There was a dreary in the basement, and Alexander VI instructed his followers to bring in the chilled wine, and after filling two glasses, he handed one of them to Alexander himself: "I must admit that I did not expect you to really succeed." ”

Hearing the Pope's somewhat self-deprecating words, Alexander only smiled silently.

This is a bold, even somewhat crazy plan, which has been carried out meticulously step by step since the day it was first implemented, and no one would have thought that even the Pope would be involved in such a plan and conspiracy, and the purpose was only to deal the final fatal blow to the Fugger family!

Alexander's companions still didn't think about how much he valued the Fugger family, nor did they think about how attached he was to the family's wealth.

From John Sr. to the Jacob Fugger brothers, who laid the foundation of the family, not only did they create an astonishing fortune in just two generations, but they also firmly grasped the precious resource relationship with the supreme ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, and even within a few decades the family was able to buy the nominally most noble crown in Europe, which alone was enough to make Alexander regard the Fuggers as his greatest and most threatening enemies in commercial competition.

Although the Jews of Venice had laid a seemingly doomed trap for the Fugger family, Alexander was still not at ease, knowing that with the wisdom of Fugger might be able to miraculously extricate himself from the crisis, and once the Fugger family was given such a chance, it would bring him endless troubles.

There is no impermeable wall in the world, with the experience and relationship of the Fugger family, it is not difficult to figure out who is behind them, maybe the Venetians don't care about this, because they are incompatible with Emperor Maximian, so they don't care if they offend the Fugger family who supports him, but Alexander can't ignore all the troubles that he may bring once he is exposed, the key is that he doesn't want the Fugger family to drag him back at this time.

Therefore, he must take advantage of the fact that the Fugger family is still mired in the quagmire and is struggling with the difficulties before him, and deal the final and deadliest blow to this behemoth created with gold and power.

It was June 1499, and no one knew what this meant better than Alexander, who, while the attention of the Italians was focused on the French, Alexander's eyes were set on the Iberian Peninsula, far away from the African continent, at the western entrance to the Mediterranean.

Soon, a message will come that will shake the whole West, and it will not be surprising that the Fugger family will be facing a tremor like a great earthquake in the entire Mediterranean economic circle.

With this in mind, Alexander took a sip of a refreshing wine.

"Your Majesty, the Fugger family is finished, and now they have not only lost everything, but they are also in debt, so we can carry out the next plan." Alexander said to the Pope with a smile.

Alexander VI nodded, when he heard about the amount of money that the Jews had lent to the Fugger family in this astonishing deception, even the Pope, who was known for his extravagance, was so frightened that he could hardly imagine how Alexander could dare to make such a big deal, which even made the Pope wonder if someone was secretly manipulating all this behind his back.

But then a series of events made the Pope finally understand that all this was planned by Alexander, and now that the plan has come to this point, the Pope not only laments the subtlety and success of the plan, but also secretly feels frightened.

Although there were many people involved in this plan, for many the plan was already the end of the plan, and the next step was how everyone pounced on the behemoth that fell with a bang, and then cut off their own piece of fat booty on the rich prey of Fugger.

But Alexander VI was one of the few who knew that the matter was not over, and that it was at most half the battle.

Because according to Alexander's plan, the next thing to do was to bring them a steady stream of wealth, not just a small fortune on Fugger, a dead and defeated man.

"Do you think we really have a chance?" The Pope was eager to try but slightly hesitant, after seeing the secret letter sent by Alexander from the Balkans, Alexander VI almost suffered a stroke because of excitement and excitement, after all, this is not only a bold but also crazy plan, whether it is the first half of the Fugger family, or the later idea that makes the Pope salivate just by thinking about it, it is not easy to really implement it" You must know that the French are coming soon, and Louis is different from Charles, this person is not easy to deal with. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, I have dealt with Louis in Sicily, he is a man," Alexander smiled, to the former Duke of Orleans, Alexander was not only very impressed, but even said to be the first real big man he met after coming to this time, but unfortunately he and Louis seem to be born to deal with each other, so that when he was just a small person, he had already formed a bond with the future king of France, "But now the trouble is not Louis but Caesar." ”

Hearing Alexander's words, the Pope's expression changed slightly, he put down the wine glass gently, stretched out his hand and put his hand on Alexander's shoulder and pressed it hard: "Alexander, don't you think you are a little too strict or prejudiced against Caesar, I know that he hates you a little After all, you took Lucrezia, this is the attitude that every brother will have, and I also know that he is jealous of you, because he used to be too proud, but you have made him taste defeat again and again," the Pope said as he took Alexander and walked out the door. In addition, you have to admit that you are closer to Giovanni, but you are very indifferent to him, which makes him very unhappy and uncomfortable, but in any case you are family, and family members can and should tolerate each other. ”

Listening to the old man's tireless persuasion, Alexander wondered what Caesar would have thought when he knew what had happened.

Compared to Jeffrey, another bear child who taught the royal family, Caesar was undoubtedly more dangerous.

Alexander was really surprised by Caesar's sudden return from France, so when he appeared, Alexander felt that his plans had been disrupted.

