Jacob Fuguel held a crystal cup with a ring of gilded enamel patterns, and the light green liquid in the cup was crystal clear against the cup in the sunlight.

The mug looks expensive, but compared to the extravagant décor of the room, it looks inconspicuous.

The chandelier hanging in the middle of the ceiling covered with gold trim emits a soft light, and a huge light source composed of snow-white candles on the wax table of the chandelier illuminates the whole room, the reflection of the bronze ornaments in the room obscures the patterns on the gold tiles on the floor, and the light reflected in the windows on the wall, which are covered by thick purple plush curtains, seems to tell that this is not actually night.

"I always have the windows blocked, because so that I can immerse myself in the illusion of the past," said Jacob Fuguel, holding up his glass to Buccini, who was sitting across from the mahogany table, "I can't see that I'm actually just in a house facing the street, and I can't see that the palace that used to belong to the Fugol family is now someone else's property, and I don't see the curious eyes of people who sometimes pass by under the window looking at the house, And I can still imagine in this room that I still have the glory of the past, do I like to deceive myself? ”

Buccini listened silently, and when he heard Jacob's inquiry, he did not show a mocking look, but only smiled calmly: "The Fugol family used to be very glorious, but that is all in the past, the wealth in this world is actually limited, when you get more, others will definitely have less, so that the wealth of the world can be balanced, unlimited wealth will only lead to the final wealth is worthless, the Fugol family just encountered the moment when it needs to be balanced, so this is actually very fair, isn't it?" ”

Jacob looked at the Jew opposite him with a little surprise, of course he understood what Buccini said, but this truth, which took many years of experience and ups and downs to comprehend, came out of the mouth of the young Jew in front of him, and he was a little uncomfortable because it seemed so abrupt.

"Yes, it's fair to those of us who are looking for wealth, but when it's really a situation, very few people can really see it that clearly." Jacob said, glancing at Buccini with a slight mockery.

For the old man in front of him hinting that he had some sarcasm about standing and talking without backache, Buccini still didn't understand the tone, he knew that with the Fugol family's years of experience and extensive connections, he must have figured out who caused their family to fall into such a situation in the first place, so it was logical that their family had indescribable complaints about themselves and the person behind them.

However, Jacob can now sit with him and drink, which means that Alexander's previous arrangement has worked, and with Jacob Fugoer's character, he can't let the Fugol family sink like this, so even if the collaborator is the culprit who caused their family to fall into a desperate situation, as long as there is a chance, the two sides can still cooperate.

"I'm here this time to serve the wishes of my lord, and he is very sincere."

"I do see this sincerity as well."

"So we can go on?"

"Of course, everything can be discussed."

"Okay, let's talk about the authorization of the Fugol family to mint coins that we have negotiated before......"

While the Neapolitan army and the Papal army were fighting on the Rocadisas hills, another equally tragic battle was raging in Pisa.

A coalition of about 5,000 troops from Naples and Taranto had arrived in Pisa two days earlier, and had been stationed between Pisa and Montina in order to be able to take care of both sides and protect the important strategic transport hub of the Pisa-Montina national road.

But the officers of Pisa's city defense insisted that the reinforcements be stationed in a hill not far from Pisa, fearing that this might divert Pisa's defenses, on the grounds that they could echo each other in the event of an attack by the French.

The reinforcements, who had insisted on following the Queen's orders, finally accepted the plan proposed by the Pisa, and it was Lucrezia who stood up in support of her city defense officers at a stalemate between the two sides, and her reason was very good: "To protect the city of Pisa is to protect the Duchess of Estelles, and Estlese is the jewel of Alexander's palm, and there is absolutely no room for mistakes." ”

Lucrezia's words obviously had a big effect, and the coalition finally decided to change their original plans and establish a defensive line outside the city of Pisa.

As a result, the French right flank of nearly 14,000 men of Boweken, Earl of Proswan, quickly cut off communication between Pisa and Montina without flanking threats, and then one of them quickly avoided the front of the coalition forces along the intercity highway and launched an attack in the direction of depth south of Pisa.

