A long horn sound wafted in the distance, and listening to the tune, Giovanni looked up slightly with a little melancholy to look at the Chimone Mountain in the distance.

"I like this trumpeter," Giovanni said to Alexander, pointing to the soldier standing tall in the distance and blowing the trumpet, "and he reminds me of the shepherds I had seen in my previous days in the realm." ”

"He was a shepherd before," Alexander said, glancing at the trumpeter in the distance, "my soldiers are all from Agri, which is full of mountains, and it is safer for them to fight in the mountains than on the plains." ”

"Are you still mad at that," Giovanni shrugged casually, "I know you care a lot about the soldiers who died in Chimone, but trust me, you'll see more of this in the future, and even see your most important followers die on the battlefield in addition to ordinary soldiers, and if you can't adapt to this, then one day someone else will watch you fall." ”

Alexander nodded, he knew that Giovanni was right this time, sentimentality is by no means what a good general should have, and even sometimes sentimentality is the Achilles' heel.

Looking at Giovanni, Alexander felt for a moment that he looked a little like an older brother-in-law.

"Alexander, I've always felt that I can't see through you, you sometimes seem a little nonsense, but if you think about it later, you will find that everything about you is not a waste of time, at least you can stand in front of me safe and sound now, you know, I still remember that you publicly shot Caesar in front of the town hall."

Giovanni motioned for Alexander to walk with him, he put his hand on Alexander's shoulder and walked slowly, and then continued: "Tell me how long you think peace between us and the Venetians will last, you have been entangled with that Pittiliuno for a long time, and you should be much more familiar with him than anyone else." ”

Alexander nodded, Giovanni was really on point.

It is true that he is much more familiar with the future of Pittiglino than others, but because of this, Alexander has almost forgotten about that person at this time, because he knows that the historical Pittiglino gradually faded out of the Venetian power circle after Charlie withdrew from Italy, and if it were not for this short war that had not occurred before, people would soon forget this once glorious Venetian lieutenant.

But now Alexander is a little unsure if Pitiiliano's future will change, after all, the trajectory of history is slowly but immutably changing.

Sometimes Alexander wondered if Giovanni would have died suddenly on that mysterious night, if his body would have been found floating on the Tiber as before, and his killer would have disappeared, so that his death had become one of the most famous mysteries not only of the Borgia family, but also of Rome, where many conspiracies had taken place for thousands of years.

"I don't know, but I think Venice might let him defend in the east because of the threat from the Ottomans, so maybe we won't see him again." Alexander speculated, but felt that his guess was very reliable, and the Venetians would rather pay a great price than end the war as soon as possible, that is, to prepare for a possible war with the Ottomans as soon as possible.

Although Alexander knew that the sickle-like crescent banner had never really threatened Venice proper.

But their colonies, from now until almost two centuries later, were threatened by the Ottoman Empire, until those colonies were taken away by the Ottomans one by one, and then the decline and decline of Venice, a commercial empire that had been rampant in the Mediterranean for centuries.

Alexander came to his senses from his reverie, looked at Giovanni's face visibly scarred by syphilis, hesitated slightly, reached out and hugged him gently.

"Be careful, Duke, sometimes enemies don't necessarily appear on the battlefield." Alexander whispered something in Giovanni's ear, then patted him the back.

Giovanni smiled and nodded, he didn't know why Alexander suddenly showed him a favor, but he thought it was a good start.

The young man's astonishing changes had already aroused Giovanni's interest, and one only had to think of his devastation when he first arrived in Rome, and then look at him now, and Giovanni had already begun to think that perhaps the young count would be a good helper in the future.

As for him and Lucrezia, Giovanni would have liked to see something happen between the two of them, and if it could add a little more trouble to Caesar's marriage journey, he wouldn't even mind letting his sister have a deeper relationship with this Alexander.

"Okay, that's it." Giovanni turned and flipped on his horse with the help of his servants, "Count, I hope to see you in Rome as soon as possible." ”

With that, he urged his mount and followed his team forward.

Looking at the back of Giovanni, who was slowly disappearing in the sunset, Alexander somehow suddenly felt a faint sense of amazement in his heart.

