Chapter 1371: Greed
"Your Royal Highness, but..."
Archbishop Beaumont and the others still wanted to object, but they suddenly heard the voices of the royal guards from the doorway, "No, His Royal Highness is busy, you cannot wait here..."
"Count Eman scheduled us for an audience at ten o'clock."
"Please inform His Royal Highness, we have urgent matters."
Joseph frowned, looking at Eman.
The latter appeared flustered, lowering his head, "It seems to be Father Grenier, Your Royal Highness. Please forgive me, I must have misspoken the time..."
'Hmm, it was certainly no oversight on his part,' Joseph mused. He intended for the Church reformists to disrupt the proceedings.
He immediately frowned towards the doorway, "Let them in."
"Yes, Your Royal Highness."
The gazes of the two groups met, radiating an almost palpable chill.
Father Grenier stepped forward first to bow, then gestured to his accompanying servant to bring forth several large scrolls of parchment. "Your Royal Highness, these are the signatures collected by the Pious French Clergy Order, already exceeding 6,500..."
The Pious French Clergy Order was the collective term for the Church reformists.
Joseph gestured to Eman, interrupting him. "My aide made a mistake; you'll have to wait a while longer.
"However, I'm quite curious, what are these signatures you speak of?"
"Signatures supporting Church reform, Your Royal Highness," Father Grenier bowed. "In fact, a large number of signatures from the southern and eastern provinces haven't been returned yet, so the total should easily exceed twenty thousand."
Joseph immediately displayed a shocked expression, looking at Archbishop Beaumont.
Currently, there were fewer than 70,000 secular clergy in all of France, meaning roughly one-third had signed demanding reform. Considering many would be unwilling to offend the Church hierarchy, this proportion was remarkably high.
Archbishop Beaumont was stunned that the reformists would "go for a direct attack." He immediately suppressed his anger and retorted, "Your Royal Highness, the clergy have merely been misled by these impudent individuals!
"The traditions of the Church are what deserve the utmost respect. For millennia, countless faithful have received God's grace through these very practices. Any rash alteration is a desecration of the sacred order!"
Father Grenier stood his ground. "Desecration? Indeed! When abbeys are filled with the crisp clink of gold coins, that is the gravest desecration!"
Archbishop Tours loudly rebuked, "The Church is God's representative in the secular world. These assets all belong to God, and are not for you to presumptuously discuss..."
"Everyone knows who is squandering 'God's property' on lavish pleasures..."
"You heretical madman!"
"We are saving the Church..."
Seeing that the argument was sufficiently heated, Joseph stepped forward and separated the two groups. "Ahem, please mind your decorum.
"Well, I believe there's some truth to both your points, but this is clearly not the appropriate venue for such a debate."
"My apologies, Your Royal Highness," Father Grenier bowed. "However, I believe that given sufficient time, I could certainly persuade the Archbishops.
"Therefore, I ask for your permission to hold a public debate with the Archbishops!"
Joseph, looking as if he wanted to quickly rid himself of the trouble, nodded. "Your suggestion is excellent. This will allow everyone to hear your perspectives!"
Archbishop Beaumont and the others were instantly stunned.
A public debate? The reformists' arguments would undoubtedly hold every advantage—
Whether it was demanding the Church relinquish tithes and focus on theology, or making the selection process for holy offices transparent, who could openly say these things were wrong?
Furthermore, during the debate, the reformists would inevitably frequently bring up the Church's immense wealth, which was precisely what the high clergy least wanted the public to notice.
Archbishop Chartres whispered into Beaumont's ear, "Many of us haven't passed the Holy See's assessment..."
The latter's heart tightened. 'That's right, if the reformists used that point to attack their theological competency, they wouldn't be able to refute it.'
He then recalled that if the Crown Prince revealed the ledgers seized by the Tax Bureau before the debate began, the reformists wouldn't even need to open their mouths to garner the frenzied support of all the sans-culottes.
In short, a public debate would be an undeniable loss for the Church.
After that, Church reform would become inevitable...
Archbishop Beaumont broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly bowed to the Crown Prince and said, "Your Royal Highness, actually a public debate is not quite..."
Just then, the Crown Princess's voice came from the doorway, "My dear, we need to practice the wedding ceremony again. You remembered several parts incorrectly yesterday..."
Immediately, Alexandra walked in quickly. When she saw the archbishops in the room, she quickly adopted a standard polite demeanor. "Oh, I apologize. I hope I haven't disturbed you."
'What impeccable timing,' Joseph silently praised in his mind. He stepped forward and embraced her. "Alright, I'm coming."
Then, he turned to Beaumont and the others. "It's settled then. You will hold a public debate in Notre Dame Square. The timing will be the day after my wedding."
Before his words had even faded, his and the Crown Princess's figures had already vanished beyond the door.
In the corridors of Versailles, several archbishops discussed in low, grave tones for a moment before Archbishop Chartres swiftly caught up with Father Grenier and his companions ahead.
"Call off the public debate," he told Grenier directly. "State your conditions."
The latter smiled. "Initiate Church reform."
Archbishop Chartres frowned. "Next year, six archbishop positions will become vacant. All will be filled by your nominations."
The French Church had a total of twenty-eight archbishops. Granting six positions to these lower-ranking reformist clergy was certainly a tremendous concession.
Seeing no response, Archbishop Chartres gritted his teeth. "Eight archbishop positions. That's our absolute bottom line!"
A moment later, he arrived at Archbishop Beaumont's carriage, his face grim.
Several archbishops all looked at him. "How did the negotiations go?"
"Those greedy vultures, they actually demanded twenty archbishop positions!"
'Indeed, the reformists weren't genuinely seeking archbishop positions; this was merely a pretext Joseph used to cut off the Church's retreat.'
Curses immediately filled the entire carriage.
Three days later.
A group of archbishops were anxiously discussing how to handle the public debate at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés when a priest knocked and entered, bowing to Beaumont.
"Your Grace, Archbishop Brienne wishes to see you."
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