Ferrara capitulated.

Watching Ferrara's banner slowly fall from the city walls, Caesar's heart beat uncontrollably.

Even at the last moment, Caesar, who did not expect things to be so simple, even suspected that this was a trick played by the Ferrarans when he heard that the messenger sent out had brought back a letter from Ferrara to accept the persuasion to surrender.

However, with two Ferrara nobles going out of the city as negotiators to negotiate the details of surrender, and the subsequent fall of the battle banner on the castle, Caesar was only then convinced that his enemies had yielded to him.

This surprised and surprised Caesar, who needed this victory so badly, or so much to prove his presence in Romagna.

From the time the troops came to the time they surrendered to the time they accepted the conditions, Ferrara only symbolically resisted for less than two days, and not only did they not pay a single casualty, but they did not even fight a single official battle.

Caesar did not see this as Ferrara's weakness, but because his enemies knew that they were forced to surrender if they could not compete with him, and because of this, Caesar's confidence in his army could not help but grow.

Even though he knew that he might have to go head-to-head with Montina's army, he was no longer as apprehensive as he had been.

But that wasn't the most important thing, and what really pleased Caesar was that he knew that the Montinas would have no excuse to continue interfering in Ferrara's affairs, and that there was only one thing they could do now, and that was to pack up and go back to their Montina.

Caesar was not a man who was completely ignorant of the stakes, nor was he a warrior who did not think about the consequences as long as his mind was hot, he knew very well the reasons for the Montina to intervene, and he knew how to gag the Montina people's mouths.

Because of this, he was in a hurry to capture Ferrara before the arrival of Montina's army, and it was clear that God had heard his prayers, so that Ferrara could not wait to throw himself into his arms so quickly.

Caesar decided to enter the city as soon as possible, and although he had sent men to intercept him on the south bank of the Reno River, he had little confidence that he would be able to hold off Montina's army.

The negotiator sent by Ferrara was a very cautious person, and even when he had made it clear that he would lay down his arms, he still hoped that Caesar would admit the terms promised to Ferrara through a formal ceremony, but this was a little too troublesome for Caesar, who could not wait.

So he simply proved himself to be the conqueror of Ferrara in a straightforward way, which was to have the negotiator tied to his gun carriage and drive the rumbling gun carriage towards the gates of Ferrara.

Even in the brief moments before entering the city gates, Caesar was worried about what might happen, but this time God seemed to really favor him, and everything was going well until his army entered the city.

Caesar hastily held his surrender ceremony at the Palazzo de la Polica in Ferrara, and it was only at this time that his heart that had been hanging was finally relaxed.

Is there anything that can change the fact that Ferrara has become his possession, whether it is the Venetians and Genoese, who have always had great ambitions for Romagna, or Alexander, who has almost become the ruler of this land, they cannot but recognize his power over the city, unless they really intend to risk a full-scale war with the Holy See, and at this time war with the Vatican is undoubtedly tantamount to indirect hostility with the French, because on the very day Caesar sent Ferrara, Pope Alexander VI made a very rare statement, welcoming Louis XII's "armed aid" to Italy in the name of the Pope, which was now "in a terrible state of disorder and chaos".

Caesar believed that the Pope's clear statement of siding with the French would soon spread throughout the peninsula, and that anyone who tried to stop and resist him would be considered to be the culprit for the destruction of the situation in Italy, and that the French army of armed intervention would not hesitate to crush all the enemies that stood in their way.

Caesar rejoiced at the prospect, and casually even before the surrender ceremony was completely over, someone fled back from the Renault line to report to him, and he thought that the Renault line, which he could resist for at least two days, or maybe more, lasted less than half a day before it completely collapsed under the onslaught of Montina's army, which, according to the reporter's description, did not even use any tactics to give the enemy a feint or a disguise as to which bridge it would attack, and after only a burst of resistance that seemed to be somewhat useful, With the Montina showing a slight desire to attack with sufficient intensity, the Papal army faltered just before the second round of enemy artillery attacks began.

"Then everyone began to flee for their lives, and no one knew what caused it, but the whole army began to flee like a herd of hares that were chased everywhere during a hunt in the fall, and everyone wanted nothing more than to leave the others behind them."

This description caused everyone to panic, until Caesar reminded his officers in a firm voice: "You are standing in the conquered city of Ferrara, where the papal banner has been raised, and there is no doubt that it belongs to the pope unless it is officially an enemy of the Vatican." ”

Caesar's words calmed his panicked men, and when they heard the young Duke of Valentino announce the sacrifice of Ferrara to the Pope, the officers were stunned for a moment, and then let out a cry of rejoicing.

It dawned on them that there was nothing smarter than that!

Once Ferrara became a direct domain of the Pope, anyone who tried to get their hands on Ferrara would undoubtedly be officially declaring war on the Pope himself.

