Around 3000 A.D., a strange mineral appeared in the plains of Mesopotamia, which quickly became a status symbol because of its sun-like shine and intoxicating colors, as well as its unusual rarity.

People adorn themselves and their lives with the metal extracted from this ore that competes with the sun for brightness, and because of its brilliance, the metal that completely conquers everyone makes many nobles think that devouring this thing can give them a new life.

It can be said that from the day it was discovered, gold became a terrible thing that ruled human emotions and greed.

Later, the advent of gold coins made gold more of a special role as a currency, and it seemed that everything in the world could be measured by gold, from a precious specialty to the freedom and life of a beautiful or strong slave man or woman, everything was just a more or less number in front of gold.

The Ladia Gold Coin is one of those examples of what seems to measure all the value of the world.

The shrewd pattern and the quality of the color made Ladia, although it was only a short time, it immediately became a highly reputable and high-quality currency.

Many people are optimistic about the prospects of Ladia, not only because of the currency itself, but also because it is the Holy See that issued Ladia.

Although the reputation of the Vatican is already terrible because of years of depravity, debauchery, and even perverseness, no one doubts the authenticity of the vast wealth that the Vatican has accumulated over the centuries.

Because of this, there was never any doubt about the credibility of the gold Ladia, after all, it was Alexander VI himself who endorsed Ladia.

Although the reputation of this pope is really not very good, his credit in this area is still favored by many people.

As for the nobles, they knew that for the Pope the power to issue currency was tantamount to discovering a gold mine, so he would not do anything to destroy his reputation unless Alexander VI himself was stupid.

But this plausible idea lasted only until the sudden coin run in Le Havre in France.

Then, suddenly, starting from the west coast of France, a wave of Ladia that no one could stop was rushing towards the interior of Europe like a tsunami that burst its banks.

Along with this tide ravaging Europa were rumors that Pope Alexander VI had emptied the Vatican's coffers in order to arm the army of his illegitimate son Caesar.

This caused people who had great faith in Radia to worry about whether the coin would be sustainable, or if the Pope would reduce the gold content of the coin to offset the cost of minting it, in which case Radia would be at risk of depreciation.

From merchants to burghers, from commoners to nobles, people began to become nervous, and it soon became clear that the minting and distribution of Radia did not come exclusively from the Holy See, at least not entirely from the Vatican.

Even some of the nobility began to investigate because of their suspicions, and it soon became clear that the bishops had coinage rights granted by the Pope to their dioceses.

And it is precisely because of this that Ladia's credibility and quality are immediately questioned and cannot be avoided.

On the same day that Alexander VI received the news from the diocese of Montpellier, France, he ordered a tightening of the amount of coinage in order to reserve gold in case of possible trouble.

It is clear that the Pope is a layman, but he has made a wise and reasonable decision based on his many years of experience.

But he forgot or should I say underestimate the bishops of the dioceses who were not inferior to his greed.

In order to recoup their losses, the bishops did not follow the orders of Alexander, but instead began to desperately try to compensate for the rapid depreciation of Radia by increasing the amount of gold coins.

At the same time, some of them seem to have spotted some subtle opportunity.

And then these people joined in the frenzied run frenzy.

It was only then that Alexander VI discovered that Radia's circulation far exceeded the burden that his accountants had calculated for the Vatican's coffers, or at least the Vatican, and that no other country could afford to spend so much money at once to make up for such a frightening hole of equivalents!

The city of Rome began to feel uneasy.

The Papal Army was now stationed outside Rome, but they were now under the joint command of a Provisional Officer Corps, and they had decided to choose neutrality because of Caesar's death, which had left them at no idea who to obey or where to receive their salaries.

This announcement caused an instant uproar in the city of Rome, but then they realized that something worse had happened.

Many futures trades on the Roman Exchange have begun to no longer accept Ladia, or even if they can, they will only be traded at a cost of 20 percent, or 30 percent, or more than the same price of Florin.

This alarmed not only the merchants, but also the Romans, who had become accustomed to the benefits of trade.

At the same time, large and small exchange merchants began to appear in the market, and the largest of them was the exchange shop run by the Fugol family, which was already considered bankrupt.

1:2, 1:3, and even 1:5, even such a harsh exchange rate could not stop the good business that finally alarmed Alexander VI, although he had the pain of losing a child, but he still sent someone to find out what happened.

But the reports to him from those who came back were desperate.

"People are doubting the value of Ladia?" The Pope looked at the listeners, and then at the ugly-faced, sweaty priests standing by the Vatican Treasury and the accountants and financial advisors to Alexander VI, each of whom now seemed to be facing the Last Judgment.

"How many Radias are missing from the market right now?" Alexander VI asked impatiently.

"Probably, according to our current calculations," said one priest in a dry voice, "80 to 1,300,000 florins." ”

"So much," the Pope frowned slightly, and there was a hint of helplessness on his face that was thin from the successive blows, "at least we have enough gold in store now, although it almost cost us our lives, but don't forget that this is the Vatican, and as long as St. Peter's Glorious Tomb is still here, we can survive this difficult time......"