The allied forces, who had discovered the movements of the French army, had to come out from behind the improvised fortifications that had been erected, and they hastily organized a defense in the open space between the city of Pisa and the Arno River, and in the face of almost twice the heavy French army, after several hours of hard fighting, the allied forces had to withdraw from the battlefield after paying heavy casualties on the afternoon of May 3, and even because the right flank of the French army, which was commanded by Bauweken himself, had approached the city of Pisa, the reinforcements had to abandon their previous fortifications outside the city and retreat into the city of Pisa.

After the battle, the reinforcements lost nearly 400 people, which was a major fiasco for the reinforcements.

While the battle boosted the morale of the French army, it also plunged the city of Pisa into fear and pessimism, and some nobles once again came forward to criticize how wrong it was to join the war, and some even openly suggested that it was too late to negotiate with the French army.

Lucrezia was also in a bad mood, she knew that she had made a mess, but she didn't know what to do, especially after receiving the letter from Barentia from Montina, she was even more annoyed and helpless.

Barentia unceremoniously criticized Lucrezia's indiscriminate command of reinforcements in a rare letter, telling her that her intervention had led to the occupation of vital national highways by the French, and that the flanks of both cities were already under great threat, and that the French might even penetrate directly into the heart of Tuscany through the gaps in the gap, and at the same time that Barentia told her that Louis XII's main force had now surrounded Montina from the northwest and two directions, echoing Borwicken's.

In the end, she simply wrote, in a tone full of sarcasm and sarcasm, as well as strong suggestion: "I don't have the strength to send a soldier to help you solve the crisis in Pisa, so for God's sake, let those who really know what to do do their business and don't use your little hand that can only caress the belt of your skirt and the hook of the curtain to fiddle with the hilt of the sword that commands the battle, if you must be interested in this, Alexander has a sword that is more suitable for you, and I am sure he will be willing to grant your wishes." ”

This letter made Lucrezia blush with shame but speechless to refute, especially looking at Nikolai Macioni who was standing in front of her with a helpless expression, Lucrezia could only barely suppress the annoyance and anger in her heart, and announced that she would hand over all the command of the city of Pisa to the commander of the Pisa regiment from now on.

With a lot of headaches, Macheni took over the responsibility of what was obviously a big hole, and then, after some inventory, he came up with the following bunch of answers:

He had an army of about 7,500 men in total, who had just been defeated;

He also had a city, but neither the walls nor the defensive weapons were very satisfactory;

He now had only one enemy in front of him, but he had almost twice as many troops;

And what bothers him the most is that the city is not so peaceful now, and many nobles and even citizens have begun to shout out of the war and make peace with the French!

"What a mess," Maceni said, rubbing his head to his deputy, looking at the other man's disapproving expression, he knew that he had added to the inventory slip in his mind: there seemed to be a lot of disagreement within this army about him as commander of the city defense army, which reminded Maccheni of the idea that Barenti had intended to replace him before he came.

Surprisingly, however, it was Gompati himself who made Barendi change her mind.

When he heard that Barenti intended to replace Macioni and take over the defense of Pisa, Gompati approached Barenti and suggested that Macioni was more suitable for the position, because not only did Marceni show excellent qualities as a commander in both the expedition to the Balkans and the attack on Ferrara, but more importantly, Gompati found that Macioni seemed to be better at defensive warfare, and he himself was better suited to command field battles with his experience in many wars.

'We need to look a little bit further ahead and maybe soon we have a big fight on a real scale with the French, and then maybe there will be a better position for me.'

Eventually, Barenti decided to take Gompati's advice, and she proved to Lucrezia what it meant to "let people who really know what to do do their job", and Macioni was given the position that meant a lot to him.

Maceni never imagined that he would one day have the opportunity to be in charge of the position, especially if he could become the position he had considered for Gompati, which meant that he was truly on a path to par with the main generals of Rome, at least now that he was on par with Busacco in the Roman Army.

But now he was facing a precarious situation that made him not optimistic for a while, and after some careful inventory, Macioni finally reluctantly relieved to find that he was not exhausted, at least the family money that Gompati had left him when he was in Pisa came in handy this time.

"Gompati still has so many bootleggies left," Macheni smiled for the first time as he looked at the cannons that had been brought from the warehouse near the docks, "but I like it." ”

Maceny knew that these cannons had been seized by Alexander from a merchant's consignment to Rhodes during the Battle of Pisa, and that they had played an important role in the defensive battle, and that some of the artillery pieces had been taken from Pisa during the Battle of Oral.

