Historically, the Venetians have created an enviable miracle of wealth.

As early as centuries BC, their merchant ships sailed the Mediterranean, and with the brave exploration of Venetian adventurers, they extended their tentacles to every corner of the Mediterranean.

The Venetians were more interested in the sea than anyone else, and for this reason they did not hesitate to face all kinds of powerful enemies again and again.

This courageous act of the Venetians laid the foundation for them to become the commercial hegemon of the Mediterranean, and although they were always entangled with enemies such as Genoa, the Venetians never actually regarded Genoa as their real opponent.

The Venetians were hungry for wealth, and they went on more than one adventure, the most famous of which was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, during their crusades.

The wealth that that adventure brought to the Venetians was unimaginable, and even centuries later the Venetians were proud of the treasures they had looted from Constantinople.

But now the twin threats from Ottoman Turkey and the new shipping routes have put the Venetians in such a great crisis that many of them even feel that they are facing a catastrophe.

It is not alarmist to think so, Venice's wealth comes from the sea, and the smoothness of maritime trade has become Venice's greatest weakness.

Venice still seems to be glorious, but in fact it is already in crisis.

Grogenen's proposal instantly agitated the Venetians, because it meant that these two powerful enemies, who posed a great threat to Venice at the same time, could be completely eliminated.

It's just that the Venetians weren't stupid, and now they know why Grognin wasn't so annoyed by being denied a defensive alliance before, and now it's time to be annoyed by the Venetians.

At this time, Rowlet made a request for a temporary adjournment.

Grogenen did not press the Venetians to give an answer as soon as possible, he did not even make specific conditions but only gave a vague proposal, but it was enough for these shrewd merchants.

The chips have been revealed, and now it's up to the Venetian to do what to do.

In a room not far from the venue, the Venetian officials gathered around Rowlet, and after a heated argument, everyone waited in silence for the Doge's statement.

Lorette sat in his chair and pondered, he had heard too many opinions before, but he knew that there were only two final results, and the demands of the Duke of Rome and Thesia were either completely in favor or all against.

This is probably where Gombray is cunning, Rowlet thought with annoyance.

Under the great temptation to gain trade rights on new routes and the opportunity to neutralize the threat from the Ottomans, it seemed impossible to refuse to agree to join the Lombard defensive alliance.

Lorette had no doubt that if he refused this request, then let alone a new route, perhaps the Ottomans would do the same against Venice in the next civil war.

In fact, rumors that there might be some kind of tacit understanding between the Tempest Alliance and the Ottomans a few years ago have been in the dust for a long time, but at that time people were more envious.

It was only in the Third Romagna War that it became clear that what had been a trade alliance for wealth had gradually turned into a formidable and formidable military bloc.

In the Third Romagna War, this military group showed its terrible fangs to the world for the first time, and taught the invincible French king Louis XII a hard lesson.

Then this military bloc showed its great power with unstoppable momentum.

Sicily, the first country they invaded in the name of protecting free trade, was followed by the queen of Naples taking the crown of the unified Kingdom of Sicily.

The Venetians had known the enormous power of the Free Trade Alliance since that time, and now they had turned their minds to the Austrians, and their purpose was obvious, to secure the northern part of Rome-Thesia.

What could be more reliable than making Constantin della Roverre Duke of Milan, and once the northern border is secured, it is estimated that Gombray will be able to face the problems of the Castile side with all his might.

Lorette found that he seemed to have mastered Alexander's train of thought, and when they were put together, he was surprised to find that it was a vast and near-perfect plan.

The power of this plan lies in the interlocking of things, and those seemingly unrelated things form a huge web once they are connected.

This net encompasses the entire Apennine Peninsula, including Venice, and no one can get rid of it, or some people are willing to be thrown out of the scope of this net, just like Venice now, although it knows that it is facing threats, but still can't help but want to be a part of this big net.

"There is no need for us to be enemies of the Austrians, we have not fought with Maximian in the past and we are not the same as we are now, and if we join this defensive alliance, we will probably not have a chance to get rid of it in the future."

A nobleman said worriedly, he saw that the others wanted support, but at the sight of their twinkling eyes, the nobleman sighed silently.

Even the opponents knew that it would be too difficult to reject the Romantesians' proposals, especially after they had thrown the bait of a new route, and the objections were not weakened but almost no one dared to raise them again.

Venice was a city-state ruled by merchants, which meant that all the decisions of the country revolved around the merchants, large and small, and the chambers of commerce that represented their interests.

And for the proposal of the Roman Thesians, these nobles certainly knew what kind of choice those merchants would make.

