Massimo looked nervously at the door of the Sistine Chapel, and it was only then that he suddenly understood why Alexander had said that he could not be another Savonarola.

Savonarola was probably a man who could really abandon worldly interests for the sake of his beliefs, and when Alexander VI promised him high office in order to win him over, Savonarola responded with bitter ridicule rather than waiting for the results with the same anxiety as he was.

It's fair to say that Savonarola is different from many people, he really gives everything for what he believes in.

Thinking of this, Massimo was a little ashamed and stroked the rosary in his hand, which he found in Savonarola's room, the rosary was very valuable, but not to the point of high value, it should have been a gift from someone who valued Savonarola very much, because the rosary was very formally packed in a box, and there was a very short unsigned letter pressed underneath.

The side door of the church slowly opened with a muffled sound, and the main door of the Sistine Chapel was usually closed except for various festivals and major ceremonies, and even the side doors were often fully opened when the cardinal council was to be held, and only half of the side was usually opened.

Seeing the door open, Massimo couldn't help but take a slight step forward, and then he immediately reminded himself that he had to calm down, no matter what the outcome was, he would inevitably become the object of attention from now on, so he should be much more careful in his future actions.

A large patch of red appeared on the steps of the Sistine Chapel like a woman's moon, and it flowed incessantly.

Unlike elsewhere, the cardinals who came out of the Sistine Chapel were often the ones with the lower status, because they were asked to leave the meeting of the cardinals first.

A white-haired cardinal saw Massimo from a long distance, an archbishop who had only recently been elected cardinal from Catalonia, and although he was more or less half a fellow countryman of the Pope, Alexander VI did not seem to care much about the new cardinal.

Seeing Massimo barely concealed his expression, Cardinal Catalunya smiled understandingly, thinking that when he heard that he might become a cardinal, he was so excited that he almost fell out of bed and broke his neck in his sleep at night, and the cardinal felt that Mashimo was calm enough.

The Metropolitan of Romagna and Tuscany is a position that can definitely make a man who sees fame and fortune as dung bow his head and become a sycophant, and it can be said that this position is a stepping stone to pave the way for him to become a cardinal in the future, so the cardinal looks at Massimo with a more amiable expression.

Or is it better to have someone behind him, Cardinal Catalunya sighed in his heart and took the initiative to go up and greet Massimo, although it can be seen from the other party's look that Massimo is not familiar with him, but the cardinal decided to ignore such a trivial matter.

When the cardinal spoke with a little enthusiasm, the people of the neighborhood were faintly surprised by the scene, and they were almost surprised that the cardinal was so condescending to a contempt, but the cardinal himself turned a blind eye to those strange eyes, and even more sneered at the faint contempt of others.

As for the scene of the appointment of Massimo as the provincial metropolis proposed by Giovanni de Medici at the Council of Cardinals, and then immediately supported by the elder Roverre, the Cardinal of Catalonia can be said to be still in front of him even when he walked out of the Sistine Chapel, so he knew very well that this person should be the kind of person with a big backer, although this person has just passed the appointment of the metropolis, but it may only be a few years before becoming a cardinal, and maybe even earlier, and this person is still so young, As long as there are no surprises for himself or his patron in the days to come, it is not difficult to imagine that this man will become a hot figure in the Vatican for some time.

Making strong friends and trying to make them allies is what everyone who comes in and out of the Vatican does, and the Cardinal of Catalonia doesn't feel that there is anything to blame for doing so.

"If I would congratulate you now on this offensive and rude, after all, the promotion of Metropolitan is a very important moment, and it should be announced by someone more important to you," the cardinal wasted no time in expressing his affection, and then cleverly diverted the conversation to the great men he really wanted to get acquainted with.

He didn't dare to expect too much from old Rovere, but Giovanni de Medici he could still make friends, and if he could become friends with old Rovere through Massimo or Medici, it would be too helpful for him to be in the Vatican.

Assemo didn't answer the conversation immediately, he was still a little dazed by the excitement, or that what he really wanted to see at this time was not Medici or Old Rovere, but Alexander.

Suddenly in a high position, Mahimo was a little dazed and panicked, he didn't know how to behave so as not to make people feel out of shape, which made him habitually think of Alexander, but Alexander was not in Rome at this time.

Assemo looked forward with some trepidation, and when he saw the old Rovere who was unusually striking because of his tall figure in the red hat, he quickly nodded to the cardinal beside him, and then immediately greeted him.

The cardinals looked at the newly baked metropolis silently, they knew that this person should be pushed by the Count of Montina, just like every cardinal has different forces behind him, although Massimo has just been promoted to metropolis, but the person behind him is really not to be ignored.

