Viscount Gronob stood in the open space in front of the fort, looking at the grain convoy that was gradually moving away, beside him, a group of soldiers were carrying cartloads of wheat to the fort in small wooden carts, and a cold wind blew, and the viscount couldn't help but cough lightly.

The retinue knight next to him tried to help him, but was rejected by the viscount.

Looking back at the not-so-tall fortress behind him, it was temporarily built by King Charles on orders last year as part of the perimeter guard of the Roman garrison.

But in retrospect, the viscount thought it was ironic that a group of peasants, apparently new to the battlefield, had won the French army, which made him feel as if the glory of the French was slowly fading.

Looking through the open door and looking at the group of men who were staring at him with indifference, the Viscount began to feel that this winter was going to be difficult.

"Maybe I've done something wrong," said Viscount Gronob, as if to himself and as if to ask the person next to him, "now that my honor is gone, the Gronob family is going to completely decline in my hands." ”

"But at least you have something to eat," the retinue comforted the viscount, "it is said that the Roman army is no better off than we are, and it may not be long before we leave here." ”

The viscount nodded, he had already heard about what was happening on the Roman side, which was why he had taken people out of the fortress before, in addition to patrolling the valley, he also hoped to find food for the people in the fortress.

It's just that he never thought that the grain would be obtained in this way.

Less than thirty horses and a large amount of equipment were exchanged for his freedom and the food that seemed to be enough for them to eat for a while.

"Maybe we don't need so much," the viscount smiled to himself, "and it won't be long before we're going to be out of here, so we can afford less horses and equipment." ”

The attendant did not speak, his gaze also on the group that had almost disappeared in the distance.

At the back of the line, the Bohemian cavalry could be seen guarding them in two vigilant breaks, also in case the French in the fortress took advantage of the attack.

The entourage suddenly felt a little inexplicably sad, he didn't feel sorry for those war horses and equipment, and it wasn't even all for the viscount who looked bad around him, somehow, the entourage had a feeling that it seemed to belong to the era of great knights With the departure of those war horses, they were slowly moving away from their side.

The neighing of horses sounded from a distance, and Alexander saw Carlo galloping past the side of the group, and then quickly disappeared into the jungle ahead.

Looking back, Alexander smiled.

There was indeed a little less food behind him, but there were other things piled up on those wagons.

The Frenchmen in the Brunny Valley were actually "very poor", and when Alexander offered them 2,000 Durant to buy the food they needed, neither the viscount, nor his retinue, nor the slick-looking chief steward, looked surprised.

Obviously, the French thought that 2000 Durant was too much for them to afford, and then after a period of bargaining between the two sides, Alexander had to make some concessions, and finally the two sides traded for 1400 Durant, which was much lower than the price Alexander wanted, and to Alexander's frustration, even then the French had no cash.

The French paid for sheepskins, blankets, jewelry, a collection of cutlery, as well as paintings and marble statues looted from nowhere.

The Agri took the cart of grain off to free the wagon, and watched as the cart was filled to the brim before it was finished.

The whole process was not short, and the Bohemians were always vigilant to keep an eye on the French in the fortress.

In order to reassure the Neapolitans, the cavalrymen's horses were handed over in advance, which made the French seem to have caused a commotion, although it is not known how they finally solved it, but Alexander could see that this matter should have a great impact on the viscount.

It's just that this does not shake Alexander's decision.

Disarming the French cavalry in the Bruigny Valley is the only way he can guarantee that his men will not be attacked again before he leaves your place.

Looking at the trophies in the wagons behind him, Alexander knew that many of his eyes were already red, and that he was not a stingy man, and he knew what it would take to keep an army high in morale.

Alexander lamented that it was not difficult to mobilize the morale of the army, whether it was hundreds of years ago or hundreds of years later.

More than 200 years ago, Pope Urban used only one impassioned speech to let the Europeans bring their own weapons and dry food to launch a dozen holy wars against the Saracens.

And in the future, with the rise of the nation-state, as long as the banner of patriotism is raised, there will definitely be countless people who will voluntarily go to the battlefield.

But that is not possible at all.

Behind every war is a bargaining between employers and mercenaries, and the results of this kind of war that are completely "bought" with money are often predictable.

Naturally, the mercenaries will not work hard for a temporary employer, and the captains of those mercenaries will not be willing to lose their hard-built team for someone.

So at least in the Apennines, where mercenaries are prevalent, war often becomes a child's play, and it is often the case that mercenaries are hired at a high price but suddenly chat about idle things after meeting with the enemy's mercenaries on the battlefield.

You still have to organize your own army, Alexander pondered.

Alexander knew that he would not rely on mercenaries, just as the Bohemians would not leave his fate to the Bohemian cavalry of Nasan, although they were easy to use, except for the Bohemians who were willing to stay and settle in Agri.

Of course, Alexander did not think about forming a French cavalry of his own.

This was not only because he knew that he could not afford such an army with his financial resources, and that even any king in the whole of Europe could not support such a cavalry.

The strength and size of the French cavalry came from the fact that they were a large knightly class in their own right, and these knights who were equipped with their own horses did nothing but fight all day long, and such a large group of people who did not produce but consumed a large amount of food and fish every day were fed by their respective territories, large and small, rather than by their monarchs.

Alexander obviously can't get so much land, he can use cheaper land to feed a group of Bohemians, this is already his limit, if he wants to support a French cavalry, Alexander believes that no one else needs to calculate, his own people will soon eat him up.

However, in addition to financial resources, more importantly, Alexander clearly knew that the era of knights, who had been brilliant in several worlds, was coming to an end!

