Boleri did what he said, and he had a good lunch, and drank enough wine, and then without hesitation, he left the wagons and men he had brought with him.

He came and went in such a hurry that he and Caro, who had planned to go with him, disappeared without even saying hello.

His dislike for Alexander made him hate the Agri, and in his opinion, the nouveau riche like Carlo and Ofreil were not qualified to associate with him.

Looking at the back of Boleri, who was leaving in a hurry, Alexander who was standing on the balcony outside the protruding dome couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

Of course, he didn't care what Bellery would think, but thinking of the things he had brought, Alexander thought that maybe he should be nicer to his half-brother in the future.

In addition to the precious journal that Alexander regarded as knocking on the door of the Carolingian Palace, he also brought with him a full 12,000 florins.

"I lent it to you, or you can see it as an investment," she said in the letter, "I believe that you will be able to earn me more money back, so I will take your share of the advance in advance, and then I will slowly deduct it from the income of our ports." ”

Looking at the statement in the letter that seemed to be deliberately distant, Alexander could only shake his head secretly, he could imagine how difficult it would be to move such a sum of money in those places that had just made a slight profit, and he must have spent enough effort to get those ports to come up with these so-called upfront investments.

Looking at the beautiful signature at the end of the letter, Alexander somehow kissed it lightly on a whim, and then he couldn't help but feel a little ridiculous about his childish first love boy.

Am I in love?

Alexander shook his head helplessly, since Sophia left, although he seemed to have forgotten the nostalgia in his heart, but in fact he missed Sophia all the time.

Because of this, although he has a nominal fiancée, he never thinks of any intimate relationship with Barondi, because whenever he does, he always thinks of Sophia's eyes that are full of spirituality and always resentment.

As for Lucrezia, Alexander himself couldn't tell what it was to do with her.

It seems that everything has changed from the moment she was kidnapped, and even looking back, Alexander sometimes wonders who first seduced whom the two of them have come to this point.

As for Josha, whether it was, is, or will be, as long as one day he wants to walk in this world under the name of George Mordillo, then there can be no more intimate relationship between him and Josha, at least the name of half-brother completely separates the two of them.

As he wrote in his letter, even if someone proposed to him one day, he had no reason to stop it, and perhaps it was this desperate separation that made the longing between the two of them even stronger.

Josa actually knows everything, and Alexander understands that Josa actually knows that there is no false brother-sister relationship between the two, but she tacitly chooses to be silent.

Is it because of love?

Alexander asked helplessly, knowing that even if he knew the answer, their current strength would not be able to change everything.

Unless he was willing to give up that dream that was too far away, but Alexander knew it was impossible, and when he appeared in the world under the name of George Mordillo, he could only move on.

12000 florins seemed like no less, but Alexander knew that in fact the money would soon be spent.

The soldiers who have been killed and wounded in two consecutive battles need to be expanded and replaced, and the damaged weapons need to be repaired and replenished, although he has a large amount of supplies in his hands, but these things cannot be turned into money for him to spend where he needs to be.

It was obviously a slow process to monetize these supplies, and all Alexander could count on during this time was the florin that Jossa had provided him.

What a caring "sister", Alexander sighed in his heart, and at the same time, a strong affection also made him miss Jisha even more.

It's been a long time since he's seen Josa, Alexander thinks to himself, and throws the thought to himself.

He has a lot to do right now, and if you think about it, you might even feel like you're really pressed for time.

In addition, what keeps him focused on is the day that meant too many things for many people.

June 15, 1497, was destined to change the fate of many people.

On the morning of this day, Giovanni Borgia's body was found floating on the Tiber River, and he was stabbed twice in the back, killing Giovanni on the spot with a gut-deep wound, and then his body was thrown into the Tiber River, along with one of his faithful attendants.

Alexander could imagine the chaos that day would have been, and how sad Lucrezia would have been in the face of such a sudden change.

Despite being closer to Caesar, this does not mean that Lucrezia does not love her other brother, Giovanni.

In fact, Lucrezia was well aware of the growing estrangement between Caesar and Giovanni, and she had tried to reconcile her brothers more than once, and in her mind, family was always the most important, so she could not tolerate this kind of indifference and hostility between relatives.

June 15 must have been the most painful day for Lucrezia since she was born, and Alexander felt that it would be best for Jossa to be by her side at this time.

In addition, with the murder of Giovanni, both the Borgia family and Rome were bound to change dramatically, and if Alexander wanted to get news from Rome as soon as possible, Jossa would be his greatest help.

