Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 251: Maintaining the King's Authority
The sound of horse hooves made a crisp sound on the streets of Rome. The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty seemed quite orderly at this moment. They did not raise their guns to shoot at the civilians with numb expressions, nor did they try to dismount to feel the medieval European style.

In the eyes of the Ming Dynasty officials and soldiers at this moment, this was a poor and backward country.

The common people of the Papal States also looked at these people from the Ming Dynasty with curiosity. They were amazed at the luxurious clothes and dignified appearance of these people. In their opinion, these should all be nobles from the East.

Bishop Toges of the Papal States entertained Xia Yan warmly and asked about the purpose of Xia Yan's visit.

Xia Yan expressed his desire to personally inspect and understand the situation, so he initially asked Bishop Toges to read him the canon, the outline of the constitution, and the country's laws and criminal regulations.

In Xia Yan's view, the Outline of the Constitution stipulates the relationship between the monarch and his subjects and the ownership of state power, while the Collected Statutes such as the Ming Dynasty Collected Statutes stipulate administrative implementation regulations, and the laws and criminal regulations are about the judicial aspect. These are all indispensable bases for a country's governance. Reading the country's existing official documents can naturally help one understand the cultural and ideological conditions of this place, and at the same time, make comparisons with the Ming Dynasty.

However, the Papal States could not provide these to Xia Yan, because the Papal States did not have a sound state system. The country was composed of the common people, the monks, and the military, and the Pope as the head of state was more of a religious figure, and the administrative management was not standardized.

Xia Yan was very disappointed and decided to go to Florence.

But Tojes did not let Xia Yan go. He originally thought that Xia Yan came to make a pilgrimage on behalf of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but now he had to be sure that Xia Yan was not a believer, and that the Emperor from the Ming Empire was not here to seek a coronation.

But unfortunately, Toges himself had sent someone to inform the Pope that an emperor from Eastern China would come to accept his coronation.

In order not to disappoint the Pope, he had to find another way.

Tojes did think of a way, which was to make Xia Yan a believer. Therefore, he needed to keep Xia Yan, instill doctrine into Xia Yan, make Xia Yan a believer, and at the same time make Xia Yan agree to make the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty a believer after returning, and then come to accept the coronation in person.

Xia Yan was not opposed to religious propaganda. This was the tradition of many scholars and officials in the Ming Dynasty. Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism were all acceptable. He also knew from Emperor Zhu Houzhao that religion was particularly important to the Western barbarians. So, he felt that it was understandable and stayed for a while to listen to Tojes preach the doctrine to him.

Xia Yan also discussed it very seriously with Tojes, and he also believed that the doctrines believed by these Western barbarians also encourage people to do good, and are not evil religions that are contrary to worldly ethics.

But as a mature politician, Xia Yan accepted the answer but it did not mean he surrendered. He knew clearly from the beginning to the end what his purpose was in coming here. He did not want to bring new ideas to the religious culture of the Ming Dynasty. He wanted to bring tangible political benefits to the Ming Dynasty and see which of these Western ideas could be used by the Ming Dynasty.

……

When Pope Leo X learned that there was an envoy from the East, representing the emperor of the Eastern Ming Empire, coming to discuss the coronation, he immediately rushed to Rome.

"I really don't know which missionary's credit it was that the emperor of the East even accepted his coronation."

Pope Leo X was very happy to see his doctrine spread in the East, and he was also very happy to see an emperor from the East accept his rule.

Because this is equivalent to the monarch of the empire recognizing his own status and the status of his religion.

When Pope Leo X met Xia Yan, he immediately asked Xia Yan about the coronation of the Ming Emperor.

Toges was no longer able to explain the misunderstanding in time.

When Xia Yan learned that these people wanted the Ming Emperor to accept the coronation and recognize that the status of Catholicism was above the state, he was very angry. This was something he could not accept.

As an official of the Ming Dynasty, Xia Yan could accept the spread and belief of any religion, but he could not accept the Pope's attempt to override the imperial power.

Therefore, after returning to the fleet, Xia Yan immediately ordered the fleet to bombard the city of Rome, and at the same time, ordered the Ming officers and soldiers to attack the city of Rome.

The Roman army in the Middle Ages was no match for the Ming soldiers. The medieval knights could only be shot or blown up by the Ming soldiers armed with rifles and grenades.

Therefore, Xia Yan soon led the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers to occupy the Papal States, that is, the city of Rome.

When Xia Yan appeared again, he had brought a team of Ming Dynasty soldiers.

At this time, Leo X did not understand why this delegation from the Eastern Empire would suddenly resort to force. Of course, he had to admit that this Eastern delegation was very powerful. He had never seen such powerful guns and cannons.

