Under the scorching sun, on a road not far from the city of Pisa, a man wrapped in a black robe rode on a horse, staggering in the direction of the city of Pisa.

Behind him, the armor of the two half-armored guards was emitting a blinding glow, and the steaming waves seemed to burn the armor to the point that the slightest touch of it would spark.

Beside this man, followed by an entourage, two large and heavy leather bags hung on either side of the horse's back. Dangling from side to side along the way, it looks like a pot-bellied goose from a distance.

The weather was still suffocatingly hot in August, and most of the people who were still traveling on the road at this time were businessmen who had to run for a living.

The group of four people also looked like a businessman on the road with his men and bodyguards, at least for Pisa, which has been quite common lately.

As the glory of the early years fades, the glory of the once-thriving maritime overlord is getting farther and farther away from Pisa, leaving many Pisan people to pass the time with a longing for the past.

Pisians don't like Florentines because they are too close to Florence.

Florence has always regarded Pisa as its sphere of influence, which makes the people who also have pride in Pisa very dissatisfied, but compared to Florence, Pisa is too weak and has to bow its head in front of Florence again and again.

However, Pisa has never stopped trying to get out of the shadow of Florence, whether it was a principality in the past or later as a republic.

It's just that every time the indignation seems to be in vain, every time Florence tries to conquer Pisa, it will achieve its goal very smoothly, whether it is sending troops or sending envoys, the result is often that Pisa has to bow to the behemoth.

Pisa was too weak compared to Florence, and as Pisa's power at sea gradually shrank, they themselves knew that if they wanted to get out of the gradual decline of the city, they could only cling to the ambitious Florence who had been trying to swallow them up completely.

Until, with the unexpected overthrow of the Republic, a young man suddenly appeared in Pisa.

When the victory was achieved, Alexander offered the Pisas a direct payment of 50,000 florins, or a share of the same price to join his trading zone.

The Pisan people were not surprised to choose the latter, although they had a vague feeling that if they did so, they might plunge Pisa into a huge dispute in the future, but with the poor financial state of Pisa at the time, it was impossible to come up with such a large amount of money as a reward.

And what the consequences of refusing to pay will be, just look at the outrageous mercenaries to guess.

And under the great threat of Milan at that time, even if it was enough to threaten the people of Pisa to succumb to the city no longer serving the city.

However, to the surprise of the Pisan people who signed the agreement, although the agreement did not bring any tangible benefits immediately, as the number of cargo ships passing or rotating in the port gradually increased, the Pisan people seemed to see a shadow of the original prosperity.

Merchants have already come ashore from Pisa or sailed through Pisa from the interior of Tuscany, which has made the city of Pisa, which seemed to be gradually losing its life, become a little lively, which makes many first-class republicans, while sometimes secretly hating the young man named Cambrai, have to admit that as the city gradually becomes lively, the originally tight days seem to be slightly more relieved than before.

The traveler glanced at the retinue behind him, and it was no wonder that he cared very much, for the purse on the horseback of the retinue contained something very important to him, and in these not ordinary days, there was no one who did not worry about going out.

A faint sound of horses' hooves came from the road far behind, and the sound of horses' hooves was very rapid and dull, and a large number of people could be heard.

Several men immediately nervously hid under the trees on the side of the road, and two armed guards and a man in robes kept the man and his horseback bag behind them, and then they looked warily towards the road.

A small group of cavalry roared by, and although they saw the small group on the side of the road, they did not pay much attention to it, and in the choking smoke and dust, the cavalry sped away in the direction of the city of Pisa.

A few of them didn't move, and from the continuous sound of horses' hooves, they knew that these cavalry should only be in the vanguard, and more troops should be in the rear.

Sure enough, another group of cavalry approached amid the rumbling hooves of horses, and the few people looked at the team curiously, and the intoxicating bright colors that seemed to be faintly visible in the ranks.

A strangely patterned banner flashed, and under the banner, a figure wrapped in a cloth towel made the merchant's heart jump slightly.

The city of Pisa is already at hand.

The Pisa Consul Tomneo is in a bit of a bad mood these days.

After returning from Rome, Tomneo was very excited to make a big splash, and the promises and hints made by the Count's siblings seem to give him hope, and he felt that he could be the key to the family's re-prosperity.

On his return to Pisa, he summoned the commanders of the Pisa City Guard, and after declaring that he had the full support of the Count of Montina, the officers of the City Defense finally implicitly promised him that they could give him "the necessary support" at some point in the future.

What is Essential Support? And at what timing?

Neither side said anything, but Tomneo felt he was already clear.

This made Tomneo think that the time had finally come to show his ambitions, and he began to move from the symbolic throne of the consul.

Tomneo's frequent appointments with the councillors attracted the attention of the new council, who, according to the councillors, were Tomnio's consuls. It was more the result of a compromise between them and Alexander, but now Tomneo is starting to show a strong desire for power, which makes many people feel uneasy.

Although he was helped by Alexander, this did not mean that the Pisatians liked Alexander, on the contrary, any Pisaan with a little foresight would realize the far-reaching impact of the agreement signed with Alexander.

