Uliuu was a very good storyteller, and at least the stories he was telling now were full of twists and turns, ups and downs, remorse, and heart-wrenching regrets.

In his description, he was a happy little servant who served a very wise, kind, and generous master, but the arrival of the French changed everything a few years ago, and his master had to go to war and never returned, and he lost his home along with many servants because of the change of ownership of his master's castle.

In this story, several of the most important words caught the attention of the two people in front of Ulliu, "wise, benevolent and generous", "French", and "war".

Ludviko was clearly not a very intelligent man, and whether he was merciful or not was at least not generous, and the French were precisely what Ludviko had caused in the first place, and the turmoil and death caused by the ensuing war were even more disturbing.

Looking at the seemingly unnatural expressions of the two masters, Uliu's performance was even more exquisite.

"A very clever old man, a friend and patron of his master, invented this thing, and he said that with the numbers engraved on this ruler, according to a certain way of calculation, it can be used to calculate the distance and things that are actually very large from what appears to be small on paper, and from this horizontal hand can even calculate the position of the stars in the sky."

Uliu looked at the ruler with a wistful face, and at the same time desperately recalled the method and meaning of the use of this scale in the letter Alexander left him, but the way he seemed to be thinking and talking at the same time was indeed like the expression of a person who knew a little about this kind of thing but knew only a little about it, and the two people in front of him obviously didn't need to say much, as long as he mentioned it a little, he could fully understand the importance of this thing.

Leonardo da Vinci narrowed his eyes slightly, and by this time he had already pondered the usefulness of this seemingly inconspicuous ruler, while Brother Pasioli continued to inquire about the whereabouts of Ulliu's "master's friend" with great concern.

"It's a pity that the monk died, he met a robber while fleeing, and his head was broken with a stick, and I saw him die with my own eyes, his brain and blood flowed all over the ground, his whole body trembled and he was incontinent, and his death was very unsettled and undignified," Ulliu's description made the monk's face pale slightly, and he could probably imagine how miserable that terrible death was, after all, they had just experienced a war two years earlier, and they had seen too many people die.

"He was going to a place because he had a friend who invited him to serve his master, and I heard that the lord was also a very generous man, and the key was that his territory was safe, but unfortunately he was unlucky to meet a robber on the way."

Ulliu didn't care about the story he had "heard from my friend's friend" until both of them sighed in pity.

Looking at the expressions on the faces of the two of them, Uliu suddenly asked tentatively in a somewhat hesitant but worried tone, "I heard that there is another war, master?" ”

"Don't listen to rumors, know that the Duke is a very strict man." Da Vinci, who had not spoken, scolded in a low voice, then he picked up the scale and turned it slightly, and then walked to the balcony, first left a shadow on the balcony railing on the ground, drew two intersecting lines on the ground with a pen, and then slowly turned the ruler, when the ruler coincided with the line segment that formed an obtuse angle, and the horizontal needle on the ruler pointed to a scale carved at the lower end of the ruler, Da Vinci first recited silently in his mouth, and then also let out a regretful sigh.

"I don't know who you're talking about, but he's a clever guy who can easily calculate the size of a building, the distance of a road, and if you use these scales as a reference, you can easily calculate the best angle of fire and the amount of charge required."

"It's a pity that such a clever man was unfortunately killed by robbers, but may God bless his soul to enter heaven as soon as possible." Brother Pasioli was equally moved with emotion, and the worry on his face when he said this was already on his face.

"Actually, I was about to go to the place where the poor man was going," said Ulliu, with a sad face, "and if we are lucky, we may be in Montina by this time, and his friend is said to be very powerful, for in his letter he mentions that he is working on an equally important tool, and that is why he is invited to work with him in his patron's territory, and that it is indeed safe." ”

Uliu's words seemed to attract the attention of the two listeners, especially Brother Pacioli, who pondered for a moment and then nodded: "I know that place, but isn't it the territory of the Rovere family, has the Rovere family already sent someone to garrison it?" ”

"Your news, Lord Monk, is so much a secret," said Ulliu, in a tone of some surprise, "don't you know that the young lady of the Rovere family, Barendi, is married to the Count of Montina, that Alexandre Giulian Cambrai, father of the Duchess of Estlese of Pisa, and now the Regent of Pisa?" ”

"Oh, I really don't know." The monk nodded a little confused, for the nobles who had come out of the scene, Brother Pacioli obviously couldn't figure out who was among the many of them for a while, because his attention was completely drawn to the tools that the man Uliu was talking about was working on.

"If there's nothing to do, I'll go to work first, you know it's not easy to find such a job." Ulliu stopped at the right time, he needed to get the two of them to know and get acquainted with him first, and then he could get closer to them.

And more importantly, the time is not ripe, in order to complete the task arranged by the Count, they must get the time when they need to shake themselves, and what Ulliu has to do now is to try to find an opportunity to stay with them as much as possible, so as to prepare for the day after that.

Leonardo da Vinci, a great artist and scientist who is now famous, but will only go down in the future, is a genius in mathematics and modern accounting who has been overlooked by many because of his presence by the giants.

