Right of Religious Protection

Indeed, establishing a temple of God in North Africa would be a tremendous gift to the Holy See. It would not only greatly enhance the Holy See's prestige but also bring tangible revenue and power.

Throughout Europe, the power of the Holy See has been declining significantly. Not to mention large countries like France, Spain, and Austria, even the smaller countries surrounding the Papal States no longer take the Holy See seriously. Based on the Holy See's own experience, in relatively poorer areas where pagans have a slight advantage, the flocks are easier to graze and shear.

"Bishop Leonard, of course, in order to ensure that we can provide legitimate assistance to the Church's activities in North Africa, we need the Church to grant us apostolic authority throughout Africa," Lucien added.

In a slightly earlier era, when Western colonizers could seize a country simply by setting up a few cannons on the eastern coastline, the "right to protect the faith" was always a convenient reason and excuse for the great powers to invade other countries.

"If the Church encounters difficulties with pagans in North Africa, or suffers actual discrimination, or even martyrdom, it would be inconvenient for us to provide support and assistance without authorization from the Holy See," Lucien added.

Bishop Leonard understood perfectly what he meant by "encountering difficulties from infidels, or suffering actual discrimination, or even martyrdom." This statement should not be taken literally; it shouldn't be interpreted as France protecting the legitimate rights of Catholics in North Africa. Rather, it should be understood as France wanting the Church to be more active, more proactive, even proactively instigating events in North Africa, so that France could step in to uphold papal authority and incidentally gain more benefits for itself. Of course, this was entirely incidental.

For example, according to the agreement reached between France and Turkey, the France applied France law within the concessions. Furthermore, the France also possessed "consular jurisdiction" in the Barbary States. As long as France held the "right of apostolic persuasion," missionaries who went to preach there, although not members of the France Church (the France Church's doctrines were far less effective than the original Catholicism in numbing the people, especially those who were still sufficiently ignorant), could be considered France citizens and would naturally be protected by France "consular jurisdiction."

According to the agreement between France and Turkey, missionaries were prohibited from leaving the concessions to preach in the interior of the Barbary States; such an act would be considered a crime. However, also according to the same agreement, if France missionaries entered the interior of the Barbary States to preach, Turkey, under consular jurisdiction, could only hand them over to the France consul for punishment. The France consul could then release them without charge. Therefore, church missionaries could completely disregard any Turkey prohibitions and do whatever they wanted.

Of course, regions with pagan beliefs are very barbaric, especially the Barbary region, a place known for its pirates. Naturally, the people there are fierce and aggressive. If you don't exchange three sentences properly, they might just pull out a scimitar. So, if you ventured into a pagan region to preach, you could very well be beheaded by those barbaric pagans. Just like the South Korea who went to Afghanistan to preach in later times.

But, to put it more clearly, "Why not this be a blessing in disguise?" Isn't this exactly what France, and the Church, needs? France missionaries, whatever crimes they commit, cannot be killed arbitrarily by infidels. In such a situation, the France government can naturally step forward to uphold justice, demanding that the Turkey authorities severely punish the perpetrators and provide compensation. This would further expand their power in the region, and the Church, following suit, could naturally also get a share. Even the missionary who made the great sacrifice could be canonized by the Holy See and receive immense glory in heaven after death. See how wonderful this is—for everyone involved?

Of course, if the church feels that training a proper missionary costs a lot of money and that this waste is a huge loss, they can find a newly liberated Christ in North Africa, have him swear allegiance to France, and tell him, "After you die, I will take care of your wife and children, so don't worry." Then, even the cost can be reduced further.

Of course, the Turkey would be unhappy with this. But times had changed. Back when King François I and Suleiman the Magnificent made the famous "Sacrilegious Alliance," France was trembling under the combined siege of the Habsburg and the England, and desperately needed help from Turkey.

In 1544, Holy Roman Empire Emperor Charles V led his army to invade France, reaching the outskirts of Paris. Meanwhile, the Turkey army launched an attack on Hungary, advancing towards Vienna, ultimately forcing Charles V to withdraw and sue for peace. Therefore, at that time, France truly needed a powerful pagan ally like Turkey.