Leo X didn't know how to describe this group of people from the Eastern Empire. Xia Yan only ordered: "Take this traitor who attempts to override the monarchy and chop him off!"

Ming officers and soldiers came over according to Xia Yan's order and pulled Leo X out from the crowd of Vatican officials.

Leo X kept struggling and shouting, but because they could not speak the same language, the Ming officers and soldiers could not understand what Leo X was saying. Leo X also did not know how he was going to be treated. He did not even understand how he had suddenly offended these people from the East.

Click!

Leo X was beheaded by Ming soldiers, and his blood splattered directly on the stone steps.

All the staff of the entire Papal States were shocked.

Among them, Bishop Tojes couldn't help but shout: "You devils from the East! Why did you attack our city and kill our Pope!"

Xia Yan had learned the local language from Pires, so he naturally understood what these people meant. He hurriedly shouted, "I killed him because your Pope dared to override the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. I can recognize your rule in Rome and your right to religious freedom, but you want the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to obey the Pope, which is an act of usurpation!"

"The king of our Ming Dynasty was chosen by the people of the Ming Dynasty. He has the royal power stipulated in the Constitution. No one can override the royal power! You can't even think about it! Therefore, he, Leo X, must die. And you, Tojes, you are the conspirator. I have decided to sentence you to life imprisonment. Take him away and put him in shackles and serve!"

After Xia Yan finished speaking, the Ming soldiers came in again and took Tojes away.

The other Vatican officials didn't know what to do and were all terrified.

Seeing this, Xia Yan said again: "But don't worry, I am here on behalf of the emperor to inspect the West, not to kill people at will. As long as you don't try to rule the Ming Dynasty and put yourself above the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I will allow you to believe in any religion, and I will not demolish your churches or burn your books! I will even recognize your status here!"

"But from now on, you, the Pope of Rome, must be appointed by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to be the legal representative of God's will. Do you understand? You cardinals have the power to elect the Pope. I admit that you still have this power, but the Pope you elect must be approved by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty again! The power of the Pope must be under the monarchy of the Ming Dynasty!"

"You can refuse! However, the price of refusal is that you will be buried with your Pope!"

As Xia Yan said this, he ordered the Ming officers and soldiers to raise their muskets and point them at all the Vatican personnel in front of them.

At this time, several cardinals saw that the Eastern official in front of them had no intention of destroying their religion, and even allowed them to establish another Pope, which was equivalent to still recognizing their status as Pope. In addition, considering that their lives were in the hands of this Eastern official, they finally agreed to Xia Yan's request.

Therefore, Xia Yan and these cardinals drafted the Papal Succession Act, stating that the Papal States would obey the rule of the Ming Emperor, and that the Pope's succession to the throne would require the consent of the Ming Emperor and the countersignature of the highest Ming official stationed in the West.

As a civil servant, he was first educated in Confucianism and then accepted the idea that the monarchy was chosen by the people and could not be offended against the will of the people. This made him believe that the monarch of the Ming Dynasty could not be betrayed by anyone, and no one could even attempt to override the monarch.

In Xia Yan's view, once the succession of the Ming Dynasty monarch is illegal, or even coveted by others, or even if someone wants to override the monarchy, it is a betrayal of the people of the Ming Dynasty and an act of disrupting the world.

Therefore, Xia Yan could not tolerate any force that wanted to manipulate the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and override the imperial power. He had to use the most severe means to tell these Western barbarians not to think of being the master of the Ming emperor, because that would mean that they wanted to be the master of all the people of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Xia Yan suddenly attacked Rome and killed Leo X.

Xia Yan's behavior greatly shocked the Papal States. They had never imagined that people from the East would be so disgusted with having the emperor be under the Pope, even if it was only in name.

But they knew that this was a powerful Eastern empire, an empire that was above all religions and even allowed the spread of various religions. It was an empire they could not understand and they could not afford to offend.

However, these Vatican officials were fortunate that the officials of the Ming Empire did not oppose their religious beliefs, and did not even have the intention of overthrowing their Pope. Therefore, these Vatican officials were afraid that other Western countries would know that the Pope could be subordinate to the monarch, so they chose to conceal the fact that Leo X was killed by the Ming Dynasty. They only said that the Pope died suddenly, and at the same time elected a Pope as quickly as possible.

Xia Yan did not want to make things difficult for these Vatican officials. He said that this Pope could act as the Pope and that the legitimacy of this Pope would only be officially recognized after the emperor's decree was officially issued. He also said that if any force attempted to eliminate the Pope appointed by the Ming Dynasty in the future, the Ming Dynasty would help the Pope fight against this force.

This made the Vatican officials very happy, but what they didn't know was that the Ming Dynasty maintained the status of the Pope in order to make the darkness of the European Middle Ages last a little longer.

(End of this chapter)