In the small building of Lady Olgala, Groganin sat by the window and looked out at the street, a slightly secluded place in the western part of Rome, and Lady Olgara was very clever that she did not go out of her way to live in a lively place like the other dusty women, but chose this somewhat secluded street to build her love nest.

It was indeed a love nest, where Madame Olgala met many Roman dignitaries and made some of them her guests, and where she enjoyed unforgettable tenderness.

In a little more than a year, Lady Olgala had become a well-known prostitute in Rome, and in addition to such dignitaries as Gonzalo and Kotschach and some wealthy people, even some bishops in the church had close ties with her.

"You seem to have a good time here," Grognin said, turning to look at Olgara, who was standing in the doorway with a tray of fruit and coffee in his hand, "but you've heard of my new hobby." ”

"The servant you sent to bring me the letter said," said Lady Olgala, who went over and laid down the tray, and poured the coffee, "do you need more sugar?" ”

"Less, I can't get used to the taste of the Ottomans," Grogenin shook his head in refusal, "I heard that Ashulk was active in Rome, right?" ”

Olgala nodded: "Yes, the vizier seems to be happy to live in Rome, and it seems that they are not willing to leave. ”

Grogenin smiled, he picked up the cup and took a sip of the aftertaste, then put the cup down and looked at Olgala: "So what did I ask you to do, how did you do it." ”

Hearing Grogenen's inquiry, the look on Olgala's face froze slightly, she bit her lip slightly, and after thinking for a while, she spoke: "I haven't found that person yet, but I know that besides Ashulk, there are others looking for him." ”

"Who is it?" Grogenin frowned.

"You know, a woman named Conneo."

"Is that her?" Grogenin was slightly surprised, then nodded, "I know that her father is a good traveler, and although her family is not very prominent, her father is a very famous man, he seems to have traveled almost all of Europe, and he has traveled further afield. ”

"Like the Levant?" Orgala asked tentatively.

"Yes, that's the place, he's been to everything from Alexandria to Constantinople."

"So is she looking for the Sultan?"

"It's not a good thing to say, you must know that there are many people who want to find that person."

Orgala slowly sat down on the carpet and leaned against Grogenin and asked, "What about you, are you looking for that person too?" ”

"I'm not interested in that guy," Grogenin shook his head, "or maybe I was just interested in it, after all, it was an important pawn, but now I'd rather work with that Gombray." ”

Hearing the mention of Alexander, Olgala had a slightly confused look on her face.

"Sir, I don't understand what Gombray is doing, I've seen so many nobles that I can even guess what that arrogant Gombray thinks, but I just don't know what that Gombray is thinking."

"You can't guess what he's thinking, it's normal," Grogenen smiled, "Actually, I couldn't have thought of it before. ”

"And now?" Orgara sensed the meaning of Groganin's words.

"I still don't know, but I'm sure this man isn't messing around, he not only has his own purpose, but he has done a lot of things for that purpose, and I can feel it, so as long as we can know what his purpose is, we can know if we can get what we need from him."

Grogenin stretched out his hand and gently stroked Olgala's smooth jaw, and there was a hint of love in his eyes: "I made you do too many things that you don't want to do, maybe you will continue to do it in the future, so do you resent me." ”

"No, my master," Orgara leaned her head into Grogenin's palm, closing her eyes like a pampered cat, "I'm glad I could do this for you, I didn't think about the future, but I'm happy now." ”

Grogenen smiled with satisfaction, and he walked to the window to look outside: "There are too many people in this city, but most of them don't know what they are doing, what they lack is not desire, but why they live. ”

"And what about your goal," Orgala looked at Grognin's back, "to keep the Grognin family prosperous forever?" ”

"There is no such thing as a family that will thrive forever," Groganin sneered, "but I want this family name to be remembered forever, at least in the Netherlands and even in the whole of the Low Countries, so that even if the Groganins disappear one day, history will still remember it." ”

Looking at Groganin's back, Olgala's heart couldn't help but skip a beat, she knew that Grogenin should not have said these words to anyone else, which made her proud of the trust she received, but there was a faint voice in her heart shouting secretly, hoping that her name could be remembered by Grogenin, even if one day she would not exist.

In the evening, Alexander sent a letter inviting Grognin and Orgala to dinner at the Marino Palace, and Orgala found that Grogenin was suddenly a little excited, which made her a little strange.

Then she noticed that in the letter, Alexander also mentioned another guest, the Imperial Palace Minister Kotschakh.

Orgara realized that Grogenin had become so excited because of Kotschach, and she was secretly prepared to do as much as she could for her master when she met him.

However, this plan did not come to fruition, because when she arrived at Marino Palace, she was arranged to go to a small hall with Josa and Joanna to chat.

