Alexander VI looked at Alexander standing in front of him suspiciously, and he felt that he seemed to be a little unable to keep up with the whimsical ideas of this young man.

"You mean to mint coins?"

"Yes, coins that belong to our free trade zone and the entire commercial alliance," Alexander said calmly in the face of the Pope's questioning, "Your Majesty, we all know that minting coins is a very cost-effective business, but because it requires too much capital and good enough credit, it is not a trade that ordinary people can afford." ”

"You don't need to teach me this," the Pope waved his hand a little impatiently, "I just want to know if you know what you're doing, knowing that your exchange hasn't been officially established yet, who do you think will accept your currency?" ”

"In fact, it's your currency," Alexander corrected softly, and seeing the Pope's puzzled face, he continued, "as I just said, great capital and good reputation are the guarantee of the discovery of money, and the exchange can accumulate wealth, and the credibility of the Holy See can be used as a guarantee, so look at it this way, everything is there." ”

Alexander's words surprised the Pope, who did not expect that things would come to him later.

"Wait a minute, you're proposing to issue your currency in the name of the church?" It was only then that the Pope realized Alexander's purpose, much to his surprise and curiosity.

This is because although the Church has been in existence in Europe for more than a decade, the Holy See has never issued real currency of its own.

Even in the most glorious papal eras, the Holy See's income was lived in the currencies of various other countries, which led to the Vatican See, which had a profound impact on the whole of Europe, and because of this influence, the tithes that could be levied and the contributions of monarchs everywhere were varied.

Even because there is a distinction between secular and Holy Spirit taxes in the Holy See, many times even the cardinal, who is in charge of the finances of the Holy See, does not know how much money he has in his hands at that time.

Alexander VI remembers very well that he had been surprised by the astonishing disparity between rich and poor in some of the more than 200 years of his predecessors, and that the explanation he received from the cardinal was that the sheer size of the collection area, the different monetary values of the collection, and the fact that sometimes the two different taxes were calculated in duplicate or confused ways, made it impossible for the people of the time to accurately calculate how much money the Church had.

Alexander's proposal moved the pope.

Alexander VI knew that he was really moved at this moment.

But the Pope was not yet hot-headed at the thought, and he looked at Alexander, wondering the purpose of his proposal, and at the same time he felt that there was another more important thing to remind him of.

"I have approved the payment for the loss you have suffered in Livorno," said Alexander VI, whose expression grimace he felt when he said these words, "I have nothing to lose, because few of the mercenaries you have taught hard in Livorno will dare to return to the Vatican, so I have passed on the rest of my honorariums to you." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Alexander did not seem to hear the Pope's ornate sarcasm, "this money is indeed very useful to me, and you may not think that I would need to pay it to the families of the fallen soldiers." ”

"I'm not interested in what you do with that money," the Pope interrupted Alexander dissatisfied, "I have fulfilled my promise to you, and now I want you to tell me where you sent Caesar, and I want to know that he is safe and that he is not mistreated." ”

Alexander nodded, he guessed that the Pope was willing to pay so much to inquire about Caesar's whereabouts, although it was unlikely that he would release Caesar so easily tomorrow, but it was reasonable to know his situation.

"Your Majesty, I think Caesar is now in the Earldom of Mordiglo, but I beg your pardon for not knowing exactly where he is," Alexander VI continued, seeing that he seemed to be angry, "but I can assure you that the Count will be kind to him, you know that the Count and Caesar are supposed to be old friends." ”

The Pope looked at Alexander silently, and he was a little happy that he finally found out about Caesar's whereabouts, but Alexander's words made him realize that it did not seem so easy to rescue his son.

And the Pope could not help but admit that with the news of the establishment of the exchange, the Romans were in a state of inexplicable euphoria.

All this was triggered by the young man opposite, and this thought made Alexander VI feel both helpless and a little angry, because he knew that the more this happened, the harder it would be for him to attack Alexander.

The Pope had a hunch that if he continued like this, perhaps by the time Caesar was released and there was nothing to blackmail him, Alexander would probably no longer have to fear the threat of him.

Matthews Tiego was really busy at this time, he frequently traveled back and forth between the Carolingian Palace and Marino Palace, sometimes struggling to get up from the warm bed and get dressed and rush to the Carolingian Palace when it was still dark, but even then when he arrived at his small office, there were often many people waiting for him.

And at night, when he dragged his heavy body back to his apartment, most of the people in Rome should have already dreamed of it.

This kind of work is hard and even harmful to the body, and Theego has been upset more than once because he ate too late and the food was already cold, but despite this, Theego felt a fire burning in his heart.