He deliberately spilled the wine he had sent before, just to take the opportunity to ask Caderon to bring news to the Pope, and also to remind the Pope not to let the sudden appearance of Caesar ruin their good deeds.

After all, a person who is brave and determined can cause much more trouble than the bear child who only fantasizes about how to teach his brother a lesson all day long.

In this plan, it can be said that there is no Caesar's role at all, in Alexander's impression, Caesar may be a good army commander, at least he fought bravely and bravely, but everything stops there, the so-called Poison Duke's fame is more from his father's great power, when Alexander VI died unexpectedly, Caesar's career immediately went downhill, so that in the end his death is quite strange.

But now Caesar seems to have become a stumbling block to him, whether it is his deformed feelings for Lucrezia, or perhaps, as Alexander VI said that his inexplicable hostility towards him because of jealousy and various reasons, makes Alexander feel that he thinks that Caesar will be a man who will not be able to achieve enough in the future.

If you think about it, this is probably why he had a significantly better impression of Giovanni in the first place, and even now, Alexander still regrets Giovanni's death a little, because he believes that if Giovanni had lived, his relationship with the Borgia family would have been at least much more normal than it is now.

"What are you going to do with the Frenchman, Count de Bowicken of Proswan?"

Hearing Alexander avoid his own words and ask such a tricky question, Alexander VI's face slowly sank.

He knew that there were certain irreconcilable contradictions between Alexander and Caesar, and the reasons for these contradictions could not even be made public, but now that they had a common purpose, and even a common enemy for the time being, the Pope had to find a way to mend the irreparable rift between them.

"The Frenchman."

The Pope rubbed his forehead with a slight headache, and the Montina Guard took the opportunity to occupy and seal the Carolingian Palace under the pretext of looking for the missing count, completely cutting off the contact between those foreign envoys and their respective countries, that is, at least for a period of time, the news of the crazy decline in the price of copper and other commodities could not be spread immediately, after all, the manipulation of copper prices in Alexander's plan was only a part of it, and even later it was only a small part, and his purpose was to take the opportunity to shake the pattern of commodity pricing in the whole of Europe, Then let the whole of Europe accept the "Cambrai price system", with the Rome-Pisa exchange as the pricing authority.

It's just that no one would have thought that during the blockade of the Carolingian Palace, such a big fish would suddenly appear.

"Perhaps we may admit his temporary access," said the Pope, who thought for a moment and said helplessly, "but it will certainly arouse a lot of objections, especially now that I have to break the bank again, which reminds me of the days when I almost bankrupted Borgia in order to become Pope." The Pope said helplessly, and then frowned again and looked at Alexander, "But what is the matter with Lucrezia, you must know that she accused me of murdering the father of her child in front of her servants, and this is too hurtful, didn't you tell her that all this is false?" ”

"So did you tell Caesar that it was a play?"

Hearing Alexander's rhetorical question, the Pope hesitated slightly, then waved his hand and continued to walk forward: "Okay, let's talk about the Count de Boweken, what should we do with him." ”

"Or I have a way," said Alexander, after a moment's thought, "but you need to help me cover it up in front of Lucrezia, and tell Caesar that there is a limit to my patience with him." ”

The Pope's feet paused, he slowly turned back to look at Alexander, looking at the serious expression on Alexander's face, the Pope paused slightly, but then nodded in response: "Don't worry, I will remind him, but Alexander, you have to promise me not to take the initiative to provoke Caesar." ”

"I promise you, as long as he doesn't provoke me, I won't take the initiative to provoke." Alexander nodded in response, and seeing that the Pope seemed to be a little relaxed because of his promise, Alexander could only shake his head lightly in his heart.

Caesar Borgia was never Alexander's formidable enemy, not in the past, not now, and never in the future.

Caesar was not in the Potico Palace, which at least eased the awkward situation a little, but when Lucrezia saw him, she first burst into an exclamation that resounded throughout the house, and then pounced on him.

"Alexander, where have you been, God, have you been locked up, tell me what happened," Lucrezia cried and clutched Alexander's shoulders as if she was afraid that he would disappear again at any moment, "Those Montina guards, that Ofleiyi they are looking for you everywhere, you know what, they have captured the Carolingian Palace, you can go there and join them now." ”

Lucrezia spoke incoherently and nervously, and then she suddenly grabbed Alexander's arm and walked outside.

"Let's get out of here, hurry up and get out of Rome, let's go back to Pisa, let's go home," Lucrezia whispered nervously as she walked, while her gaze swept vigilantly towards Alexander VI who was standing behind, and then she suddenly stepped back and pressed her back against Alexander, "Don't worry about me here, if someone wants to threaten you and use me as a hostage, they won't dare to hurt me." ”

Alexander seemed to see a hint of embarrassment flashing on the Pope's face, but he felt the slight trembling of Lucrezia's back due to nervousness, and he couldn't help but hold the woman in his arms tightly with pity.

