The Queen of Naples was nearly assassinated in front of the Vatican Palace, and before the reprisals subsided, the Archbishop of Frankfurt was stabbed to death in the back on the streets of Rome.

The series of accidents that happened in the two days before and after made it seem as if the Romans were watching a wonderful drama, but this scene happened around them, and some people could be swept up in and become part of the stage performance at any time, and maybe even a bloody scene as the plot developed.

Alexander, who witnessed the prologue of this big play, was rarely relaxed at this time to accompany Sophia to wander around the Carolingian Palace.

It has been almost 2 days since Joanna's assassination, and Caesar has not sent anyone over, although they can leave the corner tower of the Carolingian Palace but not the palace, and Joanna has no news, which makes Alexander feel very depressed.

And because he saw Cleion before, Alexander couldn't help but be more careful, although the Carolingian Palace was heavily guarded, there were many people who could enter and leave after all.

Thinking so, he couldn't help but glance at Sophia next to him.

Sophia insisted on being with him, and even though Nashan looked a little angry, he didn't obediently stay in the corner tower, so he had to let Sophia cover a big robe that looked a little bloated outside.

Fortunately, it was already very cold, so no one knew that Sophia was wearing a very sturdy inner armor under her rather strange-looking outer cover.

And she had been tucked into her robe on her left arm, clasping the pair of crossbows.

The Carolingian Palace is small in size and less splendid than the other palaces, at least in Alexander's opinion, Giovanni's Gilpitz Palace is more magnificent than the Carolingian Palace.

However, because it is now the main office of the Vatican to deal with secular affairs, the Carolingian Palace is still very lively.

From the time of the Pepin consecration, the Church gradually possessed more and more extensive and important secular powers, from the most direct ownership of land and the right to collect taxes, to the gradual ownership of a large number of various properties by the Church, from the farms in the countryside to the church in the cities, from the income of the monasteries and monasteries in various places to the fleets and chambers of commerce directly belonging to the Church. Over the centuries, the Church has possessed a wealth that is not only comparable to that of the powerful and wealthy, but strictly speaking, no other country in the world has ever possessed such a large and intricate, continuum and inextricable system that is inextricably linked to all aspects.

This is a formidable behemoth, and no one can say exactly how powerful this huge system is, and because of the indescribably complex relationship between this system and the countries of Europe for centuries, even the successive popes have no way of really understanding the terrible power of this behemoth.

Walking through the Carolingian Palace, watching people of all languages and costumes hurrying by, and everyone seemed to have an expression on their faces that what they were doing was so important, Alexander didn't even think Sophia's clothes were too noticeable.

In particular, after seeing a few travelers who were obviously dressed in the unusually thick and strange styles of the north, Sophia looked down at the less conspicuous dress on her body, and first moved her body slightly to the side, and then took two quick steps forward, from following slightly behind to walking side by side with Alexander.

Several men in knee-length trousers with oversized woollen jumpers hurried by, dressed as if they were from the Lowlands, which reminded Alexander of Groningen.

I don't know what that lowland nobleman is doing now.

In Alexander's impression, Groningen was a very difficult person, although he only met briefly and did not see this person again, but Alexander had a hunch that the intersection with this person should not stop at the boudoir of the Neapolitan Lady Orgala, maybe at some point in the future, the Dutch who spent a lot of money will suddenly reappear, and even now, the influence of the Dutch may not have appeared.

From the very beginning, Alexander suspected that Joanna's sudden decision to come to the Vatican had something to do with that Groningen, after all, it was impossible for that person to forgive Joanna such a large amount of debt without asking for something in return.

Considering the large windfall from the gangsters, Alexander could guess that with Joanna's predicament in Naples at the time, it was unlikely that even if she sold a lot of valuable things, it would not be possible to realize such a large sum of money.

Thinking that the money should be someone sponsoring her, and thinking about it, the only one who can pay such a large sum of Durant for Joanna's trip at one time seems to be the Hanseatic rich Groningen.