During the French Revolution, France was blockaded by almost all of Europe, and it had to obtain many of its strategic resources from Turkey. Therefore, this pagan ally remained valuable.

But now, with almost all of Europe under France control, the importance of Turkey as an ally has greatly diminished. If in the past the France viewed Turkey as a partner sharing the spoils, now, in France eyes, Turkey is increasingly seen as just food itself. The fact that the France haven't directly demanded mining, road construction, and cathedral building in Istanbul is already quite lenient. (Of course, even in Istanbul, the France enjoy extraterritorial rights, a privilege granted during the reign of King François I. )

Furthermore, from France's perspective, direct France rule in North Africa could easily embroil them in religious conflict. Therefore, Turkey rule was a relatively cheaper option. However, it was crucial to prevent the Turkey from gaining genuine popular support and establishing a foothold in North Africa. Thus, it was essential to alienate the Turkey and create deep-seated conflicts Turkey and local infidels. This would force the Turkey to rely on France power to maintain their rule, leaving them with no choice but to become France puppets. This is similar to how, in another timeline, the late Qing Dynasty, or even during the reign of a certain idealized figure, could only obediently act as the proxy for Western powers.

On the other hand, once the Holy See joined this plan, it tied itself to the France war machine. From then on, the Holy See, or rather the Catholicism, would become the vanguard of France colonial activities.

Of course, this isn't necessarily a bad thing for the Holy See. It shows that the Holy See is still very valuable, and value translates to usefulness, which in turn gives it status. Therefore, the Holy See can further cling to France. Although its France "father" might sometimes bully the Holy See, by clinging to France, it can bully many, many others. Could there really be anything better in the world?

However, some bargaining was still necessary. So Bishop Leonard thought for a moment and said, "Your Excellency Minister Bonaparte, finding the Lamb for God is the responsibility and honor of any shepherd. But in missionary work in areas rife with pagans, we also need to know more, including what kind of support we can get, what steps we can take, and as you know, due to our temporary problems with Austria, we are currently experiencing some minor financial difficulties, which has somewhat reduced our ability to act. Therefore, we also hope to receive the understanding and assistance of our France friends..."

What followed was even more intense bargaining. Although both sides were sincere in their desire to cooperate, this very desire only fueled the increasingly fierce arguments. The Holy See kept pleading poverty, hoping the France would provide more economic assistance and a larger share of the economic benefits in North Africa.

However, because everyone was genuinely sincere, an agreement was eventually reached. France gained the right to apostolicize throughout Africa; while the Holy See received a Protestantism diocese in the future, along with the right to build churches, spread the religion, and collect tithes within that diocese.

Both sides also agreed that any actions by the Holy See in North Africa that might have political implications would need to be discussed in advance with the France government's representative, namely the local consul, and with the France's understanding.

Furthermore, within the North African Diocese, the three banks designated by the Holy See will have the same rights as France banks. They will all be treated as France banks in this region, able to conduct business activities on an equal footing, and receive the same protection as the France government.

When the Holy See made this request, Lucien retorted, "You still say you have no money? What's with these banks? Isn't this your money? You clearly have money!"

Bishop Leonard countered, "How can the bank's money be considered our money? It belongs to the depositors; we are merely managing it on their behalf. Besides, because of Austria, our bank urgently needs profitable projects."

"That won't do," Lucien immediately said. "This involves not only money, but also business competition. We're worried that your bank will maliciously lower interest rates, resulting in everyone earning less!"

Leonard naturally stated that the Holy See's bank would never engage in such despicable practices, guaranteeing that it would not offer interest rates different from those of France Holy See, nor would it provide any disguised low interest rates. Lucien, however, insisted that the Holy See was a master of deception and that they could not trust these promises. After much haggling, they finally decided to establish a joint banking alliance to oversee the matter.

The negotiations between the two sides were thus successfully concluded.