The war ended too quickly, three months earlier than Ma Wei expected.
In this war, the Church of the Three Goddess of Destiny only sent a few bishops and priests, and their three archbishops did not show up at all. The reason is very simple. Since the "accidental" death of the Pope, the Church of the Three Goddess of Destiny began to prepare for the long-term papal election ceremony. , at such a critical moment....
If any of the three archbishops leaves London, the royal capital, it is equivalent to voluntarily withdrawing from the election and giving up the position of pope.
I'm afraid this is why the Kingdom of Windsor chose to retreat when it encountered setbacks...
Victory was a good thing, but it also meant the beginning of civil war.
Katerina was the first to invade the royal capital of Petersburg. The next decision she made was very important.
Ma Wei was afraid that she would move directly into the Winter Palace and launch an armed coup...
"Boss, I heard the war is over?"
Laiwen and Daniel, who were practicing court swordsmanship in the backyard, ran out with surprise on their faces.
"Um."
Ma Wei has already received the newspaper that has just been delivered to Tyumen City. "With the recapture of the royal capital of Petersburg, we are not far away from regaining all the lost territory. It is not wrong to say that the war is over."
"Then what should we do next?"
As soon as the letter finished speaking, a carriage appeared at the end of the road. Because the street was too crowded and could not pass, the people in the carriage simply opened the door, got out, and ran towards the church on foot.
"Father! Father!"
Dino dodged through the crowd, waving a newspaper in his hand, and said breathlessly: "The latest news, His Majesty Paul I and others are planning to leave for Petersburg, and they will leave tomorrow and the day after tomorrow... .”
In terms of luxury, the Academy of Sciences in Tyumen, which was temporarily used as the king's palace, was obviously not comparable to the Winter Palace in Petersburg, the royal capital. However, as soon as the war was over, Paul I was in a hurry to return to the Winter Palace. His purpose...
It is nothing more than to prevent Katerina from launching an armed coup.
Only by returning to the royal capital as soon as possible and laying out the overall situation can he, the king, be out of danger.
Too late and things will change.
It seemed like a festive moment, but in fact, there was a storm brewing secretly. Duke Yinvanovich led five armies to station outside the royal capital of Petersburg. He was strictly vigilant about the situation in the city and did not dare to act rashly. He did not even dare to attend the military meeting that followed. .
He was also afraid that Katerina would launch a sudden attack and take advantage of his unpreparedness to seize the military power of them and other aristocratic generals, control the army in the name of Peter the Great, and force Paul I to abdicate.
Since recruitment began two months ago, many veterans who followed Peter the Great have returned to serve in the army, which means...
The name of Peter the Great became even louder.
Katerina raised her arms in the name of inheriting her father's will. The veteran who was already dissatisfied with the kingdom...
What choice will be made?
Back in the church, Laiwen, Dino, Christopher, Salina and others gathered spontaneously without Ma Wei's summons. In addition to them, there were also many newly recruited monks gathered in the hall.
"Boss, this is a great opportunity!" the message said: "Her Royal Highness Katerina has occupied the Winter Palace. If we can cooperate with her and capture Paul I who returns to Petersburg with lightning speed, then We can achieve the coup effortlessly!”
"The document is good." Daniel nodded: "At present, Paul I is only protected by a guard of two thousand people, except for Archbishop Henry and some monks from the Wisdom Cult. His current situation is very dangerous. As long as we can seize the opportunity and defeat Archbishop Henry in the name of eradicating heretics, we can completely control the king!"
"At that time, if we issue an order in the name of the king to make Duke Yinvanovich and others give up their resistance, the balance of victory will completely tip to our side!"
Dino clenched his fists and said excitedly: "Yes! No one expected that the war would end so suddenly. Her Highness Katerina has created an excellent opportunity for us, we must seize it!"
Looking at Ma Wei, who was sitting silently on the sofa, everyone's eyes were filled with excitement. The opportunity was fleeting. Paul I had already realized that something was wrong and was preparing to escape. There was not much time left for them.
Seeing that Ma Wei was still hesitating, Dino clapped his hands. Two monks carried a box into the living room and took out a brand new white papal robe embroidered with gold patterns.
"Father, there are two million refugees behind us. In the past few months, your status and prestige in their minds have reached its peak. As long as you put on this dress and denounce Paul I in the name of the Pope, you will definitely There will be many people following us.”
"Teacher, the opportunity has arrived, let's do it!"
"Boss, what are you still hesitating about? If you hesitate any longer, Paul I will run away!"
