Chapter 887 Escape
When the guards and servants rushed into the room, they found that the originally white bishop's robes of Pius IX were stained with blood.
However, the cannonball did not hurt the Pope himself. He just looked a little confused and in disbelief.
"His Majesty the Pope! Let's run away! The Consultative Council and the Civil Guard have rebelled, and they are about to rush in!"
Captain Stefan Capella shouted that although he was a Swiss mercenary, he had served the Papal States for thirty years, and several popes had treated him well, so what Captain Stefan said at this time It's true.
However, Pius IX refused, he did not want to leave.
"Change my clothes, I want to see my flock! No! My people!"
Although Pius IX was dressed in a mess, his demeanor at this time was like that of a real pope.
Several servants were also infected by this momentum. They acted quickly, and soon Pius IX changed into a clean robe, and the blood on his face and hair was wiped away.
At this time, Swiss mercenaries as foreigners outside the palace were defending the place, while the attackers were the Roman Citizen Guard.
The fighting between the two sides was no different from a large-scale gang fight. The Swiss mercenaries hid behind flower beds and marble statues, while the Roman Civil Guards could only knock down vendors' carts or stalls to use as bunkers.
However, this balance was broken the moment the Citizen Guard brought the cannon. However, since there were no professional artillery, the cannonballs directly crossed the Swiss mercenary defense line and shot into the palace.
Artillery cannot be transported in a short time, which means that the liberals have brought artillery to the parade early in the morning. They are determined to oust Pius IX from power.
Angelo Nebuti was the soul of the Roman Citizen Consultative Committee at this time. He also came to the palace of Pius IX and urged the artillery to be replenished quickly.
In fact, this so-called artilleryman was not professional. After the first shell was fired, the gun barrel was almost exploded because it was too full of gunpowder. Now they had to clean the gun barrel again.
At this time, the palace door slowly opened, and Pius IX walked out in front of everyone's surprised eyes.
"Children treat the injured, don't let innocent blood continue to flow in vain."
At this time, if someone else had said such an unsavory word, 80% of them would have been shot to pieces, but it would be different if it were the Pope.
The two sides actually ceased fire, and the onlookers were a little at a loss. But Angelo Nebuti would not allow Pius IX to remain in control, he shouted.
"Fire! Kill the culprit and everything will be over!"
However, everyone was confused. A soldier from the Civil Guard said: "That's the Pope! If you kill him, will you go to hell?"
Angelo Nebuti angrily grabbed the gun and shouted to his cronies: "Shoot him!"
A burst of gunfire rang out, smoke filled the air (it was related to the gunpowder at that time, and the smoke was very large), and there was a burst of exclamation from the crowd.
Although not many people really like the Pope, it still makes people feel incredible when someone actually shoots at the Pope.
The Pope is, after all, the ruler of the Papal States and the theoretical spiritual leader.
But when the smoke cleared, people discovered that Pius IX was still standing where he was, unscathed.
"Oh my God! Miracle!"
The people began to pray one after another, and the soldiers of the Citizen Guard also joined them.
In fact, this is not really a blessing from the gods, but the accuracy of muskets at long distances is not good, and Angelo Nebuti and his cronies are not sharpshooters.
Missing a shot is a very normal thing, but in the eyes of ordinary people, it is a miracle.
Life is so difficult, people naturally hope that heaven is real. But Angelo Nebuti doesn't believe in this evil. If he really believed in this, he wouldn't be able to rebel.
Angelo Nebuti wanted to continue shooting, but the reloading speed of rifles in this era was too slow, so he could only continue to grab the gun.
Angelo Nebuti grabbed another rifle. This time he wanted to aim before firing, but the surrounding people and the Civil Guard stopped him.
"Mr. Angelo! No! You will go to hell! We just want to have a good meal. Now that the Pope is out, let's have a good talk."
"Trash! Stupid! Give me the gun."
After all, Angelo Nebuti couldn't win over the people, so he could only stomp away angrily.
An hour later, Quirinale Palace.
Thirteen cardinals in Rome and liberals in the government gathered together, and Pius IX was also present.
In order to end the rebellion, the church is willing to make concessions, but it still needs to listen to the opinions of liberals first. After all, accepting it in full may lead to a greater crisis.
The liberal demand was simply that the authoritative laws of the Papal States be replaced by their constitution, with government officials elected.
As for the Pope, he is still the religious leader of the Papal States and enjoys the same respected status as other royal families.
This is simply unacceptable to the authority of the Papal States, especially the fact that the Pope is equated with the monarchs of other countries. This setting is obviously a big pitfall.
However, what was really unacceptable to Pius IX was the electoral system. He could not accept that his identity and power were "tarnished".
In fact, more importantly, he was afraid of the election itself. Pius IX had no confidence in his people and no confidence in himself.
But in fact, the reputation of liberals at this time is really not much better. They buy low, sell high, and hoard. If it were not for the government, they would be liquidated first.
Although the Pope is the spiritual leader to the entire Catholic world, to the Romans he is just the Bishop of Rome. (Italian joke)
But at this time, Pius IX and the church still had a very strong influence among the people. If it were a universal suffrage, the liberals would definitely be defeated.
But what the liberals want is limited elections, that is, property elections, so that they can have exclusive power. Their so-called freedom has always been a luxury for a few people.
In this way, the first day of negotiations between the two parties made no progress. Most liberals were happy to be able to talk to those high-ranking bishops in the past.
However, Angelo Nebuti was not such an unmotivated person, and he did not want to give Pius IX a chance to redeem himself.
On the other side, Pius IX summoned the French and Spanish ambassadors overnight. On that day, a man wearing a low-level priest's robe boarded the carriage under the cover of darkness, along with two large carts of personal belongings.
Before dawn the next day, Angelo Nebuti and his cronies took advantage of the opportunity of negotiation to rush into the Pope's palace with guns, but did not find Pius IX.
In fact, in addition to the Pope, several cardinals and their cronies were also missing.
Standing on the side of the ship, Pius IX looked back at the Eternal City, Rome. He felt angry and ashamed.
Pius IX decided to take back everything he had - by force, and so the ship sailed for Tuscany. Because it was the closest to the front line, he wanted to use the Italian coalition to retake the holy city of Rome.