And a few men hurriedly left without even finishing the main meal.

Then, even Ji Sha disappeared.

Actually, Shosha really wanted to talk more with Lady Olgala.

She wanted to learn from Mrs. Olgala how to be an attractive woman.

An 18-year-old girl is a girl, but she is already a woman.

If it was another girl, she might have given birth to one or several children at this time, and Lucrezia was already pregnant at this time.

As for the other wild girl whose whereabouts are unknown now, but must not be taken lightly, Jisha will not forget it.

On the contrary, Barendi, who is a fiancée, does not feel threatened, because she knows very well that Alexander likes beautiful girls.

Barondi obviously had no advantage in this regard, and even if she was married, Alexander probably had only obligations to her, but no love.

After calmly analyzing the situation with her clever mind, she originally wanted to learn from Lady Olgara the secret of how to fascinate men, but she was more interested in the plans that Alexander and they discussed, so after arranging for the queen and Olgala, she immediately took her leave and left.

When Josha walked into Alexander's room, she saw several men sitting around a table, but none of them seemed to look very good.

Alexander's face was expressionless, while the other two had gloomy faces.

"I think you lowlanders must have drunk too much," Kotschach looked at Grogenin across from him, "thinking about breaking away from the Emperor's rule." ”

"We just want to get our rights," Grogenin said sarcastically to the courtier, "The Dutch parliament has always been the emperor's, we pay all kinds of taxes and swear allegiance to every Duke, but our parliament is elected by the people, and the emperor's unauthorized dissolution of parliament is a violation of Dutch law." ”

"How dare you?!" Kotschach stood up angrily: "You dare to talk about the emperor!" ”

"It's just an opinion." Gragennin said coldly.

"Doesn't it work," the palace minister looked at Alexander angrily, "Earl, don't you think it's ridiculous that you should let a person who dares to be so disrespectful to the emperor participate in our business?" ”

Alexander, who had been silently watching the two arguing, glanced at Jisha, who was standing at the door frowning at this scene, and then reached out and tapped lightly on the map.

"Don't you think that what really matters is not what the Emperor did in the Netherlands, but what we should do ourselves," Alexander pointed to the place marked on the map covered by a dense water network, "There are the most convenient waterways and the most suitable places to build inland ports, and we all know that the port of Amsterdam will be closed for a period of time because of the annual tide period, but this is a good thing for us, because our new port does not have to worry about this problem at all, I think you should be well aware of what that means. ”

Grogenen looked at the place where Alexander's finger was pointing, and nodded slowly: "Yes, this means that when Amsterdam is closed, we have a chance to become the largest port in the entire Low Countries, and ......"

As he spoke, he shifted his gaze slightly to the underside of the map, then looked up at Alexander with deep meaning.

"If I'm not mistaken, you didn't just choose this place because it can transport goods for you all year round," Gragenin said, gesturing on the map, "and from this place called Rotterdam, you can quickly get to France, and you seem to be ready to do business in France." ”

Grogenen's words caught Kotschach's attention, and he looked at the map, then at Alexander with suspicious eyes.

"Is what he said true, Earl, are you going to do business with the French?"

"In fact, my brother has already handed over his business in France to his fiancée," Jossa said as she walked over and nodded to the two of them, before sitting down next to Alexander, "and there is probably something you haven't seen yet, and that is that this place called Rotterdam can be the key to the heart of Europe." ”

She glanced at Grogenen, she didn't have much affection for this Dutch Josa, she felt that this man was very scheming, and the most important thing was that he actually sent Sophia back to Alexander, which Kisha couldn't forgive.

Both men were stunned by his words, and they looked at the map again, and watched as Alexander began to slide along the lines representing the different bodies of water all the way to the hinterland, and their expressions gradually became more and more serious.

Finally, Alexander's finger stopped at the sign of a city, and in the gasp of Kotschach, who couldn't help but take a deep breath, he nodded at the city marked "Frankfurt".

"Minister, my suggestion that your family should be the first director of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is always valid," said Alexander, "imagine that the goods that are sent to Frankfurt from a perennial port through these rivers along the Danube will be transported further into Europe as a transit point, and the Frankfurt Exchange is the pricer of these goods." ”

Kotschach's hand on the table twitched, and even he didn't notice that he almost touched the glass in front of him.

"Imagine that your emperor may not be able to command the German lords, but you can have a huge influence on them, because once you have the power to price goods, it means that both the lords and the rich merchants must obey your will, otherwise they will pass by the wealth in vain."

Kotschach slowly raised his head, and the palace minister seemed to want to remain calm, but it could be seen from his slightly flushed face that he was already a little difficult to control because of Alexander's words.

