Barbareg was probably not one of the most illustrious viceroyalties in the history of Venice, as he became a viceroy not because of how good he was, but because of sheer luck.

After his brother was assassinated shortly after he became governor, the Venetians had to find a new governor among the Barbarig family in order to solve the turbulent situation and balance the forces of all parties, and in this way, the Barbareg family once again had a second governor.

During Barbaregg's tenure, Venice struggled to support itself, and the great pressure from the East made the Venetians devote all their energy and wealth to fighting the Ottomans, and although they knew that most of their allies were half-hearted, not only the bad neighbors such as the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania, who had to show their muscles from time to time, but also the unreassuring royal family of the Kingdom of Bohemia, and the always unruly Hungarians who caused trouble, big and small, However, during this time, Venice had to fight against the pressure of the Ottoman Empire, and had been trying to get these eastern neighbors to block the invasion of the infidels for them.

Therefore, Barbareg himself was not very interested in Romagna and Tuscany, his attention was on the East, and he knew very well that if he could not meet the insatiable conditions of his evil neighbors, he might not only face the threat of the Ottomans on land, but also Venice at sea.

The Ottomans were so fierce that even a prominent figure like Grand Duke Stefan of Moldova had to bow to Bayezid II.

So when Alexander's messenger brought him the letters of the Count of Montina and the Duke of Pisa, Barbareg finally found a reason to convince the Senate.

However, the Venetian compromise was conditional, and Barbarig made it clear that Alexander demanded that the Venetians immediately withdraw all secret loans to Florence.

His reasoning was simple: it was a purely commercial dealing, and the Venetian hoped to be able to obtain more opportunities to do business in Florence with interest on such a large loan, and this business was completely free, and even as a viceroy he had no power to interfere with the merchants of his city-state in such a transaction that was "obviously beneficial to many".

Seeing this paragraph in the letter, the corners of Alexander's mouth twitched, of course, the so-called businessmen were actually the major chambers of commerce in Venice, just like the big chambers of commerce in Genoa or Naples, the main chambers of commerce in Venice not only monopolized the vast majority of profitable businesses, but also completely monopolized the power of Venice.

The great families that make up these chambers of commerce control the power of the whole of Venice, and Barbarig is certainly the governor, but as a member of them, he really can't make decisions alone.

Or his own family was one of the guarantors of this huge amount of loans.

But the Venetians compromised after all.

They agreed to renounce their intervention in the recent affairs of Romagna, and although it is clear from the letter that their ambitions have not been completely extinguished, they will not be involved for the time being, at least in the near future.

Perhaps the Venetians were hoping to make a comeback as soon as they stabilized the situation in the East, but Alexander knew that they would not be able to do so anytime soon.

Louis XII's invasion would disrupt the Venetians' wishes, and even if they could get rid of the trouble of living in the East, they would find an even worse enemy waiting for them in the land.

Alexander looked at the letter, signed by the Doge of Venice, over and over again until Lucrezia had not seen him for a long time. Wanted to see what was going on.

To Lucrezia's surprise, Alexander, who was alone in the office reading the letter, saw her and immediately hugged her passionately and kissed her, and when she was kissed so short of breath that her face flushed, Alexander grabbed Lucrezia's waist hard.

"I wish I had heard this sooner so I could love you so much more." Alexander said with some regret, "But the Venetians probably can't wait, and they have sent someone to sue for peace." ”

Lucrezia's face changed slightly, she knew what Alexander meant, once the threat from Venice was gone, he had to leave.

"When are you leaving?"

Lucrezia asked in a low voice, feeling comfortable, or rather as if something had been suddenly pulled out of her body.

"Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, knowing that the French could come at any time, so we have to prepare in advance."

Lucrezia didn't ask Alexander what he was going to do, she knew that Alexander should have had a plan for a long time, but she also knew that she wouldn't like his plan.

"Ulius went to Montina," this is the second time she mentions the Moors, and if the first time it was just curiosity, this time the intention is too obvious, "Is he preparing for you?" ”

"I'm just going back to the territory, there's nothing to prepare," Alexander knew that no matter how he explained, it was actually in vain, the best way at this time was to completely conquer the woman in front of him, but when he thought that Lucrezia had not been giving birth for a long time, he could only try to divert Lucrezia's attention with a kiss that he couldn't stop kissing, "Listen, you should care more about those chambers of commerce after I leave." ”

"Is it because they can make you money?" Lucrezia asked a little curiously, she wasn't uninterested in the Chamber of Commerce, at least she could buy a lot of jewelry and some strange things from those merchants that were hard to buy even in Rome.

