Alexander was not interested in the news brought by Orgala, not because he had heard that Queen Joanna was about to leave for him, and that he seemed to be on the same journey with him.

He had little affection for the venerable young widow, not just because she had been involved in Sophia when she had brought the letter to Groningen, but because Alexander had found that the woman was a little too greedy to be insatiable, and that he could not help but reconsider whether it was worth investing in her.

Too much greed can make it difficult for a person to be satisfied, and Alexander worries if he can have a big enough influence on Joanna, or if this woman will have other "benefactors" besides himself.

At least Groningen is deeply involved in this husband, and although the Dutch have returned the IOU to the queen, it is difficult to say that there will be no other involvement between them.

What Alexander was really interested in was another piece of news that Groningen had asked Orgara to bring that the Dutch wanted to help him on this trip to the north, or that he was willing to pay for it.

Alexander would not refuse such a thing, but Groningen's suggestion surprised him a little, as if it had been discussed, and Groningen also made a proposal to buy a large amount of grain to be shipped to the north, and even in order to buy as much grain as possible, the Dutch told Alexander through Olgala that he "didn't care whether he bought wheat or oats, even unpalatable buckwheat." ”

In addition, Groningen also proposed that it would be better if Alexander could buy a batch of cotton.

The news caused Alexander's trip to be postponed again, and he approached the Count, who was lost in thought when he heard of such a deal.

"Hubert of Groningen. A Dutchman? Modillo looked at Alexander suspiciously, "What do you think this man is going to do, why does he spend so much money on so much food?" ”

"I think his purpose is the same as ours," said Alexander, without thinking, "it seems that the situation of the French is already very bad, and if there is no more food and winter clothing, they may not even survive this winter." ”

Of course, Alexander would not tell the count that if he could not get timely support at this rate, the French who remained in Italy would finally be unable to resist Gonzalo's attack at the beginning of the next year and would have to surrender completely, and Rome, which was still occupied by the French, would soon fall into Gonzalo's hands.

But if this batch of food and winter supplies can really reach the French, maybe things will change.

"Did the Dutch who wanted to support the French discover our plan?" Modillo was a little worried, the secret collusion with the French was too serious, once the news was leaked, even the Modillo family could not escape the fate of being severely punished.

"At least for now he seems to have no ill intentions, and has helped us somewhat," said Alexander, dismissively, for he could more or less guess Groningen's reasons for doing so, but that could not be explained to the Count.

Over the years, the interest of the Aragonese in the Netherlands has not diminished, and even in the years of the Reconquista, the Kingdom of Aragon continued to send emissaries and governors to strengthen its rule over the Netherlands, but it will take a few more years to really include the Netherlands in their own pockets.

But even this must have aroused the alarm of the Dutch people, especially for the Hanseatic League, which is now past its heyday, the threat from the Mediterranean Levantine trading circles has always been their greatest enemy, and this threat will become stronger and stronger in the future, especially with the discovery of the New World and the consequent frequent trade between the Old and New Worlds.

Of course, it would take many years for this to happen, and even in Alexander's memory, the Hanseatic League, although it gradually declined for a whole century, would still be an unshakable giant of northern trade on the European continent centered on the North Sea, and it would not be until more than 150 years later that this alliance would completely disappear.

So to be able to realize the ambitions of the Aragonese for the whole of the Netherlands so early, that Groningen caught Alexander's attention.

"We must be careful no matter what," Modillo looked at Alexander with some concern, he didn't know if it was a little too reckless to hand over such an important matter to Alexander, but now he really couldn't find a second more suitable person, after all, the amount of food transported this time was too large, and besides Alexander, he couldn't find any other person who could use a very reasonable excuse to leave Naples at this time without being noticed, "How many people are you going to take with you this time?" ”

"I'll leave half of the Bohemian cavalry behind." Alexander said a little helplessly, although the Bohemians are brave and good at fighting, but his manpower is still too small, and taking away half of the cavalry is already the maximum manpower he can mobilize, although a group of farmers were recruited in Agri during this time, but it is not so simple to turn those farmers who usually wield hoes into soldiers with spears.