Unlike other cities and ports that participated in the free trade zone, Pisa's accession was "bought" for 50,000 florins, which meant that Pisa's status was lower than that of other cities in this nascent commercial alliance, and even Alexandria had a share of the port of Pisa.

It may not be a big deal for ordinary people, who will only rejoice that the city is becoming more and more lively, but for the legislators, it will mean that the Pisans are gradually losing their power.

It's not that no one has thought of pulling Tomnio over, although they have always been worried about the people of Tomnio's family, and they are worried that they will still think about the throne of the former Duke of Pisa and take the opportunity to stir up trouble, but it is nothing compared to letting the city gradually fall into the hands of outsiders.

It was only when they heard that the consul had quietly fled to Rome and visited Alexander, that the patriots in the council could no longer bear it any longer.

They began to openly criticize Tomneo in Parliament, calling him "someone's henchman" or "the Neapolitan servant", and as this criticism became more and more intense, it eventually developed into a blatant satire on the streets, and the appearance of a satirical sketch completely exposed it to the people of Pisa.

A nobleman who looked pot-bellied but had no beard was nibbling on a mouthful of meat in his hand, and the word "pizza" was clearly visible on the meat, and next to this person, a clown wearing a clown costume and looking like Tomneo was kneeling at the feet of this person, holding another piece of meat with the word pizza on it in both hands, and brought it to the person.

Almost overnight, portraits of this content were spread all over the city, and anyone who is a little clever knows what the painting means.

Annoyed and enraged, Tomneo stormed into the council and asked who had done the despicable thing, only to be answered by silence, which made the consul even more angry, feeling that his authority had been challenged, and worse, that he had lost face in front of the whole city.

So when he was angry and saw the officers of the city defense army who came to worship, Tomneo couldn't help but feel a pound in his heart.

Tomneo didn't ask too much, he just wanted to establish himself as an archon.

Ever since the last time he had been warned by those officers for his attempt to suspend the payment of interest to Montina, he had known that there had been some kind of closer interest between the mercenaries and Alexander, with the signing of the agreement to divide the taxes, than with Pisa.

And this was one of the main reasons why he was determined to completely fall to Alexander.

If even the army didn't listen, it was hard for Tomneo to imagine how Pisa could confront Alexander.

So he hoped that the city guards would help him, but he only asked the city guards to help capture those who wantonly slandered his reputation and distributed all that nonsense in the city.

Although he knew that there must be some councillors behind those people, Tomneo was not bold enough to use the army to do anything to those councillors, after all, according to the newly established Pisa law, the city defense was only responsible for protecting the city from foreign invasion.

Seriously, he asked the city defense army to arrest those who distributed leaflets, which was actually a violation of the law.

"I'll pay you, it's entirely out of my own pocket," Tomneo said with a deliberate emphasis, which at least gave him the idea that the city guards were just hired by him.

Seeing Tomneo sitting there, sometimes angry, sometimes undetermined, the captain of the city defense army impatiently pursed his mouth, which was tightly covered by his thick beard.

However, he was not in a hurry, because he knew that Tomneo would eventually make up his mind.

Sometimes the floodgates of ambition are hard to close once they are opened.

Sure enough, after some struggle, Tomneo placed a heavy money bag on the table.

"I don't have a lot of money, and you know my family has been struggling all these years," Tomneo said, patting the purse with his hand, "and find me the guys who are cursing and distributing leaflets slandering me in the streets, and I will hang them all in the square, and then I will interrogate them in front of the whole city." ”

"Then I think you should add more money, Lord Consul, you should know that there must be someone behind those people, and there may be a fierce conflict." The captain picked up the money bag and opened it to look at the glittering gems inside, "Or you can just pay a little more, and we can help you solve that last bit of trouble." ”

Tomneo's face changed color for a moment, and he looked uneasily at the door, and saw that there were only a few people from the city guards, and he was slightly relieved.

"You're crazy, don't say such horrible things again."

Tomneo gasped, he knew what the man was hinting at, but it was because of that he was afraid.

But somehow, looking at these people, he couldn't help but think of all the hints that the Countess of Cosenza had given him in the Marino Palace in Rome.

"My brother and I hope that your Archon will rise one step higher in due course."

It was this sentence that made Tomneo unable to sleep late at night during this time, and every time in the dead of night, a heart fire that burned his whole body was constantly tormenting him.

But Tomneo hadn't lost his mind yet, he knew that the so-called right time was too far away and too difficult to grasp, and that if he acted rashly, he might lose everything.

The captain of the city defense was very trustworthy, and as soon as he took the money, he led people to start a search of the entire city of Pisa.

Although the city guards did not have the legal authority to arrest the citizens of Pisa, they nevertheless drove and dismissed those who spoke ill of him openly as soon as they saw them, as Tomneo had requested.

As for those who distributed sarcastic leaflets everywhere, Tomneo felt that he needed not be so polite, and although he had to be released under intense pressure from the council after the arrest of a man, Tomneo nevertheless ordered the city guards to give them some due punishment.