"Don't worry, baby, no one wants to hurt me, and they can't hurt me," Alexander whispered in Lucrechia's ear, the corners of his lips touched the woman's soft and slightly hot earlobe, Alexander's hand actually reached out from behind to wrap around Lucrezia's waist, "But I'm missing you a little now, let's find a place to spend an afternoon alone, okay?" ”

Alexander VI looked at his blushing daughter in the man's arms with a heavy face, and after a while he said vaguely: "It's so unusual, my daughter look at what you look like, you are a Borgia." ”

"But I am Estles' mother," Lucrezia said, glancing at Alexander, "and he is the father of my daughter." ”

Listening to Lucrezia's words, Alexander sighed lightly, he suddenly felt that the little woman in front of him was extremely cute, different from the previous ones with some utilitarianism and coveting her beauty, at this time Lucrezia gave him only indescribable love.

Alexander VI opened his mouth, then waved his arm, and he shook his head as if he was a little tired, and walked towards a chair, next to Pedro Caderon, who immediately helped the Pope to sit down slowly.

"Your Majesty, allow me to retire for the time being," Alexander bowed to the Pope, and then without waiting for the old man to agree, he led Lucrezia towards the door, and the figures of the two had just disappeared in the doorway, and only Lucrezia's half-startled "Huh" came from the corridor, and then the voice stopped abruptly.

Pedro Caderon secretly looked at the look on the Pope's face until Alexander VI opened his mouth and asked him, "Where is Caesar?" ”

"The Duke has gone to the Gilpitz Palace," replied Cadron with a strange look, but the Pope did not see his strange expression, "the Duke said he was going to visit Madame Maria." ”

"Yes, he should have gone and see," Alexander VI's voice was slightly hoarse, and a layer of moisture appeared in his cloudy eyes, "Giovanni's wife must not have had a good time this time, she must have been lonely with Lucrezia before. ”

Caderon, who was standing on the side, listened with an ugly face, and felt unspeakably uncomfortable for Caesar to visit his widowed sister-in-law Caderon alone, but Caesar made it clear that he wanted to go alone, and Caderon was also worried about whether Alexander would reveal his secrets.

Caderon felt that his life was simply tormenting, and when he saw Alexander and the Pope appear together, he felt that his breath was about to stop, because he thought that Alexander had exchanged Giovanni's news for freedom.

Cadron was nervous, so he didn't notice the Pope whispering to himself: "That's fine, it's all Borgia after all." ”

When Alexander emerged from the Potico Palace with Lucrezia in his arms, he caused a much greater shock than he had imagined.

So much so that the first person to see him saw from a distance the two men on the horses who fell off their horses in excitement.

In fact, on the way to the Potico Palace, there were already many spies sent by the nobles of the Roman city, and they all knew about the sudden return of Caesar and the inexplicable disappearance of Alexander in the Potico Palace, and then the sudden occupation and blockade of the Carolingian Palace by the whole army of Montina's Guards shocked Rome.

Now, Alexander suddenly appeared, and all the previous descriptions of him being murdered in the Potico Palace, or simply painting it, were the man who was poisoned first with Canterella, and then brutally cut his throat with a sword, and now appeared in front of the people on horseback with Lucrezia, who was rumored to have caused this bloody murder, and at this moment they all looked different and dumbfounded, The look that even the best painters could hardly fully express, became a sentient appearance that Alexander remembered for a long time.

On the way from Palazzo Potico to the Carolingian Palace, Alexander could see a lot of people coming to hear the news, which made him secretly careful.

The situation in Rome was indeed too chaotic, especially at this time, and in order to make the whole plan seem more realistic, even Ofleuil only knew about the part of the plan that would be taken at the moment of the Carolingian Palace at the slightest signal.

Fortunately, on the way, he soon encountered several hunters who had stayed outside Potico's palace to observe the movements, and when the guards were surprised when they saw the sudden appearance of Alexander, and then immediately surrounded him and protected him in the middle, Alexander breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is Estelles okay?" Only then did Alexander whisper to Lucrezia.

"She's fine, she's in Marino Palace now, and Oflaiyi is protecting her." Lucrezia said nervously, she wanted to ask Alexander about his sudden disappearance, but the thought of her father and Alexander's appearance at the same time, infiltrating the bloodline of the Borgia family's conspiracy, made her faintly aware that there might be some secret hidden in it.

"That's good," Alexander smiled, and then whispered in Lucrezia's ear, "remember how I snatched you from Caesar?" ”

A blush appeared on Lucrezia's face, and she leaned back and said in a low voice, "Are you going to take me away like you did?" ”

"No, this time I'm going to take you away in front of all the Romans."

After Alexander finished speaking, he clamped the horse's belly hard, and with the neighing warhorse stepped forward, galloping all the way in the direction of the Carolingian Palace.

At the same time, in the Carolingian Palace, Ofleiuil, who had already received the news of Alexander's appearance, was stunned at first, and then slowly stood up from the table piled high with various papers.

"Go and greet your lordship," said Ofleigh to a few of the somewhat inexplicable Montina guards beside him, "and bring with him the Count of Proswan, who is a great man." ”