Although the power of the pope today is no longer as powerful as it was in the days of Urban II, Clement I, or Innocent III, and it cannot be compared with the heyday of the Holy See, which made even the most powerful monarchs on earth have to kneel, the Pope is still the Pope, and the Vatican is still the Vatican.

Offering Ferrara to the Pope was a clever move that Caesar had long thought of, and he believed it would be enough to prevent Alexander's intervention in Ferrara.

Even without Lucrezia, Caesar could hardly have imagined that Alexander would be openly hostile to the Vatican at this time, and that his infiltration of Romagna would be unstoppable as long as there was a beginning in Ferrara.

Caesar felt the warm gaze of his men in praise of the wisdom and wisdom of a commander and leader, perhaps only for now, but Caesar believed that as the situation opened up in Romagna, his men would find that they were following a general and commander who would make them proud.

The people of Ferrara watched in silence what was happening, they were indifferent and silent, as if it had nothing to do with us, whether they were forced to surrender or only lasted a few hours, they were exchanged like goods to another master, all as if they had nothing to do with themselves.

Ferrara was so weak that they had no way to change their fate in the face of these powerful conquerors except to accept the arrangements of fate in silence.

Caesar walked excitedly in the town hall of Ferrara, which of course could not be compared with Rome, but it did not affect his good mood.

Although the Borgia children are called princes and princesses of Rome behind their backs or in person, it is clear how much of this is a compliment and how much of it is Caesar with malice.

So even though he had been the ruler of Rome for a short time, he knew that it was not really his.

Ferrara, on the other hand, was a land that he had conquered with his own hands, and he believed that this was just the beginning, followed by Romagna, Tuscany, Naples, and even Lombardy!

Caesar's eyes had been set on places that no one else had thought of, and he had a strong premonition that he would be able to fulfill these ambitions, which now seemed a little too far away, and perhaps even a little funny in the eyes of others.

Caesar himself did not think this was funny, just as no one would have imagined that anyone would venture between Venice and Montina and reach out to the city before he had conquered Ferrara.

Ferrara's seven-member consul did not attend the surrender ceremony, which was also the courtesy and respect that Caesar showed to the most prominent nobles of the region, and in this way he wanted to prove that he was not just a nouveau riche who was caricatured and slandered, but that the Borgia family had authority and respect for etiquette and a tradition of elegance.

Caesar's actions were obviously not without effect, and Ferrara's consuls had a much better attitude towards the Duke of Valentino than he had imagined, or they already knew that they would have to work under the duke in the future, and although the name of the Pope's direct domain was still in his ears, no one, including Caesar himself, doubted that Alexander VI would refuse his son's request to take Ferrara for himself.

So the nobles were already waiting in the rotunda of the town hall in advance, and they were now concerned about how the duke would rule the city in the future, or they were more concerned about how they would be arranged in the future.

No one is willing to go home and live a clean life so obediently, and they also believe that Caesar can't stay in Ferrara for a long time, so if they get along with this duke, maybe everything will not change much, of course, their power will definitely be weakened a lot, but they are still more willing to stay in the new Ferrara government than to go home to retire.

Caesar was also well aware of the thoughts of these Ferrara nobles, or he had already guessed this possibility when Ferrara surrendered unexpectedly easily, and even the seemingly stubborn negotiator's actions were not another way to show him that he was willing to cooperate.

So he easily got along with these nobles, and he even soon heard about the "atrocities" of Montina's army in Ferrara not long ago.

"Their soldiers are barbarians, and it is a blasphemy against God that such people also wear crosses," the auxiliary bishop of Ferrara in the original Order of Seven complained in a slightly exaggerated tone about the evil deeds of the Montina people, "You may not imagine that their people actually did something to the common people, just at the end of this street, outside the residence of the Count of Montina, their soldiers gave a bloody suppression of the protesting population, and they did it to those who wore crosses like them, which is simply a crime, And all these crimes were instigated by the Count of Montina, who was conniving at the barbarians to commit such a heinous crime against a godly city that believed in God, and deserved to be damned! ”

Several of the other former consuls stood aside and looked coldly at the auxiliary bishop, they somewhat felt that the bishop's performance was a bit excessive, after all, he was also wearing a cross in front of the accuser, but just half a day ago this person had threatened to blast open the gates of Ferrara with cannons, and what was even more ironic was that this person was still the Pope's son.

Feeling a little chilly, the auxiliary bishop paused slightly, and then he saw Caesar looking at him with a strange look.

"The Duke'......"

It was only then that the auxiliary bishop realized that he seemed to have said something that he should not have said.