Ma Wei, who was deep in thought, raised his head, his dark eyes swept across the people standing in the room, and said expressionlessly: "Everyone, calm down, the time is not yet ripe."
The writers looked at each other and couldn't help but said: "Isn't the time right now?"
"I know what you are thinking, but have you ever considered that with the current strength of the Church of Truth, it is difficult to compete with the Church of Wisdom?"
Ma Wei stood up and paced back and forth in the living room: "We have too little immediate combat power that can be put to use. Although we have the help of the goddess, Archbishop Henry also brought the saint. If there is a real fight, it is still unclear who will win. .”
"As for the two million refugees, they have no weapons and will not be of much use in the coming battle. On the contrary, once they follow us to launch a coup, they will inevitably suffer heavy casualties."
"Secondly, Duke Ivanovich holds five armies, a total of 600,000 troops. Even if we can capture Paul I and force Katerina to take the throne, what will happen to these troops? The aristocracy will not surrender easily. Yes, they will definitely fight to the death, and how many innocent people will die by then?"
Daniel opened his mouth and said quickly: "Teacher, now is not the time to care about casualties! As long as we can capture Paul I, Duke Yinvanovich's army will also mutiny!"
"Yes, boss, Edward is with Katerina. Without the help of Archbishop Henry, the army bishop and priest are definitely no match for Edward! There is nothing to worry about!"
"You guys let me down so much..."
Ma Wei glanced at the writers and said with a gloomy expression: "Don't forget the fundamental purpose of our coup! It's not for power! It's for the truth! Letting innocent people die in order to fight for power is completely contrary to the truth! If I really do this, what’s the difference between me and those people?!”
There was a sudden silence in the living room. After a long time...
Daniel then said: "But teacher, if we don't launch a coup now, the casualties may be even greater in the future."
"Have you ever thought about the consequences of failure?" Ma Wei said: "It is a risky move to launch a coup now. We don't know how many cards Archbishop Henry has left. If we attack rashly, the risk of failure is too great. Once we fail, Those believers who choose to follow us are doomed! The noble faction will not let them go!"
"As policymakers, we are responsible for their lives, and nothing is more important than life."
"A coup is not that simple. We must organize the power of the people to overthrow the decadent old era with overwhelming force, rather than individual heroism!"
After saying that, Ma Wei looked at the papal robes in the hands of the two monks and said softly: "Put it away. If you are determined to launch a coup today regardless of the life and death of believers, then let another person wear it."
The expressions of the people who wrote the letter changed slightly, and before they could speak, they heard Ma Wei say: "I'm tired and want to be quiet."
"...."
The authors put away the papal robes and silently left the living room. In the blink of an eye, only Ma Wei and Yunia were left in the living room.
"Dad, eat some candy."
Yunia took out the candy she had collected and held it in front of Ma Wei.
"You can eat it, I don't like sweets."
Ma Wei rubbed his daughter's hair and sighed quietly: "Yunia, do you think we should launch a coup at this time?"
"I listen to daddy!"
"You should have your own opinions." Ma Wei picked her up and sat on the sofa: "Tell me what you think."
"Um...."
Yunia frowned and thought for a long time, "If it were an ordinary coup, now would indeed be an excellent opportunity, but what we are about to launch is not an ordinary coup."
Ma Wei's eyes lit up: "Continue."
"Uncle Laiwen, they don't realize what you really think, dad, and they don't know what kind of waves the truth will cause. An ordinary coup does not change anything in essence, it just changes a ruler. But as far as the truth is concerned, we What we really want to initiate is a qualitative change in thinking, so that the people can realize what is correct and what is the truth.”
Yunia said word for word: "Only by awakening the people can a nation be truly changed. Dad, you know that coups will bleed, but you want the blood to be shed more valuable, so that the dead pioneers can constantly wake up to the future." Instead of blindly following the rulers, the people will truly stand up when they achieve this."
"That's good..." Ma Wei breathed a sigh of relief.
"Dad, don't be angry with Uncle Wen and the others. They are also for the truth, but they just don't realize the crux of the problem. They are not bad people!"
"I'm not angry with them, but angry with myself." Ma Wei smiled helplessly: "Just now, I realized that I made a very serious mistake, that is, in the previous sermons, I always Starting from a theoretical perspective and forgetting the importance of a practical and practical perspective led them to misunderstand what I meant.”
"In the future, I should strengthen their motivation to explore the essence of the problem, instead of superficiality and mistakenly thinking that the truth is superficial formalism."
"Everything starts from the people and returns to the people. This is the truth I am pursuing."