In fact, most of them themselves are part of these big businessmen, so they are not able to insist on the will to oppose at all.

"It's all that Cambrai's plan and a trap," Rondolba Barbarig looked at the others with some helplessness, "and now it seems that Maximian's life is going to be difficult, considering that they now have to deal with the Bohemians and the Wallachians in addition to the French in Lombardy." ”

"The Archduchess?"

Someone whispered a tentative question to the person next to him, and after receiving an affirmative answer, the Venetian couldn't help but sigh again.

It was clear that the Duke had arranged everything, which gave them the feeling that the Venetians were not involved.

But if it is really refused, then it is unknown what awaits the Venetians.

Having been pondering, Rowlet seemed to have finally made a decision, he raised his hand to greet Barbareg Jr. with his past gestures, and after Barbareg Jr. approached, Rowlet motioned for him to bend down and lean close to his ear and whispered: "Believe me, this time all I have to do is to give Venice a chance, which is too important for us now." ”

Little Barbareg groaned for a moment, then nodded silently and said nothing.

"Guys, I think we all know what to do," Rondoba Barbareg noticed a hint of mockery on Rowlet's face when he said this, although he quickly disguised it, but little Barbareg was sure that the old man was laughing at the people in front of him, "Let's go and negotiate with the Roman Themesians, or just listen to what they tell us to do." ”

Listening to the obvious sarcasm of the Doge, the Venetian nobles were not angry, as Rowlet said, when Grognin proposed a new route, many people knew that there was no suspense in the negotiations, so the only difference was how much the Venetians would have to pay.

At this time, Grogenin was also sighing that he had been confused for a long time when he left his hometown.

He had great ambitions and ambitions, and while he was tasked with reviving his family, as a native of the Low Countries, he longed to one day free his homeland from Austrian rule.

As a traditional aristocracy, the Habsburgs were so alien to the Low Countries, and Maximian inherited the family's arrogance and consistent treachery, and he was even dissatisfied with his son, who wanted to change all this slightly, which made a large number of Lowland merchant families typified by Grogenin's family finally disillusioned with him.

Grognin was at a loss as to when he would finally be freed from the Emperor's rule, and he even thought that perhaps he might not be able to see it in his lifetime.

But now, with Maximian's setback in Switzerland, what happened next felt like a dream.

But now, a meeting led by him will not only lead to the escape from the emperor's rule, but also to choke the Habsburgs to the throat!

Just before he was on the ship, Machiavelli told him something else, in as calm a tone as possible, that Alexander had written to Machiavelli that he would leave for Bohemia as soon as his affairs in Venice had come to an end.

This would be Machiavelli's first time leaving the traditional Roman region for an embassy to another country, and it also meant Alexander's recognition of his status as "chief diplomat".

And Grognin knew that Alexander's arrangement would completely seal the Austrian encirclement.

It was only after knowing the relationship between Alexander and Castile that Grogenen really understood the purpose of everything Alexander had done before, which made him sigh that he was so lucky to choose to cooperate with this young man in the first place, even more so unexpectedly that he was so lucky to choose to cooperate with this young man.

It is believed that the problems that this series of plans will eventually cause to Austria will be enough to take care of itself, so that Maximian will not have the energy to deal with Castile anymore.

Even in order to give himself a chance to breathe, in some places he may have to compromise with Rome Thesia.

For example, if Constantine insists on opposing his position as Duke of Milan, then he will offend not only the old Rovere, who may soon become pope.

The servant knocked softly on the door, and a Venetian nobleman walked in and invited them to the side hall.

As he walked out of the room, Grognin noticed a smile on Machiavelli's lips.

The chief diplomat is actually a very emotional person, but sometimes his emotionality is precisely the means he uses to deal with others.

On the way, Grogenin, who had almost guessed what was going to happen next, began to ponder so boringly.

Autumn is crisp, breezy and a small group of people is slowly moving on a wide, flat road that you won't see anywhere else.

The refreshing season is refreshing, the scenery on both sides of the road is nice, and the good road conditions make the trip enjoyable.

Sitting in the carriage, Ashley hummed a ditty from time to time, and although her father was now the Duke and respected director of works, and was said to be given a title of nobility soon after, Ashley maintained many of the habits of the craftsman's daughter.

This had made Barondi privately remind her more than once that as an important female officer next to the Duchess, and as the wife of the chief of staff of the Duchy's army, she should pay more attention to her manners and demeanor.

However, Ashley never took the Duchess's admonition seriously, and if she was not attending any important party, she still dressed casually, and she still used to call him "a soldier" to Oflai.