Alexander was determined to win these two men!

May 1499 was a turbulent time for all the Italian city-states on the Mediterranean coast.

The threat from France was already evident, and with the explicit support of Caesar, who had been sent by Alexander VI to attend the coronation, Louis XII publicly declared in his castle in the Loire Valley that he would follow and defend the power of his predecessor over Naples, which was almost a direct declaration of war.

With the declaration of the sovereignty of the King of France over Naples, all sorts of news about France followed.

The French court had once again called for war to the nobles of the country, and the French army had amassed an army of nearly 30,000 men in the city of Nice, about 120 fataries, about 120 fataries, Piedmont, and the number was growing.

There is also the fact that the French are preparing a large number of ships in some ports in the Mediterranean, and perhaps they will invade Naples from the sea next.

Among them, the biggest change is felt in Sicily.

The increasing rampant behavior of the Ottoman navy made the Sicilians nervous, and they feared that when they woke up one morning, they would see an indescribable Ottoman fleet flying the crescent flag on the horizon, and to the dismay of the Sicilians, Ferdinand, as the king, who had just finished the Reconquista and was facing a ruined situation, was now clearly unable to care for them.

As for the pirates who wreaked havoc on the seas, the Sicilians knew that they were in fact supported by the Ottoman Sultan, so when they heard of a ship whose ship had been plundered by pirates and suffered heavy losses, there was no other way to sympathize with them.

However, people gradually discovered a very strange phenomenon, that is, while most people's ships were attacked by the Ottoman navy or pirates, some people's business was doing well.

Most of these people were originally engaged in small businesses, but these businesses were dealing in everyday goods that were essential in the European market.

As the situation in the Mediterranean became worrisome, the prices of goods that were usually cheap and even insignificant became more expensive, and although they could not be compared with pepper, cane sugar, ginger or coffee, which had to be reached by people who had great profits but had to be able to get their hands and eyes into the world, the huge consumption of the market made the small chambers of commerce that seemed to have thin margins a huge return at this time.

And the most unbearable thing is that these small chambers of commerce seem to have colluded with those Ottoman pirates from the beginning, and their ships are rarely heard of being robbed, and even when they encounter pirates, they are not so much robbed as they pay a road money, which is obviously not enjoyed by other chambers of commerce.

So there is an interesting phenomenon in Sicily, on the one hand, there are people who go to hell for the pirates who have been sacked and cursed, and on the other hand, there are people who rejoice and smile because of the presence of pirates.

Pirates have made transportation more risky, and the increased cost has skyrocketed the prices of many things in the market, and the only ones who have been able to stock up on in-demand goods are the chambers of commerce that have previously participated in the Free Trade Zone Alliance.

With the gradual increase in strength, the chambers of commerce that were not favored before have gradually become wealthy, and they soon showed their greedy nature, for those large chambers of commerce that did not join or refused the invitation because of disdain, these small chambers of commerce that were not favored at all before began to unite, relying on the low tariff advantage between the free trade alliance, began to encroach on the market of those large chambers of commerce that they would never dare to provoke before.

Relying on the advantage of hot and in-demand goods, the alliance chambers of commerce began to get involved in those lucrative fields.

Especially after entering May, with the Ottoman and Venetian navies assembling separately in the Mediterranean, the situation in the whole Mediterranean suddenly became tense, and for a time the ports of Sicily became tense.

The Ottoman pirates became even more frenzied, and for a time they even blockaded a large part of the sea south of Sicily, forcing merchant ships sailing from the island to make a detour to North Africa.

Similarly, the precious goods transported from Egypt were also looted by robbers, and almost half of the entire route was scrapped.

In the eyes of the merchant ships that come and go to Sicily, in addition to wealth, they are also the key to opening a larger market in the future, because with the expansion of the free trade zone alliance, those merchants who were excluded from the alliance gradually found that not only many businesses that could overlap with those free trade chambers are being rapidly squeezed out of the market, but even some traditional areas that used to belong to their sphere of influence are also being rapidly eroded and squeezed.

This made many Sicilian merchants feel uneasy, and they finally realized that a behemoth had formed around them before they knew it, and this behemoth had obviously greedily targeted their piece of fat.

In the interior of Europe, as the independence of the Swiss cantons shocked the whole of Western Europe, in order to reassert his majesty, Emperor Maximian of the Holy Roman Empire finally decided to deter the courts of other countries that underestimated him with a resolute and thorough suppression.

In the Balkans, the news of the Ottoman army's siege of Bucharest changed the entire continent.

From Taranto to Venice, from Genoa to Crete, the early summer of 1499 was filled with an atmosphere of agitation and unsettling.

So, at such a time, no one would notice what a Moorish man in Milan was doing, and no one would deliberately want to know why he would take the initiative to approach two masters of art and mathematicians, who, though quite famous and intelligent, were no more valuable than a vulgar mercenary at such times.

