Zoloni looked gloomy and walked down the street with the Florentine man named Machiavelli, he originally wanted to be close to the woman who was so beautiful that he was fascinated, but the Florentine man next to him asked Zaloni to be his guide, thinking that this person had admitted that this was not his first time in Pisa, and Zaloni felt that this Florentine man named Machiavelli was obviously deliberately sabotaging his good deeds.

But Zaloni did not dare to snub the envoy from Florence.

As a result of being too close to the vast and rich city-state of Florence, Pisa has been shrouded in the shadow of Florence for a long time.

As the former overlord of the Tirenian Sea, Pisa did have a period of glory, and at its most powerful time, it even defeated Genoa, which was on the same level as Venice, and seized control of the Tirenian Sea.

However, even at that time, Pisa still felt very difficult to face Florence, not to mention that with the gradual defeat of the competition at sea, whether it was at sea or on land, the glory of Pisa has become yesterday's obsolete.

On the contrary, Florence is getting stronger.

When the Medici family ruled Florence, the two cities were at peace, but with the fall of the Medici family, Pisa was also greatly affected, at least as the Duke of Pisa, the Zaloni family had to give up the ducal throne and flee in this turmoil, and to the disappointment of the Pisan people, when they followed Florence into the arms of the republic, in exchange for not the friendship of the Florentines, but the annexation and coveting of inch by inch.

Florence had apparently coveted Pisa as an offshore port for a long time, and as the monk of Savonarola became the leader of Florence, Florence did not hesitate to reveal their ambitions in the face of Pisa like a little brother.

The Pisan people are well aware of Florence's ambition to annex themselves, but in the face of that large and terrible neighbor, the only hope that Pisa can hope for is that Florence is now a republic, except to be careful not to give any excuses to the other party.

The Pisaans hoped that the Florentine officials would continue to quarrel forever over whether or not to start a war, and perhaps there would be a new turn in the long quarrel, and this thought gave the Pisbians a chance and a desire for someone to save them.

It's just that Florence suddenly sent an envoy, and the news made the Pisa people immediately nervous, and in addition to Zaroni, several high-ranking officials of the Pisa City Hall hurriedly arrived, although this man named Machiavelli did not seem to be a big man, but they still regarded this person as a distinguished guest, and carefully invited him to the Pisa City Hall.

Shortly after entering the city, Alexander chose a tavern that seemed rather secluded and stopped.

Despite his desire to leave the city as soon as possible, Alexander had to pause for a moment to prepare for the rest of his trip.

For Alexander had already discovered that it was a bit foolish to get the peasant's clothes from the old man.

Neither he nor Lucrezia were clearly out of step with their current outfits, not to mention the fact that they had a mount that rivaled the Pegasus of Greek mythology, which made them noticeable wherever they went.

What's more, Lucrezia's beauty caused them more trouble after they put on peasant clothes, at least if they dressed decently, that Zaloni would not have taken him seriously and kept dedicating himself to Lucrezia.

"We've got to change some clothes here, and then we'll leave Pisa tonight after we've had enough." Alexander commanded in a low voice, and seeing that Lucrezia was silent, he reached out and gently grabbed her arm, "Listen, I will send you back to Rome, and then you can go back to your own life, this trip will be no different to you than a dream, you will not be harmed in any way." ”

"Won't it?" Lucrezia looked at Alexander with a slightly strange look, "You said you were going to see my father, is that true?" ”

Alexander scratched his head, he knew he was going to pay for the spur of the moment at the gates.

But at that moment, he did think about what it would be like if he married Lucrezia.

Alexander VI is undoubtedly one of the toughest and most suitable candidates for the patronage of this era, and it is conceivable that if he could become a relative of the Borgia family, he would even have the capital to challenge the future Spanish throne early.

The idea was tempting, and Alexander had even considered whether he might take down Lucrezia right away from him since such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was in front of him.

But this thought only flashed through his mind, and then he gave it up.

This is because Alexander VI was not only the most unreliable candidate of his time, but even the most promising.

One need only think of Giovanni Sforza, who is now dead, and Alfonso, who is destined to die in the future.

If Giovanni's death surprised Alexander and exceeded his memory, then Alfonso of Billy Scielli was actually killed by order of Alexander VI.

After two failed marriages, Lucrezia will have the third time that her father and brother will use them as pawns to stabilize their power and marry again.

Just thinking about this, Alexander felt that even if he could get Lucrezia to have a baby right away, and then go back to Rome, and do what the Borgia family did, they would not hesitate to kill him immediately, and then find a new wife for Lucrezia.

So this tempting thought was not only fleeting, but Alexander also secretly warned himself in his heart that he must not be fooled by Lucrezia's beauty, after all, the enemies he will face in the future are really terrible opponents that make people shudder to think about it.

"Of course I will go to His Majesty the Pope, for I have kidnapped his daughter," Alexander said evasively, "but I will let you return to Rome safely, but don't trouble me until then." ”

Lucrezia had a look of disappointment on her face, and she looked at Alexander's face for a moment, then turned her head to the side.

Because of the twisting of his neck, several floating tendons on Lucrezia's snow-white neck were slightly propped up, floating faintly under his skin, which couldn't help but make him slightly distracted in Alexander's eyes, but he quickly reminded himself not to be too obsessed with this woman, and thinking about all the romances about her, Alexander felt that Lucrezia was not actually suitable for him.

There was a rush of footsteps from outside the tavern, and several figures appeared in the doorway, and as the men entered, the otherwise secluded tavern immediately became noisy.