Alexander was well aware that soldiers who did not have rigorous training and real baptism of war were, at best, a rabble armed with arms.

"There is no room for mistakes on this trip," Mordillo frowned, obviously dissatisfied with Alexander's arrangement, "You must bring enough people with you, don't forget that except for the French and Gonzalo, the whole north is in chaos now, even the landowners of Lombardy are armed, that James Columbus is suffering this loss, I think he must be licking his wounds somewhere, I don't want you to do the same, we can't afford to lose." ”

"So how many people do you think I should bring?"

"500 people, at least 500 people," Modillo thought for a while, and slapped the table with determination, "That Groningen, don't you also want to come in, let him pay a payment in advance, you don't keep this money and go directly to hire a group of soldiers, remember not to be stingy and you must pick the best, we must spend this money." ”

Looking at the Count, who seemed to have made up his mind, Alexander bowed slightly, and then took his leave, knowing that his purpose had finally been achieved.

Alexander was not really interested in what Groningen was for, the Netherlands was too far from Italy, at least for now, there seemed to be no need to bother with the lowlanders in the North Sea.

It was Taranto, who disappointed Alexander a little.

Two days ago, Elliott's reply arrived with a truckload.

To Alexander's slight disappointment, Elliot cautiously agreed to his suggestion, and although he expressed his support for it in a completely personal tone, there was a hint of evasion when it came to his father, Count Hossen, who was clearly not optimistic about Alexander's suggestion.

At the same time, Elliot raised objections to Alexander's office in the port of Taranto, and although he did not say it directly, it can be seen that the people of Taranto seem to be somewhat dissatisfied with Alexander's "free trade".

Clearly, the people of Taranto feared that Alexandria would steal their business, or that the port of Taranto would have a bad impact on the local market if it joined this free trade.

After all, the reduction of various tariffs would allow foreign goods to hit the local market at extremely low prices, and Alexander realized that this was not so much the idea of the Count of Hawsen and his son, but rather a counterattack from the Taranto merchant guild.

"It seems that there is a real shortage of manpower." Alexander sighed helplessly.

He felt the embarrassment of being overstretched now, and he had to do everything himself, so that Alexander couldn't do everything well, for example, now he couldn't think about how to get back to Agri as soon as possible before he set off to arrange everything, and on the other hand, he had to think about how to beat the short-sighted and greedy merchants in Taranto, and when he told him about the idea of recruiting mercenaries, he looked at Massimo's eager look, although he hadn't seen who had been recruited, but he had already begun to feel unreliable.

With so many things in mind, Alexander felt that if he couldn't find a few reliable helpers, it might not be long before he would get tired and lay down.

"Go to Barr," Alexander remembered the boss of the lookout post, "tell him this is his chance, as you say, if he doesn't want to live on that tavern for the rest of his life, come and do it for me." ”

Hearing this, Massimo immediately became elated, and he first made an exaggerated salute, and then immediately disappeared from the door.

Barr had been the captain of the Naples patrol, and although he was only a minor officer, he was at least much more reliable than the friars in selecting mercenaries.

There was a sound of metal clashing in the courtyard, and Alexander looked out of the window to see Sophia wearing the brand-new trumpet armor, wielding the sword with both hands that seemed to be weighty, but her movements were a little dangerous no matter how she looked, at least the two maids who were serving her had already hid far away, and from the neatly inclined incision of the two wooden stakes that were used as targets upside down on the ground, Alexander felt a certain strong killing intent.

"Maybe it's time to change her unedged sword," Josha walked over to Alexander and stood side by side looking at the girl below who was struggling to wield her sword, "I kind of understand why you like her now, she's cute." Speaking of this, Jossa rested her chin lightly on Alexander's shoulder from behind, "At least she's cute now." ”

As soon as Ji Sha's words fell, with a "bang" in the courtyard below, the two of them were surprised to see that as Sophia threw her hands forward, the long sword in her hand instantly turned into a huge flying knife, and with a shining trajectory, the long sword was directly inserted into the last remaining stake, the hilt of the sword trembled, and the momentum was terrifying.