Who would have thought that a small merchant who was running around at sea for a living more than a year ago would become a hot figure in the city of Rome in just one year, just think of those great nobles who might be awe-inspiring at the mention of their surname in Barearic, but many people often have to ask for favors and find a way to meet him, and this is just to be able to chat with him after meeting, so that he can talk to him a few times, so that he can have his name a few times.

Tiego felt that his life was over, and he sometimes even wondered if he climbed into bed one day and never woke up, it would be good for him, because he had earned enough money for his family to live a prosperous life for a lifetime.

But Tiego soon found himself that the idea seemed a little too unproductive, for what his proprietor was going to do made him understand how childish and pitiful his previous satisfactions were.

A small carved wooden plaque was painstakingly hammered by two workers into the door of a room in the south wing of the Carolingian Palace, coincidentally the same place where Alexander had spent a sleepless night when he first came to Rome because he had caught a human assassination.

"Tiego Exchange", this is the name of this place, and when I first heard that the exchange was going to be named after him, Tiego was stunned for a while.

Others may only see the wealth that this exchange can bring to them, but Tiego, who has been involved in almost every step of the way from the beginning, knows better than anyone how much potential this exchange has been.

Here, what we have will be the pricing power of the whole of Europe across the market in the future!

If this only made Tiego feel that his previous self was so easily satisfied, and that he was a little too petty, what Alexander had to do next was that he really felt his own insignificance.

Looking at the inconspicuous wooden nameplate nailed to the door, Tiego was still a little suspicious, although he did not have any intention of questioning the earl, but after he heard what Alexander told him, Tiego still couldn't help asking: "But my lord, we have not had enough gold to guarantee the issuance of currency, and you know that once we start issuing currency, if there is a real run, then we will not be able to deal with it at all." ”

"We don't have it now, but we will soon, and it will be more than you can imagine," Alexander said with a smile, "and before that all you have to do is keep an eye on Florence." ”

"I know this, your friend named James Columbus is doing well in Florence, he has bought the goods of their land hoarding from the bankrupt Florentines at a very low price, and a large part of them was sold to them by us, and the price that Columbus gave to those Florentines was even lower than ours, and I must admit that this man is ruthless enough."

After speaking, looking at Alexander, who nodded slightly in sympathy with his words, Tiego asked a little puzzled: "But Columbus, why does this surname sound a little familiar to me?" ”

"You must have heard of this man," Alexander smiled and patted Tiego on the shoulder, "and believe me, you'll have plenty of opportunities to deal with people with this last name in the future." ”

The opening of the office of the Carolingian Middle Tiego Exchange did not attract much attention, as people were attracted by the exchange of the same name, which opened in Rome on the same day.

It's also called the Tiego Exchange, but it's the real place to trade, and compared to the office in the Carolingian Palace, people who walk in here are both curious and confused, because they don't know exactly what they have to do to get rich.

Some of the guys who were temporarily transferred from the Pisa Exchange became the teachers of the novices who didn't know anything, and these pisbians, who were already familiar with the way, excitedly instructed the local assistants who would not normally look down on them to do this and that, and if someone messed up, they would be reprimanded.

And even those guests who are gorgeously dressed and have extraordinary status, watching those pizza people shouting in their unique tones, and constantly hanging wooden tags with different numbers on the shelves, can't help but show a little awe because they can't understand the doorway.

This made the piscons feel that they had never been so happy, and they shouted even more vigorously, and the various singing voices in the hall made the nobles and rich merchants awe this place.

On November 10, 1497, Alexandria's Roman Exchange was finally opened.

Aside from knowing that a lot of money could be made in this place, at this time, not many people really understood what the birth of this exchange meant for Rome, for Europe, and even for the world.

Two days later, a letter from Florence arrived in Alexander.

The letter was sent by James Columbus from a young painter named Ron Z. Sabatini.

The young man was obviously curious about Alexander, but what attracted him even more was the strange attire of Josha.

Especially when he stumbled upon Jossa standing in armor like the legendary goddess Athena of ancient Greece and being painted by a young painter, Roenzo Sabatini immediately forgot what he was here for.

He walked over enthusiastically and stood behind the young painter to look closely, and when he gradually showed a look of surprise, the young painter turned to look at the stranger who did not understand the rules.

"Why, you've been standing here for so long, do you have any disagreement with my work?" The young painter asked coldly.

"Oh no, I'm just thrilled because I think you're really good at drawing." Ron Zuo was a little overwhelmed, and this honest young man from Bologna was clearly not quite used to the vitriol that often existed among artists.

"Thank you." The young painter's face didn't change for the better because of this compliment, especially after hearing Ron's "no ......" all the more ugly on his already rough face.

