Chapter 656: Pius IX

Mastai Ferretti (later Pope Pius IX) was born with epilepsy and was the second son of a minor noble family. His mother's greatest hope for him was to make him a priest in the Papal States.

It has been said before that priests are a key link in the political system of the Papal States, but most of them are scum.

The year 1792 when Mastai Ferretti was born happened to be one of the most chaotic periods in Europe. Louis XVI was beheaded and the French Revolution reached its climax.

In 1809, Napoleon swept across Italy, and the Roman Seminary where Mastai Ferretti studied was subsequently closed. What was even more unfortunate was that he was taken to France by the French while studying with Pope Pius VII.

Fortunately, the French soon ran out of luck. Finally, in 1814, Napoleon abdicated and Pope Pius VII returned home. Mastai Ferretti was able to continue his studies in the imperial court.

In fact, Mastai Ferretti had no interest in learning. His days in France were like a vacation for him, after all, he didn't have to go to school.

Mastai Ferretti never thought that his theological and cultural knowledge was very high. In fact, when he was living in a foreign country, he could not even debate with the soldiers who guarded him. When he returned to his hometown, he was often speechless by the questions of visiting tourists.

Mastai Ferretti's colleagues often joked.

"The best way to make a person leave religion is to let him listen to the sermons of Brother Ferretti."

In 1818, Mastai Ferretti still became a "glorious" priest, but considering his occasional epilepsy, poor theological knowledge, and low adaptability, he could only preside over the mass with the assistance of other clergy.

Later, his poor performance in the Bologna Uprising did not make him hidden, but he was promoted step by step for unknown reasons.

Soon he became a bishop, where Mastai Ferretti first showed his talent and he was successfully isolated by the local church.

No priest liked him, and no priest admired him, but Mastai Ferretti's behavior of singing against the local church won him a good reputation, and his liberal remarks were even more praised.

The Young Italy Party in Switzerland called him "the conscience of Italy".

However, no one could have imagined that this somewhat funny little man would stir up the storm in the future and plunge the whole of Italy into war.

One day in November 1845, the British government made a decision that surprised the outside world.

That is to give in to the Americans on the Oregon issue, and the latter also gained access to the Pacific Ocean.

But why did the British choose to give in when the Austrian Empire occupied California and France occupied Texas and the surrounding areas?

Because the mysterious "potato epidemic" on the island of Ireland reappeared? Because the war to invade southern Brazil was deadlocked? Because the transaction with the Qing Dynasty did not get a satisfactory answer? Because of cholera in London?

None of them, it was because India was in chaos.

At this time, the South Asian subcontinent was truly a place where heroes rose up, hundreds of flowers bloomed, gongs and drums roared, and firecrackers rang.

The British, Sikhs, Afghans, Nepalese, local princely states, various religions, opium dealers, and smugglers all rose up.

Sir Henry Hardinge was already desperate. Not only was there an invasion by foreign enemies, but there were also a large number of rebels. If it weren't for the Indian Ocean Fleet, the war would have ended at this time.

But even so, the intensity and destructive power of the war far exceeded his previous imagination. Although Akbar Khan's people were poorly equipped, they were brave and good at fighting, and because they had massacred tens of thousands of "British troops", they had a certain psychological advantage.

Although the Sikh Empire was in decline, the soldiers had no fighting spirit, and the generals had no fighting intention, but they were well-equipped and occupied an advantageous terrain.

But if Sir Henry Hardinge wanted to end the unrest quickly, he had to win quickly, and neither attacking the towns of the Sikh Empire nor going to the mountains to fight guerrilla warfare with the Afghans could end quickly.

The previous strategy of building a stronghold and fighting a stupid battle was completely unsuccessful, and what was even more terrifying was that if the Afghans and Sikhs really joined hands, it would be a super big trouble where 1+1 was greater than 2.

In addition, the rebels all over the ground were also unexpected by Sir Henry Hardinge. He had no idea how many letters for help he had written to the country.

The troops in the Nanyang region were not abundant either, and could only support 1,500 people. The Far East had to guard against the Qing Dynasty, and could only send 500 people to support at most.

At this time, Sir Henry Hardinge's biggest hope was the 5,000 soldiers of the Cape Colony and the 20 ships of the West African Fleet.

The participation of the Nepalese in the war was also beyond the British's expectations. After all, Britain had defeated Nepal many times before and ceded a lot of land. It was already a puppet state in the hands of the British.

But in fact, a coup took place in Nepal at this time, and the prime minister supported by the British was assassinated by the royal family. This was originally an internal power struggle, but the prime minister's faction was quite powerful, and the royal family had to launch this war in order to stabilize the situation and divert contradictions.

6,000 Nepalese soldiers, claiming to be 100,000, launched an attack on the British who had been threatening their country.

There were only more than 500 British troops and a battalion of Gurkhas stationed in the area. The so-called Gurkhas are Nepalese.

The British commander immediately decided to retreat to the Patna area to hold on and wait for help, because they alone could not stop the Nepalese army.

The British commander was actually very courageous, but he could not trust his Gurkha mercenaries.

However, at that time, Nepal had no concept of the country, and people were more divided by tribes. The Gurkhas hired by the British happened to belong to the prime minister's faction.

These people have been mercenaries for generations, and they still have certain ethics. In addition, the tribal leader was killed, and they were simply irreconcilable with the attacking Nepalese army. They were unwilling to leave for emotional and rational reasons.

The British didn't want to care about these lunatics, and they fled after paying this month's wages.

Perhaps the fate of Great Britain was not over yet. This mercenary repelled the "100,000 troops" of the Kingdom of Nepal at the cost of almost complete destruction.

When the British reconnaissance team arrived, they found that the fortress was full of corpses, and only a small group of Gurkha mercenaries waved the flag of British India to greet them.

In fact, the Nepalese live in mountainous areas, with harsh natural environment and barren land. In addition, their national martial tradition, so even fighting among the same ethnic group will be so bloody.

After the news reached Delhi, Sir Henry Harding breathed a sigh of relief. This was the best news he had heard recently.

However, Sir Henry Harding soon received bad news. According to the informant's secret report, the Sassoon family seemed to plan to build a Jewish state on the Indian subcontinent.

Sir Henry Harding's head was buzzing. He even felt that he should send someone to negotiate with the Sassoon family, and then let London make a promise to hold them back. After all, the Sassoon family was too rich.

If this damn opium dealer provided financial assistance to the princes of those princely states, it would be disgusting.

However, at this time, Sir Henry Harding received another good news. The Austrians in Tranquilla said that they could help him solve this trouble. As for the reward, they only needed a little land in the Kalaika area.

(Kalaika is now the Tamil Nadu area)