decided to discuss some matters with the Moldavian hospodar, Mojżesz Mohyla.
It wasn't anything particularly important, it was just one of those things I wanted to be over. I discussed with him the plans to strengthen the military of Moldova, I was going to sell him some of the weapons that were produced in Podolia and horses, the hospodar undertook to build several ports and shipyards on the Black Sea coast, in which I was to partially invest, in exchange for tax and trade privileges and the Boyar title... the title itself did not matter much to me, but it gave me some opportunities to intervene in Moldavian affairs, which may prove useful in the future. If it was possible, I intended to make our vassal bigger, perhaps even take back the Bulgarian lands from Ottomans and incorporate them into Moldova.
Just before the evening, Cardinal Francesco Barberini reappeared in my tent. In less than an hour we were to go together with Hetman Potocki and others to Constantinople for the official signing of the documents and for the banquet on the occasion.
"Have you read all the arrangements?" (MC)
"Yes, but they strongly favor the Ottomans. Including Protestants is also not a good sign. Our influence will be very limited."
"Greed is one of the deadly sins, yesterday you had nothing, this morning you got some, and in the evening you complain that not enough. Maybe when you become Pope something will change... but as long as you do not solve my problems, do not count on more help from my side. We have a saying in Poland. 'Three things will do no good: to count someone else's money, to feed someone else's dog, and to embrace someone else's wife.' So now I want to see my benefits." (MC)
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง