Sitting in a large chair, de Charlain looked carefully at Alexander, who was not far away.

He had not seen Alexander on the outskirts of Rome, and he was somewhat overwhelmed by the defeat of the French army defending the city, especially when the Allied forces cut off the French retreat, and Charlain thought that he could no longer see the valley of Loire's homeland.

At that time, he was ready to give his life for the king, but what he didn't expect was that it would be the Neapolitan who had not been taken seriously by him before to save him.

Although he also knew that the reason why Alexander saved him was more because of the Rovelle family, Scharon was still somewhat grateful to Alexander.

"You saved my life," Sharron, who had been silent, finally spoke, he was wearing a very loose black robe, which was gloomy with the black armor he had always loved, but this dress did invisibly bring him a strong momentum, making him look like an unconcealable majesty, "Tell me how you want me to repay you, as long as you say it, I will do it." ”

Sharron's tone sounded a little arrogant and even a little arrogant, but Alexander could see why he was so confident.

As a member of the House of Savoy, Charlaon does have a confidence that others do not have.

"What would you think if I said I didn't need to reciprocate?"

Hearing Alexander's words, Sharron's eyes narrowed slightly.

"If that were the case, I'd think you must have a bigger purpose, and it would make me unhappy."

Alexander only smiled at Sharron's answer.

He thought it was normal for Sharron to say that, and he would think so if it were him.

Sometimes not asking for anything in return is simply craving for something bigger.

"I'd like to get a batch of artillery, and it would be nice if I could get some cannon founders"

The French artillery was the best of its time, and Alexander knew this for a long time.

Sharron obviously felt that Caesar's expression sitting next to him seemed to be slightly tight, he glanced at Caesar, and then said slowly: "Earl, you must know that you only saved me, and you want something that may be used against my king, so this is an unacceptable condition for me, so I suggest you change it, and it is better to think about it before speaking, because I can't always give you a chance." ”

Scharron's reaction did not surprise Alexander, of course he knew how difficult it was to get such a powerful weapon as artillery so easily, and perhaps if Scharren had generously agreed, he would have to wonder if there was anything wrong with it.

"Then I'd like to get a batch of muskets, and you probably know I'm more interested in muskets than spears."

"I've heard of that," said Scharlon, with interest, "I've heard that you have defeated a heavy cavalry on the outskirts of Rome, and later the Milans and the Venetians, and that your army seems to have much more firearms than the others. ”

"I don't think that's enough, and I've discussed it with people who share my interests, and the result is that everyone thinks that firearms will replace swords and spears."

Sharron looked at Alexander in surprise, it wasn't the first time he had heard such a statement, but it was far less shocking than Alexander's words.

This was because although he had to retreat with his army outside Rome at first, he later learned about how he, the savior, had achieved victory.

This also made Charlain pay attention to Alexander, so over the next year or so, he naturally heard a lot about Alexander.

Among them was the Battle of Oral-Chimone.

Because of Charlon, many French generals were more familiar with and more attentive to the two successive battles than the generals of the Italian city-states.

It can be said that in a sense, Alexander's fame in France was even louder than in the Apennines.

"I'll consider your request," Sharron didn't refuse this time, "but as far as I know, your army seems to have mastered a technique that allows muskets to fire faster, so I'd like to discuss this with you as well, and of course I'll pay a fee." ”

Alexander nodded generously without hesitation, knowing full well that the technology of the flintlock gun would soon leak out, and even the Fugger family had expressed interest in the flintlock gun more than once.

And the flintlock pistol is not too technically difficult to talk about seriously, as long as it is used on the battlefield, it will be leaked sooner or later, and the reason why no one has mastered this technology until now is just because the news of this era is closed.

And he believes that since Sharon said that he would be paid, it would not be too modest.

What Alexander needed now was to quickly arm his army, and with the delivery of Genoese soldiers, he already felt that the supply of weapons from Naples was becoming somewhat unsustainable.

Alexander's muskets have always come from Naples, not only because they and Jossa are in Naples, which is their home base, but more importantly, whether it is the support of Count Mordillo or the roots of the free trade alliance, which makes him value Naples more than anywhere else.

After all, both Montina and Pisa were a little too dangerous, and with the accession of Louis XII to the throne and the subsequent invasion of the French army, which could almost count the days on their fingers, the two places would soon be involved in the war.

Although Naples was also not safe, and would even be annexed by France and Aragon two years later, Alexander still believed that with the territories of Cosenza and Agri, he could still use Naples as his rear.

And there is a more important reason why he made this decision, that is, he wants to compete with Caesar in Tuscany-Tuscany!

I don't know if it's because of some kind of obsession, but Alexander discovers that he, like Caesar, actually sees the other as his current enemy.

The only difference is that Caesar made the rule of Tuscany-Romagna his ultimate ideal, while he only used the land as a stepping stone for his greater purpose.

Different purposes lead to different natural methods.

When he heard that Charlon had come to Pisa with Caesar, Alexander knew that maybe it was a good opportunity.

Sharon suddenly asked with some curiosity: "By the way, Earl, can I know who you talked about talking about firearms with before?" ”

"Of course," Alexander said, glancing at Caesar next to him, "is the commander of the coalition forces, Gonzalo, who is even more radical in this regard, and even thinks that if necessary, firearms can take up half or more of the entire army. ”

Sharron looked at Caesar in surprise, but instead of getting any answer from Caesar, he saw an angry face.

"That's why I'm asking you to get firearms, my army needs to get a lot of firearms, maybe you know that I can no longer worry about paying for weapons now, but to organize an army is not just about having money."

Scharlen muttered silently, of course he understood what Alexander meant, but after hearing about Gonzalo's equal importance on firearms, he was a little unsure whether he should teach Alexander about this matter.

After all, he knew very well that with the stability of the domestic situation after the new king ascended the throne, it was only a matter of time before he sent troops to Italy again, which made Charlain a little worried about whether today's deal with Alexander would create a strong enemy for the French army in the future.

Caesar quickly sensed Sharlon's hesitation, and he immediately whispered something in Sharlon's ear from the side.

Scharlen's face showed a hint of surprise, and he couldn't help but look at Alexander: "Earl, do you also have a deal with the Fugger family?" ”

Alexander looked at Caesar, and when he saw the smugness in Caesar's eyes that flashed in his eyes although he was silent, his lips moved, but thinking that he was his brother-in-law after all, he finally swallowed back the words that came to his mouth.

"Yes, I have some business dealings with the Fugger family, and we are preparing to issue a batch of currency together."

As he spoke, Alexander took out a golden-looking, delicately minted gold coin from a small box beside him.

"This is the currency we are going to issue, a new currency that is completely equivalent to the Flolin and Ducat," Alexander said, pinching the gold coin with two fingers and handing it over, "I am going to name this gold coin 'Nolier', of course the original issue was carefully considered, and on the advice of His Holiness the Pope, we decided to issue this Noliel gold coin in Florence first." ”

Sharon looked at Caesar next to him a little strangely, the reason why he cared about the relationship between Alexander and the Fugger family before was because the Fugger family was Emperor Maximian's biggest financial supporter, and the reason why the emperor dared to start wars easily in many times was because of the support of Fugger, a wealthy family.

So when he heard that Alexander seemed to have a close relationship with the Fugger family, he couldn't help but think of many possibilities.

Especially when Alexander took the initiative to mention that they were going to issue currency with the Fugger family, which surprised Scharron even more.

But what he didn't expect was that the Borgia family seemed to be involved in this matter, and even the city that issued the currency was decided by Alexander VI.

Just a little recalling what he had heard about the Pope's attitude towards Florence, Scharron's gaze at Caesar could not help but become a little strange.

A hint of embarrassment appeared on Caesar's face for an instant, and Alexander's attitude of revenge did not last night, but he also knew that if he did not explain it clearly, things might become very complicated.

"The Fuggers were involved in the business of that free trade alliance." Caesar explained to Scharlon, and seeing Sharlon's doubts, he had to prepare to continue to explain what a free trade alliance was.

"Wait a minute, I know about the free trade alliance," said Charlen suddenly, "I have heard of this alliance even in France, but what I want to know now is what it has to do with the Emperor?" ”

The Frenchman's expression was serious and even a little stern when he asked this question, and his gaze swept quickly between Alexander and Caesar.

"I know it may be unreasonable to ask, but as an emissary to the new King of France, I have the right to know if there is anything that might harm my King."

Caesar's hand secretly clenched the sword at his waist, he actually did not have much affection for Charlon, he would not forget the arrogance of this man when the French occupied Rome, and he would not forget the days when he was forced to be held hostage by Charles VIII under house arrest.

It's just that everything that had been before vanished with Charles' death, and fears of the threat from the Aragonese forced Alexander VI to consider repairing relations with France.

But despite this, Caesar could not forget the unreasonable contempt that Charlon had given him.