"Let me think, I have to think." Gong Xiang stood up, his appearance was a little confused, and he didn't even pay attention to the squeaky sound of hitting the chair behind him when he stepped back.

Gong Xiang walked out the door, and Kosha noticed that he ripped open the two collar buttons that were stuck around his neck, and then walked out with his collar open.

"What do you want," Grogenen, looking at Alexander, as if he had just met him, "I thought you were after riches, and perhaps the power of Romagna and Tuscany now, but now I'm not sure." ”

"Actually, I'm pretty much the same as what you want." Alexander looked at Grogenin and smiled.

Groganin's heart jumped, he stared at Alexander while trying to see his thoughts, and said lightly: "You should have heard it before, I only hope that the parliament in the Netherlands will be reconvened, you must know that the Hanseatic League needs the support of the Dutch parliament, if the parliament can be re-established, it will be the best outcome for both the Hanseatic League and our Grogenin family." ”

Alexander didn't care too much about Grogenin's explanation, he didn't deliberately expose Grogenin's intentions that he was trying to hide, on the contrary, he would help the Low Ground people to cover up his true thoughts if needed.

After all, it was Kotschach who cooperated with them, and in order to make everyone's cooperation happy, even if it was pretending, he had to help Grogenin cover up his true purpose.

There was a brief silence in the room, Grogenen's gaze wandering the map of the Low Countries, while Alexander sipped his glass of wine from Naples.

There was a sound of footsteps outside the door, and Gong Xiang appeared at the door.

His face was a little pale, as if he hadn't had a good time just now.

"The Netherlands are now under the rule of Archduke Philip of Austria," Kotschach said in a somewhat strange tone, looking at Alexander with both eyes, never looking at Grogenin, as if he did not exist", and some of the things Philip did in the Netherlands seemed to cause some resentment at the Austrian court. ”

Grogenen's leaning shoulders moved, and he looked at the palace minister in some surprise, but Kotschach seemed to have made up his mind not to speak directly to him, so he always ignored his gaze.

"What do you mean by dissatisfaction, sir?" Alexander was also interested, for everything that mattered to the Castilian court was important, let alone the husband of the legendary Juana.

Kotschach seemed to hesitate, and then finally made up his mind to speak: "The Grand Duke seems prepared to allow the Dutch to restore their parliamentary system to a limited extent. ”

Grogenen's gasping voice could be heard distinctly, and she glanced at the lowlander, noticing that he was first excited, then seemed to be lost in thought.

"And Vienna doesn't think it's a good idea, does it?" Alexander was not surprised to ask that the successive monarchs of the Habsburg Dynasty were never popular figures, and even the Fugger family, which relied on them to develop, was more helpless and subservient to the Habsburg emperors.

"If, I mean if," Grogenin said cautiously, his voice a little erratic, "the Grand Duke's decision has come true, and then what is the chance that the Netherlands will have a parliament?" ”

Kotschach looked at Grogenin for the first time, he paused and shook his head slowly: "The Emperor will not allow this to happen, he loves the Austrian Archduke very much, but this is obviously beyond the scope of what he can bear." ”

"What if the Grand Duke forcibly reinstates parliament in the Netherlands, don't forget that he is in power in the Netherlands." Grogenen's voice was hopeful, as if he was worried about something.

"If the Emperor then orders the expulsion of the Parliament again, he may not do anything to his son, but to you," Kotschach said with a sarcastic smile, "the Emperor will not have any mercy. ”

With a look of disappointment on his face, Groganin picked up his glass as if he wanted to take a sip, but his hands trembled slightly, and he finally put it on the table.

"But one thing must be admitted," Kotschach said no longer to Grogneen, his gaze looking at Alexander, and the look that seemed to be somewhat vacillating had faded away, and a shrewd light was now shining in his eyes, "whether this succeeds or not, the prestige of the Grand Duke in the Netherlands will reach an unprecedented level, and the Dutch will regard him as their true ruler and pledge their allegiance to him." As far as I know, the Ertona Chamber of Commerce, one of the largest chambers of commerce in the Netherlands, is not only his supporter, but also the owner of the Port of Amsterdam. ”

Hearing this, Alexander couldn't help but glance at Grogenin next to him.

Seeing Groganin nodding silently, Alexander couldn't help but smile wryly.

He never imagined that he would one day become a man who was spurned by himself, but now it seems that he is destined to become a villain who is "the enemy of all progressive forces".

"There's one more thing," Kotschach licked his lips, "it takes a lot of money to build a port like that." ”

Hearing this, Alexander smiled: "Please rest assured, Lord Gongxiang, I know that someone will give this money, believe me, they are really rich." ”