A servant muttered in a low voice as he walked down the street carrying an empty basket, and every now and then someone hurried past him, and he immediately ducked, staring with wary eyes at those who approached.

The basket was covered with a cane cover, which covered the contents of the basket tightly, and the servant saw two people he had known before as he walked through the crowd in the street, but now he did not dare to greet them, and even tried to avoid his acquaintances for fear that they would recognize him.

The servant walked through an alley next to the baptistery, through the alley full of all kinds of garbage, and into the back street, into a very old house.

Hearing the door slam, Gurvio Pazzi turned to look at the door, and saw the servant coming in through the crack in the door, his sparse eyebrows furrowed, and then he glanced at the basket he was carrying in his arm.

"Why did you come so late today," Patzi asked a little dissatisfied, "don't you know that I've been working late these days, and if you don't want to work hard, I can send you away immediately, and now there are a lot of people who are willing to find a hard job for a bite to eat." ”

"I'm sorry sir, I can't help it, I have to be careful on the road, you know the people on the street are going crazy now, they have started to stop passers-by on the street, as long as they find even a little bit of value on their clothes, it will be considered a violation of the 'anti-luxury law', if they see me carrying these food, they will definitely interrogate me who I want to give it to."

Pazzi looked at the servant coldly, he actually knew that the servant was right, the streets of Florence were a little unpeaceful nowadays, especially the supporters of Savonarola, as the servant said, people were going crazy these days.

At the instigation of Savonarola, the Florentines went from self-discipline and poverty to a hatred of wealth and all things hedonism.

It is illegal to have an extra lace on a garment, too much texture on a boot, a carriage to sit in with ornate decoration, and even more so to go out hunting with a servant.

As for banquets and balls, they have long been forbidden and abolished as a sign of extreme depravity, and even the addition of one or two delicious dishes to the family meal is considered a violation of the anti-extravagant law of willingness.

According to the new Florentine statute proclaimed by Savonarola, the people had the right and the duty to report to the government all the violations of the law that they saw, and this whistleblowing was given a rather noble name, the "eye of the people", and in the face of this justification proclaimed in the name of all Florentine, the son to the father, the wife to the husband, and the servant to the master was not regarded as shameful, but was given the high reputation of the eye of the people.

It was in this name that some Florentines took to the streets, and in the name of "the eyes of the people", they arbitrarily interrogated and seized any Florentines whom they regarded as suspicious or impure, wrote down their names, and confiscated and publicly destroyed all the "bad things" that they considered to be violations of the anti-luxury laws, which could be an intricate piece of jewelry, or perhaps just a silk strap with a few knots on a woman's hat.

In short, Florence was now on the eve of a terrible chaos, but Sazi knew that the chaos had not yet reached the point of being truly appalling.

"Bring me the food." Sazi asked the servant to bring the basket of food to him.

As the Florentine treasurer, he didn't really worry too much about food, and although there were rumors of famine since the beginning of winter, at least he still had something to eat.

He sent his servants out for something more important.

"How's the inquiry?" Sazi asked, sipping wine.

"I heard about the lord, and those people seem to be preparing to attack the consul."

The servant kept his voice as low as he could, and even in his own home, he looked cautiously from place to place, as if he feared that someone was hiding in some corner and eavesdropping on their conversation.

"A bunch of rebels?" Pazzy picked up a piece of chicken and put it in her mouth and chewed it gently, "Tell me who those people are." ”

"Some businessmen and some low-level officials who have been treated unfairly before, and some citizens who have been punished by the eyes of the people," the servant shrugged, and there were many people who were quite mixed. ”

"It's very miscellaneous," Pazzi picked up the white bread and tore it gently, there is not much flour on the market that can make this kind of white bread now, except for the occasional purchase on the black market, most people can only eat rough buckwheat bread, "It seems that you will have the honor of being honored with the People's Eye this month." ”

"Sir, do you want me to ...... Going to snitch? The servant asked, a little uncertain.

"Yes, it is absolutely inadmissible for those people to attempt to plot to overthrow the correct leadership of the Archon, all Florentines must religiously follow the direction that the Archon has shown us and follow the path that the Archon has led us, and all attempts to change all this are evil and must be eliminated." Pazzi looked at the servant with a firm look in his eyes, "You are the servant of my family, you should understand this truth better than anyone else, don't forget that our Paqi family paid the price of blood in order to resist the cruel rule of the Medici family, this is the glorious tradition of our Paqi family, so it is the most normal thing for you to go to the snitch." ”

The servant was a little dazed but nodded quickly, for there was no doubt that he would obey the master's orders, and he didn't care what the point of doing so was.

"And my lord, it's the Columbus Exchange," the servant remembered again, "I heard that some Florentines went to the exchange, and they said that Columbus was a profiteer, and that he had violated many anti-luxury laws and canons, and that he had been seen doing business outside in the morning when he was supposed to do a prayer and in the evening when he was going to confess, and for this reason the Florentine Defenders had decided to punish him for a parade along the Arno River seven bridges away." ”

Hearing the servant's words, Sazi couldn't help frowning again, he knew that the group called the Popular Guards, it was a popular organization of a group of followers of Savonarola, who, relying on the support of the consuls, not only exercised the power of the government at some point, but even became able to punish those whom they convicted of guilt.

