After negotiating with Teresa, Aigron took action as usual and immediately began preparations to convert Haidee.
In his opinion, there are many MSL in the Ioannina area. If Haidee is converted to Orthodox Christianity, it will cut off her emotional connection with a large part of her future subjects, which is equivalent to nip the problem in the bud.
Moreover, having a pagan princess "consciously" inspired by God was something for him to brag about.
This was a political issue as well as a religious issue, so he immediately thought of his adviser, Father Faria, and approached him to discuss it together.
Since Teresa left for Mesolonghion, Father Faria naturally followed her. This old priest, who had no feeling in the right half of his body, supported himself with a strong will and tried hard to continue to maintain his strength. Live life.
He had nothing to worry about in this world and was already prepared to die. The only thing he could not let go of was his adopted son Edmond Dantès. However, after taking refuge under Aigron, he unexpectedly became angry again. He lost the passion to survive, as if he wanted to let his remaining wisdom continue to burn for the cause of His Majesty Napoleon II in order to reflect his own value in life.
And Aigron was still as polite to him as ever. Not only did he take good care of his daily life, but he would also occasionally chat with him. He was deeply honored by this and hoped that he could be of more help.
At Aiglon's order, the attendant pushed Father Faria over in a wheelchair.
Because of his physical inconvenience, the priest did not salute, but bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, do you have anything to ask me about?"
"There is a small religious question - I think this is exactly your expertise." Aiglon replied, "I plan to convert Haidee to Orthodox Christianity as soon as possible before I officially enter Ioannina. To do this, we need to hold a meeting A ceremony.”
Father Faria was not surprised. As the think tank around Aigron, he naturally knew about Haidee's life experience and the fact that she was bought by His Majesty.
"It's not difficult religiously. We can just hold a baptism and conversion ceremony for her. All we need is the presence of an Orthodox priest and a reputable notary." Father Faria thought for a moment before answering.
The priest took it so lightly because it was so uncommon that it was not surprising at all.
More than a hundred years after the death of Peter the Great, the Russian Empire has staged many dramas of "foreign princesses converting to Orthodox Christianity."
After Peter the Great, the Russian czars began to look to Europe. They regarded themselves as noble royal families, and naturally they only wanted to marry European royal families.
But there was a huge problem before them - the Russian Empire used Orthodox Christianity as its state religion, but European countries were all Catholic or Protestant. According to imperial tradition, the czar could not marry women from these countries.
Of course, there are always more solutions than difficulties, especially when you have an empire. The Romanov royal family used the power and wealth of the empire as bait to find marriage partners from ordinary German princes and nobles. They were willing to pay large sums of money as There is only one condition for the bride price - the princess must convert to Orthodox Christianity in order to be eligible for marriage with the royal family.
As we all know, there are so many princes and nobles in Germany. Those big families spread out and marry each other for generations, creating countless branches and collateral descendants.
And because these princes and nobles have extremely small territories (or no territories at all), most of them have very meager incomes.
The meager income but the need to maintain the dignity of the princes and nobles made them very thirsty for money, and the luxury of the Russian Empire's royal family became a temptation that they could not look away from.
Under the temptation of the throne and jewels, there is no psychological barrier for her daughter to convert to Orthodox Christianity and marry into Russia.
Catherine II the Great, the daughter of a small German prince, married Tsar Peter III at the cost of converting to Orthodox Christianity. In the end, she killed her husband and successfully ruled the Russian Empire for decades.
She also used the same criteria when selecting the heir for her Crown Prince Paul - this time she chose a royal family from Hesse-Darmstadt as the marriage partner.
The head of the family was so flattered when he heard about it that he brought his three daughters to St. Petersburg for Crown Prince Paul to choose. In the end, the Crown Prince selected his youngest daughter, Princess Wilhelmina Louise, and then converted her to Orthodox Christianity. And changed to the Russian name Natalia Alexeyevna.
It is a pity that although the princess was as beautiful as a flower, she was not blessed to enjoy this "honor" and died of dystocia three years after her marriage.
So the crown prince had to find another princess, Maria Feodorovna, from a branch of the Duke of Württemberg as his second marriage partner. This princess later gave birth to four sons for him, including the defeated Napoleon's Tsar Alexander, and the current Tsar Nicholas I.
With so many female princes converting to Orthodox Christianity, the world will probably not be surprised or disgusted at all if a mere Haidee converts to Orthodox Christianity.
Although she is technically an MSL now, there is essentially no difference.
What really troubled Father Faria was another problem.
"Considering that Miss Haidee will become a nominal ruler in the future, with a distinguished title and status, her conversion ceremony should be a major event, and we should find a weighty baptizer for her. At present, We don’t have such a powerful religious figure, and if we can – we can find one from our allies.”
Father Faria is certainly right. Considering that Haidee is the future Grand Duchess of Ioannina, if she converts to Orthodox Christianity, she will definitely find a senior religious figure to preside over the ceremony for her. The higher her religious status, the more legitimate she will be. The higher it is, it can even be regarded as the long-lost victory of the Orthodox Church over the YSL. Presumably the Greek religious people are also very happy to see this come true.
At this time, due to the flames of the Greek War of Independence, serious turmoil occurred in most Greek regions, and religious people were naturally not exempt from the secular situation - blood feuds had been bred for years, and national antagonisms immediately turned into religious vendettas, and Greeks massacred msl and ysl religious figures, the Turks also returned them intact. A large number of priests were killed in the vendetta between the two sides, and the rest could only hide in Tibet. The only one that is well preserved is the Peloponnese, which is still under the control of the independent military government. The Peninsula.
Therefore, in theory, if you want to hold such a religious ceremony, the best way is for Aigron to notify his allies, and then find a senior Orthodox priest from the Peloponnese to baptize Haidee and convert him. ceremony.
