Saqi walked around the room in distraction, and a little farther away, several other high-ranking officials in the Florentine government watched him silent.

The relationship between Florence and the Vatican is too delicate, so that even without Savonarola, it has not been well improved, and it is said that the Medici family was very active during this time, Giovanni and Giulio as the most important members of the family, they appeared in many places, among which Florence was most worried about was that it was said that Giovanni frequently went in and out of the palace of the old Rovere in the Vatican during this time, and Alexander suddenly arrived as the son-in-law of the Rovere family, Sazi, of course, would be upset.

Machiavelli and they had been gone for a long time but there was no news, and Sazi was even more uncertain, although he did not personally command the civilian army, but he still knew that with the current strength of Florence, it was impossible to compare with the Montina army that had just fought with the Ottoman army, and even Sazi was thinking that maybe if the Montina army appeared, those civilian armies might collapse.

In addition, the Florentines today use goods brought from Pisa, and they hold new Pisaan gold coins in their hands, and some of them even beg for a living directly from the Pisa, so Sazi is very suspicious that many people will be willing to fight the father of the Duke of Pisa.

It was early in the summer, and when the dawn entered the room, Sazi realized that they had spent the whole night in a state of panic, but there was no news.

Or no news is good news, at least those two people should still be negotiating with that terrible person these days, Sazi can only comfort himself with this.

Sazi has always been very wary of Massimo, but Mashimo's actions have reassured him a little during this time, and now he even pins his hopes on those two people.

"Or we can ask the Pope for help," an official suddenly spoke, his words breaking the silence in the room, and seeing that all eyes were on him, the official licked his somewhat dry lips and said carefully, "Or maybe the Pope doesn't want to see the Medici family back in power, knowing that they seem to be too close to the cardinal right now, and you know that those two men should not be all the way." ”

Sazi raised his hand and stretched out a finger to move in the air, no one knew what he meant by this action, but Sazi did not show any intention to stop the man from speaking, so that the official immediately plucked up his courage, and he continued: "If the Pope is willing to support us, maybe things will not be bad, we have already surrendered to the Vatican with the execution of Savonarola, and now the Pope will refuse us to make overtures to him?" ”

"But the count," said the other with some hesitation, "you must know that he is the father of the Duke of Pisa." ”

As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell silent again.

Everyone knows that the identity of the Duke of Pisa's father may not be crucial, but if the Duke of Pisa is also the Pope's granddaughter, things get complicated.

Since no one can be sure whether the arrival of the count is the cardinal or simply the Pope's will, it may be self-defeating or even foolish to betray the Pope at this time.

Sazi's annoyance began to spin around the room again, and he stopped to look out the window at what was going on in the courtyard from time to time, and then he continued to walk around, and for the first time he felt the urge to send someone to murder the Medici.

The Sazi family had participated in various murder plots more than once, which made their family's reputation not very good in Florence, so after becoming the consul, Sazi had secretly vowed to save the family from the bad reputation of murderers, but now he suddenly felt that maybe the decision of his fathers and brothers back then was not necessarily wrong, because if you want to completely eliminate a threatening opponent, there is no simpler and more effective than murder.

As for the murder of the Count of Montina, Sazi did not think about it, not because he had any affection for Alexander, but simply because he knew it was impossible.

In addition to the fact that the Count of Montina always had enough guards around him, it was also inconvenient to attack, and the more important reason was that Sazi knew very well what kind of terrible retribution he would face if he murdered the count.

Angry women are unreasonable and even insane, and if there are several such angry women, and almost all of them have heavy weapons to determine life and death, then it would be too unwise to risk the entire city being bloodied.

Sazi only hoped that things would be eased, even at a cost, and for that he had his chief secretary and a group of men draw up an agreement in the next room, and he had decided to make all the concessions he could make while trying to secure Florence's position.

"Everyone, let us pray to God for our city, this is probably the darkest hour before the dawn comes, maybe we are all destined to leave a shameful infamy in the history of Florence, but just remember that everything we do together is for Florence."

Sazi's words made the consuls look solemn, and they knew that he was right, and if things did get to the point of no return, they would have to bear the fate of infamy at the cost of protecting the city.

A hurried commotion came from outside, and people immediately rushed to the windows to look out.

Sazi tried to calm himself down, his eyes on the door, and as the footsteps drew closer, he reached out and pulled the lining of the garment in front of him, and then picked up the scepter on the table and held it tightly in his hand.

