Fox of France

Thanks to France for these years, the prestige of the Holy See has been declining day by day. Even if they died in the city of Rome, some people would dare to satirize the Holy See like this. It's not that the Holy See doesn't want to suppress these guys, it's just that heresy has been rampant in Italy over the years, and many people have been bewitched by them, and even the books of apostates like Voltaire have been circulated everywhere, and because the French relationship, the Holy See cannot ban these things yet. As a result, rebellious words such as "superstitious demons and raging hydras" were openly circulated on the streets. If the Holy See really takes decisive measures to suppress these people, maybe these people will really rebel.

As for the military power in the hands of the Holy See, um, since Napoleon’s march into Rome, the Holy See’s army turned against them, from the Pope, to the underage thieves in Rome, and to the army of the Papal State itself. I believe that the army of the Papal State will be loyal to the Holy See and attack the rebellious Roman citizens. Even if things go wrong, it is very possible that the Papal State's army will side with the Roman people instead. Of course, if it's the "Roman people" in someone's plan, then there's no doubt about it.

Therefore, one does not dare to suppress, and one does not dare to suppress in this life. Only by letting those Swiss mercenaries wearing half-length armor and holding halberds come out frequently can they barely maintain a little bit of the pope's face.

Besides, the people who may be making trouble behind the scenes are likely to be the nobles of Austria. Although the Holy See is in a difficult situation in this matter, the Emperor of Austria—no, His Majesty the King can fully understand that the Holy See really has no choice but to exist in this matter. difficulties. Even in fact, Austria and the Holy See have reached de facto agreement on many issues. But these things cannot be said after all. All the Austrian nobles who are not clear-headed, can the Holy See not tolerate some small things? Without the support of the Austrians, those Italians would really dare to carve up the Papal Kingdom. The French, on the other hand, would probably be very happy to welcome the Pope to Avignon.

So, despite all the blasphemous things that happened during the torch relay, the Holy See has made up its mind—we saw nothing.

As the torch continues to pass, various countries have also begun to enter the stage of preparing for the Olympic Games. Each country has begun to form its own Olympic committee and prepares to send its own sports team to participate in the Paris Olympic Games.

At this time, the French Olympic Committee also officially announced the Olympic competition items and registration rules. Regarding the competition items, it has been leaked through various methods, so everyone has already known about it. The official announcement this time actually confirmed these rumors.

The Olympic Games mainly set up such projects. The first is track and field events. Track events mainly include 100-meter sprints, 200-meter runs, and marathon long-distance runs. Field events include discus throw, javelin throw, high jump and long jump.

In addition, there are ball games, but at this time, basketball has not been invented yet, football, this era has already existed, but there are no rules at all, basically it is a nonsense thing for low-class people, competitions, in this era Disrespectful. As for the aristocratic sport known as the upper class in later generations, golf, which even the king likes very much, has just shifted from the game of the Scottish shepherd boy to ball games at this time. Of course, these are not the most important reasons. The most important thing is that the French are not good at these tricks. So in this era, there is only one suitable ball game, and that is very French tennis.

Tennis was originally a game played by nobles, and later it was introduced to the people and became a tool for gambling. Later, the Sun King banned folks from playing this thing, but tennis was still a legal sport in the noble court. After the Great Revolution, tennis returned to the folks again, and now it is considered the most familiar ball game to the French. During the French army's campaign, this game was spread to other European countries, so it is not only the French who can play it, so tennis became the only ball game in the French Olympic Games. In order to promote French culture, the French also shamelessly divided tennis into "clay court tennis" and "lawn tennis", and then set up singles and doubles, so that there were several more firsts at once.

In addition, there is another important competition event is equestrianism. There are two events in this Olympic Games: speed horse racing and steeplechase horse racing.

Then there's fencing and shooting.

In the fencing event, contestants use flat-headed swords without a front, and there are two competition events: stabbing swords and double swords (a long sword plus a dagger for auxiliary defense).

As for the shooting events, it is naturally for the Bonaparte Arsenal, including a 10-meter target for a pistol, a 100-meter target for a rifle, and a skeet competition that imitates hunting.

In these games, the firearms used are brought by the players. However, the Bonaparte Armory has prepared guns specially optimized for the competition for French competitors, so it is almost impossible for athletes who use guns from other companies to win the competition. And this kind of competition has become the best advertisement for Bonaparte Arsenal.

After running around Italy, the flame finally boarded the ship and headed for Spain. The French fleet escorted the ships carrying the torch throughout the journey. When the torch arrived in Spain, the Pashas in Barbary finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the French and Spanish fleets outside their port finally turned around and left.

The pashas of the Barbary couldn't help but thank God for his protection and for letting the infidels go away. However, what they didn't expect was that in the Turkish palace, a conspiracy was being planned against them.

The French envoy Saint-Meran was discussing Barbary with the supreme Turkish Sultan Selim III.

"Your Majesty, let us face the reality. Admitting the reality itself will not hurt people, but closing your eyes and not acknowledging the reality will cause real harm to the country. In today's Barbary, the pashas, ​​even though they are above the name, still submit to Your Majesty, but in fact, they are already an independent country. As your Majesty's Pasha, shouldn't they come to you often to see you? But since you took this position, when will they come to your Majesty Have you seen it?

And if Barbary is really a territory of Turkey, shouldn't it pay taxes to Your Majesty? Over the years, the pashas of Barbary have made a lot of money, but your majesty's reforms have always been plagued by insufficient funds. Why aren't you exercising your rights there?

Your Majesty, if you intend to take back your legal rights in Barbary, as Turkey's long-standing ally, we French can help you. Of course, we are not unconditional, in fact, we can achieve a win-win situation in this matter..."