Luo Enzuo obviously didn't realize that he had offended someone, he first secretly glanced at Ji Sha, who was drinking water from the cup from the maid's hand, and then asked in a slightly curious tone: "This ...... Why did this Athena hold not a spear and a shield, but a musket? ”

Michelangelo's face was already black at this time, and he felt that it was rare for him to have such a good temper and not use a paintbrush to smash directly into the face of this nasty guy.

The thought that future generations would see his signature on such a strange painting made Michelangelo feel that his reputation was about to be ruined.

"I didn't take spears and shields because they were useless in front of muskets."

I don't know when I walked over, I shook my head slightly, so the towering feather ornament on her helmet shook with a stir,

Just when Roenzo was at a loss because he suddenly faced this beautiful girl who walked in front of him, Michelangelo was already a little helpless and said: "Miss Countess, I would be grateful if you could let me lay the background for your portrait smoothly, you must know that it has been almost a week, and the time you can stand in front of the canvas adds up to less than 2 days." ”

"That's because I have a lot of things to do," said Khosha, taking off his helmet and handing it to the servant next to him, "Okay master, I saw my brother coming with someone else, and I think he needs me right now." ”

Saying that, Ji Sha bent down slightly to pick up the cloak that hung to the ground, walked quickly between the two people in front of him, and chased after Alexander, who had just walked outside the hall?

"Miss Count?" Ron Zuo looked at the back of Zha in surprise, "I thought she was ......"

"Do you think she's probably just a woman of low status," Michelangelo looked at the young man who wasn't older than him, with a disdainful look, "just because she was dressed in such a strange outfit?" ”

Before Roenzo could admit it, Michelangelo was already angrily covering the easel with a cloth and muttering in a low voice, "Where did this stupid boy come from?" ”

James's letter was brief, except for a general report on the Florentine market, which was that not only had the request for an exchange been approved in Florence, but that thanks to the support of the influential Satzi family in Florence, the exchange had been opened a few days ago on the last day of October.

The whole letter seemed very ordinary and had nothing to arouse suspicion, even if it was in the hands of someone else, that is, it would be a little curious about the name of the Sazi family.

In fact, the surname Sazi is still more or less known in Rome, but this is only because the family was involved in the assassination of the Medici brothers in the early years of Sistine IV.

Now that the Medici family has been driven out of Florence and is wandering around for help, it is unlikely that the surname Sazi will attract much attention in Rome.

So, no matter how you look at it, it's just an ordinary business letter.

But Alexander, who received the letter, did not think so.

"That Sazi, did he have a great influence in Florence?" Alexander looked at Tygo opposite, and to his surprise, Massimo, who had not shown up all along, actually went with him to the Marino Palace.

Massimo looked a little fatter than before, perhaps because he ate and drank well, his originally thin figure was now a little tight in that monastic robe, and a slightly long face also had a round chin, and he nodded when he saw Alexander looking at him.

"I heard that it was, it seems that the man is now the head of the Florentine Treasury Office," said Massimo, "I heard from some friends in Rome." ”

Alexander nodded in satisfaction, and since being recommended to Alexander VI, Massimo immediately stepped into a completely new role.

Today, Massimo is the leader of a small order, small and not officially recognized by the Vatican, but the order has grown rapidly in the middle and lower levels of the Vatican, with the covert support of the Holy See, or Alexander VI.

The reason why the pope was so fond of this small order of Massimo was entirely because his repeated advocacy of the "theory of ecclesiastical authority" made Alexander VI see the possibility of restoring the supreme power of the pope.

"This Saqi, will it help us?" Alexander asked, his eyes on Tiego.

"It should be, there are envoys from Florence and other places in the Carolingian Palace, from them you can find out a lot about Florence, the Florentines are having a bad time now, our previous large shipments and Columbus's subsequent low-price acquisitions have bankrupted many merchants, which has also caused many Florentines to lose their jobs, and now many Florentines are dissatisfied with that Savonarola."

Tiego said with a strange smile.

He sometimes felt as if he was not just a businessman but also a secret agent, even though he was actually asking for information that everyone knew but few people paid attention to, but it also made him feel mysterious and exciting.

"Florence is the center of Romagna," Alexan looked at the two people opposite, and when he heard the door knock, he looked at the entering, looking at the golden light of her drooping blonde hair against the red cloak behind her, Alexander said to the two people opposite, "It is also the place where all great arts flourish, and there are precious masterpieces left by countless masters, and I want to leave a masterpiece now," he said holding out his hand to Zhosa "I will ask the greatest master of art in the world to carve a statue of my sister of her, And this statue I hope to one day stand in the Duomo del Fiore in Florence. ”

Hearing this, Ji Sha's face turned crimson instantly, and the two people opposite couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.