The door opened, and Mahimo and Machiavelli walked in.

The officials immediately greeted the abbot, but all eyes were on Machiavelli, who was following behind.

"Tell me if you're bringing good or bad news."

Sazi asked the secretary, his face flushed slightly, for the Archon was in some unusual euphoria at this time because of his excitement and uneasiness.

"My lord, this is a bit complicated," Machiavelli whispered to Sazi, "or I should report to you separately." ”

"No, say it here, say it now!" Sazi loudly rejected the secretary's suggestion: "We need to know what happened, and we need to know what we are facing." ”

Machiavelli glanced at Massimo with some embarrassment, and then he bowed to Sazi: "That's right, the purpose of Count Montina's visit this time is to establish a closer relationship with Florence, or rather to make us closer to Pisa. ”

Sazi was stunned for a moment, and then his face showed unconcealed anger.

"You're saying he's going to make us admit that his daughter is also the Duke of Florence, right?"

As soon as Sazi's words came out, everyone in the room couldn't help but froze.

All eyes were fixed on Machiavelli's face, hoping for a negative answer from his expression, but they were soon disappointed.

"Does he want us to surrender to Pisa?"

"What could be more absurd and terrible than the recognition of the Duke of Pisa's rule over Florence?"

The consuls, who had recovered from the accident, shouted angrily, and some had begun to shout orders for the civilian army to prepare for the defense of the city.

Sazi paced slowly in the room, he didn't think of this possibility, but he always wanted to avoid the luck of the past, which made him think again and again that things would not go to the worst step, although the fate of Florence and Pisa were now completely entangled, but at least nominally Florence was still free, but the sudden arrival of the Count of Montina broke his illusions.

"What does the Pope say, and what about the cardinals?" Sazi suddenly asked urgently, he didn't believe that the two big people in the Vatican would allow this kind of thing to happen, at least no matter who should have someone who was going to oppose this kind of behavior, then maybe he could get some support from the Vatican, thinking of this, Sazi suddenly came to his senses, he walked up to Mashimo and put his hands together, and said in a pleading tone, "Dean, Florus needs your help, now only you can save our city," Sazi said and bent down to Mashimo, his head was pressed very low, The consul on his chest hung straight down and shook slightly in the air, "Please go to Rome and explain everything here to the Vatican, ask for the support and help of the Vatican, and please show the Pope that Florence is willing to accept the Vatican's wishes." ”

Massimo looked at Sazi speechlessly, remembering what Alexander had told him before returning to prepare for the Vatican, and now it seemed that the Count had really guessed what was going to happen next.

And what about Machiavelli? Massimo couldn't help but look at the secretary next to him, who was also looking strange because of the change in events, and sure enough, with Alexander's guess.

Machiavelli tried his best to look calm at this time, but his heart was pounding, and he also thought of the Count's previous judgment that Massimo would soon go to Rome, and now that things were going as Alexander said, he secretly sighed that the Count had predicted the accuracy, and his heart could not help but become warm.

Of course, he did not forget that Alexander had said that he wanted his position in Florence to become more important, but what made Machiavelli more concerned was Alexander's "prophecy" that the Medici family might return to Florence in the future.

If the Medici family had a chance to regain control of Florence, Machiavelli felt that he should not miss this rare opportunity!

"We have to wait for news from the Vatican, but we must also be ready to fight for Florence," Sazi excitedly walked back and forth, "the civil army must be ready, Niccolò I want you to organize the civil army immediately and prepare for battle, so everyone, is there anyone who opposes the appointment of our good citizen Niccolò Machiavelli to the position of city defense officer?" ”

The Florentines in the room had strange looks on their faces, they didn't expect Sazi to take the opportunity to let his people occupy important positions at such a time, but although they knew his intentions, they really couldn't think of any other way to deal with this situation than to support him at this time.

They were also frightened by the aggressive posture of the Count of Montina, and for fear that he might completely anger that man, the Florentine officials, though angry at the constant pressure from Pisa, did not dare to speak out against Pisa's plundering of Florence.

Now that they have developed to the point of actually having to compete with the Count of Montina on the battlefield, they are naturally unwilling to put themselves in danger easily.

Seeing that the others had to acquiesce in this decision despite their dissatisfaction, Sazi proudly stroked the heavy ruling ornament on his chest.

The Count of Montina may have had great ambitions for Florence, but Sazi was not going to pass up this great opportunity because of that.

