Chapter 3928 Blackmail
Francis's condition is that he wants to live a hundred years. In fact, this is not surprising. Throughout the ages, whether it is the emperors and kings of ancient times or the modern businessmen and wealthy people, without exception, they all desire to live longer and live longer. Living a hundred years is just the most basic, and some people even hope to be immortal. For example, freezing genes, waiting for future technology to be developed enough, and then resurrecting again, and so on.
In the field of theology, the discussion of immortality is far beyond other fields. It is not surprising that Francis wants to get immortality. On the contrary, this is a very normal request. Especially after knowing that he has a miracle doctor like Hua Shiqi and a magical functional drink like "Qili", it is not surprising to have such an idea. What's more, Francis's requirements are not high, just live over a hundred years. In this regard, it is not too difficult to do.
"Pope Francis, I understand what you mean. In a few days, I will let Mr. Hua Shiqi come here to help you diagnose and treat, and then teach you the art of health preservation." Lin Feng promised.
"Thank you, Mr. Lin." Francis said with a smile.
"Haha, it's nothing, it's just mutual benefit." Lin Feng said bluntly. Putting aside the previous transaction, just for Francis, the longer he lives, the greater the benefit he will get. Therefore, Lin Feng also hopes that Francis can live longer. After all, it is really not easy to have a good relationship with a pope. If the pope dies easily, just like Benedict XVI, who died in less than two years in office, then all the resources invested before will be wasted. On the contrary, if the pope gets longer, the cost-effectiveness of the investment. Or the rate of return will be higher.
After a long talk. The two ended the conversation happily. Then. Pope Francis announced sanctions against Japan and South Korea, announcing that the two countries will no longer be normal diplomatic countries of the Vatican until the two countries explain the conspiracy with Benedict XVI. At the same time, Francis announced that he hopes all Catholic believers will refuse to trade with pagans in Japan and South Korea.
This declaration undoubtedly caused panic in Japan and South Korea. Although Francis had expressed his anger towards Japan and South Korea on behalf of Benedict XVI before, Francis was the archbishop after all at that time. Not the Pope. Although he spoke on behalf of the Pope, Pope Benedict XVI was still in a coma at that time. It is still unclear how much legal effect this statement has and whether it was said by Benedict XVI. Therefore, Japan and South Korea did not care about this declaration at all and were not too afraid. They just issued a white paper to explain that this matter was a pure misunderstanding. That's all.
But now that Francis is the Pope, the meaning is completely different. Francis' words represent the will of the Catholic Church and the will of 1.7 billion Catholics around the world. Now he has announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Japan and South Korea. This is an extremely bad diplomatic incident. At the same time, he also called on all Catholic believers to refuse to trade with Japan and South Korea. This is simply appalling.
All Catholics are mainly in developed Western countries, and although the businesses of Japan and South Korea are spread all over the world, the main profit points are still in developed Western countries.
If Catholics really stop trading with Japanese and Korean companies, the economies of both countries will suffer.
Immediately, the two governments issued a statement, claiming that the incident was a complete misunderstanding. This must be that the church misunderstood their meaning. They did communicate with Benedict XVI before, but the discussion was about the potential destructive power of "Nuwa" on humans. They were just worried about whether "Nuwa" would become Skynet in "Terminator" and cause damage to humans. Rather than having any intentions against "Nuwa", after all, they have already purchased the source code of "Nuwa", and now it only takes some time to cultivate the "Nuwa" in Lin Feng's hands. Therefore, they don't have to borrow the power of the Pope to rob.
Originally, the two governments hoped that this statement would solve the matter, and then use the ambassadors to Italy to make peace with the church. But what embarrassed the two countries was that the ambassadors to Italy were directly banned from entering the Vatican. Not only that, the Italian government also announced that if Japan and South Korea could not calm the Vatican, they would expel the ambassadors of Japan and South Korea like the Vatican.
This surprised Japan and South Korea. If they were also expelled by Italy, it would be troublesome. Although the trade between Japan and Italy accounts for a very small amount of Japan's foreign trade, Japan and South Korea are worried that this will cause a chain reaction. If other countries are the same, it will be really troublesome.
As a result, the words really came true. The good ones don't work, but the bad ones do. Japan and South Korea are still worried, but Western countries have issued declarations one after another, declaring that if Japan and South Korea cannot satisfy the Pope and cannot give the Vatican a reasonable explanation, then all European countries will expel the ambassadors of Japan and South Korea. This really shocked the world.