He knew that he would probably never see Giovanni Borgia again, Duke of Gandino.

Although the exploitation and even framing from the beginning had caused him a lot of trouble, Giovanni had a lot of trust in Alexander during this time, and even helped him a lot.

In particular, the decision to negotiate between Alexander and Pitigilino had the direct benefit of the 5,000 florins in Alexander's personal purse, and the impact of establishing his important position in the short war will be experienced later.

Although he knew that Giovanni's purpose in doing this was just to not let the Genoese Calgino take advantage of him, and to take advantage of the opportunity to entrap himself and then want to get in touch with Count Mordillo, Alexander still couldn't help but feel that Giovanni was better to deal with than Caesar, and it was easier to gain the favor of others.

But that's all Alexander can do, a kind reminder is considered to have done his best for this brother-in-law, and as for what happens to Giovanni in the future, it is not up to him.

Recklessly mixing into troubles that he can't control at all will only bring more trouble to himself.

Moreover, Alexander soon discovered that he had enough troubles to deal with on his own.

Jossa wrote again, and in this letter Josa unexpectedly praised Lucrezia, in addition to her beauty, but also described Lucrezia's infatuation with him, and finally Mademoiselle de Cosenza said righteously, "My dear brother, I have said so much just to tell you that if you can't make Lucrezia Borgia your wife, my sister-in-law, it is nothing less contempt for God's bounty, and I wonder if you are blind or deaf, Otherwise, how could he give up such a good candidate for a wife. ”

Josa's unusual behavior in the letter made Alexander wonder if Lucrezia was there when she wrote the letter, and soon another letter written under a secret name confirmed his suspicion.

However, in that other letter, Josa insisted on letting Alexander marry Lucrezia.

"You can't imagine, Lucrezia Borgia is a key that can open the vault, I believe that if you marry her, your plan has a great chance of success, I have almost guessed what you are going to do, but it is because of this that I am more in favor of you becoming Lucrezia's husband, as for Barentia della Rovere, I am not optimistic about your marriage with her, you must know that this woman's loyalty to the family will ruin her own happiness, if you marry her you will only become a vassal of the Roveire family, I'm sure this is by no means the result you want to see. ”

Alexander took the letter and scrutinized it, and then felt a little awkward.

Asking his sister to choose a suitable wife for him was nothing, not to mention that according to Josha's analysis, it seemed that it was indeed more cost-effective to marry Lucrezia, but Alexander always felt that it was a little weird.

It's as if one lover is fighting for another lover's right to marry, which is really weird.

But Jaalexander couldn't help but admit that what he said made sense.

Barendi may have been a good assistant, but whether she was suitable as a wife or not was always what made Alexander hesitate.

Barondi was so loyal to the Rovere family that she could have said that she could tolerate her husband having one or more lovers.

Although in fact most of the ladies of this era are not generous, there are not many who can accept this kind of thing so calmly.

That only shows that Barundi saw the marriage as a deal at all.

Since it is a transaction, there is a possibility that the transaction will succeed or fail, and it can even be terminated and abolished halfway.

Just married to Lucrezia......

As soon as this thought came to him, Alexander quickly shook his head, not to mention whether Lucrezia's own erratic personality was suitable, as long as he thought about those uncles and brothers-in-law who were uncomfortable, and then thought about the old man who couldn't get along with his son-in-law, Alexander felt that this road was even more difficult.

There were a lot of troubles, but there was one piece of news that really caught Alexander's attention.

News from Montina, Bishop Tony Rovere of Montina suddenly became active during this time.

Not only did the bishop change his old habit of having no third interest except money women, but he began to actively preach the gospel for God, and his footprints were all over Montina, and even a small group of Agri rangers who were defending the suburbs became his patrons.

The news had been sent back by Gompati, but the artillery captain didn't seem to realize anything special about it, so when he reported to Alexander about Montina's condition, he only asked the scribe to casually mention the bishop's concern for them.

But Alexander saw something different between the lines, which immediately caught his attention.