"Bishop, the man you speak of who deserves to be damned is my sister's daughter, the father of my niece, the Duchess of Estelles of Pisa," Caesar said calmly, but with a chilling fear in his tone, "you are cursing a man of the Borgia family, and you are cursing my brother. ”

Caesar leaned forward, put his head to the ear of the auxiliary bishop whose face had turned gray, and whispered to him in a low voice: "You know, I actually hate that Cambrai more than you, and I have always fantasized about cutting off his head with my own hands one day, because he has robbed me of my most precious things, but this is a matter between me and him, and you have openly cursed a man of the Borgias, Bishop, you have made a great mistake!" ”

As his words fell, a crisp weapon was unsheathed, and the bishop's body suddenly stiffened as Caesar's arm hidden under his cloak violently received it.

He raised his hand as if to grasp something, but he only grabbed Caesar's cloak, and then his body slid limply downward, and the cloak that had been pulled off Caesar's body spilled over his chest with a short sword.

In the tension of holding his breath, Caesar crouched down and wiped his strangely shaped armor-piercing sword with his cloak, his movements carefully until he wiped the last traces of blood and revealed the inscription on the sword.

"The Bishop is suddenly in a hurry," Caesar looked at the other six people with pale faces, seeing that they looked at each other but did not dare to make a sound, Caesar's eyes were as beautiful as Lucrezia, revealing a hint of innocence, "I believe that you will rule the city fairly for the Pope, that is, my father, and you will ensure that the people of Ferrara are as loyal to him as they have been, right?" ”

"Yes my lord, we assure you with our lives that our loyalty to the Pope is fully tested!"

A consul who could not resist the terrible oppression at first, or was frightened by the smell of blood on the ground, hurriedly swore allegiance.

And once there is one person in the lead, the rest is much easier.

It was only then that Caesar seemed to have truly conquered the city, and he listened to the consuls who had pledged their allegiance, nodded with satisfaction, as if completely oblivious to the auxiliary bishop who was being dragged out by him wrapped in a blanket, and then, accompanied by several consuls, he strode into the chamber, which symbolized the center of power in Ferrara.

There were already many people waiting in the council chamber, and I don't know if the news of the death of the auxiliary bishop had already arrived, and when Caesar appeared, the originally talkative council chamber suddenly fell silent, and all eyes were on the young man standing in the doorway.

He was very young, strictly saying that it would be another month before he would be his 24th birthday.

But it was such a young man, destined to be noticed because he was born as the son of the Pope, and he apparently lived up to the enviable family that God had given him, and in these turbulent times, the illegitimate son of the Pope, who had long been regarded as a playboy, suddenly showed his extraordinary mind and boldness.

He conquered Ferrara!

Seeing that only six consuls appeared, there was another commotion in the council chamber, and even those who had not yet heard of what had happened were aware of the unusual situation, and when Caesar, accompanied by the consuls, made his way through the crowd to sit down in one of the seven chairs in a row of rows in the council chamber, everyone already knew that the auxiliary bishop was "suddenly ill."

The people could not help but cast a frightened look at Caesar, and if he had easily conquered Ferrara only because of the natives' own weakness and cowardice, they now had all the more reason to excuse their cowardice.

This person is too terrible and too cruel, if they continue to resist, once the city is broken, it may be a terrible massacre, so they actually saved the entire people of Ferrara.

"The nobles and commoners of Ferrara, I will rule mercifully," Caesar did not say much nonsense, although he did want to give an impassioned speech, but he felt that those speeches destined to go down in history should be after conquering those places that were more worthy of it, and Ferrara was obviously too small to waste those great chapters that would be passed on to posterity, "You owe allegiance to my father, the pope of all of us, and you will receive protection from the Vatican, No one dares to challenge the power of the Pope's territory head-on, because it is an offense to God's spokesman for walking on earth," and seeing that the people below seemed to react very violently despite fear, Caesar pulled the corners of his mouth and smiled, "Or more accurately, offend me, the Duke of Valentino, and the King of France and the French people who are allied with me!" ”

At last there was a commotion in the crowd, and the Ferrarians looked at Caesar in surprise as he sat in the middle chair, the first time Caesar had publicly declared an alliance with the French.

Caesar smiled with satisfaction at the look of surprise on the people's faces, knowing that he had succeeded in establishing a powerful impression in the minds of the Ferrarans, or at least that it would give them the impression that his ruthlessness and strength were something they could not compete with, let alone overcome.

Looking at the people's faces with satisfaction, Caesar coughed and once again attracted everyone's attention, although he didn't want to waste those moving speeches, but he still wanted to make an unforgettable impression on the people of Ferrara.

But just as he opened his mouth and was about to speak again, an officer who had hurried through the crowd and caused a commotion interrupted him.

The officer, despite the whispered curses of the people's discontent, burst in almost all the way from the outside, and when he came to Caesar, his face was full of uneasiness and Caesar's heart sank.

"My lord, Bologna, lost!"

As soon as the officer's words came out, Caesar was instantly stunned!