In fact, when Giovanni showed him some kindness, Alexander wondered for a moment whether he should intervene in this matter and change Giovanni Borgia's fate once and for all.

After all, a Borgia who had already handed him an olive branch was very important to the current Alexander.

At that moment, watching Giovanni smile at him and turn away, disappearing into the shadows of the setting sun, Alexander felt the urge to stop him.

Alexander could clearly sense the impulse at the time, and he also believed that by taking this step, he could change history completely.

But Alexander chose to remain silent in the end, and he silently watched from behind Giovanni's figure fade away until it disappeared into the trajectory of his destiny.

It doesn't seem like a good choice to trade a capricious Giovanni who could change at any time for a historical direction that he was no longer familiar with.

It was because of this consideration that Alexander did not take the step that would have changed the fate of many people.

Bishop Tony della Rovere hadn't been seen for two or three days since the day of the fight, and Alexander estimated that he was busy with his business.

So when he reappeared, Alexander guessed that there must have been some eyebrows about pimping him and the Florentines.

As the bishop was seen running around in the castle again, and about the Florentine movements, in addition to the bishop, Alexander also heard a lot of new news from the merchants from Pisa.

As a person of incomparably pure spirit, Savonarola not only strictly adhered to the Benedictine rules, but also had very strict requirements for the Florentines.

He forbade all entertainment because it was a bait to lure people into the trap of lust, and he forbade most art, even serious religious ones, to be subject to scrutiny and interpretation.

Unable to stand the "utter betrayal of the soul to the devil" when he saw a large number of paintings created with fresh chiaroscuro, he ordered the damned portraits to be destroyed, smashed all the sculptures he thought were unsightly, and even destroyed several art workshops that he considered to be obscene and stolen.

Savonarola's actions shocked everyone, and even some of his supporters began to waver.

But Savonarola is still firmly committed to her great act as God's messenger in this world to cleanse the dirt.

Florence, one of the most active and passionate cities of our time, is under the rule of a man who is based on extreme personal spiritual purity.

In this man's eyes, there is no color, not even gray, but black, which foreshadows the suffering of Jesus Christ, and white, which symbolizes the glory of God.

Alexander could understand the kind of people Tony de la Rovere was talking about, and he could even guess how the bishop might have bargained with them.

The nobles who were dissatisfied with the rule of Savonarola, the guild leaders who resented the unjust treatment, and the low-class people who overthrew the Medici only to find that they did not benefit from the new ruler.

Such people can cover almost every corner of Florence, but not many people dare to really show their inner emotions.

That's because Savonarola has one of the most sophisticated intelligence networks available today.

It is hard to imagine a man of such noble sentiments who would be keen to use the means of being a spy to approach the dark, but Savonarola has gone further in this regard than anyone else of his time.

Servants were used to spy on their masters, husbands to spy on their wives, and children to spy on their parents, and Savonarola openly regarded whistleblowing and whistleblowing as evidence of a Florentine's devotion to God.

It can be said that there is no one in Florence under his rule who is not watched, and no one is not betrayed.

This rule gave Savonarola enough power, and because of this, he was able to implement his series of reforms without any scruples, even directly confronting Pope Alexander VI.

It was only a matter of time before such a man was overthrown, and Alexander felt that this was normal, especially when the man was so overconfident that he always believed that the people were definitely on his side, and the seeds of betrayal were actually planted deep in the land he ruled.

Is it just up to you to open this frozen soil and let this seed sprout and bear fruit?

Having destroyed the Republic of Pisa and then overthrowing a pioneer of the Reformation?

Alexander felt as if he was moving closer to the negative role of the so-called "enemy of the people" in history, and thought that one day, when people in later generations opened the history books, they saw that his name was associated with the words "dictatorship", "reaction", "feudalism" and "reverse", and Alexander felt a little depressed.

Another thing that caught Alexander's attention was the restoration of the Château de Montina

Although he knew that it would not be a short time to build a castle as depicted on the drawings, Alexander could not wait.

In two years, or less, Louis XII, Duke of Orleans, who had succeeded to the French throne, would lead the French army back to victory, and a protracted war would begin.

And what Alexander had to do was to build a breakwater for his Montina territory in this short period of time, at least to defend against the tide of war that swept in for the first time.

As for what happens after that, according to Alexander's plan, either he is strong enough to be able to defy the threat to Montina from anywhere, or he will have nothing, and at that point, he will not care if he can still keep a Montina.

Although Pomperney was a nagging and prickly father, he became very serious and even a little stubborn when he was a craftsman.