"It seems that we must return to Montina at once," Alexander said to Oflei, who was beside him, "and I think we will have to focus on my new territory for a long time to come, for I am not optimistic about peace." ”

Ofleiil nodded in agreement, he did not know that the peace Alexander was referring to was actually France, and in his opinion, the Milan and Venetians who had suffered would definitely come to take revenge, so he immediately showed great interest in Alexander's proposal to strengthen the defense of the castle of Montina.

On the other hand, he felt that since this was the case, the count would definitely stay in Montina for a long time, and as the captain of the army, he would definitely have to be by his side.

A very beautiful face quickly flashed through Oflai's mind, but then another crumpled face that always seemed to be angry came to mind, and along with this face, "My daughter is not married to be a soldier!" Annoying yelling.

Of course, Alexander did not know that Oflei's mind had already drifted back to Montina by this time, and he ordered the army to quickly prepare for departure, and at this time there was no other army in the city of Rearo except for Cargino, who was still stationed.

According to the agreement, the Venice and Milanese had already taken the initiative to withdraw from Reallo the day before, and according to the news from the scouts, their main force was already more than a dozen miles away by this time.

The reason Calgino stayed was that he had to wait for supplies, but everyone knew that it was because the Genoese feared that the Venetians would suddenly tear up the agreement and reoccupy Reial.

It was only when leaving Realo that seeing that Cargino's army did not seem to show any signs of being ready to leave, Alexander couldn't help but have some thoughts in his heart.

Although Realo does not have the natural geographical advantage of Montina, and has a fortress castle that has been almost turned into a defensive group after so many owners have almost persistently built, it may not be impossible to become an important long-term garrison barracks if it is based on this city.

At least the presence of Reyaro did block Alexander's view of Lombardy from the north.

But Lombardy was far away, but Montina was close, or Bishop Tony della Rovere to be precise.

Alexander walked into his castle on the last day of May.

The nearly month-long absence did not make Alexander feel that his new home was any special, but the people who came to greet him clearly did not think so.

Gompati was excited, or rather more appropriate with a red face.

Clearly, the captain is happy with his day, as evidenced by his somewhat blessed size.

Gompati was tempted to take Alexander to see his work, but the presence of Bishop Tony interrupted him from pitching his "genius idea" to Alexander, who religiously blessed Alexander and his victorious army, and then walked with him towards the castle.

Although he was still a little unfamiliar with the castle, and there were many places that he hadn't even had time to look at, when he walked through the gate, Alexander couldn't help but feel a sense of "homecoming".

Since coming to this era, Alexander has been faintly tired from the constant wanderings, although he knows that this is his choice from the beginning, but whenever he is alone, he still hopes that one day he can settle down.

It's just that Alexander knew he couldn't stop.

Although his goal was so far away that he sometimes wanted to give up, and there was too much distance between him and the crown far away in the Iberian Peninsula, he knew that he was only able to get to where he was because he was constantly moving closer to it.

If one day he stops, then he will lose not only a distant dream, but also everything in front of him now.

Tony Rovere still didn't look like a bishop, and the first thing he did when he walked into the vault was to open a bottle of wine and pour it for Alexander and himself, and after taking a sip to moisten his throat, the bishop sat down and looked at Alexander seriously.

That look reminded Alexander of the old bustards in the brothel looking at the cash cows in their hands.

"Count, I think you've got more than anyone else this time." The bishop complimented him as soon as he spoke, his eyes twitching and even excited, as if the bishop had just won a great victory.

"Thank you, Bishop, I think your prayer worked before you left." Alexander was perfunctory, a little curious about what the bishop was up to.

"That's the case," the bishop leaned forward, "I notice that you seem to be interested in renovating the Château de Montina, but I must warn you that many people have thought of rebuilding the castle before, but they have all been abandoned because of the high cost, so I wonder if you would be willing to make a deal to raise money." ”

Alexander looked at Bishop Tony for a moment, he knew that this bishop was actually very unpleasant, but he had not yet thought that this man had reached the point of being a pimping broker.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Alexander asked tentatively, and now he was a little hard to resist the temptation of money.

"A very good business," Bishop Tony smiled and leaned forward, "I don't know if you've heard of Savonarola, I think you can find out." ”