"I guess I'd better take that back," Shosha frowned as she looked down at Sophia, who was staring up at the two of her in the window, and then smiled again, "but I prefer a musket to a sword." ”

Alexander smiled bitterly, he didn't know why these two people couldn't get along, but he couldn't care about these things at this time, he asked, "I'm going back to Agri tomorrow, what about you?" ”

"I have to stay in Naples," Jossa picked up the purple grape beads on the table and slid them to her lips slightly, a hint of cunning flashed in Alexander's eyes when she saw that Alexander's eyes immediately turned to the side, "but you can bring a letter for me, he is now managing Cosenza in my place." ”

"Well," Alexander nodded, knowing that Bellery didn't have a crush on him, but he didn't care, "but until then, I want you to make a deal with me." ”

As he spoke, Alexander handed a document that he had prepared to Zhissa.

"What is it?" Flipping through the documents and looking at the contents inside, Zhensha, who had already picked up the quill pen next to her, paused slightly, "You want people to find sulfur mines in Kosencha's territory?" ”

"Vesuvius is right there," Alexander casually pointed in the direction of the volcano, "Kosenza's territory is not very far from the volcano, and I think there should be enough sulfur in the mountains." ”

"Ammunition for muskets?" Shosha gently brushed her smooth, slightly pointed chin with the feathers on the pen, "So what do I get?" ”

"I'll pay you," Alexander pointed to the document, "I'm not going to take advantage of my sister." ”

"Won't you take advantage of your sister?"

Hearing Zhisa repeat this sentence in a strange tone, Alexander was slightly startled.

"I don't want your money," said Josha, placing a quill on the table, and looked at him carefully, "I want you to make me that firearm called a flintlock pistol." ”

"Do you want to arm Kosenza?"

"Just to protect yourself," Josa picked up the pen again, first drawing a few repealed lines on the terms of payment, then thinking for a moment and began to fill in her own terms on them, "You must promise to set aside a certain amount for Kosenza when making flintlock pistols, and I want you to promise that if you have a new weapon in the future, Kosencha has the right to be the first to share this kind of thing with you." ”

After writing, Jisha pondered it carefully, and felt that there was nothing more to fill in, so he pushed the document in front of Alexander: "Okay, now you come to sign." ”

"It seems that I came up with the agreement first," Alexander muttered, then looked at it again, and after a little thought, took a pen and signed his name on it.

"Alexandre Giulian Cambrai," said Jossa behind her, whispering the name on the agreement, and then resting her chin on Alexander's shoulder as she had just done, "Why don't you sign the name of Giore Modiglo?" ”

"For this is an agreement between the lord of Agri and the Countess of Cosenza, and not between the brother and sister," Alexander put away the papers, and then said to Ashra, "I will take Sophia back to Agri to-morrow, and then we will set off directly to the north." ”

Jisha nodded, her mind was completely on the agreement she had just signed.

According to this agreement, Kosenza could quickly arm the people in the territory, and Josa had a feeling that in addition to those muskets, Alexander would bring about some changes in the era that no one else could imagine.

This kind of thought actually existed a long time ago, but at that time she was still ignorant, although she could feel that this brother who suddenly appeared was different from others, but she never understood what was different.

But now, Jisha can be sure that even those flintlock pistols that seem to be much more powerful are not the most important, but the real important thing is only the "brother" himself in front of him.

If a deal could be used to link Kosenza to Agri, Josa wouldn't care if there was something that seemed to be a loss, just as she didn't care about the look in Alexander's eyes every time he looked at her, which obviously didn't look like a brother.

But this look didn't last long, and with a clatter of footsteps, Sophia appeared at the door wearing her armor.

Josha even had the urge to ask Sophia how she had come upstairs wearing such a heavy thing, even though she had a suit of armor that looked too ornate than Sophia's, but Josha knew very well that the armor was more for the sake of showing off the gorgeous appearance, and she had never tried to run upstairs and downstairs in that thing.