The change of weapons, the development of warfare, everything heralded the end of the age of knighthood, and even as early as almost a hundred years ago in Agincourt, the British had proved with the dense rain of arrows of longbowmen composed of country farmers that the spears and heavy armor of the French nobles were a tragic fact in front of a well-organized army.

And the advent of firearms made even the most conservative general understand that even an insignificant soldier could easily kill a brave knight of noble birth and draped in clothes from a distance.

This is a time of great change.

Whether it is military or art, whether it is the interpretation of faith or the creation of wealth, even the entire territory of the old world is constantly being subverted, and new sparks are bursting out in the continuous innovation.

Alexander took the notebook he had with him and began to write, he needed to write down these thoughts and some possible things in his memory, which may not seem useful now, but what about the future......

Carlo appeared in front of the group again and again, and he began to take the previous Agri hunters with him, which made Alexander feel that the hunters still knew what to do.

The scout rangers who were assigned to several echelons could ensure maximum vigilance around the team, Alexander did not send Bohemian cavalry, except for the opportunity to train Carlo as scouts, and more importantly, he needed every Bohemian to be in good condition at all times, and in the event of a battle, he could not count on Agri's musketeers.

Joanna's retinue appeared next to the carriage, and he carefully and respectfully said to Alexander, "Your Majesty, please come over."

The battle in the Broueni Valley had many effects, one of which was Joanna's change of attitude towards Alexander.

Joanna didn't care about Alexander's sale of grain to the French, and in fact it was not a strange thing to have business dealings while fighting, especially since Alexander, who owned Agri's domain, was technically a Sicilian, and his behavior did not seem to many people to be criticized.

Of course, if Alexander sold all the grain shipped to the north to the French, it would be a different matter.

As for now, Joanna even thinks that this hillbilly from Sicily is not so stupid.

"Maybe I can give something to this person." That's what Joanna intended.

Some of the things Joanna said were that she hoped that she would not be harassed by the French when she entered Rome.

Strange to say, the Rome that Joanna was about to enter was now being occupied by the French who had occupied and seized the crown of Naples, which made Joanna's situation, although no longer the queen of Naples, somewhat delicate.

Joanna was not worried that the French would refuse her to be outside the city of Rome, but entering a city occupied by the enemy, after all, was dangerous, and no one knew what would happen.

So she hoped that Alexander's army would protect her.

As for the price she will pay, Joanna is not worried.

As long as the trip to Rome went well, the Hanseatic merchant from the Dutch lowlands would naturally pay her bills.

Joanna touched an inconspicuous handbag she had with her, which contained a secret letter from Groningen to the woman named Orgala to pass on to Pope Alexander VI.

The real purpose of Joanna's trip can be said to be entirely for this secret letter.

No matter how much she despised the woman named Orgala, she knew that this and that woman were the eyes and ears of Groningen in Naples, and that maybe that person had other subordinates who did not show up, but that woman could not but be taken seriously as an emissary of the lowlands.

So Joanna listened very carefully to what Orgala, or Groningen, wanted her to say before the Pope, and as for the secret letter, Joanna guessed that there must have been something else in it besides Groningen's request that would impress Alexander VI.

It was because of this that Orgala revealed to her that Alexander was about to make a trip to the north.

It's just that Joanna never expected that this trip, which she thought should be smooth, suffered so many changes.

Joanna knew that the battle in the Broueni Valley would soon spread, and she didn't know how the French would react if they heard the news, but Alexander did make a big impression on her.

A Sicilian braver and more daring than those Neapolitan nobles.

That's Joanna's impression.

It was this impression that made Joanna hope that the Sicilian would continue to follow her.

Hearing the entourage report that Alexander had arrived, Joanna sat up a little straighter, she looked seriously at the outside of the carriage, and when she saw Alexander appear at the door of the carriage, she nodded slightly, looked at him carefully, and then slowly asked:

"How long do we have to get to Rome?"

"Your Majesty, I think there are still two days left."

Alexander thought about it, although crossing the Bruini Valley was actually considered to be entering the Roman territory, but after a battle, he believed that both the French and the nearby coalition forces should have paid attention to their own troops.

So he needs to be more cautious.

And James Columbus, if he was still nearby, should have heard of his arrival, and Alexander would have to slow down his team in order to join him.

Joanna pondered for a moment, and finally spoke: "If I ask you to protect me to Rome, what price should I pay?" ”

Alexander looked up in surprise, he didn't expect Joanna to make such a request.

This made him feel that he thought that it might not be easy to solve the problem, but suddenly found that he had already solved it by himself.

In Alexander's eyes, Joanna was his "guide" into the city of Rome, and he was pondering how to convince her to agree to go with her.

Now, Joanna herself has made this request, and Alexander, in his surprise, feels as if an invisible hand is leading his way.

Just as he ended up on the road to Palermo in Sicily, whether voluntarily or not, there was still a thread that held him in a certain direction.

"It is my pleasure to serve you," Alexander bowed lightly as he rode his horse, "and I think in two days we will be able to enter the city of Rome." ”

"That's great," Joanna finally smiled, "then we're going to do what you want, Captain." ”

The queen deliberately accentuated the title of captain.

Alexander bowed again, and then he couldn't help but turn his head slightly to look west.

Passing through the valley of Bruinie leads to the plain, where on the left bank of the river Tiber stands a magnificent city on a hill.

That city was undoubtedly the center of Europe in this era, and it was the new birthplace of Europe's future civilization.

Everything that happened there, past, present, and future has a huge impact on the world.

That city is called Rome.

…………

Just as Alexander was looking west, he didn't know that a man with a stump was looking in the same direction on a huge Galen ship in the Mediterranean.

"Count the time, the queen must have entered Rome," Groningen whispered to himself, "I hope she doesn't disappoint me, but I have invested a lot of money in her." ”