No one in the Florentine government dared to speak out against the actions of those people, because they claimed to be "the staunchest supporters of the Archons and the defenders of the Archons to the death", which led to the fact that no one dared to stand up and denounce their actions.

But now Pazzi has to deal with these popular defenders.

"Gotta get that Columbus out," Patzzi stood up and paced back and forth, "what's his charge?" ”

"Failure to follow the rules in early revelation and late confession." The servant pursed his lips, but immediately looked around cautiously.

"That's not a big crime," Pazzi secretly reassured, knowing that if the popular defenders really caught the handle of James Columbus, it would not be as simple as a parade, after all, what that man was doing now was something that could put the whole of Florence in a desperate situation.

"Go and ask him to pay a fine, and then write a sincere letter of repentance, maybe the others will not be able to get through it, but because he is not from Florence, things may not be too bad," Pazzi told the servant, "the most important thing is to tell him to be careful, not to do anything that might irritate the popular guards, especially when paying the fine, and not to make people think that money can solve problems, because many of those popular guards may not be impressed by money." ”

"Obey the order, sir." The servant responded carefully, and he could see that the master did not seem to be in a good mood.

Despite having instructed the servants what to do, Pazzi decided to go on his own, and although he really didn't like the vulgar and lowly leaders of the Popular Guard, they were now being appreciated and trusted by Savonarola, and there were even rumors that perhaps next year, the leaders of the Popular Defenders might be officially appointed to the Florentine government.

"If that's the case, it's the biggest disaster in Florence."

Pazzi sat in the carriage and looked at the depressed streets, wondering with exasperation that he knew better than the others, so that he knew that they were not rumors, but that Savonarola had indeed intended to make the Popular Guards an official Florentine organization, and that the person who gave him the idea was a Florentine man named Machiavelli, who was now said to be serving in the army of the Count of Montina.

Pazzi knew about Machiavelli, and although he hadn't dealt much with him, Pazzi admitted that he was a very intelligent man with a natural sense of observation.

So when Machiavelli wrote to Savonarola suggesting that he organize a civilian army composed entirely of Florentines and not mercenaries, Pazzi was surprised and secretly alarmed, wondering if this was a precursor to the Count's change of supporters, and because of this, he paid more attention to the actions of the popular defenders than anyone else.

The Popular Defenders were a purely spontaneous organization formed by the Florentine burghers, whose only thing they had in common was their simplicity of clothing, or rather the excesses of their simplicity.

These people hated all extravagant and flashy things, and some of them always carried a large pair of scissors with them, which was used to punish the well-dressed men and women.

They would stop those they considered in the street to be in violation of the poverty clause of the canon, and after asking for their names, they would force them to take off their garments with all kinds of decorations, and then, with the clatter of large scissors, the clothes that might have lured people into extravagance because of their splendid fabrics and fine workmanship, became similar to the tattered clothes of the growing number of beggars on the streets.

"We are saving you, you know, to resist the temptation of lust against you, and to dedicate a pious heart to our great, glorious, and correct Archon, who alone can lead us to the brightest future, and to establish the only pure heavenly kingdom in this fallen world."

An excited voice came from the side of the street, and Sazi looked out the window of his car to see a group of popular guards yelling at a few people who had clearly violated a certain canon, but Sazi noticed that their faces were not the usual shame of being reprimanded, but seemed to be full of anger.

Sazi knew exactly where the anger of these people was coming from.

With the cold winter came a life of increasing depression, and Florence in December 1497 was no longer as vibrant as it had been a year earlier.

All of a sudden, there was a shortage of everything in the market, and the Florentines had been buying goods in exchange for a large amount of gold, and when people woke up from the price fluctuations caused by the rising price of gold, they were greeted with even greater losses from the sudden non-stop selling.

The masters who hoarded goods have been punished, and they have had to resell their goods to the pizzasans who came to Florence for much lower prices than before.

When they still don't understand what it means to occasionally hear the talk of "going long" and "shorting" from some pizza merchants, an exchange that seems harmless to them but is actually pushing them deeper into the abyss is born.

At the instigation of the pismers, the Florentine merchants began to enter the exchange, and from that day on, they no longer traded only with the scattered piscons, but began to be involved in a tide that they could not help themselves under the direction of the exchange.

At the beginning of December, James Columbus, who had been dormant for a long time, finally got into action.

He began to exchange letters frequently with the exchanges in Rome, and the messengers sent by both sides sometimes sent again less than an hour apart.

The mountains of goods in the Florentine warehouses seemed to have suddenly changed owners overnight, and the Florentine merchants got a little money that had shrunk by many times compared to before.

Countless goods were sent to more distant cities, and according to some rumors, the markets in many places seemed to have panicked because of the sudden blockage of the northern trade routes, and these goods, which had been piled up in Florence and were depreciating day by day, suddenly became bestsellers once they changed owners, and the hearts of Florentines gradually fell to the bottom as they watched the goods that had been discarded in the warehouses loaded and shipped away, and then the faces of the merchants who came from afar were about to bloom with smiles on their faces.