The Sazi's desire to rule Florence lasted more than a century, when their ancestors became the city's nobles along with Giovanni Dibichi de Medici, the founder of the Medici family, who later became tyrants of Florence, while the Sazi family remained firmly suppressed by the Medici.

Now an opportunity presented him, and for Sazi, the power of Florence had never been so close to him.

As for the threat of the Count of Montina, in addition to pinning his hopes on Massimo's trip to Rome, Sazi still hopes to reach a private agreement with the Count of Montina.

It was only when he sent Machiavelli to test the count's intentions that he did not completely give up the opportunity to keep Florence.

Machiavelli couldn't help but feel thrilled in his heart as he bowed to accept the appointment, he was well aware of the great difference between the second secretary of the consul and the city guard, and it can be said that it was from this time that he really became a big man in Florence.

However, while excited, Machiavelli was also secretly amazed by the Count's grasp of the situation and the accuracy of Sazi's thoughts, and he even guessed that Sazi would promote him in order to seize the command of the civilian army.

Massimo next to him looked at this scene and fell into deep thought, he remembered Alexander's promise to him, thinking that maybe one day he might become the pope, Massimo couldn't help but feel an irrepressible tremor all over his body.

"Go to Rome," Massimo's mind flashed through what Alexander had said to him before parting, "you will find the answer there that will confuse you, believe me, Savonarola may be a pure man, but he is not your example or your destination, your destiny is farther away, farther away, in people." ”

Massimo did not remember how he had been when he left, but now he suddenly felt that maybe he really should go to Rome, and he would not forget that Alexander had said that Savonarola was not his role model or his destination, so he was eager to find out what kind of person he should become.

Suddenly he had changed from a liar to a devout monk, and even Massimo himself found it difficult to adapt, but whenever he saw the books and manuscripts left by Savonarola, he could not help but look through them, as if there was something in them that made him difficult to discard.

Soon after Machiavelli stood in front of the People's Palace at dawn and rang the heavy bronze bell with his own hands, the soldiers of the People's Army who gradually gathered in the square in the courtyard of the People's Palace did not raise any questions about Machiavelli's appointment.

Looking at the civilian army, Sazi standing in the window had a complicated expression, he had great expectations for this army, but from the lazy appearance of the soldiers below, he really couldn't tell what role they would play in the battle that might break out.

Once again, Sazi wondered whether Machiavelli should be sent to negotiate privately with the Count of Montina, or whether Florence would accept a new treaty that was not too bad at a certain price.

Sazi walked to the next door and watched the chief secretary and a group of officials still babbling over some terms, and he couldn't help but feel an indescribable boredom in his heart.

"When did the Count enter the city, and where was his army?"

Sazi asked impatiently, and when he heard that he had not yet found the shadow of the army of the Count of Montina, he was a little surprised for a moment.

Meanwhile, in the town outside the city, Alexander had just woken up after a good dream.

It was not yet very bright, and the eastern dawn shone from the top of the mountain in the distance, and painted the top of the mountain with a layer of golden magnificence, and then this dazzling light kept rising upward, like an angel waving golden wings, and banished the darkness in the shade far away.

The city soon faded away from a mysterious veil of darkness and bathed in the morning light, while the city of Florence woke up to the faint noise of noise.

Standing on the hillside outside the town and looking at the city below, Alexander knew that the night was not going to be a good time for the Florentines, but he did not sympathize with them.

Alexander had no interest in ruling Florence, or that while the city was the center of all European civilization today, art was never the most important thing in a turbulent era, and it would be a vivid microcosm of the magnificent era that future generations would look forward to, but just as a bronze cannon was more useful than a bronze statue for Ludvico Sforza, Florence is far less important to people today than elsewhere.

The first place Alexander "visited" after returning to Italy was Florence, and the real reason was because it was related to the Medici family.

A carriage came from far and near the mountain road, and the carriage was surrounded by a group of guards, and when the team was still far away, the scouts had already met it, but instead of stopping the carriage, the guards along the way joined the queue of guards.

Looking at the gradually moving convoy, Alexander had a smile on the corner of his mouth, his eyes fell on the red and white cross flag held by the standard-bearer next to the car, and noticed the strange look of Oflaiyi next to him, Alexander smiled and said to himself: "I don't go to the mountain, but the mountain comes to me." ”

Listening to the Count's tampered scripture, Ofleiyi shook his head helplessly.

A trumpet sounded, announcing to the whole town, and to Florence down the hill: "Her Royal Highness Estles, Duchess of Pisa, has arrived." ”

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