It was said that some things had been transported from far away, and as to where those places were, Lucrezia was surprised to find that there was a vast and mysterious land farther west of the ocean.

The news that Alexander was preparing to leave Pisa spread quickly, and many Pisan people had mixed feelings about the news.

In any case, with Tomneo's death, an era that did not belong to him has passed in the first place, and although Esterles is still in her infancy, the Pisan people have come to accept the fact that the young duchess is the new owner of Pisa.

It's just that for Alexander, the mood of the Pisan is much more complicated.

Many people still can't accept that they are going to be ruled by an outsider, even if it is just a regent, and there are still many Pisaans who still want Alexander to leave as soon as possible.

But when he was about to leave, the Pisan man was a little lost because of his worries about the future.

Alexander asked Lucrezia to pay more attention to the Chamber of Commerce, of course, not to satisfy her to spend as much as she wanted, his real purpose was to hope that Lucrezia would realize the importance of the Chamber of Commerce, and the role of the Chamber of Commerce's guards.

For the city defense of Pisa, Alexander was not trusted.

Although the city defense force was responsible for both the seizure of control of Pisa and the eventual understanding of Tomneo's minor trouble, the poor discipline and fighting skills of the city defense force forced Alexander to consider rebuilding a reliable army.

The Pisa Chamber of Commerce guards were highly expected by Alexander, but he still needed to take a closer look, especially the merchants, who he felt were too philistine in many cases, which made him have to think about how to avoid the merchants from obstructing them for various reasons if they really needed to let the Chamber of Commerce guard take over the defense of Pisa.

Merchants must not be willing to let their own paid teams work for Pisa, unless they can get enough benefits.

Alexander would not allow these merchants to take advantage of the power of Pisa, and he would rather give them more benefits in business than agree to let them meddle in Pisa's affairs.

At this time, Alexander was already thinking about how to gradually gain command of the Chamber of Commerce Guard by way of redemption, although he had a significant influence as the largest shareholder of the United Chamber of Commerce in Pisa, but he wanted to be able to fully command that guard, which required him to pay a certain price.

Unlike the mixed feelings of the Pisan aristocracy, the merchants were grateful to Alexander.

They prefer to think of Alexander as their "own", which makes them more concerned about Alexander's going or leaving than anyone else.

So when they heard the news of Alexander's imminent departure, the merchants immediately visited the Lucrezia Palace.

Nowadays, whether or not you can be a guest at Palazzo Lucrezia is not only a symbol of status, but more importantly, it has become a dividing line between whether you are regarded as the Count's own person.

Although some nobles still have a prominent status, they have been regarded as actually out of favor because they have not had the opportunity to enter this small house, while some people who seem to have a low status have been favored by many because they can enter and exit this house frequently.

Alexander, of course, knew the purpose of the merchants' visit, and after some instructions, he made the following arrangements to them:

"Stockpile up as much food as you can, and buy a large number of weapons, and trust me not to lose money on this deal, for all the great city-states will soon try to rearm themselves as much as possible, and by that time you will find that food and weapons are in short supply, and at last the cost of these things, I suggest you go to the Fuggers for a loan, and don't worry that they will refuse, for I will vouch for you."

"There may be some changes in the trade at sea, this is because of the war that the Ottomans are about to wag, so let's not rush to get rid of the existing goods, we must know that whether or not it really causes a shortage of goods, the news of the war always makes people feel that there will be less things in the market, so we hoard appropriately to maximize profits."

"The other thing is to collect enough boats, which I need to use personally, because I will soon have a large number of people to transport, and ships are very difficult to find in times of turmoil, so I have to prepare in advance. War can cost many people their homes, and it is always better for them to be able to live again in a new place than in a home where there is no way out. ”

"And then there's Rotterdam, you already know that the port has just been built, but because of its convenient transportation, it's gradually getting bigger."