As a result, the city of Pisa is full of unemployed vagrants who are being chased around with leaflets on their backs, and soldiers of the city guards who are chasing after them wielding sticks and whips.

The bad situation left Pisa City in turmoil for a few days, but with the people who handed out the leaflets gone, Tomneo finally felt like he had won the battle.

When he came to the council again, he saw the taboo and fear in the eyes of the people, which made Tomneo feel a kind of pride, and he knew that he had at least finally secured his seat on the throne of the consul, and the next question was how to make the brother and sister of the Count of Montina think that he was a man of sufficient weight to work with.

Tomneo didn't see himself as a servant or servant, he saw himself as Alexander's collaborator.

What Tomnio didn't expect was that his self-satisfied good days didn't last a few days, and with a clash with some members of parliament at a regular parliamentary meeting the other day, the city of Pisa was once again in the same chaos as before.

This time it was even more intense than the last time, with incitement among the populace and more leaflets pouring all over the streets of Pisa.

Tomneo was completely stupid, he didn't know what was going on, he hid in his house and listened to the cries of the citizens outside who were shouting for his resignation, and it was at this time that the officers of the city defense visited his home again.

But this time the men came in quietly through the back door.

In a room on the second floor of Tomneo's house with tightly closed doors and windows, several people sat around a table in the stuffy room, and the shouting outside was faintly audible, but they didn't pay any attention to the shouting at all.

"You want my authority to arrest those people out there?" Tomneo gasped, his forehead covered with sweat, but his hands trembled slightly, "Those are the citizens of Pisa." ”

The captain had a subtle trace of contempt on his face, but his mouth said: "We are not trying to arrest those citizens, but those who instigated, you must know that the majority of citizens are always blinded because they do not know the truth, we only need to catch those few with ulterior motives." ”

"Well, those people are always against me, don't they know that I'm doing it for their good," Tomneo complained in a low voice, "yes, arrest those people and show the citizens who they are." ”

"But this requires your authorization, Archon," the captain pushed a letter of order to Tomneo, "I can't do this without written authorization." ”

"Are you threatening me?" Tomneo's face was a little ugly.

"This is to ensure that we will not be slandered as a rebellion in the future," the captain did not let him say at all, "As long as you sign the authorization, I will let the city defense pioneers scatter the citizens in the streets, and then start arresting those who lead the trouble." ”

Tomneo picked up the power of attorney and looked at it carefully, he looked at it carefully, the sweat on his hands was already soaking the paperwork, and he didn't care, then he slowly picked up the pen and dipped it in ink.

"Sign this power of attorney and I'll be able to solve your immediate troubles," the captain's voice echoed in Tomneo's ears like a seductive devil.

He hesitated, allowing beads of sweat and ink on the tip of his nose to drip almost simultaneously and mix on the table, forming a tiny stain.

"Help me get this out of the way," Tomneo finally decided, his pen sliding quickly across the margin of the power of attorney and signing his name, "but remember, you must not hurt the councillors, and I don't want this to become an illegal rebellion." ”

A strange smile appeared on the captain's bearded face, and he picked up the power of attorney from his desk, looked at it carefully, and then stood up and led several officers to bow to Tomneo.

"Yes, Lord Archon, we will do as you command."

Watching the captain salute very respectfully, it seemed that Tomneo finally felt a hint of majesty from power.

However, when several officers walked out of the room one after another, and only he and the captain were left in the room, the captain who had walked to the door suddenly turned back to Tomneo and said, "Your Excellency, the 'right time' that you have been waiting for has arrived. ”

Listening to the captain's words, Tomneo was stunned for a moment, and then his heart suddenly tightened!

Following Tomneo's orders in the name of the Consul of Pisa, the Pisa City Guards began to disperse the people surrounding his mansion and council, and he ordered the arrest of those who instigated the disturbances.

As a result, the population clashed with the city defense forces.

The commander of the city defense army immediately declared the instigators a rebel and ordered the soldiers to forcibly enter the houses of the councillors where they had taken refuge and arrest them.

The two sides again clashed fiercely.

The councillors rushed to the council, and their anger was finally ignited with the brutal actions of the city defense army.

"Depose Tomneo and abolish the Treaty of Shame with Montina!"

When someone stood on the steps of the council and shouted, it was immediately met with a fierce response from countless Pisa, and looking at the passionate crowd in front of the council, the councillors seemed to see the light of freedom descending on Pisa again.

But at this moment, a deafening cannon sound was heard coming from the direction of the city gates.

With the sound of the cannon, a news that surprised all the councillors and the people gathered in front of the Congress Square quickly spread through the city of Pisa.

The army of the Count of Montina, entered Pisa!

On the last day of July 1497, Alexander led his army into Pisa again.

On 2 August 1497, Alexandre Giulian Gombray, Count of Montina, announced his support for the dissolution of the Council of Pisa by Tomneo, the consul of Pisa, and at the same time his ascension as the new governor of Pisa.

On August 9, with the support of the Count of Montina, the Governor of Pisa, Tomneo, declared the restoration of Pisa as a principality, and since then, the Tomnio family has once again become the Dukes of Pisa!