"Sophia, we're going to Agri tomorrow," Alexander knew what to do with Sophia at this time, "Nashan should have returned, and I hope he will still recognize his daughter." ”

Sophia's originally somewhat heavy face immediately smiled, and she walked forward quickly despite some difficulty, and then stretched out her hands wearing bracers to hug Alexander's neck tightly.

Immediately afterward, Jossa seemed to hear a moan from Alexander.

There are two routes from Naples to Agri, one through Cosenza and the other along the ridge of the mountains all the way north to the Agri plain.

It's just that this road is not only bad for many people, it can even be a nightmare.

In addition to the difficult mountain path, this road is more dangerous from the bandits that are entrenched in the mountains.

Most of these robbers were villagers of some local villages, and these people often formed large families in large families, and when the tax collectors of the lords came, they would scare away the petty officials with bad and fierce looks, and when a small caravan or a lunch, unlucky traveler passed by, these villagers would immediately become robbers and loot the unfortunate.

Because of this, although there is such a convenient road, it is rarely passed by people all year round.

Today, however, there are some people who break the silence on this calm mountain road.

It was a small group, and the one at the front wrapped himself tightly in a blanket, showing nothing but a pair of black eyes.

There was a very soft sound at the bend in the mountain road, and in such a place where the mountain wind was howling, it would not be noticeable if you did not listen carefully.

But the man in front of the group seemed to catch the sound at once, and he raised his hand slightly to signal the group behind him to stop advancing, and then he slowly urged his horse forward alone to the turning place.

As the blanket moved, the man seemed to twist his neck, and then a hand came out of the blanket.

The man seemed to be holding something in his hand, but it wasn't until he suddenly waved his arm, and at the same time let out a scream as he moved, that the robbers hiding in the shadows knew that not only had their actions already been discovered, but before they could even do anything, one of their companions had been knocked down by the man below!

The robbers jumped out with almost instinctive screams, and they screamed and rushed down from their hiding places, rushing towards the man who had killed one of their companions as soon as he came up.

Hoes, pitchforks, guillotines, and a sword with a half-cut edge, all sorts of weapons slashed down at the man for a while!

A few people in the back team couldn't help but grab their weapons, but most of them just watched the scene in front of them with good eyes.

The man suddenly jumped from his horse, he was very strong though he was tightly wrapped, and he threw off the blanket as he ran, and when he casually wrapped the head and face of the nearest robber with the blanket, he slashed with the saber that he had drawn in his other hand, and the robber had been struck to the ground by the hilt of his sword.

There was a laugh from the group behind them, and with this laughter, the robbers realized that there was a dark-skinned man standing in front of them, who was not tall but unusually strong like a leopard.

The man wore large gold earrings on his ears, and his clothes looked very strange, the most strange of which was the turban on his head that looked strangely patterned.

Such a gypsy would not be popular in any city.

But when this gypsy has a deadly scimitar in his hand, and every time he swings it he might cut down a person, this gypsy is terrifying.

After another companion had fallen screaming, the robbers turned away in fear, not only of the gypsy, but of those behind him, who had drawn their arms and were ready to rush at him because of impatience.

"Don't kill," cried the gypsy, "today is not the day to kill." ”

"Nashan, it's a miracle that you've become merciful." A big man wearing a heavy fur robe on the outside and shirtless on the inside said with a sneer as he slashed down a robber who was about to escape.

"Just do a merciful deed for my soon-to-be-seen daughter," Nashan laughed happily, "I thought I'd never see my Sophia." ”

"Did the Gombray send you a letter?"

"Yes, that bastard," Nashan laughed, "I almost cut off his head with a knife, but now I kind of like that kid, as long as he's nice to Sophia." ”

"So you can't wait to meet them," the big man shook his head, "how do you know they're going to go this way." ”

"I don't know, but I can just go to the gate and wait for them, I can't wait."

Ignoring the robbers, Nashan jumped on his horse and prepared to move on.

At that moment, a trumpet came from afar, and Nashan immediately urged his horse to go around the foot of the mountain, and when he saw the peculiar pennant in front of the procession in the distance, Nashan cried out with joy: "My daughter, my Sophia! ”