"Your Majesty," the priest who had replied before seemed to be unable to resist finally speaking, his face flushed at this time, as if he was trying to muster up the courage to say the next words, "No, although we calculate that there is a lack of such money in the market, but because the value of Radia is getting lower and lower now, in some places there is even a situation where 10 Radia for 1 florin, and Radia must be minted in gold, which means that we need to pay much more money than the market, to plug this hole. ”

"Much more money, how much does that cost?" The look on Alexander's face began to grow uneasy, he didn't know much about it, but it was obviously not good news.

"Probably, probably......" The priest stammered as he looked at his companions, and with their supportive eyes, he finally said cautiously, "It will take about 5 million, I mean at least 5 million equivalent of florin to equalize it." ”

"What did you say?!"

Alexander VI abruptly rose from his chair, and his body swayed because of the blackness in front of him, and he was only able to stand firm with the help of the clergyman.

"How is this possible, why so much money?"

Alexander asked aloud in disbelief, answered by the look of horror and apprehension on the faces of the clergy.

"Can any of you tell what's going on?!"

The Pope's questioning voice resounded through the room.

"By now, the Pope should already know what's going on."

On the ruins of an ancient stone building about 8 fathoms from the city of Rome, Josha stood on a fairly flat stone platform and looked down at the ruins of the original magnificent building, although it was old, but from the pedestals of the abandoned stone porticos and the large typical Romanesque marble columns.

The wind blew through her body, draped her diagonally over one shoulder, and the wind lifted high, and a gorgeous long armor dress and a beautiful breastplate with fine workmanship set off together, making her look charming and brave and upright that no other woman had.

She carried no weapons on her, but those who knew her well did not think of her as being compared to the ordinary noble ladies, especially the grenadiers who followed her, and in their minds Tsusha was their queen, but even more so their commander.

"But I don't think the Pope really knows what is going on with all these things that are being discovered now," said Jossa with a proud look, as if to show off to the lady-in-waiting who had been with her at this moment, "It's called leverage, just like using a stick to pry up these huge Roman columns, and all we can do is leverage the wealth of the entire Vatican treasury with a limited amount of money." ”

After saying that, she smiled and said in a proud tone: "This method was told to me by my brother, and it was Alexander who said it. ”

The lady-in-waiting always played the role of a loyal listener, and the point was that she always had only ears and no mouth, for she knew that the queen would tell her not to hear her compliments, but to show off to others the brother whom no one else could match.

Therefore, she must not only be a good listener, but also remember the important credo of listening and forgetting.

"Rome," Josha took a step forward, which made the waitress look a little worried at the edge of the stone platform not far in front of her, "it's now in front of my fingers, just grab it like this." ”

She made a vague gesture in the air, and then she sat down and placed her legs on the outside of the stone platform, letting the hem of her skirt be blown by the wind to reveal the slender shape of her wrapped legs.

"What will Alexander VI do?"

As if she was lost in thought, she sat there thinking quietly until an attendant approached with a letter.

Ji Sha opened the letter, looking at the contents of it, her expression suddenly showed a hint of strangeness, she thought about it and carefully put it away.

Long after looking at the ruins of Emperor Hadrian's villa, which is said to be from the time of the ancient Roman Empire, she suddenly let out a chuckle.

"Alexander is probably a predestined enemy with all his women's brothers," said Zhisa to the lady-in-waiting, "because the women hated him as much as their brothers loved him, but I was an exception, for my brother was himself." ”

The lady-in-waiting nodded slightly to the queen in response, and if Alexander was here, she would definitely be able to guess what she was thinking, and it would be clear that it would be "whatever you want, as long as you are happy".

Rome is now in a state of panic, with the rich running around trying to lose less, and the poor worrying that they might lose a job.

The sudden collapse of the Ladia gold coin was almost without warning, and when news after news came, Rome fell into a scene of silence among the nobles and tears of the merchants.

More detailed news about Le Havre has arrived.

When they heard that the British ships had attacked the French coast, some of the merchants who had been willing to invest in Caesar because of the good return had become completely hopeless from the pessimism brought about by Caesar's death.

At the same time, an even more crazy news was proven.

The Free Trade Zone Alliance has jointly announced the cancellation of all business with France and Rome!

The news hit everyone like a bolt from the blue, and while most people were still overwhelmed by this sudden accident, there were still a few smart people who immediately saw infinite opportunities in it.

Smuggling became prevalent almost overnight, and all goods that could not be traded through the FTA became gold and wealth in the eyes of the black marketeers, even if Alexander VI immediately ordered a draconian decree, which was not only not a constraint in the eyes of the black marketeers, but became the best helper to help them make a fortune.

As long as Florin didn't want Radia, or used several times more Radia to get the goods, but even so, the black marketeers flocked to the merchants who had been in the gold exchange business before, and then seemed to be buying and selling in the black market.

This time, it was still the Fugol family's business that was doing well, and for a time it was unique in the city of Rome.

It was in this strange atmosphere, half heaven and half hell, that in early June, Constantin della Rovere hurried from the front to Rome.

He had come to serve as the new commander of the Papal Army.