Machiavelli was woken up by the wall and napping.

Hearing that someone outside was going to see him, the Florentine slowly rearranged his clothes and walked down the tower.

Machiavelli had to try to jump down the steps of the second floor, looking at the dark grass below, and the Florentine jumped out with only a slight hesitation.

The grass was soft, and although it was not comfortable to fall on it, it was obvious that the people outside had already prepared, so he landed directly on a large pile of quilts.

Alexander looked at Machiavelli from afar, his eyes slightly interested.

Of course, Alexander "knows" this person very well, but when he actually saw him, Alexander felt that this person who was a little limping because of the leg and foot that jumped off the building was a little strange.

This man will undoubtedly make a name for himself in history, but not because of his own extraordinary achievements in this era, but because he wrote a book that gives people an understanding of the thoughts and aspirations of the people of this time.

Although Machiavelli's writings were not poor in his life, it was of course the famous book "The Monarch" that was really remembered and praised many times, but not only does his book not exist yet, but he has not met Caesar Borgia, whom he regarded as the perfect model of monarchs in this book, and it is not known if they will ever meet them.

"Are you going to expel me?"

Machiavelli spoke very simply, and in his own words, he always found it despicable to those who relied on clever words and so-called elegant intrigue to achieve their goals.

Alexander wondered if he was already working on his equally famous Florence, but it is possible to imagine his character in these words when he says sarcastically, "Our countrymen tend to prevail over their opponents in a so-called graceful way, and are stingy in confronting their enemies."

But what makes people feel paradoxical is also here, a person who is disgusted with conspiracy from the bottom of his heart, has written a book that claims to be a guide to the monarch's strategy.

"I hope that when you return to Florence, you will tell your fellow citizens what is here," Alexander did not deny Machiavelli's speculation, and in fact he was indeed planning to send the man away, "I think you know very well that the Pope does not like your leader, so if Florence tries to interfere in the affairs of Pisa at such a time, it will inevitably cause His Majesty the Pope to be even more dissatisfied." ”

Machiavelli looked at Alexander and nodded, then suddenly said, "You are the Cambrai, I have heard of you before, but I did not expect you to be such a person." ”

Machiavelli's words surprised Alexander a little, but after thinking about it for a while, he couldn't help but smile.

"Ovant Bruni?" Alexander asked with a smile.

Seeing Machiavelli nodding, Alexander secretly exhaled a cool breath, he had obviously forgotten about this person.

When he first met Josa at the home of the Count of Mordiglo, Alexander met the Florentine envoy Ovant Bruni at the Count's banquet, and then he made an excuse to go to Cosenza with Josa in order to help the man escape from Florence.

It's just that there are so many things that happened later, and the person of Ovant Bruni gradually faded from his memory, and now thinking about it, Alexander can't help but feel that he is really lucky, when he says his name at the city gate, if Machiavelli suddenly reveals his identity, although it may not be life-threatening at that time, but once Lucrezia escapes from his grasp, it is only a matter of time before he gives away his life.

Lucrezia may not want his life, but the father and son of the Borgia family are difficult to say.

"Let me make it clear that Florence did not want Venice to be the host of Pisa." Machiavelli seems to be doing his duties as a diplomat before he leaves, knowing that he doesn't have much time to talk quickly and without any nonsense: "We want to maintain the status quo, the Venetians have nothing to gain us in Romagna, and Florence does not want to get involved in a dispute that makes no sense to them." ”

Alexander nodded secretly, he knew that what Machiavelli said was indeed the truth, and that no one in this day and age knew better than he did the thinking of the Florentines today, or rather the thoughts of Savonarola.

It was clear that the ascetic and St. Benedict wanted Florence to survive in these chaotic times, that is, he wanted to live his life behind closed doors, but Alexander knew that Savonarola's plans were doomed.

Previously, when Charles invaded, Savonarola became a fanatical supporter of Charles, not only did he take the initiative to accept Charles into Florence, but also did not hesitate to reduce the Florentine's own rations to provide a large number of supplies for the French army.

It can be said that Savonarola has been involved too deeply in this game, and it is too late to get rid of it and not play it now.

And Alexander was well aware that this desire to stay out of the situation was still the mainstream view of the Florentine people's diplomatic strategy even a few years later, but it was precisely because of this wishful thinking that the future fate of the Florentine Republic was doomed.

