Joseph knew very well that Pius VI was already in terrible health, suffering from severe gout and kidney stones.
In the original course of history, Jesus had called Pius VI to heaven three years earlier.
In this life, he had not been captured by Napoleon, nor had he endured the torment of imprisonment in the gloomy castle at Valence, so his little flame in the night wind had yet to go out.
If he refused to cooperate, Joseph only needed to leave him cooling his heels in Avignon. Within a year or two at most, kidney failure or cardiovascular complications caused by gout would carry him off.
Then the new Pope would be honored to take charge of the Holy Trade Alliance and the reforms of the Holy See—an uncooperative Archbishop would never be elected Pope.
But since Pius VI knew so well how to read the times and weigh the circumstances, Joseph would have to find a way to keep him in this world a few more years.
An hour later, Pius VI gazed at the miracle medicine held by his attendant as though he were looking at Saint Peter's keys.
After giving him a thorough examination just now, Doctor Potti had instructed him to give up alcohol and avoid red meat, seafood, and very sweet fruit. Combined with this miracle medicine, those measures would soon relieve his gout symptoms.
The medicine was admittedly rather expensive—300 francs a bottle, enough for one day—but as long as it made his joints hurt less, he would gladly pay even 3,000 francs.
In fact, Doctor Potti did not know how to treat gout at all. This era's understanding of gout was still stuck at the stage of "a buildup of harmful bodily fluids."
The most widely accepted treatment at present was to