Chapter 887 Escape
When the guards and servants rushed into the room, they found that Pius IX's originally white bishop's robe was stained with blood.
However, the shell did not hurt the Pope himself, he just looked a little confused and unbelievable.
"Your Holiness! Let's run! The Consultative Committee and the Citizens' Guard have rebelled, and they are about to rush in!"
The captain of the guard, Stefan Capela, shouted. Although he was a Swiss mercenary, he had served the Papal States for thirty years, and several popes were also good to him, so Captain Stefan was speaking the truth at this time.
However, Pius IX refused, he didn't want to leave.
"Change my clothes, I want to see my flock! No! My people!"
Although Pius IX's clothes were embarrassed, his demeanor was like a real pope at this time.
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 dry.
At this time, the Swiss mercenaries, who were foreigners, were defending the palace, while the attacking party was the Roman Civic Guard.
The battle between the two sides was no different from a large-scale gang fight. The Swiss mercenaries hid behind the flower beds and marble statues, while the Roman Civic Guard could only push down the hawkers' carts or stalls as cover.
However, this balance was broken the moment the Civic Guard brought in the cannon. However, due to the lack of professional artillery, the shells directly crossed the Swiss mercenaries' defense line and shot into the palace.
Cannons are not something that can be transported in a short time, which means that the liberals brought cannons in the parade early in the morning. They were determined to drive Pius IX out of power.
Angelo Nebuti was the soul of the Roman Civic Consultative Committee at this time. He also came to Pius IX's palace and urged the artillery to refill quickly.
In fact, this so-called artillery was not professional. After the first shell was fired, it almost exploded because the gunpowder was too full. Now they had to clean the barrel again.
At this time, the palace gate slowly opened, and Pius IX walked out in the surprised eyes of the crowd.
"Children, treat the wounded, don't let innocent blood continue to flow in vain."
If someone else said such a bland sentence at this time, he would probably be shot dead, but it would be different if it was the Pope.
The two sides actually stopped firing, and the citizens watching were a little overwhelmed. But Angelo Nebuti would not let Pius IX continue to control the situation, he shouted.
"Fire! Kill the culprit and everything will be over!"
However, everyone was confused, and a soldier of the Citizen Guard said: "That's the Pope! Kill him and he will go to hell, right?"
Angelo Nebuti grabbed the gun angrily and shouted to his confidant: "Shoot him to death!"
A burst of gunfire rang out, and the smoke filled the air (it was related to the gunpowder at the time, which produced a lot of smoke.), and there was a cry of surprise from the crowd.
Although not many people really like this pope, it still makes people feel incredible when someone shoots at him.
After all, the pope is the ruler of the Papal States and the spiritual leader in theory.
However, when the smoke cleared, people found that Pius IX was still standing there unscathed.
"Oh my God! Miracle!"
People began to pray, and the soldiers of the Civil Guard joined them.
In fact, this is not really blessed by gods, but the accuracy of smoothbore guns at long distances is not good, and Angelo Nebuti and his confidants are not sharpshooters.
It is normal to miss the target, but it is a miracle in the eyes of ordinary people.
Life is so difficult that people naturally hope that heaven is real. But Angelo Nebuti doesn't believe this evil. If he really believes this, he can't rebel.
Angelo Nebuti wants to continue shooting, but the loading speed of rifles in this era is too slow, so he can only continue to grab guns.
Angelo Nebuti grabbed another rifle. This time he wanted to aim before firing, but the people around him and the Civil Guard stopped him.
"Mr. Angelo! No! We will go to hell! We just want to have a full meal. Now that the Pope has come out, let's have a good talk."
"Waste! Stupid! Give me the gun."
Angelo Nebuti was ultimately defeated by the people and could only stomp away in anger.
An hour later, Quirinale Palace.
The thirteen cardinals in Rome and the liberals in the government gathered together, and Pius IX also attended the meeting.
In order to end the rebellion, the church is willing to make concessions, but it still has to listen to the opinions of the liberals first, after all, full acceptance may lead to a greater crisis.
The liberals' request is very simple, that is, to replace the authoritative law of the Papal States with their constitution, and government officials are 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 totally unacceptable to the authority of the Papal States, especially since the Pope is equated with the monarch of another country. This setting is obviously a big pit.
However, what Pius IX could not accept the most was the election system. He could not accept that his identity and power were "tainted".
In fact, what was more important was that he was afraid of the election itself. Pius IX had no confidence in his people, and he had no confidence in himself either.
But in fact, the reputation of the liberals at this time was really not that good. They bought low and sold high, hoarded goods, and if they were not under the banner of the government, they would be liquidated first.
Although the Pope is a spiritual leader for the entire Catholic world, he is only the Bishop of Rome to the Romans. (Italian joke)
But at this time, Pius IX and the church still have a very large influence among the people. If it is a universal suffrage, the liberals will definitely be defeated.
However, what the liberals want is limited elections, that is, property elections, so that they can enjoy power alone. Their so-called freedom has always been a luxury for a few people.
In this way, the first day of negotiations between the two sides made no progress. Most liberals were very happy to be able to talk to those high-ranking bishops in the past.
However, Angelo Nebuti was not such an unmotivated person. He did not want to give Pius IX a chance to save himself.
On the other side, Pius IX summoned the French and Spanish ambassadors overnight. On the same day, a man in a low-level priest's robe boarded the carriage under the cover of night, and there were two large carts of personal belongings with him.
Before dawn the next day, Angelo Nebuti and his cronies took advantage of the negotiation opportunity to rush into the Pope's bedroom 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, and he felt angry and ashamed.
Pius IX decided to take back everything he had - by force, so the ship sailed to Tuscany. Because it was closest to the front line, he wanted to use the Italian coalition to take back the holy city of Rome.