And now Scharron's attitude reminded Caesar of the previous unhappiness.

"In fact, the FTA is good for France."

Alexander spoke suddenly.

Facing Charlen's inquiring eyes, Alexander said slowly: "I don't know if you know what happened in the Netherlands a few months ago, that is, about the closure of the port of Amsterdam and the fact that the entire winter storage period was missed. ”

Charlen nodded a little puzzled, he could still get some news quickly in the French court, but this matter seemed a little distant and even strange to him, which made Charlen feel that maybe it would be better to change someone here, for example, the old man next to the new king, at least as a well-known figure in the University of Paris, the master Ficher should be more familiar with these things.

"That closure of the port was a perfect harvest for our free trade alliance, as for how much the empire and the Viennese court lost because of this, perhaps no one can say until now, as for the beautiful Philip of the Low Countries, because of this is regarded as incompetent by his people, I think maybe your king would prefer to see such an ending."

Sharron's face quickly showed interest, maybe he didn't know much about the markets, currencies, and other things like that, but he knew a little about the threat from the Lowlands.

Whether it was Charles VIII, Louis XI or earlier, the Lowlands were under the control of the Holy Roman Empire, so the French had to rack their brains to take the Lowlands from the Empire, while constantly guarding against threats from the north.

Now hearing Alexander say that the Free Trade Alliance has caused a lot of trouble for Philip in the Netherlands, this makes Sharon immediately excited.

"Tell me how you did it," Sharon asked anxiously, and then immediately waved his hand, "Forget it, I don't understand that much, but just know that you have taught that beautiful boy a lesson, and I will report it to the king, and perhaps the king will reward you for this." ”

"Oh, I don't think so, as long as His Majesty doesn't blame me for being unreasonable to him before." Alexander whispered.

"Why, Count, have you seen a king before?"

Charlen asked strangely, and even Caesar couldn't help but show curiosity.

They all knew that the Duke of Orleans had not directly participated in Charles' invasion of Italy, but had remained in France, which made them wonder how Alexander had known the soon-to-be King of Orleans.

Looking at the curious looks of the two people in front of him, Alexander could only smile bitterly, he felt that his luck was actually really bad, after all, he didn't deliberately offend the Duke of Orleans in the first place.

"I think I may have some misunderstanding with the esteemed King of France, but I believe that all this will be insignificant in the interests of all of us." Alexander did not explain, but said vaguely.

And he really thinks so, just think about the contradiction between Alexander VI and Charles VIII before, and then think about the fact that Louis XII has sent people to hook up with the Vatican before he invaded, and the contradiction between him and the Duke of Orleans before can indeed be said to be insignificant in the face of huge interests in the future.

Alexander had already figured out that he was not ready to become an enemy of Louis XII as long as he could.

At this time, no one knew that the Italian war would become a protracted and long battlefield.

Not to mention the fact that for a long time to come, the French will have to take turns fighting with almost all the great powers of Europe.

It was at a time when almost all of Europe was embroiled in a long war that Aragon and Castile, located on the Iberian Peninsula in the southwestern corner of the European continent, took advantage of the great prestige accumulated by the royal family after the reconquista, and finally united into a complete and powerful state after repeated divisions and mergers in the following decades.

For more than two centuries, this country has trained an army that will be feared by all of Europe, and its fleet has even been the most powerful maritime power in the world for a long time.

All this came about when the Europeans were bogged down in the Italian wars and the long mutual attacks with the Ottoman Empire.

It can be said that the Kingdom of Spain was strong not only because of the endless wealth from the New World, but also because of the continuous wars in Europe, which bought precious time for this kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula.

This reminded Alexander not to be seduced by the Italian lands and the lavish cities in front of him, as the long Italian war would really begin with Louis XII's invasion.

That's when his chance really comes.

"What do you want to do?" When Charron finally took his leave and left, and before the French procession disappeared into the street, Caesar immediately stared at Alexander with a gloomy face, "What do you want to say to the French, tell us that there is any deal between our family and the emperor?" ”

"No, I just want to warn you, don't let us all get into a bad situation because of your personal vendetta with me," Alexander said, ignoring Caesar, turned around and walked towards the courtyard, and when he reached the gate of the courtyard, he stopped and turned back to the iron-faced Caesar, and said, "Also, for the sake of your uncle Estelles, I will warn you, if you are interested in Florence, I will not be nosy, but don't play the idea of Pisa, or I will make you taste the fiasco of Livorno again, And this time you may not be so lucky to be captured. ”