Many local merchants went bankrupt as a result, and some felt as if they had seen a way to make a fortune in a way that they had never seen before.

But for the vast majority of Florentines, the end of the year was the worst, with the bankruptcy of merchants, the closure of factories, the increasing number of beggars on the streets of Florence, and the hatred of luxury, or rather the rich, becoming more and more intense.

There is less fish on the market, the ingredients of bread are getting coarse, vegetables are becoming more expensive, and more people are facing unemployment.

Savonarola was bitter for the plight of his people, and he declared that he would no longer eat fish and meat until the people had resolved their difficulties in quenching their hunger, and that he refused even a little more food every day except for water and coarse bread.

He got up early every day, and when it was still dark, he climbed to the top floor of the monastery to pray, hoping to receive a revelation from God on what he could do to save his people.

But that didn't get Fiorentina out of the situation, and Savonarola felt more lost than he had ever felt before, and he even began to wonder if he was wrong at times.

But steadfastness of faith eventually triumphed over wavering, and he remembered that Jesus Christ had to endure the devil's final temptation even at the moment of his crucifixion, and that Peter had denied Christ's wavering three times in the face of death, and that he had the courage and piety to finally overcome wavering.

When Pazzi came to the monastery, he saw one of Savonarola's followers coming out of it.

The man, the leader of the People's Defenders, didn't pay much attention to his characteristic austere garment and the wooden cross that hung from his chest, but Pazzi paid more attention to the excited look on the man's face.

In fact, these people were very excited every time they came to see the Archon, but this time Pazzi noticed something different.

"God bless you brother Pazzi!"

The man on the other side took the initiative to greet loudly, and it could be seen that he was very excited now, so that the prejudice that he had always had against a nobleman like Pazzi had also faded a lot at this time.

"God bless you, Brother Padraic, it seems that you must have received some kind of revelation from the Archon."

"Our leader is wise, he is the light that guides us and the helmsman of the ship," said the man named Padraic excitedly, "I have indeed received a revelation, and to be honest I have been confused, for this reason I will reflect on myself in the morning revelation and late confession every day to come, and I will dig out the filth of my soul that is full of depravity and selfish desires." Fortunately, now that our leader has told me what to do, now I'm going to tell my brothers. ”

"Maybe I have something to trouble you," seeing that the man was always in that strange excitement, Pazzi thought that this might be a good opportunity, "I know a man, a merchant, James Columbus, who seems to have been punished by your brothers for some misconduct, but this man is now doing business with our city, and the situation in Florence is not good these days, and we need someone like him, so I would like to ask you to allow him to write a letter of repentance and pay a fine, I don't know ......"

"Whatever you want," said the man, who was obviously really anxious, and didn't even want to ask anything more, "I know that Columbus, he's a guy who makes a lot of black money, but now he's not important, we have more meaningful and important things to do." ”

With that, the man named Padraic hurriedly said hello, jumped on his horse, and ran off into the distance.

Pazzi looked at the man's back a little puzzled, according to what he knew about these people, they should have been difficult to deal with, let alone forgive people casually.

Pazzi thought for a moment and shook his head, although the matter of Columbus was settled, he still had to meet the consul.

For most people, it is hard to imagine that the supreme ruler of Florence would live in a small and cramped house.

There are no ornate carpets, no bright mirrors, no opulent frescoes and no beautiful sculptures.

A wooden table, a few chairs, and a hard plank bed and an old blanket on the bed, all the belongings of the Florentine consul Savonaro Kinorramo Savonarola's house.

Sazi didn't like the house, and every time he walked in, he had the illusion that he had stepped into another world, which made him uncomfortable.

Today he must come, for he is going to ask the consul for a command on the part of his servant who has instigated an attempted rebellion.

Savonarola is less than 50 years old this year, and he looks older than he really is because of years of living in poverty.

But his eyes were determined, especially now, when he saw Sazi, Savonarola immediately stood up and greeted him.

Sazi noticed that the Archon was also excited, or that Padraic was so excited because of the current Archon's mood.

"Gurvio, my friend, I know why we feel so powerless and miserable now, I know why our people feel dissatisfied," Savonarola looked at Sazi earnestly, "because of desire, because of greed and the total loss of self-indulgence, we must purify the world, and better purify the minds of the people. ”

"What are you going to do, my ruler?" Although he was already tired of Savonarola's thoughts, Sazi asked patiently.

"Purification, complete purification, I have received the revelation of God," Savonarola cried out to Sazi, "I will call upon our people to destroy all that has led them to depravity, those carpets, ornaments, so-called art treasures, and all kinds of filthy books that will lead people astray, and I will destroy them with a fire, and this fire is called the fire of vanity!" ”

Sazi looked at Savonarola in amazement, he didn't know how to respond to this thought, which made him feel creepy,

However, he knew that if he had hesitated about some things before, now that Sazi had finally made up his mind!