But Aigron had exactly the opposite idea.
"No, Father, I don't think we can adopt this method." He shook his head slightly and rejected the priest's opinion. "This is not only a religious issue, but also a political issue, so we cannot consider it entirely from a religious perspective. .
Haidee will be a Grand Duchess in the future, and her nominal territory is the Principality of Ioannina that we are going to establish. I bought Haidee. I created this country from scratch. It should also be controlled by our people. It cannot have any affiliation with the future Kingdom of Greece, even in a religious sense. Nope either. If we today find an Orthodox priest as baptizer from our allies, it would be tantamount to admitting that Haidee was a Greek convert to the feet of God, and that the Principality of Ioannina was also religiously subordinated to the Greek Patriarchate… We cannot give this impression. "
The priest made such a mistake not because he had no political sensitivity or because he did not think carefully, but because he did not know what would happen in the future——
At this time, all Orthodox Christians in the Balkans were under the leadership of the Ecumenical Patriarch who stayed in Istanbul. However, the Ecumenical Patriarch accepted himself as a subject of the Sudan, opposed the Greek War of Independence, and hoped that the Orthodox Christians under his jurisdiction Continue to obey the Sultan and the Empire as they had for hundreds of years.
Therefore, in the eyes of the Greeks, the Ecumenical Patriarch was tantamount to betraying Greece and the Orthodox Church, and they resented this.
At this moment, this resentment has not caused any trouble. After all, the Greek War of Independence has not ended yet, but Aigron knows that the break between them is not far away.
In the original historical line, not long after the Kingdom of Greece became independent, the Greek Orthodox Church fought against the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch who stayed in Istanbul and no longer submitted to the jurisdiction of the other party, and the two sides split.
In order to expand its influence, the Greek Orthodox Church also spared no effort to emphasize its orthodoxy and legitimacy.
Because of this, if someone from the Greek Orthodox Church were to baptize Haidee, it would make the future Grand Duchess Ioannina a legitimate successor to the Greek Orthodox Church. Politically, Egron could not accept this.
Although he is now an ally of the Greek Independence Army, and although he and his people are pouring blood for the cause of Greek independence, his interests are inviolable, and he does not intend to share his future rights and interests in the Principality of Ioannina with anyone. —at least within his own generation.
Therefore, no matter how reasonable Father Faria's suggestion was, he did not want to adopt it.
Although the old priest could not see Aigron's innermost thoughts, he could also see from Aigron's resolute attitude that this was His Majesty's unquestionable will.
As a counselor, he could not resist this will. He could only change his thinking and find a way to implement His Majesty's will.
"If you are not willing to let a Greek Orthodox priest baptize Haidee, then... we can only find a priest within our control to do this." After thinking for a moment, the priest said softly. , "Now that the Greeks are your allies and rely on your help, they should say nothing; if, for example, foreigners who are dissatisfied with you, such as the Russians, they may question the efficacy of such a religious ceremony .”
"They can question it as much as they like. I don't live in this world to please the Tsar." Aigron answered flatly. "Today's situation has reached a point where we can no longer consider what other people think. As long as we believe that Haidee's conversion is legal, then it is legal - no matter how many opinions other people have, we can pretend not to see it."
Seeing that Aigron's will was so determined, although the priest hesitated, he did not dare to persuade him any more.
He moved his old head again and thought carefully about Aigron.
"If we don't have enough useful Orthodox priests on hand now, then we might as well make the pomp a little bigger... This way there will be many witnesses and enough legal effectiveness. I don't think anyone will object to having a Christian principality born in a land composed of msl In the land they rule..."
"That's okay." Aigron nodded and agreed with him, "I will hold a grand ceremony, and I will also invite our Greek allies to witness it - since they have seen my attitude , should also know what to do.”
When he said this, Father Faria thought of something else, "If we can find an important religious figure from Rome, such as a cardinal, to observe the ceremony and serve as a witness, this should be convincing enough. Are you strong?"
Aigron's eyes lit up, but he was a little suspicious, "This is an Orthodox Christian conversion ceremony. Why would anyone from the Roman Church be interested in participating?"
"The Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church are originally from the same family..." Father Faria smiled slyly.
He knew that he was telling lies with open eyes, but as a politician, the most important skill is to tell lies with open eyes. "The pope and that cardinal took so much money from us, and the cardinal is still a man." My friends, if we need their help, they will consider it - and besides, it is an honor even as a Catholic to have the glory of Christ touch a once-polluted land, right?"
Aigron thought about it and felt that there was no problem.
The pope and cardinals took great gifts from him and advocated for him many times. If he made a similar request, they would be happy to come - anyway, they would just be witnesses.
And if they were present, no one would have raised any questions. This was also a victory for the church.
For Aiglon himself, he accomplished all this independently, which means that he allowed Haidee and Ioannina, whom she represented, to survive completely according to his own will.
However, the Tsar's thoughts must also be considered.
Although Aigron spoke forcefully in front of the priest, it was just to strengthen the confidence of his men. Deep down in his heart, of course, he also had some scruples.
There is no doubt that he has old and new grudges with the Romanov family, the Tsar definitely dislikes him, and he will definitely not end well if he falls into the hands of the Russians - but Egron has never been one to be overwhelmed by hatred. A wise person, on the contrary, he knows how to assess the situation.
In his plan, Haidee should be sincere to the Tsar in the future and show superficial subservience.
Anyway, the Tsar can't come here, and after giving him face in the future, he should be happy to accept the victory of the Orthodox Church. If this is the case, the newly born Principality of Ioannina will crawl out of its mother's womb tremblingly and truly come into being.