"You can bring my words to your leader," Alexander looked at Machiavelli, "if he wishes to be forgiven by the Vatican, then there should be no favoritism in this dispute over Montina's domain, and of course it would be better if he could be on the side of the Pope, but if he tried to ally himself with the Venetians or the Milanese, it would be doomed to him." ”

Machiavelli listened carefully to Alexander's every word, and his see-through eyes kept looking at Alexander, as if trying to see from his face how much of it was true and how much it was merely threatening.

Then, as he was about to leave, Machiavelli suddenly whispered: "I will not doubt your identity, because I have seen from the beginning that you are not a simple person, but I want to know, is it really the Pope who sent you to Pisa?" ”

Listening to Machiavelli's question, Alexander suddenly felt the urge to pierce the chest of the man in front of him with a sword!

But in the end, it didn't happen.

This is a man with eyes that can see the truth behind the scenes, but this man's personality is not destined to be a person like Caesar or Lorenzo Medici or even Alexander himself, because Alexander knows that if he were replaced, he would never break the other party's old bottom at such a time.

But thinking that this person can survive the liquidation after the restoration of the Medici family in the future, it probably has something to do with his character.

Because this person is not a threat to others.

This was the end of the meeting with Machiavelli, and Alexander did not expect to receive any guidance or inspiration from this figure who claimed to be the future monarch's teacher, because he knew that Machiavelli was only a small person at this time that even Savonarola could not easily see.

If I am not mistaken, it is not until the following year that Machiavelli will not be appreciated by Savonarola to take up a key position in the Florentine government, but by that time, Savonarola's own life will not be long.

However, Alexander did not know that Machiavelli, who had been expelled from Pisa overnight, still found time to write the following words on horseback as a footnote to his trip to Pisa, when he was in a hurry to return to Florence to report the news: "This is a man who can seize opportunities, such people often have a keen sense of smell, so as to make accurate judgments about whether it is dangerous, they always keep an eye on every opportunity, and then when they think the time is right, they do not hesitate to pounce on their prey, and once they find danger, they will try to avoid it. This lion-like courage and fox-like cunning behavior makes this man always know what to do. ”

When Alexander instructed them on how to find the Papal army, which he did not know who was in command, one even offered to give him a token without any letters, so as to avoid being discovered on the road.

Without hesitation, Lucrezia handed the ring to the quick-witted, and then told him a few things that were apparently known only to the Borgia family or their close ones, and Lucrezia hesitated a little when Alexander told them to leave, leaving only the two of them.

"If my men come, you're going to be arrested, you know?" Lucrezia asked in a whisper, her look serious, as if to remind Alexander, "So you have two choices now, one is to leave immediately before my people come, and the other is to ......"

"What's the other one?" Alexander asked softly, "Let me guess, if I were your husband, you would be able to make none of this happen, and I would even be rewarded for helping the Pope get pizza?" ”

Lucrezia's eyes became a little hot, and she stared at Alexander a little anxiously and asked, "So would you like to?" ”

"What would you like to be your husband?" Alexander asked with a smile, he couldn't help but admit that he was really considering the suggestion at this time, and then he smiled lightly, took Lucrezia into his arms, and whispered in her ear, "I think I might have a third option." ”

The mercenaries in Pisa are still a bit dedicated, although they can't be compared with the Swiss mountain mercenaries who are known as exemplary work ethics, but when they get the arrears of salaries and the promised 6 cents of national tax, the mercenaries instantly burst out with great enthusiasm.

Because of their proximity to the Florentine behemoth, the Pisans were destined not to achieve much on land, and the Pisa, who were looking to the Tirenian Sea because of their proximity to the sea, once dominated the sea, and even for a time even the Genoese had to avoid it.

Although Pisa is no longer beautiful, it is still one of the few ports on the northern shore of the Mediterranean, and because of the perennial defense of Florence, the city of Pisa is very strong despite its limited scale.

When Alexander reached the city gates, he was somewhat surprised to find that the mercenaries had dug a trench a little further from the city walls.

These trenches were not very deep and limited in width, but a little thought would have given you the idea that the Venetians would have to cross these obstacles if they wanted to attack, which is often more useful than they seem in today's era of formations.

"Who told this to be dug up?" Alexander couldn't help but be slightly interested, and he casually asked a mercenary.