Massimo saluted old Rovere respectfully, and then to Giovanni de Medici, who was standing not far away, and was more or less grateful to him, for it seemed to him that the Medici family had first reached out for him to seek the position.

"Everything is God's arrangement, do not forget your duty." Old Rovere said with an impassive expression, he has seen too much of this kind of thing, this monk is only an insignificant episode in his long life, at least now this person is just a small person, as for when he is full of wings and power, maybe old Rovere has realized the dream he dreamed of.

Giovanni de Medici was more affectionate than the old Roverre, and he whispered congratulations to Massimo on his ascension to the rank of Metropolis, and then asked him to invite Alexander to his little Medici Palace on his behalf, seemingly casually.

For Giovanni's obvious wooing, the old Rovere did not say anything, for him the relationship between the Rovere family and Alexander has now changed a new way, as long as you think about the previous proposal made by Alexander, the old Rovere feels that if everything is really realized, then the relationship between the two families of Rovere and Gombray has a completely different meaning.

At that time, the two families will become inseparable because of the entanglement of interests, so that in the imagination of old Rovier, this relationship may continue for many generations, and even in the end, it may be possible for the two families to become one.

Of course, these are too far away, but it is precisely because of such self-confidence that the old Rovie does not care at all about the open wooing of the Medici family.

It's just that when he heard that Alexander was not in Rome now, old Rovere's expression was a little unpleasant.

Where can he go, does that playboy still have a mistress somewhere else?

This was the first thought in old Rowwere's heart, but when he heard Massimo say that the Count had returned to Naples, old Rowwere was stunned for a moment, and then a rare smile hung on the corner of his mouth.

And in the Potico Palace, although Lucrezia looked annoyed, Alexander VI was also smiling, and his smile was brighter and more triumphant than that of old Rovere.

"Don't worry about that, you will be together for a long time, maybe one day it will get to the point where you are bored, and then you may still envy the rare good times now."

The Pope was absentmindedly enlightening his daughter while figuring out his own ideas.

"But he's back to Naples," said Lucrezia, annoyed, "and I'd even like him to go back to Montina if I can." ”

"Oh, why is that?" Alexander VI casually asked, "Alexander should have gone to visit his family, you must know that he has been out for many years, it is normal to go back to visit his family, does he still have a mistress in Naples, if that is the case, it is nothing, he should have forgotten the woman for so long." ”

"Father, don't you think he might have gone back to discuss his marriage with his uncle, Count Mordillo?"

Hearing Lucrezia say this, the smile on Alexander VI's face slowly faded.

He didn't care at all whether Alexander was going home to discuss the date of his marriage, but the Pope cared about the exciting plan that Alexander had just proposed.

coinage, and the Imperial coinage seized from the Fugger family.

Although Ladia, based on the papal credit, had been slowly introduced in the Roman region, even the arrogant Alexander VI had to admit that the coinage granted by him was still insignificant compared to the imperial coinage.

It is not only a matter of geographical size, but also a struggle for power between the secular and the Holy See.

In addition, the Pope himself had to admit that his credit was obviously not so optimistic, although Radia was full of color and exquisite workmanship, but perhaps because he was too unreliable as a pope, whether in Romagna, Tuscany, southern Italy or further afield, local merchants were more willing to tell others when using Radia gold coins that "it was minted in a free trade zone" rather than "Pope certified, full of color".

Therefore, if they can get the coinage right from Maximian, it means that they have even firmly contained the emperor's vital point, and the series of blows suffered by the Fugger family have obviously not only broken their bones, but are even dying.

Take advantage of his illness and kill him!

The Pope was in favor of Alexander's proposal to take the opportunity to take away the imperial coinage from the Fugger family, but it was later involved in the Roveret family, which made Alexander VI a little dissatisfied.

Now that he heard his daughter say that Alexander might have returned to Naples to discuss the date of marriage, the Pope couldn't help but start wondering.

"Tell me, dear, is Alexander okay with you?" The Pope asked in a nonchalant tone.

"Of course, he loves me and our daughter very much, father, do you know, that Giulio of the Medici family proposed to let Estelles and his nephew Lorenzo Jr. be engaged, but he actually said that he wanted to ask Estelles what he meant, and if his daughter didn't want to, he wouldn't accept it, isn't it funny?"

"Engaged? Pierrot's son? ”

Alexander VI's face gradually lost his smile and became a little gloomy.

He had no dislike for the Medici family, but the family was now holding old Rovere's thigh, which made Alexander VI uncomfortable.

