The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria’s Mandate of Heaven

The merchant ships stopped and went, and there was a lot of delay along the way, but after 61 days of sailing, Ambrosius and his party finally arrived at their destination, the capital of Chenla—Phnom Penh.

At this time, the speed of the sailboat is mostly hovering around 12 knots, and the clipper boat that will appear soon will pull the speed of the sailboat to a new height of 20 knots.

One knot is equivalent to 1.852 kilometers, and at a speed of 12 knots, it can travel 533.37 kilometers a day.

From Venice to Phnom Penh Port, the whole journey is about 26,000 kilometers.

In Rauscher's eyes, it is an extremely noble thing to return the heretics to the correct faith.

Because of this, Archbishop Rauscher spared no effort to help Ambrosius.

In order to ensure the safety of Ambrosius and the success of his mission, he also found a special religious group called the Fighting Brotherhood.

Ambrosius was surprised when he first learned that there was such an organization in the Austrian Church.

However, the moment he boarded the ship, he finally understood why this group was called the Battle Brotherhood.

The average height of this group of priests is more than 1.85 meters. In this era when the average European per capita is 1.7 meters, the height of 1.85 meters is definitely considered a legendary giant.

What's even more exaggerated is that each of them carried a rifle on their backs, and cold weapons such as pistols and swords pinned to their waists. If it weren't for the bibles **** in chains around their waists, it would be difficult to distinguish them from the pastor. Connect together.

These giants all have fierce faces. They are more like executioners than priests.

Two of them were a little shorter, but one of them was covered in scars, with a large area of ​​burns on his face, and his voice was hoarse, like a ghost in hell.

And the other person, although he talked like a devout believer, had the bible tattooed on his face in Latin, looking like an exorcist with spells all over his face from a distance.

The priest's name was Sartre, and he was the exorcist of the Holy See in Linz.

Ambrosius said sincerely, "Priest Sartre, even without any holy artifacts, you can scare away the devil just by your appearance."

In this way, a general, with two officers, a diplomat and part-time interpreter, seventeen adventurers, three missionaries and fifty combat priests, embarked on the same journey.

Except for the two adventurers who unfortunately died at sea, the rest arrived in Chenla safely.

Phnom Penh, the capital of Chenla, is an inland river port, located in the delta between the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap River, and can directly reach the South China Sea in the south.

Although Ambrosius has long been mentally prepared, the city of Phnom Penh is still much bigger than he thought, almost twice the size of Florence, the capital of Tuscany.

It's just that the people here seem a little numb.

No matter where their group appeared in any European city, Ambrosius had every reason to believe that they would definitely attract crowds of spectators.

But this week, the workers in the port seemed to not care about their arrival at all, carrying the goods with blank eyes, like a group of ghosts.

The Vietnamese officials at the pier looked at Ambrosius and his party with disdain, as if they wanted to show them off.

Ambrosius quickly took out a sling of zinc coins, handed it to the official, and said to him in broken Vietnamese.

"Gong Xi Fa Cai, live a long life."

Zinc coins, also known as white lead coins, actually contain more zinc and were the main currency in Vietnam at that time.

The Vietnamese official at the port took the sling of money, put it in his pocket and waved them away.

But when those missionaries passed by, the Vietnamese official stopped them and said, "Don't preach, or you will die."

The Vietnamese official made a kill sign, and the missionaries nodded in understanding.

Before coming to Phnom Penh, the French captain had repeatedly reminded the Catholic priests that the Vietnamese Emperor Ming Ming had ordered a nationwide ban on preaching, and that any priests who preached without permission would be arrested and sent to Hue, and those who helped hide them would be executed.

But here is Chenla, so the enforcement of Vietnamese laws is not particularly strict.

The fellow diplomat Zaker gave the previous Vietnamese official another drop of money, wanting to know where the officials in Chenla are, after all, this is the port of Chenla.

After the Vietnamese official got the money, he pointed to an inconspicuous hut next to him.

After seeing Ambrosius and his party leave, the Vietnamese official lifted his bamboo hat and spat on the ground.

"A bunch of poor ghosts are worthy of doing business with the people of Chenla."

At this time, the Vietnamese were very inflated, and they considered themselves the second largest country in the world, with no rivals except the Qing Dynasty.

Ambrosius and his party entered the foreign affairs office in Chenla, and Chenla officials stared at Ambrosius and his party curiously.

Under the rule of Vietnam, Chenla's official government offices were useless, and no one came to them for a long time.

Guan Jinpan is the surname of Chenla nobles, and he is a second-rank civil servant, but under the rule of the Vietnamese, he has almost no real power.

Not only Guan Jinpan, but other Chenla officials were also curious about the purpose of Ambrosius and his party.

Because this team is so weird.

And why are these foreign monks holding weapons?

This figure, this appearance, is just like the angry-eyed King Kong in the Buddhist hall.

In addition, the Vietnamese rule Chenla now, and the laws of the Vietnamese are implemented. As long as there are missionaries who preach privately, they will be arrested and executed immediately or sent to Hue for execution.

Are these people really not afraid of death? But looking at the appearance of these people, it doesn't look like they are here to preach.

In fact, the so-called Brotherhood of Fighting is just a product of the sorrow of the rabbit and the fox.

After the French Revolution and the incident of the Twelve Priests, the Catholic organizations in all countries were in constant fear of suffering the same fate themselves.

During the French Revolution, priests who refused to swear allegiance to the new French government were put to death, and the property of the church was plundered wildly.

So a self-defense organization composed of fanatics came into being. They were originally used to protect the property of the Catholic Church. It is the use of force to protect the safety of missionaries.

When Franz heard about this organization for the first time, another name popped up in his mind—the Astartes.

It was Franz who knew of the existence of these "Astartes" that he dared to let Ambrosius go to Chenla to save the princess.

At this time, Ambrosius broke the silence first.

"Hi, officials of Chenla. We are the special envoys of the Austrian Empire. We hope to establish diplomatic relations with Chenla and exchange information. We have brought gifts to your royal family, and I hope you can help us introduce them."

Zucker, the diplomat who was traveling with Ambrosius, took out pieces of small gold bars and handed them to the Chenla officials.

Immediately, the officials in Chenla felt flattered, and felt very kind to the foreigner who knew the Chenla language.

But when they heard that the other party wanted to meet the royal family, these officials looked at each other in blank dismay.

Only Guan Jinpan thinks this is an opportunity, maybe taking advantage of these foreigners' ignorance of their country's national conditions to make a big deal.

"I'm in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lower Chenla, Guan Jinpan."

Ambrosius also followed Guan Jinpan's example and declared himself his family.

"I am a special military observer of the Austrian Empire, Ambrosius, and I hope to visit your army's training and combat."

At this time, a Chenla official jumped out and said.

"You are a barbarian who really doesn't understand the rules. Why don't you kneel down when you see our official Jin Pan?"

"Kneel down?" Ambrosius was a little puzzled.

The Austrian diplomat Zacker on the side twitched twice and said.

"Grand Duke Ambrosius is a member of the royal family of our Austrian Empire, please pay attention to your attitude."