It's just that no one thought that Gompati actually left a batch of artillery in Pisa privately at that time, thinking that he probably thought that he might return to Pisa one day to be his mercenary team leader.

This made Macheni can't help but be grateful to Gompati from the bottom of his heart, he knows that Gompati, who has such a batch of artillery, must be more sure if he serves as the commander of the city defense army, but he gave up this opportunity to himself, which makes Macheni can't help but be moved.

"Then it's up to me to prove that I'm the best person for the job." Macheni muttered in a low voice, his eyes couldn't help but look in the direction of the Palace of Parliament, and a rare look crossed his cheeky face, which was always smiling.

On May 7th, the Palace of Congress in Pisa once again convened on the first day of every week, as is customary, and the nobles slowly walked into the small Palace of Parliament, although surrounded by French people outside the city, these nobles still maintained their old habits, although the mobilization decree just issued made people's lives seem to be less comfortable than before, but many people did not realize where the real change was.

But this day is destined to be a very special day in the history of Pisa.

Because no one would have imagined that May 7 would be the end of the noble council of Pisa!

Not long after the Duty Officer announced the convening of the meeting, an army of about 300 men suddenly stormed the Palace of Parliament, and these troops, composed entirely of Neapolitan and Taranto soldiers, but temporarily commanded by a trusted Pisan officer selected by Maceni, quickly blocked the entrances to the Palace of Parliament, and then, in the midst of everyone's stunned eyes, Macioni led a group of officers to walk in with Lucrezia and Estelles, as well as the Bishop of Pisa.

Lucrezia walked past the nobles to the podium, protected by a group of guards armed with shiny weapons, and then she took out the order she had prepared and read it out.

"In time of the war, in order to protect Pisa and the people of Pisa, it is hereby announced that the last of the mobilization decrees will be implemented, that the Assembly shall be suspended with immediate effect, and that all government affairs and decrees shall be decreed by the Provisional Dictator of Pisa, and that the greatest forces shall be mobilized to defend the homeland, and that the Provisional Dictator of Pisa, Estelles Borgia Giulian Gombray, shall be signed."

For a moment after the proclamation was read, there was silence in the Palace of Parliament, and then suddenly there was an earth-shattering shout and protest!

Estelles was immediately frightened by the horrific sight and burst into tears, but that also irritated Lucrezia.

Even before Maccheni could give the order, Lucrezia angrily issued an order to suppress the guards around her, and in an instant, the army that had been waiting impatiently around her pressed towards these nobles!

The parliament of Pisa had been shut down cleanly and cleanly on Monday, and as the doors of the Palace of Parliament were sealed, Maccini suddenly had a slight impulse to look at the palace that looked rather majestic from the outside.

"Maybe one day I'll be able to buy it, and then maybe it'll be called Palazzo Macenyi, or Palazzo Nicholas." Maccheni was so elusive in his heart.

Then Marcheni gave the order with a straight look: "Let's get ready, and then it's up to us how we deal with the French." ”

On 9 May, after a brief lull in post-war repairs, the French army was put into action.

The French army, which had already captured the Montina national road, crossed the road between the two cities and began to advance southwest, and as Barentia said, Louis XII's eyes were on one of the jewels of Italy's crown, Florence.

When the news of the French army's action reached Montina, Barondi, who was discussing the battle situation with the generals in the palace, couldn't help but turn his attention to Oflay.

"So, are the French really going to attack Florence?" She asked, a little worried.

"It seems so, ma'am, that the greed of the King of 'Alflaiil' is famous, since the time of Charles. ”

"So what do we do?" Barondi turned her head to look at Gompati again.

Gompati's beard was pulled up, and a hint of excitement flashed in his eyes: "Madame, this is the reason why I refuse to be appointed as my defense officer of Pisa, we and the French are destined to fight a very fierce offensive and defensive battle under Montina and Pisa, but as His Royal Highness the Duke deduced with us earlier, the place where we will fight the French is destined to be Florence!" ”

As the words fell, Gompati's fist slammed into a city marked by the ground in front of him.

There, it's like Florence!