The "soldier" is going to go far this time, although the couple has been getting together less and leaving more because of the non-stop war, but after all, it is only in Italy on this land.

But this time Oflaiyi was going to go across the ocean to another completely unfamiliar country, and I don't know how long it would take, so Ashley was naturally very sad because of this, and even complained to the duke.

"You shouldn't think so, you must know that all that we have now is given by His Highness," Ofrey sat beside and comforted his wife, he could see that although Ashley seemed to be happy along the way, it could be seen from the fact that she sometimes quietly wiped the corners of her eyes, and she was very sad at this time, "and I am not going back." ”

"Shut up, don't talk about these bad things," Ashley quickly interrupted her husband, but then sighed, "but Castile is so far away, I've heard that from there you can go directly to the new colony." ”

Hearing his wife's exaggerated words, Ofleiyi didn't laugh, perhaps because it had opened his eyes for several years, or because Alexander had been paying attention to the concept of the "big world" to them, Ofleiyi was no longer the farmer craftsman boy he was at the beginning.

His vision has become more distant and ambitious, and Agri, who used to be like the whole world in his mind, has long been a faint memory of the past, and even the glorious cities of the entire Apennine Peninsula are now only a series of place names on the map in his hand.

This trip to Castile was a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Ofleiuil.

Being able to personally participate in the creation of an army is not only of great significance to Ofleiyi, but also of great importance to his future and destiny for decades to come.

As a chief of staff, he had now reached the pinnacle of the Roman Tescian army, and if he had not died on the battlefield and nothing else, he would have retired as a noble general in the future.

But now that a new opportunity had presented him, and just thinking about the opportunity to be one of the founders of the kingdom's army, Ofleiyi felt that it was worth paying more.

One of the guards hurried to the chariot to report that the city of Pisa could already be seen, which made Ofreiil feel a little more impressed by the duke's generosity and foresight.

With the construction of the intercity highway between Pisa and Montina, the two cities became more and more connected, not only for business and transportation, but also for the gradual acceptance of the idea that the two cities actually belonged to one country.

The significance of this in Italy, which is full of city-states, is understandable, and when he thinks of it, he even has the idea that the army may not be able to solve everything by force.

As Chief of the General Staff, Ofleiyi was certainly not stupid enough to shout such thoughts everywhere, but this did not prevent him from thinking like this in private.

Ofleiil's arrival caused a slight sensation in Pisa, and several Pisan officers went out of town to greet the "chief of the army".

This is not a nickname given to Oflei, but one of his official titles.

According to Alexander's vision, the armies of various countries must establish a coalition command that can be quickly unified in wartime while ensuring the security of their countries in peacetime.

And Ofleiil was the military governor whom Alexander named the "Great Army".

And Gompati is the commander-in-chief of the front line of this "big army".

This is one of the reasons why both of them are more detached in the military than other officers.

Lucrezia had already heard about Ofrey's imminent departure to Castile, so she specially hosted a banquet in her palace to welcome the arrival of the wife of the head of the army.

It was only then that Ofleiil officially met Giovanni the Younger, the son of Alexander and Lucrezia.

The infant prince had brown eyes that were very similar to those of her mother, but surprisingly had the same dark red hair as his father.

Unlike her sister Estles, the little prince who was held in the arms of his wet nurse was quiet, and his brown eyes always looked at the people walking around with bewilderment.

As Alexander's absolute confidant, Ofreiil can of course accept Lucrezia's invitation without any scruples, but Ashley, who is an important female official next to Barondi, is a little embarrassed.

Especially when Lucrezia handed Ofreiil a thick envelope that looked like it contained a book, telling him to hand it over to Alexander, Ashley could only bow her head and compete with the dishes on the table in front of her, pretending not to see anything.

And when she said goodbye and left the next day, Ashley also secretly told herself that after returning to the future, Barendi must answer carefully once she asked about this trip, because she would not forget that Lucrezia said in a very proud tone: "Estelles belongs to Pisa, and Giovanni is a gift from God to Alexander and me." ”

This made Ashley secretly slander the Duke's private life really messy, and at the same time, she couldn't help but worry about whether Offrey would also learn from His Royal Highness the Duke, whom he had always admired.

In September, after receiving orders from Alexander, Offleiil stepped down as chief of the general staff of the Roman Tescian army, and while still holding the position of "chief of the army", he was appointed military minister of the kingdom of Castile, and he immediately embarked from Pisa and went to Castile to take up his post.

To Ofleiil's pride, this was Alexander's first official appointment to an important Castilian position.