The Pope has already invited him many times, and Alfonso will be a little confused if he drags it out any longer.

Only in mid-August, together with Henry, Andrew and others, embarked on a journey to Rome.

Originally, he planned to go after France began to reduce the garrison, and felt the existential crisis before the Holy See could put down the shelves.

But with the Pope's urgency, it may be possible to achieve a satisfactory outcome this time.

Early in the morning, they boarded a steam train to the port of Toulon on the southeast coast of France, the capital of the Var department in Provence.

In addition to being a commercial port, the port of Toulon was one of the most important military ports in France and the home port of the French Mediterranean fleet.

Alfonso chose to board from here instead of other, more prosperous ports in order to meet the second most powerful navy of the era.

The result did not disappoint him, the distance between the military port and the commercial port was so close that they could see the battleships that were lined up one after the other, just standing on the deck of the merchant ship.

"Are those all steam ironclads?" Alfonso asked the merchant port manager beside him.

The manager said with a smile on his face: "Yes, the one closest to us is the Corolla, and next to her are the Glorious, Solferino, and Normandy...... These are ironclad ships. ”

Alfonso sighed with some emotion, just looking at these warships, which were almost comparable to the entire naval power of Spain.

It is true that many of these French battleships were wooden-hulled ships with a layer of iron armor riveted on the outside, but in 1869 they were already excellent warships, at least for wooden shipbuilding.

Spain also built some ironclad ships, and even real ironclad ships in them, but they were relatively scarce and far from being comparable to France.

On the one hand, Spain's shipbuilding industry itself lagged behind France, and on the other hand, the recent domestic turmoil, with a serious deficit and no money to build ships.

The Corolla alone cost 6 million francs per ship, so the navy is a real game of great powers, and only the great powers deserve to participate.

Since it has only been 10 years since the appearance of steam ironclad ships, the current naval strength of Europe should not only look at the original stock, but also focus more on the reaction of various countries and the speed of building new ships.

At this stage, the rankings are Great Britain, France, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Spain, Russia, and the rest of Europe, including the mighty Prussia, have not kept up with the pace for the time being.

In addition to the British Navy, the tonnage is equivalent to more than 60% of the total tonnage of the next five countries, and France is the strongest in the world.

It's a pity that France and Prussia share a border, and these powerful navies won't do much in the next war.

The manager's words were full of pride, and he introduced all the warships in a few ways, and finally proposed: "Your Highness, you can go to the military port to take a closer look, the navy should not refuse." ”

Alfonso shook his head, the French Navy is not the Royal Navy, but the national Navy, and other people have to apply in advance to enter, and he doesn't want to be truthful.

Departing Toulon by boat, after a day's sailing on the calm Mediterranean, they arrived in Rome, the famous Eternal City.

To be honest, despite its fame, Rome is not as developed as Paris, after all, one is the capital of the top powers and can absorb labor from all over the world, and the other is the capital of the small Papal States, and everything can only be done on its own.

However, the strength of Rome is that it has been built for more than 2,000 years, and it has a long history, which is much longer than that of Paris, and it naturally has a very large number of places of interest, as well as a variety of religious buildings.

Neither in his previous life nor in his present life, including in the memory of the original owner, had never been to Rome, and Alfonso wanted to visit it.

But when you come to Rome, you must meet the Pope as soon as possible, otherwise you will not be able to set up a pious persona.

Due to the lack of communication, the Pope only knew that they would be coming in the next few days, but he did not know exactly when they would come.

Therefore, they can only wait in St. Peter's Basilica, it is very hot in Rome these days, it is estimated that the Pope has found a castle to escape the heat, of course, it must still be in Rome.

The Pope did not leave him alone, and it was not long before Alfonso met Pius IX, who was over 70 years old, in an inner chamber.

Pius IX couldn't hide his surprise when he first saw Alfonso, although he had seen his portrait, but the real person was far more beautiful than the painting.

It is not entirely true that religious people do not believe in God, and the clergy, especially the high-ranking clergy such as the Pope, although they feel in their hearts that the possibility of God's existence is not high, or they do not care about mortals at all.

But after all, it is a cause that he has fought for all his life, and normal people will look forward to it, and Pius IX often hopes for some sign of God's existence.

But the miracle never came, in this case, it is said that man is made by God, and he thinks that the more perfect the appearance, the closer he is to God, and the more he can prove the existence of God in a vague way.

In this case, Alfonso was somewhat flattered by the Pope's enthusiasm, and not only did he pray and bless him when he met, but also praised him for his glorious deeds that made the Church's face shine.

Alfonso did not know what honorable deeds he had done to deserve such boasting from the Pope, was it the Red Cross? But you're a patron yourself, and that's the right thing to say to Henry.

In any case, since the Pope was so enthusiastic, Alfonso could not hold the shelf, and for a moment, the room was filled with a lively and friendly atmosphere.