When Nangong Yu and his party returned to Venice, it was already dusk.

As soon as Jim and Rosa landed, they commanded the sailors to carry all the goods brought back from Ragusa to the market, and by their expressions, they knew that they would make a lot of money this time.

Marco said goodbye to Nangong Yu, he was going to the shipyard, since he decided to follow Nangong Yu in the future, there must be very little time to go home, and he needed to go home and tell his family some things.

Anthony was arranged by Massimo to go to the union to hand over the commission, and now Maxim's lair has been completely eliminated by Nangong Yu, and it can be approved by the union at any time.

It was agreed that three days later, they would meet at the Venetian pier and go to Ragusa together.

Nangong Yu, on the other hand, went to the barracks with Anna and Massimo, one was to transfer Massimo's own soldiers, and the other was to be able to "fire" Nangong Yu, so that his future actions would not be affected.

The three of them came to the barracks, and Knight Robert, who had been waiting for a long time, heard the news, and hurriedly greeted him, Nangong Yu was supposed to return a few days ago, but he was nowhere to be seen, and he didn't appear until now, and Phoebe has been looking for Nangong Yu.

Robert had just arrived at the barracks gate and was shocked to find that Massimo and Anna were also following him, which surprised Robert. What surprised him was not only because the two nobles were present, but more importantly, looking at the position they were standing, it turned out to be a little behind Nangong Yu.

As soon as Robert's words reached his lips, he swallowed them back, and bowed to the three of them in embarrassment.

Nangong Yu beckoned to Robert and said, "Lord Robert, why did you come out in person." ”

In the face of Nangong Yu's teasing, Robert smiled awkwardly, but Robert can become a nobleman, and he is also a person who picks up eyebrows, and he knows from the eye movements of the three of them that Nangong Yu is now a person he can't afford to mess with. But Phoebe's father, Lucius, has a higher title of nobility than him, and his power is greater than him. If Massimo and Anna supported Nangong Yu now, wouldn't it be unflattering to be caught in the middle. He saw that there was a faint hint of tiredness on the faces of Massimo and Anna, and his heart moved, and he said, "Mr. Massimo, Miss Anna, I have some fine wine here, you two can have a good rest." ”

Massimo didn't look at Robert, and said directly: "No need, I'll leave when I'm done." Then, he turned his head and said to Nangong Yu respectfully: "Nan... Uh, Luca, let's go inside. ”

The difference in attitude before and after made Robert a little embarrassed, he saw Massimo's respectful expression towards Nangong Yu, and knew that he couldn't say anything, Phoebe asked himself to find a reason to remove Luca's military membership, although he was extremely reluctant but had to carry it out, but now Massimo obviously supports Luca, how is this good?

Just as Robert was following the three of them, pondering a solution, Massimo seemed to remember something, and said to Robert, "Robert, I have something for you to do. ”

Robert hurriedly said, "Mr. Massimo, please." ”

Massimo smiled and said, "Find a reason to remove Mr. Luca from the military." ”

Hearing Massimo's words, Robert was stunned on the spot, he didn't understand what Massimo meant at all, their relationship seemed to be very good, how could this be?

Before Robert could figure out these questions, Nangong Yu spoke: "There is another person, Willy, I don't know what his surname is, he was in the same barracks as me before, and his military membership was also removed." ”

Robert was obviously still in a stunned state, Massimo coughed, and Robert reacted, looking at Massimo blankly, not knowing what to do.

Massimo frowned and said, "Didn't you hear Mr. Luca's words, remove Willy's military membership as well." ”

Robert hurriedly nodded yes, thinking in his heart, what are these nobles playing, who is this Luca? Why haven't you seen him for a few days, not only Anna, but even Massimo has been polite to him. Forget it, it's better not to get involved, since both sides are asking for his military membership to be removed, then get rid of it, just so you don't have to offend both sides. As for the reason, it is said that Luca did not return on time and flouted military discipline.

After figuring things out, Robert no longer hesitated, his face returned to normal, said goodbye to the three of them, and went to do what he had to do.

In the barracks, in Massimo's exclusive room, Massimo kept all the irrelevant people away, and no one was allowed to even go outside the door. Through this commission, he has seen Nangong Yu's ability to listen to voices and distinguish positions, and he fully believes that even if someone eavesdrops outside the door, Nangong Yu can find out as soon as possible. Then Massimo asked Nangong Yu: "Why do we have to be so sneaky, with my current status, I can act openly, and on your side, I can say that I need you as a guard, just like Anna did before." ”

Nangong Yu listened, shook his head gently, and thought to himself, this Massimo is still simple after all, although he is the second son of the duke, he has not touched the true core of the entire Gallo family, besides, he has told Massimo before that the crisis of the Gallo family, although it will not be in danger immediately, it is always good to be careful.

Anna looked at Nangong Yu with admiration, and said to Massimo: "Massimo, Nangong must have his reasons for doing this, you can't be quiet and listen to Nangong's thoughts." ”

Massimo rolled his eyes, but he didn't refute her words, so he had to be aggrieved and silent, thinking to himself that Anna, the little princess, was afraid that only Nangong Yu would be gentle.

Speaking of this, Nangong Yu paused and said, "Do you remember what I told you in Ragusa?"

Massimo nodded and said, "Yes." ”

Nangong Yu said: "If anyone finds out that you, as the heir of the duke, have built a base of your own and cultivated your own fleet with great fanfare, not to mention what your father will think, how other people with hearts, and even the hostile countries of Venice will pay attention to you, I don't need to say more." ”

Massimo nodded.

