Even though the war is going on, the city of Montina still gives the impression of being full of enthusiasm and calm.

An astonishing number of construction teams is waging a earth-shaking "toss" in the city of Montina.

In addition to the castle under construction, great changes are also taking place in the city of Montina.

Demolition is going on everywhere, and construction is going on everywhere.

The city was covered in gray smoke and dust, and many complained that the duke's wanton behavior had disturbed their lives.

Many houses on both sides of the street were forcibly demolished, and the streets were full of potholes.

The road was widened by nearly half, drains were dug on both sides of the road to drain sewage, and a group of craftsmen, led by Offrey's wife, Ashley's father, Pomperney, searched the city for water in Montina.

Montina is located on the banks of the Sadina River, because although it is located inland, there is no shortage of water.

However, despite this, Alexander was still not very satisfied with the water supply of the city of Montina, especially considering that in the event of a large-scale war, the Sadina River might be cut off from the upper reaches of the enemy, Alexander ordered the excavation of the water source to begin.

It is not too much for Alexandria to think about this, as the historic Fort Montina was under a one-year siege about half a century later.

At the end of the siege, the enemy threatened the city by cutting off the upper tributary of the Sadina River to supply water to Montina.

Although the city was eventually defended by a strong city, the city's population was decimated by diseases and infections caused by the lack of water, and the prototype of the earliest modern fortifications in European history fell into decay before it had time to shine.

What was left to future generations was only the false name of the earliest modern city defense work in Europe.

Montina, however, lost its best chance to become a hub between the north and south of Italy.

Alexander, of course, did not want this history to repeat itself.

When he decided to put down roots in Montina, he saw the potential here.

Geographically, it was an important key to Italy, and politically and militarily, even if the center of rule of the Duchy of Rome and Tricia moved to other cities in the south, Montina would still be an important bridgehead for the future unification of northern Italy.

Therefore, the transformation and construction of Montina is not for the present, but for the future.

Massimo was also surprised to see the current scene of the city of Montina, although he knew that Alexander was constantly expanding the castle, but the whole city seemed to be about to be turned upside down, which was somewhat unexpected.

In addition to this, Massimo was somewhat concerned that the Romantesia, including the Valentia, did not seem to have figured out their current situation.

Ludviko Sforza had to stop almost all the work he had decided to build in order to deal with the coming French, and he used the money from the construction of the palace to hire troops, and the bronze that was originally intended to be cast for horses should be used for cannons, although he did not escape the fate of failure in the end, but he still made some efforts.

But now the Roman-Thesians still spent a lot of money to renovate the city when they were facing the pressure of the enemy, which made Massimo a little worried.

Before he knew it, Massimo was beginning to think about his situation and that of others as a metropolitan.

Massimo met Barendia in the vault, and was somewhat surprised to hear that Barendi was going to summon the Pole named Copernicus at the same time.

He was well aware of the place of the vault in the hearts of the people of Rome, Thesia, and especially of the old Counts of Montina, and that Copernicus being summoned in this room meant that he was taken seriously.

Trying to suppress his curiosity, Massimo led Copernicus into the vault.

Seeing Barendi standing at his desk, Mahimo smiled, but when he opened his arms to hug the Duchess, Barendi coldly refused.

Seeing Barondi's thief-like expression, Massimo coughed slightly in embarrassment to cover it up, and then he turned to Copernicus, who was standing behind, and introduced: "Duchess of Rome Thesia." ”

Copernicus bowed respectfully, and although his usual energy was almost focused on his studies, he had heard of the patron of the University of Bologna-Pavia.

"Duchess, it's an honor to meet you." Copernicus bent deeply.

To his surprise, a white hand reached out in front of him.

Copernicus raised his head slightly in surprise, and when he was sure that it was indeed the Duchess's hand, he excitedly held it in both hands and kissed it on the silky back.

Massimo was also surprised, he didn't expect Barendi to pay so much attention to this "fortune teller", which made him more convinced that Alexander wanted to use this person to create auspicious fortune for himself.

It's just that Barendi's next words made the two of them a little unexpected.

"Actually, I don't know what you can do," Barondi said with a cold expression, "The Duke wants you to be comfortable in Montina and learn enough at the same time. ”

As she spoke, Barendi beckoned to the entourage next to her, asking him to put some slightly messy documents in front of Copernicus.

"I know that you studied theology and medicine at the University of Bologna, and I believe that the former should not be a big problem for you, and as for the latter, I think you will learn something more useful in Montina."

Copernicus was a little excited, and although he did not know why the duchess attached such importance to him, he had already heard that there was a medical school in Montina that was superior to the medical school in Bologna in terms of faculty strength and academic success.

Copernicus, who had already thought of finding an opportunity to enter this medical school, was hesitating because of the sudden outbreak of war, but now the Duchess of Rome Thesia took the initiative to recruit him into this school, which made Copernicus dream for a while.

"But in addition to theology and medicine, the Duke also wants you to be successful in some important areas," said Barentius, gesturing to the documents before Copernicus, "and someone will take you to your residence, during which time all expenses for your studies will be paid for by the Duke, and you yourself will be under the Duke's protection." ”

The successive accidents and surprises made Copernicus feel that it was a little difficult to breathe, and it took a lot of effort to calm himself down.

He bowed again with excitement, and thanked the Duke and his wife for the amazing favor they had bestowed upon him.

This time, however, the Duchess did not give him another kiss on the hand, and when she stood in the corridor with the servant retreating, Copernicus suddenly remembered that she seemed to have forgotten to ask why the Duke had chosen him suddenly.