The main thing is that the money is all Durant.

Although it cannot be arbitrarily said that the people who use Durant must be the rich men of the Hanseatic League, if such a large sum of money is exchanged for Florin, it will not only be troublesome but also likely to attract the attention of many people, so in order to be safe Groningen, he would probably prefer to give Joanna a whole box of King Durant directly.

Thinking that such a huge sum of money is now his own, Alexander is somewhat proud.

But he also knew that if he couldn't get out of here, even if there was such a sum of money somewhere in the city of Rome waiting to be dug up, it would be empty words.

It's just that now it seems that it is really not that simple to get out of here.

When the news of the assassination of the Archbishop of Frankfurt reached the Carolingian Palace, it caused quite a stir.

Those who were doing all sorts of business in the Carolingian Palace were first frightened by the news, and then many of them suddenly became hurried and panicked, and people began to inquire about the news everywhere, and then began to run around in a mess, some shouted for their retinue, some ran outside to order the servants who could not come in outside the palace, and some simply began to write letters in a corner of the palace.

"Ah~"

Sophia looked blankly at the people who looked like headless flies, then pulled Alexander's sleeve and looked at him with inquiring eyes, as if to ask what they were up to.

"They were writing letters," Alexander said casually, "they were probably reporting to their own country and chamber of commerce what had happened, after all, it was the assassination of an archbishop, and perhaps it would lead to a lot of things." ”

At this, Alexander paused suddenly, and looked back thoughtfully at the men.

The Carolingian Palace is the institution that handles the secular affairs of the Church, and the so-called secular affairs are in fact the property of the Church, and these people are almost all merchants.

The more Alexander thought about it, the stranger it became, and he led Sophia to a man who was busy writing something on a piece of paper.

The man appeared to be from the north, and Alexander glanced quietly at the contents of the letter.

Although the handwriting was sloppy and only a cursory glance, he saw a few words that stood out.

"Assassination", "war", "grain" and "wool".

Obviously, the man took these words very seriously, and he even made a sign after them asking for attention, which helped Alexander to notice them easily.

As if sensing the gaze from behind him, the man immediately turned his head vigilantly to look at Alexander and the others, and then he moved and blocked the contents of the letter with his arm.

Sophia glared at the stingy guy dissatisfied, she didn't know what Alexander was looking at, but the person's secretive appearance made her unhappy.

That's really the case.

Although he had vaguely guessed it, Alexander was secretly surprised when he saw it with his own eyes.

These merchants who do business for the Church come to the Varisean from all over Europe, and then hand over to the Carolingian Palace the various tax accounts that they want to pay to the Church, and then take away from here all kinds of taxes that the Church requires them to pay and complete in the following year, and they themselves are engaged in all kinds of transactions, which are also indifferent to the Church and even willing to see, after all, this kind of transaction itself can also bring more taxes to the Vatican, What's more, all transactions carried out here are subject to registration and a certain amount of taxes.

And at the same time, as the center of Christendom, where else can we hear more than the Vatican?

As long as you can find out a little more news here than others, it may be enough to make a fortune much faster than others.

Just think about the consequences of such a momentous event as the assassination of the Archbishop of Frankfurt can make you feel shocked.

An assassination could lead to a war, and war would require a lot of supplies, a lot of food, and the wool and fabric needed to meet the coming winter, and maybe a lot of weapons and horses, and then something else that might need to be provided to the local lord in the event of a war, and because it was an archbishop of great importance who died, perhaps the dioceses everywhere would also call up troops according to the orders of the church, which was a lot of money.

The impact of a person's death in a short period of time is so huge, and behind it will affect the flow of countless wealth.

As a place for the disposal of secular property for the Church, the Carolingian Palace became an intricate exchange.