Ullius was not in a hurry, he knew that what he had to do did not seem difficult, but the key was how to seize the opportunity, because according to the instructions left by Alexander, Ullius realized that the master obviously attached great importance to the two men, and in this case he could not have kidnapped them as he had done with the Jews or any other people.

However, as the situation became tense, Ullius knew that his time was short, so he worked diligently every day in the rooms of Madame Salmatelli at Sforza Castle, while carefully preparing for any changes that might happen in the near future.

But no one expected that just when people were looking to France, to Switzerland or to the sea, a news that surprised everyone suddenly came from the Balkans.

The first to bring this news was a group of businessmen, who were always on the lookout for money, apparently seeing the war that would affect the fate of the Balkans and even all of Europe as an opportunity to make a fortune, so when the Vatican's envoys gathered in the Carolingian Palace, some businessmen also took the opportunity to mingle and prepare to make a fortune in the limelight.

The person who brought the news was a businessman named Prato, who is said to be in Bucharest today.

This small businessman, who is said to have lost a lot of money in the Roman Exchange, has now become the guest of King Ladislas II of Bohemia, and the copper business he is now doing can be said to be very rich, which even a large family like Fugger can't help but pay attention to this man.

This time, however, Prato seemed to be out of luck, and when people began to hear that the man had staked all his possessions on the Hungarian copper mines, there was an uproar that surprised everyone.

The Bosnian king Rwaj, who had taken refuge with the Ottomans, invaded Hungary, and the entire southern Hungarian army could hardly resist Rwaj's attack, the border was in an emergency, the southern provinces of Hungary were in an emergency, and southern Hungary, which had the largest copper mining area in Europe, was in an emergency!

When this series of news came, many people were still worried about the dire situation in the Balkans, but some people suddenly found that the signs about copper prices that had been almost daily on the Roman Exchange had been quietly removed.

Soon after, it was noticed that with the rapid rise in the price of copper, some people were secretly frantically buying almost all the copper objects they could buy on the market!

The price of copper is constantly rising, and the price change almost one day has made futures exchanges around the world have to temporarily stop announcing the highest price that can be heard in the market that day, which makes many people feel uneasy.

The small workshop owners panicked, because the little money they had was no longer enough to buy the finished bronzes that had been set for their customers.

The copper traders panicked because they found that while the goods they had hoarded could indeed be sold for a good price, the rising prices that followed made them almost unprofitable.

Some of the nobles and even the monarchs began to feel uneasy, because they found that the money that had been used to buy the bronze for casting the cannon could not even afford half of the cannon, which made them even think that if they continued like this, they might have to try their luck on the battlefield against the enemy's fire.

And this sudden change of events made even the Fugger family feel quite surprised and difficult to accept.

They were at first skeptical of the authenticity of the news, but when the men they sent to Hungary returned with more detailed information, the Fuggers finally believed it.

Those on the Hungarian side testify that the merchant named Prato was indeed active throughout the Balkans, and it is said that he not only frequented the banquets of Ladislas II, but was also familiar with the legendary Greek princess, and that he was indeed a man of all sides, for he had been seen visiting the residence of the Ottoman governor of Zagreb more than once.

It was for this reason that Prato apparently thought that he could gain enough from the war with his cleverness, so he bet almost all of his possessions on buying and selling large quantities of copper ore.

"But the man missed."

Looking at the report sent by the Hungarian side, and thinking about hearing the news that the Bosnian army was frantically attacking South Hungary, the Fugger family didn't even need to think about it to know what was going on.

"That Prato wants to buy a lot of ore to monopolize the supply rights of the entire upstream copper mine."

When this conclusion was reached, the Fuggers were at first angry, and then ecstatic.

Because they knew that once the Bosnians conquered South Hungary, the ore purchase rights that Puprato had received from Ladislas II would be a piece of paper, and he would obviously not have any more money to buy more ore from the Bosnians.

"He is now at the end of his rope, and the only way is to sell the ore he has bought as soon as possible, and then be ready to spend a huge sum of money again to buy more ore, even if it is not profitable, but he can't stop, otherwise he will lose all his money."

"Then we can buy those ores from him, you know that this may be the last batch of copper ore before the war is completely over, and the war between the emperor and France may break out at any time, look at the changes in the price of copper in the market now, everyone is desperately stockpiling copper, for those nobles copper is even more important than gold."

"We have to prepare for the Emperor's war."

When this reason for the fate of the Fugger family was revealed, even the most conservative of Fugger finally decided to accept the plan.

Buying all of his copper ore from that Prato was only because of the constant bad news about Hungary, so even though the Fuggers were ready to take advantage of the opportunity to lower the price, the price of those copper ores was still much higher than usual.

This was a struggle even for the wealthy Fuggers, but when they heard that there were already people who were also interested in the copper ore in Prato's hands, and even that they were going to the end of their efforts to absorb the copper objects on the market, the Fuggers finally made the crucial decision to borrow money from the Jews in Venice.

The Fuggers went crazy, and so did the whole of Europe, and just as the summer of May was approaching, a war of blood, fire and money broke out in the land of Europa!