Nangong Yu said: "What we have to do now is to strengthen our own strength as much as possible to deal with the dangers that may occur in the future." The reason why I want you to remove my military membership is to build a fleet and train an army in my name in Ragusa. And your side can cover me on the surface, and I can support you in the dark, that's what I think. ”

Massimo suddenly realized and said, "What are we going to do? I have already deployed the personal soldiers you want, but if you want to form an army, it seems that the number of people is not enough." ”

Nangong Yu spread his hands and said, "I have my own arrangements for these people." ”

The people of the army can't completely rely on Massimo's personal soldiers, these personal soldiers are crucial to Nangong Yu's first step plan, he urgently needs a group of people who can be trusted now, if you say that you can find some soldiers at random, once your own news is revealed, it will be very dangerous for yourself. And with this group of pro-soldiers, no matter what they do, it will be much easier, and the most important thing is loyalty and reliability, which is what Nangong Yu values the most.

Nangong Yu began to calculate: Now that the base is available, Anthony can manage the basic personnel. Marco was in charge of the construction of the boats. Jim and Rosa are in charge of the finances. Originally, it took a long time to solve these problems in the plan, but I didn't expect these problems to be solved at once.

Massimo saw Nangong Yu's thoughtful expression and asked, "Nangong, in your opinion, if we want to eradicate Villanueva, where should we start?" Villanueva has been crisscrossing the Adriatic Sea for a long time, and even his father can't do it, can Nangong Yu really do it?

Nangong Yu groaned slightly: "According to the confessions of Maxim's subordinates, Villanueva began to emerge fifteen years ago, so what did he do before that?"

"I know that fifteen years ago," said Anna, "my father sent many nobles and troops to Dalmatia to administer those regions. At that time, under the control of my father, the territory of the Republic of Venice was expanded, but because of the perennial war, we also had a shortage of troops. At this time, a large number of organized pirates appeared in the Adriatic Sea, and they were the pirate regiment of Villanueva. ”

Massimo looked at Anna in surprise and said, "How do you know this? ”

Anna said happily, "Of course I know, who told you not to read?"

Nangong Yu looked at Anna dotingly, and said, "In other words, Villanueva appeared in the empty hands of Venice's troops, right?"

Anna looked at Nangong Yu and said, "It can be said that my father once wanted to send troops to exterminate Villanueva, but unfortunately they all failed?"

Nangong Yu said: "The reason for the failure?"

"At first, I couldn't find their exact location, and every time the fleet went out, they disappeared without a trace," Anna said. And the most recent time, last year, there was a battle between the national fleet in the Ionian Sea and the main fleet of Villanueva. ”

Nangong Yu said, "What is the result?"

Anna shook her head and said, "The result is unexpected, the speed of the pirate fleet is very fast, and the speed of the national fleet cannot catch up at all, fortunately, Villanueva has no intention of fighting and runs away directly." Through this battle, it was found that if they really fought, it was almost impossible for the national fleet to be their opponent. They were fast, numerous, and fierce. It was rumored that the national fleet and the pirate fleet had fought to a draw, and in fact the Venetian national fleet would not be their opponent at all if war really started. ”

The situation was even more serious than Nangong Yu imagined, Nangong Yu paced back and forth, although he now occupied a pirate stronghold, and the location was very good, but it was far from being able to compete with Villanueva. And, there is the question, how did Villanueva manage to grow so quickly in just fifteen years?

Nangong Yu's idea is to use himself as bait to lure pirates to shoot again and again, as long as he shoots more times, more traces will naturally be exposed. But for now, this is just a matter of thinking. First, Nangong Yu's current military strength is not enough, and it is unrealistic to attract a fleet with one person. Second, if there is more powerful support behind Villanueva, it will undoubtedly be a surprise.

To be able to support Villanueva in just fifteen years to develop a fleet that has always been able to compete with the entire country and even the entire Mediterranean is undoubtedly powerful.

Massimo condensed and said, "Nangong, in your opinion, what are we going to do next?" ”

Nangong Yu said: "On the surface, we can maintain the status quo for the time being, Villanueva is not in the Adriatic Sea now, but in the Black Sea, which means that there is something there to restrain him, and he should not focus on Venice for the time being." And secretly, we need to speed up. ”

Massimo said, "How to speed up?"

Nangong Yu thought about it carefully and said: "The occupied base of Maxim, this is the first step, and if you want to eradicate Villanueva, you must have a large amount of gold support, I have arranged for Jim and Rosa to be in charge of finances after the base is built, I believe they should have no problems." ”

Massimo said with a contemplative look, "What about the second step?"

Nangong Yu said: "In this second step, I will train a large number and a group of elite soldiers in a short period of time, and you need to provide us with the necessary cover." ”

Massimo happily said, "That's fine. ”

Nangong Yu said: "In terms of manpower, you can select capable soldiers in the army who are usually unwilling and excluded to come over first, but this requires you not to alarm your father." ”

Massimo nodded and said, "That's no problem with that. ”

Nangong Yu said: "This third step, when we have a certain foundation, we can slowly eliminate the pirates in the Adriatic Sea, and know that we must ensure that the merchants of Venice are not attacked by pirates in the Adriatic Sea." In addition, you can also arrange for ships to accept various commissions from the guild and earn more coins. ”

Hearing this, Massimo looked directly at Nangong Yu and said solemnly: "I can agree to what you say, but I have some requirements, you must promise me, if not, all of the above will be invalidated, not only will I not cooperate with you, but even if my family is ruined, I will kill you." ”

Nangong Yu looked at Massimo with an inexplicable serious look, and couldn't help asking, "What request?"

Massimo took a deep breath and said, "One, you can't endanger any of my direct members of the Gallo family for any reason. Second, a new regime could not be established on the territory of Venice for any reason. ”

Nangong Yu showed a mysterious smile on his face, and said in his mouth: "I promise you." ”