Looking at the people who were sending people to pass on the news after hearing about the assassination of the Archbishop of Frankfurt, Alexander couldn't help but secretly wonder, if he could send someone to quickly transmit the news back to Agri at this time, and then order Agri's farm to immediately reduce the sale of grain to the outside world, and at the same time let Asha send people to guard the pass from Kosenza to Naples, and at the same time let Modillo block the channel for selling grain to the Neapolitans in advance, then when the news reaches Naples, The Neapolitans, fearing that the death of the archbishop might lead to a new war, probably made it possible for them to kneel on the ground and beg for themselves.

At that time, even Frederick will have to bow to the Count in order to cope with a future that does not know what will happen.

It's just that this can only be thought of after all, because he and his people can't even leave the Carolingian Palace now.

Thinking so, Alexander's brow furrowed.

He didn't care what Caesar wanted to do with Joanna's assassination, but Alexander was unhappy to keep them in the Carolingian palace under house arrest.

What's more, it seems that what happened in the city of Rome does not seem to have nothing to do with him.

At least that's Joanna.

As Alexander was thinking this, he suddenly felt Sophia next to him tugging at his sleeve again.

Following Sophia's gaze, Alexander saw a very conspicuous young man walking briskly, and from the man's demeanor and steps, it was clear that he had come to find Alexander.

"Constantine della Rovere." Alexander whispered the name out of his mouth, and then a smile appeared on his face, and he was still thinking about how to find a way to visit the young nobleman as soon as possible.

Constantine della Rovere had indeed come to look for Alexander, so although he was a little surprised to see Sophia beside him, after all, there were almost no women in the Caroling, but the young nobleman only glanced at Alexander.

"You're here for me?" Alexander asked.

"Yes, I have to see you." Young Rovere nodded.

"For Her Majesty Joanna?" Alexander continued to ask.

"It can only be for Her Majesty Joanna!"

Constantine della Rovere's voice was loud, and it had already caught the attention of the people who were passing by, and when someone recognized the young nobleman, many people's indifferent eyes became hot.

"My lord, maybe we should go to a quieter place to talk."

Alexander stepped aside to suggest that their conversation had caught the attention of others, but Constantine continued to exclaim as if he hadn't heard it: "I can't wait any longer, it's been two days, and so much has happened in Rome." But I don't care about anything else, maybe I don't care because of this joke, I'm going to see Her Majesty Joanna, I need you to help me. ”

"I can't leave the Carolingian Palace by order of the Bishop of Valencia, so I can't help you."

Alexander smiled slightly, he somewhat understood that Constantine's fanfare was more about letting more people know that he was pursuing Joanna, at least in this way, the people of the Borgia family could not be protected in the name of protection, in fact, Joanna was also placed under house arrest in Lucrezia's palace.

But in this case, Alexander didn't mind accompanying him in such a play.

"You are the lord of Naples, and the one who protects Her Majesty Joanna, and I don't know who has the right to forbid you to protect your queen." "Unless these men try to do the queen of Naples as they did to poor Archbishop of Frankfurt, may the archbishop's soul be at peace in heaven, and may God punish the vile conspirators," said Konstantin in a slightly angry tone, "The archbishop has suffered misfortune, but I can never tolerate it for His Majesty Joanna, so I have come to you to ask you to fulfill your mission to protect the queen, and I am ready to give my life for your majesty." ”

Constantine's unbridled hints caused an uproar all around, and although there was a private speculation that the archbishop's death was related to the Borgia family, no one dared to make such an accusation as almost by name as the young Rovelle.

Although I wanted to hear some useful news, some people began to quietly hide to the side for fear of being caught up in something terrible.

Looking at the excited and indignant look of the young Rovier, who seemed to do whatever it took to fall in love with him at first sight, Alexander pouted in his heart, raised his hand and pointed to the gate of the Carolingian Palace, and said, "Maybe you can tell the Bishop of Valencia about this in person." ”

Constantine della Rovere turned to look at Alexander's gesture and saw Caesar Borgia in a red robe approaching them.