The Count of Florida Blanca was instantly shocked, his voice trembling slightly: “You, you mean, to act against the Vatican…”

He didn’t even dare to utter the last word.

For someone like him, influenced by the Church since childhood, reducing the Vatican’s control over Spain would already be the best scenario, but he never expected the Crown Prince of France to be so bold!

This is simply blasphemy, a great rebellion…

Joseph patted his shoulder to comfort him: “Don’t be nervous, I don’t intend to do anything to the Vatican, just to restore it to its original state.”

“Original state?”

“Exactly.” Joseph nodded, “The Vatican should be the representative of Jesus on earth, wholeheartedly serving the Lord, instead of wasting energy like a secular king managing taxes, bureaucracy, and territories.

“Yes, the Vatican originally had no territories, not even the city of Rome should belong to the Vatican.

“As clergy, they only need a church and their devout souls, that’s enough.

“However, secular desires controlled those impure priests. They greedily occupied vast lands such as Lazio, Umbria, Marche, Abruzzo, and even extended their power to various European countries.”

He took a deep breath: “So, the Vatican’s original state should be staying in Vatican City sincerely serving Jesus.”

The Count of Florida Blanca dared not respond, but he quickly imagined the scenario described by the Crown Prince of France in his mind—without the Pope State as support, the Vatican retreating back to Vatican City indeed wouldn’t be able to interfere with Spain’s Church. Then His Majesty the King just needs one decree to complete the Church reform.

Actually, Joseph had one last thing he hadn’t said, that is—to return the Vatican to Avignon, not even leaving them Vatican City.

Then, France could, like in the era of Philip IV, easily knock the Pope around, even “use the Vatican to dictate to the princes.”

Joseph glanced at the Spanish Chief Minister who was sweating coldly and smiled: “You see, I told you, this is the gift I intend to give to Spain, so you don’t need to do anything.”

He pointed his nose towards the people outside the hall from the Italian States: “They hope the Vatican can wholeheartedly serve Jesus. And Spain just needs to remain silent at certain times.”

He spoke as if it were very simple, but for Spain to suppress its domestic church forces and not aid the Vatican was already commendable.

Joseph’s words today were to get Charles IV to prepare in advance.

Two days later, still in this hall, the Iberian-Apennine Summit officially opened.

The name of the summit seemingly did not mention France, but the internal meaning was: the western Iberian Peninsula (Spain) and the eastern Apennine Peninsula (Italian States) are connected by France, synchronizing a central axis around France.

After a series of complex diplomatic ceremonies, representatives from various countries took their seats around the oval conference table, and at the very head of the table, Joseph began the main topic of the meeting:

“Today, all the countries here are connected by deep friendship.

“And how to make this friendship play its greatest role and bring us more benefits?

“I believe that everyone must have already found the answer.

“That is—a great, vast common market!”

He spread his arms wide, his tone excited: “Here are eight countries, nearly 50 million people! The Atlantic Ocean to the west, the West Africa Sea to the south, encircled by the Mediterranean Sea.

“And there is not a single poor country here; everyone has ample purchasing power.

“We will establish an internal tariff mechanism to keep foreign goods outside the common market.

“In such a large market, any product produced by all can easily find buyers, no matter how much goods can be ‘consumed’ by buyers.”

“And each country here will own this vast market!”

Representatives from Spain, Sardinia, Genoa immediately gleamed with excitement. European countries have desperately snatched overseas colonies for what purpose? Mainly for the colonial market!

If you could build a vast market spanning the Mediterranean, what more would you need in colonies?

Which overseas colonies could be richer and have stronger purchasing power than European countries?

This is simply a good thing you wouldn’t even dream of!

However, the Prince of Parma, Ludovico, cautiously stood up, nervously looking at Joseph: “Honorable Crown Prince, as you said, the great market will bring us substantial profits, but you know, without tariff protection, many of our workshops will close down; even… cheap wheat from North Africa would bankrupt our farmers.”

Joseph nodded and said: “You are misunderstood. I don’t mean for all member countries of the common market to remove tariffs; everyone can propose industries that need protection at any time and set tariffs in coordination with the market Arbitration Committee.

“Just ensure that there is a uniform high tariff on countries outside the common market.”

“The Iberian-Apennine Common Market” and “Seine-Rhine Trade Agreement” are completely different.

The latter is mainly driven by the Germanic Region countries, with Austria holding the initiative, so France aims to earn as much as possible.

The former is dominated by France, belonging to its own backyard, so it must consider sustainable development and whether any member countries have grievances.

So Joseph followed the later WTO model.

Tariffs can be discussed and adjusted if necessary.

Trade disputes are resolved by the arbitration structure to ensure that each country’s revenues and expenditures do not become severely imbalanced.

Only then did Ludovico relax his breath and slowly sit back on his chair.

Joseph pointed to the documents already placed beside everyone: “These are some regulations of the common market, please take a look.

“An important aspect is—the principle of member equality. For example, preferential treatment given to one member will automatically extend to all members.

“Regulatory consistency principle. Imported goods and domestic goods in tax and regulation should be consistent…

“Fair competition principle. Prohibiting malicious product dumping, prohibiting slander, deception, and other unfair competition methods…

“Unified patent principle…

“Specific protection principle…

“And the most core, the dispute arbitration institution.

“All member countries will select members of the Arbitration Committee to handle trade disputes and other conflicts. No country may conduct trade retaliation outside arbitration methods…”

The representatives of all countries in the hall were already shocked with their mouths wide open.

When have they seen such a scientific, detailed, and standardized trade system? The clauses exude fairness and justice between the lines, filling them with a strong sense of security.