"Why?" Barondi looked at Massimo with a puzzled expression, then smiled silently and shook his head, "I don't know, you should know Alexander very well, he sometimes does inexplicable things." ”

"But at least let me know what his plans are, is this man important to him, I mean for the next war, or will it help him become king of Castile?"

Massimo looked full of curiosity, and seeing Barondi's expressionless look at him, Massimo shrugged his shoulders helplessly: "It seems that he really values this person." ”

"Bishop, you have not only come to deliver that Copernicus," Barendi motioned for Massimo to come to the table, and then picked up a letter from the table beside him, "This is from Alexander." ”

Mahimo took the letter and looked at it, and immediately showed surprise on his face.

"Oh, is that possible?" He looked away from the letter and looked at Barenti, "He thinks that the church in Castile can support him, which sounds a bit reluctant, but maybe it can be done, after all, the pope is there now, but what about the nobles?" Do you think they'll listen to him? ”

A hint of melancholy flashed in Barondi's eyes, and Massimo's words were exactly what she was most worried about.

Although she knew that Lucrezia would definitely become more arrogant because of Alexander VI's help, compared to the safety and ambition of Alexander, who was now in Castile, Barentia felt that she could still tolerate that stupid woman.

But those local nobles are not easy to deal with.

Even if she thought about it, those nobles might not have resented Alexander even more because he had the support of the church, after all, as far as she knew, those nobles had already colluded with the church.

It is precisely because they have joined forces against the Astamara family that it will be difficult for Isabella and his wife to try to take over power.

Now, if a king with the support of the Church suddenly appears, it will undoubtedly mean that the nobles must face the royal family alone that might curb their power, which is enough to make those nobles murderous against Alexander.

"I don't know where he is now, but I think there must be a lot of people who want to deal with him."

Barondi walked back and forth uneasily, ignoring Mahimo's reassurances and just whispering to herself.

"I don't know if he's safe now, but I have to help him."

"How can I help, are you going to rush to Castile, it's impossible," Massimo raised his arms and made a helpless gesture "You should know that it will take a long time to send this letter, if he really had any accidents, it should have happened a long time ago, so all we can do now is pray for him and hope he is okay." ”

"No, Alexander must have thought of that beforehand," Barendi retorted, "have you ever seen him do something he wasn't sure of?" ”

"Not really," Mahimo muttered, "so you have no reason to worry, do you?" ”

"No, I think I have to do something, and don't forget that I'm his wife."

Barendi said and looked at Massimo.

Barondi's eyes made Massimo suddenly feel bad, he sensed that this woman seemed to be planning something, and even that this matter might have something to do with him.

"I think that only by letting Ferdinand see Maximian's crushing defeat in this war can he shake his determination to confront Alexander, and only in this way can the nobles not dare to act rashly, so I need someone to go to Milan."

Although Barendi said this, the eyes that looked at Massimo had fully revealed the meaning of her words.

"So you want me to go to Milan?" Massimo smiled bitterly, "That's why you're in a hurry to ask me to come to Montina?" ”

"That's a good fit for you, isn't it, I heard you didn't travel the world a long time ago?"

"That's true, you must know that I am Asseimo who used to go freely in and out of many European courts," after getting used to blowing bulls, Massimo seemed to suddenly come to his senses, "I said Madame, you don't really want me to go to Milan, do you know what it means for the Metropolitan of Romagna to visit Milan at this time, not to mention that everyone knows my relationship with Alexander." ”

"You're going to be one of the candidates for the new pope." Barendi said suddenly.

Massimo's mouth froze, and he made a simple "oh" sound as if he had been suddenly stuck in his throat, and then he kept shaking his head as if he had suddenly woken up: "No, no, no, wait a minute, madam, you must be joking, you know that I can't become the Pope, right?" ”

"Of course not."

Barondi's crisp answer immediately punctured Mashimo's daydream.

"But you're not yet 40 years old, and at this age you can become a candidate for the Pope, even if you can't be elected, it's enough for people to know that you're important, you can think of another 20 years, maybe even just 10 years, maybe you really have the possibility of becoming the Pope, for this, do you think it's worth going to Milan?"

"This ......"

Massimo hesitated.

Reason told him that the woman in front of him was coaxing him in the way he was best at, and he had deceived those noble ladies and peasant women in the past, so he had to refuse without hesitation.

The burning ambition that could rise from the bottom of his heart formed an irrepressible voice, and he kept saying in his ear: "Promise her, promise it quickly." ”

"Okay, I'll go."

Massimo finally spoke, and when he said this, he felt that the breath that had been blocked in his chest seemed to spit out along with the words.

At the same time, his body seemed to be out of strength, and he sat down in the chair behind him, gasping for breath from nervousness.

"Go to Milan," Barenti walked around the table to Massimo, "I remember Alexander once said to you that the Vatican is the place you should go, where you can get status and wealth that you never dreamed of, right?" ”

"Yes," Massimo smiled, "but he didn't tell me that the more I get, the more I give." ”

"That's fair, isn't it," Barendi said disappetly to Massimo's words, "do you think it's more cost-effective to become a future pope than to pay?" ”

Massimo groaned, finally sighing softly.

"Okay, tell me what to do next."

Looking at Massimo, who seemed to be eager to show his skills, Barendi smiled at him: "What you have to do is very simple, make the Milanese think that the Austrians are their enemies, and if necessary, even fight against Austria with the French." ”

Following Barendi's words, a bitter smile appeared on Mahimo's face: "This is really a very simple matter. ”

"Of course, it's much simpler than being a pope," Barendi said, standing in front of Marsch and looking at him, "Cardinal, are you willing to accept this condition?" ”

"I'll do it!"

Massimo agreed.