"It's Gompati," the mercenary wiped the sweat from his head, "Don't be fooled by that guy, my lord, he's actually a coward who always wants to hide behind somewhere, and he made these trenches dig them, but now he's the head, and if you want to get more pay, you have to work hard." ”

"That's right, you have to work hard." Alexander frowned as he watched the mercenaries hurry, then looked back into the city.

A few pisbians who seemed to have drunk too much in the middle of the night staggered to the city gates, their faces dazed and drunk, and when a mercenary stopped them, some of them even shouted that they were good friends with a certain tribune, who apparently had drunk so much that they didn't even know what was going on during the day.

Seeing these people, Alexander couldn't help but shake his head slightly, and the idea of trying to organize the citizens to participate in the resistance that had just risen in his heart was immediately dispelled.

Organizing a civilian army in this day and age is not only troublesome, but even difficult.

Especially for those city citizens, it is even more almost a dream to make them willing to take up arms to defend their city-state, and they would rather spend a lot of money to hire unreliable mercenaries to protect the city, rather than take up arms themselves, which is of course related to the lack of national identity in this era, and also has a lot to do with the relatively comfortable life in the city.

People don't put their lives on the cost of making money unless they have to, especially in a place like Pisa, where there is a natural harbor and people don't lack food and clothing, and it becomes even more difficult for them to give up their decent life and take up arms.

They may be able to riot out of anger against the government, but they are often blindly impulsive and even ridiculous, either succeeding immediately or going home if they fail, often after the impulse has passed, and then they don't care about anything else.

As now, Alexander knew that even a man like Gompati, who had personally started the riot, was only encouraged by passion, and once that passion had passed, the pisamen would soon become lazy and slack.

"That's not going to work."

Alexander secretly wondered in his heart, although he did not know the specific number of Venetians, but if this continued, maybe Pisa had already been broken before the reinforcements arrived.

If you can't organize the people, where can you find the troops to protect the city?

With a thought to himself, Alexander walked down the street, occasionally asking the two mercenaries who were following him.

To his disappointment, though, the mercenaries knew best which way the door of the brothel was opening, and they didn't know where they could find enough people as soon as possible.

A figure appeared in front of him, and Gompati hurried towards him, the new captain, who was clearly still in excitement, and when he saw Alexander from afar, he exclaimed, "Do you know that we have just found a good batch?" ”

"What is it?" Alexander casually asked, at this time he really had no interest in finding any art treasures, and if he could not keep the city, it would all be just a gift to the Venetians.

"It's artillery, big artillery!" Gompati gestured with his hand, "There are ten gates, all in the warehouses near the port, thanks to you, for reminding us to use those former government officials to check our belongings, so we found these guns from the harbor, look at the ships parked in the harbor, I don't know how many good things we can find." ”

"Wait a minute, you say boat?" Alexander's heart suddenly moved, and he thought that maybe the problem in front of him could be solved: "Are there many ships in the port of Pisa?" ”

"Of course, although it can't be compared with Genoa, there are still a lot of people who come to Pisa to do business," Gompati said, with a glimmer of light in his eyes, "Speaking of which, Daddy, they really earned, 6 points of tax, even some Pisan people are a little tempted." ”

"It would be best if they could be tempted," Alexander nodded, "then you can become a real Pisan nobleman, not just a mercenary leader."

Seeing Gompati's blushing face and nodding his head, Alexander beckoned to him: "But if you want to become a nobleman, you must first block the Venetians, so we don't have much time, call a few people, and we'll go to the port now." ”

"Why, do you want to move those cannons, you don't need the two of us," Gompati waved his hand triumphantly, "I have had them transported to the city gate, and I have had a lot of trenches dug outside the city overnight. ”

"I know."

Alexander laughed, he certainly didn't think like the mercenary that Gompati was cowardly enough to dig trenches that seemed useless at every turn, and that it was impossible for a coward to make a riot.

Approaching the trench, I didn't expect that there were already people doing this kind of thing in this era, although it was still very rough and primitive, but Alexander knew what a huge and far-reaching meaning it had.

But now he didn't want to discuss that with Gompati, he was concerned about the ships in the harbor.

"We go to the port," Alexander continued, "but we are not looking for things, but for people. ”

"Looking for someone? Who to look for? Gompati asked curiously.

"Look for the sailors," Alexander said, looking in the direction of the harbor in the distance, "there were a lot of sailors on the ships, and they were all born soldiers. ”