For a long, long time, since the end of the Cold War, there has been no incident in the world where multiple countries expelled ambassadors of a certain country at the same time. Only during the Cold War, when the Soviet Union and the United States were in opposition, did this happen. But even in that case, this kind of mutual expulsion of ambassadors is rare. At most, it is just a relative confrontation, boycott, and the expulsion of ambassadors is a more serious matter, which is almost a severance of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
And now, in the 21st century, this has happened. The entire Western world, except for the United States, almost all European countries have issued an ultimatum to Japan and South Korea, notifying the two governments that if they cannot obtain the Vatican's understanding, they will expel the ambassadors of the two countries. Of course, this is just the first step. If the Vatican still cannot understand, then the countries will impose economic sanctions on the two countries.
This time, the leaders of the two countries were scared to death. They never thought that a word from the Vatican Pope could bring such a big effect. Isn't this Francis just the Pope? How could he have such a big influence? In addition, this Francis is an Argentine pope, the first Argentine pope in the Catholic Church for thousands of years. This, what's wrong with Western countries, why are they paying so much for Francis. This is incredible. It's too crazy.
"Boss, what's going on? Why do countries do what Pope Francis says?" Lin Chiling also looked puzzled, this is really puzzling.
"Haha, isn't this simple? In fact, this problem is really simple, because Japanese and Korean companies are now growing bigger and stronger around the world, and have affected the interests of many Western countries. But under the WTO agreement, all countries can only compete fairly. But what if they can't compete with Japanese and Korean companies? It just so happens that there is an opportunity this time. The Vatican is a holy place for Catholics and the spiritual home of all Western countries. Now the Vatican may be deceived by Japan and South Korea. This is the best excuse to deal with the two countries." Lin Feng said with a smile, "Churchill said it well, there are no eternal opponents in the world, only eternal interests!"
"What will happen to this matter in the end? Will Japan and South Korea never recover from this?" Liu Yifei asked excitedly.
Lin Feng shrugged.
"I'm afraid it's hard to do what we want. You know, Japan and South Korea have the economic strength here, and they are closely following their boss, the United States. Western countries can only suppress the arrogance of the two countries at most. It is too difficult to completely destroy the two countries through such things. The US government will not sit idly by. Therefore, the final result is that Japan and South Korea pay a certain price, obtain the understanding of the Vatican, and the matter will just end like this." Lin Feng said.
"Ah, it's over, this involves the former Pope!" The women were surprised.
"Haha, this kind of thing will only end in nothing, otherwise what will happen in the end? As the saying goes, weak countries have no diplomacy. Japan and South Korea are not weak, and they have a huge backer, so they always have the right to choose." Lin Feng explained with a smile.
If it weren't so, Lin Feng would not have proposed that Francis should extort money and stop when he saw the good. There is no way. If the matter is really a big deal, the United States will come forward, and European countries will eventually compromise. Then no matter how powerful the church is, it will have to compromise. Otherwise, countries all over the world will unite to put pressure on your church, and the church will not be able to bear it.
So, when the leaders of Japan and South Korea, Shinzo Abe and Lee Myung-bak, went to the Vatican in a hurry, they waited outside for 12 hours and finally got an audience with Pope Francis. After a long negotiation, Shinzo Abe and Lee Myung-bak breathed a sigh of relief. Then, Francis announced that the church had thoroughly investigated the matter. The result was a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding caused by language communication between the two sides. It was not a misunderstanding caused by Japan and South Korea's deliberate calculation of the former Pope Benedict XVI, but a misunderstanding caused by the poor English and heavy local accents of Japan and South Korea.
Then, Francis announced that the Vatican would re-establish diplomatic relations with Japan and South Korea, and would appoint priests to preach in the two countries. In response, Western countries naturally overturned their previous expulsion remarks and no longer mentioned any words of expulsion. Everything just passed peacefully. As for what agreement the Vatican reached with Japan and South Korea, only the Vatican and Japan and South Korea knew. Among them, the United States wanted to know very much. But this time, no matter how much pressure the United States put on them, the leaders of Japan and South Korea only acknowledged that the two had apologized in person and promised to provide churches for preaching in their countries to the Vatican, and said nothing more.
Of course, no one in the world knows this, but Lin Feng knows it. After learning about Francis' conditions, Lin Feng could only helplessly admire that the people in the church really know how to blackmail. (To be continued)