"Look who's coming." The tavern keeper was obviously familiar with the mercenaries who were dressed in various costumes, but could still be identified as a group of pizza mercenaries from the weapons they carried, and he took out two wine cans from the shelves against the wall and placed them in front of them, and asked them, "Tell me if there is any news lately, I heard that the Florentines are about to attack Pisa." ”

"You're too late to know," a mercenary in an exaggerated feathered hat sneered, "the Florentines have sent messengers, and it seems that whether there will be war or not, peace will soon know." ”

"Will Fiorentina attack Pisa at this time?" The tavernkeeper looked a little excited, "It's not good to fight, but if there is a war, maybe you can gather more mercenaries." ”

"By then, this tavern of yours will be able to make a lot of money again, won't it?" The mercenary in the hat looked at the tavern keeper with disdain, and then sighed slightly, "But maybe not too optimistic, you know, I heard that those officials are worried about the tax tightness, and Pisa may not be able to afford enough to hire more mercenaries." ”

The boss sighed a little disappointed, and then asked, "So what do the old men think they should do to resist the Florentines, I have heard that their people are crazy, especially the Savonarola, it is said that he even forbids his people to drink, I don't want this man to rule Pisa." ”

The boss's words obviously resonated with those mercenaries, for these mercenaries who work all day in war, uninhibited has become an indispensable part of their lives, unless they die in the war, they celebrate and survive with spirits and women every time they leave the battlefield, but now it seems that this good thing will soon leave them.

"Maybe it's time for us to get a new job." One of the mercenaries took a sip of wine, lay down on the table and said quietly, "I don't want to live like an ascetic, especially if I heard that the Florentines are preparing to rearm their army, if we really want to fight, we will suffer, and the little money I have earned is not enough to kill me." ”

"But maybe it won't start." The hat mercenary shook his head, "Don't forget that Milan and the Venetians are preparing for war with the Holy See, if that Savonarola attacks Pisa at this time, it may give the Vatican an excuse to send troops, you must know that the Pope has always been dissatisfied with that person." ”

"Oh." The mercenaries sitting around and some of the guests who were listening vigorously immediately showed their expressions.

"But what is that Florentine here for, I heard that he is a councilor." Another mercenary asked, a little puzzled.

"I don't know, but I've heard something strange before," the hat mercenary looked around deliberately, waiting to attract everyone's attention before continuing, "I heard from some of the people who came back last night that it seemed that a Venetian army had appeared nearby, and they had even seen it pass by in the lower reaches of the Arno last night, but they looked in a hurry, as if they were looking for someone. ”

"What are the Venetians doing in Pisa?" The boss was a little surprised, and asked, "I've heard that the Governor of Venice, Barbaregg, is a very powerful man." ”

"Who knows what these noble lords are thinking." The hat mercenary shook his head boredly, "Speaking of which, I don't think the current life is better than in the past, at least when the Zaloni family was in power, the Florentines were not so greedy, but now they may come over at any time, and don't you think that the life of the whole city is becoming more and more difficult now, at least everyone can mix well when the Zaloni family is here." ”

"Oh, don't mention it." The mercenary's complaint annoyed the boss even more, and he looked at the guests in his tavern, and when he saw that all but a couple of young men and women who were apparently foreigners were regular customers, he spoke boldly, "The old men of the town hall have all become lazy pigs now, and the promises made to everyone have long been forgotten, and I have begun to miss the time when the Zaloni family was here, at least at that time they would have found a way to take care of us small businessmen in order to collect more taxes." ”

The owner's words immediately aroused the conciliation of the guests in the tavern, and the people began to recall the time of a few years ago, and the result of the discussion was that the rule of the Zaloni family was rough and the taxes were a bit heavy, but at least they could survive at that time.

"Look at the present, the Florentines are going to annex us, the Venetians are coming again, but the old men of the town hall only know how to serve the Florentine man carefully, do they think that way they can avoid being annexed by others?" The proprietor kept shaking his head, he picked up the wine jar on the table and poured himself a glass, then raised it and shouted to the customers in the shop, "I have a treat today, who knows if tomorrow the Florentines will go into the city, and then we may all starve." ”

There was a burst of cheers in the tavern, and one of the guests suddenly said, "I've heard that the Zaloni family has gone to Rome, right?" ”

"I don't know," the mercenary shook his head and took a sip of wine, "but it seems that the Pope and the Zaloni family are good, and it was because of the Pope's protection that the Zaloni family was able to escape from Pisa, and I heard that if the French were not coming, the Holy See would have sent an army to help the Zaloni family get back Pisa." ”

"If only that were the case."

I don't know who suddenly said this.

Suddenly, the tavern, which was originally very lively, became silent!

The guests looked at each other, paying close attention to the faces of others, while they smiled a slightly eerie but tacitly sober.

It was only soon that they discovered that there were two strangers in the corner of the tavern who were clearly not regular customers.

Everyone's eyes couldn't help but look at Alexander and Lucrezia, and the mercenary who had spoken the most before stood up straight from leaning against the table, and several mercenaries slowly surrounded Alexander.

Lucrezia's face couldn't help but show panic, she had never dealt with these vulgar mercenaries, looking at these mixed-dressed and hideous faces, she couldn't help but reach out and gently grasp Alexander's right hand that was about to move his hand under the table.

Alexander looked at Lucrezia speechlessly, at this time if he broke free again, he would definitely attract the attention of others, but then it would be difficult to quickly pull out the musket hidden under the cloak.

"Outlander, where did you come from?" The mercenary's voice asked in a deep voice, and then his eyes suddenly lit up.

Alexander noticed the mercenary's strangeness, and he followed the man's gaze.

A delicate ring appeared on Lucrezia's graceful finger on his arm.

On that ring, there is a very eye-catching badge.