"Does that failed Pierrot still want to find a backer through a family business?" The Pope muttered, then shook his head, "This is probably just what the Medici brothers meant, if that Pierrot had such a mind, he would not have been kicked out of his house by a group of Florentine citizens." ”

"Are you saying this family business is unreliable?" Lucrezia couldn't help but be a little worried about her daughter's marriage, "If that's the case, I won't agree to such a marriage." ”

"I mean, the Medici brothers have a good plan," the Pope asked as he sat down and looked at Lucrezia with a little curiosity, "and what do you think that Barondi did to charm your Alexander?" ”

Lucrezia looked at her father in some surprise, as if she didn't understand what he meant.

"I mean, Rovier's daughter, she's not as pretty as you, and she's said to have no interest, but you can see that Alexander seems to be infatuated with her, don't you think it's a little strange, or is she clever enough to please men?"

Lucrezia looked at Alexander VI in amazement, as if she was panicked by her father's explicit hints, and she admitted that she enjoyed being with Alexander, especially when the two of them were intimate, but if she had to be tempted, she felt that it was simply unimaginable.

"Maybe she's really up to the needs of men," Alexander VI was still thinking about it, "and I think you might as well consider finding two beautiful maids, or I can arrange it for you." ”

"Father," Lucrezia looked at the Pope in amazement, she couldn't believe that her father had encouraged her to send a woman to Alexander's side, "do you really think I should do this?" ”

Alexander VI shrugged indifferently: "Or not, you decide for yourself, but I suggest you give him a son as soon as possible, you probably haven't realized Gombray's ambitions, otherwise you will be anxious about not having a son as an heir, but maybe it won't be long before everyone knows about it." ”

Listening to her father's whispered muttering, Lucrezia couldn't help but be a little dazed for a moment.

With the blue waves undulating and the night breeze blowing, Alexander stood on the deck and looked at the crescent moon hanging in the night sky in the distance, his heart was somewhat excited.

Naples, he's been out of it for so long that it's a little strange.

Alexander had a lot to do this time, and the time was very urgent, it can be said that he had never felt so urgent as he did now, although there was the urgency caused by the coming war, but more than the arrival of another event that many people did not realize now, and which had a more profound significance than the French invasion.

Vasco da Gama's fleet is about to return to Lisbon, where he will bring back expensive gold, ivory, spices, ceramics and fine dyes as well as beautiful alien slave girls.

But these are not the most important things, what really shook the whole of Europe was that he explored a new route to the East!

The trade routes to the East have long been known as the road of wealth paved with gold, and countless people have followed this road in search of endless opportunities from the Far East, but both the rise of the Ottoman Empire and the prosperity of the ancient Arab Empire have repeatedly threatened the connection between Europe and the East, and have become a stumbling block preventing them from obtaining wealth.

But now Vasco da Gama was about to tell people that there was a new route to the land of wealth that Europeans coveted, which would not only bring endless wealth to Portugal, but also completely upend the balance of power in Europe.

The small, stubborn countries in the corner of the Iberian Peninsula are about to reinvent their glory for more than two centuries, while the cities that have monopolized trade between the Mediterranean and the East are on the verge of extinction.

Alexander was waiting for this time, and he was even calculating the time day by day, compared to which he did not even pay much attention to the invasion of Louis XII.

Almost half a year earlier, Alexander had sent Matthews Tiego to Sines, the home of da Gama, where most of his family had been living in the small port town bordering the Atlantic.

Alexander had a plan, and his plan was so big that it might take many years to take shape, which made him sometimes wonder if he would be able to see even the prototype of this plan in his lifetime, but even so he still firmly decided to go on, because he knew that too many things would happen in the era he lived in, and there would be too many great people who would be admired, worshipped, or fascinated by future generations, and he had come to this era of bright stars. He can't allow or tolerate himself being so obscure and obscured by the light of the ladies of these times.

Naples is the key to the wave of the coming era of new routes, and the more distant new world will also be inextricably linked here.

Alexander recalled his plan again in his mind, this time he did not have a lot of time to return to Naples, so he needed to consider all kinds of possibilities to achieve his goal, and the key to the whole plan was to go to Zhussa.

According to the news from the French side, Louis XII's fleet was about to be ready, and with the arrival of the hot July, the French were about to appear on the Apennine Peninsula.

Like the previous invasion by Charles VIII, Louis XII saw the capture of Naples as an important step in the conquest of Italy.

However, unlike last time, this time Naples will not only face the French, a formidable enemy, but also the King of Naples, Frederick, will not know that in addition to facing Louis XII, Ferdinand of Aragon has finally been impatient, and in the name of the heir to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Ferdinand is watching his crown and preparing to annex Naples at any time.

"Poor Frederick," Alexander said softly in a tone more mocking, "it is a pity that your enemies are not two, and soon you will know how miserable your fate is." ”

After Alexander finished speaking, he looked at the undulating sea in the distance, which was in the direction of Naples.

"My dear sister, you can't imagine what kind of gift I have in store for your 20th birthday."