Alexander said this, looking at the merchants, and he noticed that these people didn't seem to care much about this, and he didn't blame them, after all, these people were of course more concerned with how to make money from the Mediterranean than with a new port in the Atlantic.

"What I want to say is that this year I'm going to do my best to open up our markets to the German city-states, and you should remember how we dealt with Florence, maybe we can't do that with the German city-states, but our approach won't change, and the markets in those cities are much bigger than Florence, so we're only going to make more."

Alexander's words immediately attracted the attention of the merchants, who certainly did not forget the war that plundered Florence, they used cheap goods as weapons to loot the Florentines, and even now, there are still many Florentine merchants who are burdened with huge debts that have caused them to go bankrupt because they cannot pay the interest because they have hoarded goods.

"My lord, are we going to do another Florentine plunder?" One person couldn't help but ask.

"Maybe you can't see it at first, but I can assure you that you will definitely earn a lot more in the end than you did with Florence."

The merchants were immediately excited, whispered to each other, and then looked at Alexander with burning eyes.

"But in order to deal with the new market, we must reorganize our Chamber of Commerce," Alexander comforted the merchants as they saw their expressions change slightly, "You can rest assured that I will not increase my investment in the Chamber of Commerce, and because there are other things to do, I am going to transfer a part of my shares in Pisa to my daughter." ”

The merchants looked surprised, they didn't understand what Alexander was doing, and they were starting to get a little worried.

"Because of my daughter's split, the Chamber of Commerce will have to be reorganized, but I assure you that the interests of Pisa will always come first to me."

The merchants looked at each other silently, they did not know how much Alexander could be trusted, and they knew that the reason why they had made a windfall was only because of the support of the earl.

Although Estelles was the Duke of Pisa, Alexander would have to have a more formal family and legal children in the future unless he married Lucrezia.

At that point, he will have to think about his family.

If the Count gradually gave up the benefits of Pisa for various reasons, these people did not know how long they would be able to hold out on themselves.

Is there any way to keep the Earl?

The merchants' eyes flashed with such tacit looks, but they knew that it was obviously difficult.

"I suggest you try to strengthen the Chamber of Commerce Guard," Alexander said without a trace, "because maybe the situation will soon become tense, and the City Defense Army will obviously not be able to help you more, I have decided to reorganize the City Defense Army, so in this short period of time, you should try to protect yourself as much as possible." ”

"But my lord, we pay a lot of taxes to Pisa, shouldn't the city guards keep us safe?" A merchant looked at Alexander in amazement, "You know that our Chamber of Commerce Guards can only protect our caravan from being invaded at best, but if Pisa is threatened, we are not safe without the city guards." ”

"That's why I need an army that can protect us all, but the current city defense force is not satisfactory to me." Alexander looked at the merchant, "Unless, you can allow the city guards to take on the responsibility of protecting Pisa along with the Chamber of Commerce Guards." ”

Alexander's words made the atmosphere in the room suddenly stagnate, and everyone was stunned for a moment, and then their eyes gradually showed strange expressions.

Alexander took full control of these people's expressions, and he slowly took out a document from his side.

"This is the stake that I am going to transfer to Osterles, and all of you are witnesses to this transfer, and I can assure you that she will not receive all the dividends on this certificate until Estelles takes charge of Pisa herself, but will invest all these dividends in the Chamber of Commerce in Pisa as capital to expand the profits of the Chamber of Commerce."

The businessmen couldn't help but secretly gasp, they knew that Alexander was actually taking out half of his personal dividends for free and investing them in the Chamber of Commerce, although this kind of investment would be able to get more profits in the future with the expansion of the Chamber of Commerce, but at this time, it obviously took a lot of courage to do so.

And the terms of Alexander's exchange, apparently, were the Chamber of Commerce Guard.

The merchants looked at each other, knowing that if they agreed to this condition, they would have to give up a lot of things, but if they didn't, they might lose even more.

When the merchants left, they found Lucrezia at the door of the room.

But she apparently had only come to see Alexander.

When the door closed, cutting out the view from the outside, Lucrezia gently hugged Alexander's neck.

"I know you've given your share to Estelles, and I'm glad you did," Lucrezia said first, and then she sighed softly, "but I'm not happy either, because I know you're really leaving us." ”