So when Alexander asked him if he could consider using relatively cheap gravel as a support dam for the castle's early moats, Pomperny immediately rejected the suggestion, and even threatened to quit his job immediately, insisting that the work must be done with large stones.

"I've seen the Gompati cannon, and the deep pits of those shells are terrifying to look at," Pompeny explained for his insistence, "and think that if it were an enemy cannon, if it hit the edge of the supporting dam, the gravel would immediately collapse the entire trench into a pile of mud, and then the trench would be useless again." ”

Alexander had to admit that Pompany was right, and the previous shelling in Pisa had proved that the hastily dug trenches with no support on the slopes on either side could not withstand the artillery blows, and Alexander would not be naïve to think that the enemy in the future would not think of a simple way to destroy the trenches with artillery.

At least the French have done this more than once.

But Alexander also knew that he did not have that much money in his hands for the craftsman to build the castle of his dreams.

"Do as I say, or leave my castle," Alexander decided to be a "tyrant" for a while, "but I will also order that you are no longer allowed to enter my army training camp, so do you think Ashley is so good without your protection?" ”

Pomperney looked at Alexander dumbfounded, he couldn't imagine that an earl would threaten such a small person as him so shamelessly, but thinking about it, as Alexander said, let his daughter be with a group of GIs all day long, especially when there was a GI leader who had been coveting her next to him, Pomperney chose to be a smart person after only a little thought.

"Don't be weeping, my overseer," after a small blow to the craftsman, Alexander still felt that he should comfort Pomperney, and he took the craftsman's shoulders affectionately as he walked towards the door, casually promised, "Don't worry, you'll get that construction fee, trust me, I care more about the strength of this castle than you do, but I think you should also know that maybe when we all lie in the grave, we probably won't see Montina finally finished, so don't be too anxious, After all, this is a huge project that will not only cost us money, but will also cost our lives. ”

Listening to Alexander's comfort, Pompeni shook his head helplessly, he knew that Alexander was right, not only could the construction of the castle of Montina not be completed in a short time, but perhaps it would not be until his grandson was old enough to see the final masterpiece.

Thinking of this, Pomperney suddenly felt that it was time to find a mother-in-law for his daughter.

At least that way, I don't have to worry about my daughter being abducted by a soldier one day.

A rhythmic drum beat came from outside the castle, and Alexander couldn't help but look in that direction, and in the distance he could faintly see groups of soldiers marching back and forth in different horizontal and vertical queues to the rhythmic drum beats, and around the procession, a group of idle citizens and children were watching these interesting soldiers with interest.

"Forward, stand, spear, press, shoot."

Even if he couldn't hear the officers' repeated orders, Alexander could imagine that they were repeating these boring and offensive commands, and the soldiers had to repeat the tactics that they were almost impatient with.

Model Army, that's the name Alexander gave to this small unit.

And he had reason to believe that, because of himself, a certain protector of England in later generations should have to find another name for his beloved army.

Seeds and models, this is the role that Alexander hoped these soldiers would be able to play.

Forward, stand, spear, press, shoot!

What kind of army will be created by repeated training, repeated training, sweating even in the wind and sun under the Tuscan sun?

In this summer, in Montina, Romagna, Alexandria is sowing the next batch of his own seeds, and all he has to do is wait patiently for these seeds to germinate, grow, and eventually become towering trees.

Bishop Tony was still working part-time in his pimping business, and Calgino was already impatiently urging to get rid of the "bargains" as soon as possible.

But Alexander was always patient, waiting for that day to come.

On the evening of June 14th, the weather was suddenly cloudy, and the dark sky looked as if something was about to fall from the sky.

Alexander came to the fortress where Gompati had set up his artillery, and looking at the bronze cannon with a dark green door, Alexander walked over and slapped the thick cannon body hard.

"Can I trust your artillery? Or can I trust you, Gompati? ”

Alexander asked aloud to the thunder of lightning coming out of the clouds in the sky.

"You can trust me even without these cannons, sir!" Gompati replied equally loudly.

"Very well," Alexander turned and patted Gompati on the shoulder, "remember your promise, I handed Montina over to you!" ”

On June 15, everything was calm in Montina.

On 16 June, Alexander recalled all the rangers who were patrolling the territory.

June 17th, early in the morning!

An emissary from Rome rushed through the rain curtain and rushed into the castle of Montina, and to the exclamation of the people, the messenger flipped off his horse!

And his mouth was constantly shouting intermittently: "Your Majesty the Pope...... Cambrai ...... Back to Rome! ”