Sophia sat in the room in a daze, sometimes looking at the door, sometimes looking down at her lower abdomen.

"I have children." The thought still makes her a little overwhelmed, or a little incredulous.

Sophia was a little skeptical about whether she was really pregnant, but considering that it seemed that there were more opportunities to make love with Alexander from Bucharest, and then thinking about it, as the doctors said, with her healthy body, pregnancy was actually a very simple matter, and Sophia gradually began to accept this fact.

It's just that she wasn't as ecstatic as Alexander was when she heard the news, on the contrary, she felt a little lost, because it meant that she and Alexander were really going to separate.

According to Alexander's plan, once she became pregnant, she had to return to Wallachia so that in the future her children could become undisputed heirs to Wallachia.

Thinking of separating, Sophia's mood suddenly became bad, she reached out and touched her lower abdomen, and then gently poked the soft and elastic belly with a finger, at first she was a little curious about how a villain appeared in her body like this, and she also blamed the appearance of this child for causing their separation.

Sophia was a little suspicious that Alexander's constant intimacy with her during this time was just to get her pregnant as soon as possible, and then find an excuse to leave her, this idea made Sophia's mood suddenly become bad, and once she thought about it, she felt that everything was not so pleasant, and even Alexander wanted Giorgione to paint a portrait of them, which she thought was preparing for the imminent separation.

Sophia got up a little frustrated and walked around the room, and when she came to the shelf in the corner with armor and a row of swords of various sizes, she habitually grabbed the largest of them and prepared to remove it from the shelf.

"What are you doing!" A very harsh reprimand came from behind her, Sophia turned her head to see Alexander walking into the room with an uneasy expression, seeing her grasping the hilt of the sword, Alexander hurriedly took a few steps forward and hugged her from behind, while reaching out and pressing on the back of her hand holding the sword.

"You're crazy, didn't you hear the doctor say that you must not mess around anymore from now on?" Alexander was a little angry and scolded as he tried to get Sophia to let go, but then he was somewhat surprised to find that Sophia's hands were not only clenched tightly, but her eyes were also staring at him angrily.

Alexander knew that Sophia suddenly became so strange after knowing that she was pregnant, he didn't pay much attention to it at first, but now that he saw that Sophia was about to start using knives and guns again, he thought that this should probably be a pregnancy syndrome, but compared to Lucrezia, who was at most messing around, Sophia's mood swings of liking to slash people with a sword are a little scary.

"Don't be cranky, I'm just glad we had a baby," When she finally managed to persuade Sophia, and then learned the reason for her annoyance from the little pregnant woman who refused to reveal why she was angry because of her awkwardness, Alexander could only keep trying to dispel her concerns with persuasion, "Or do you think that you are completely unattractive, and you can't make me crush on you at all, but just want to leave as soon as possible?" ”

Sophia immediately let out a single note full of various meanings in disbelief, she couldn't admit how she could not be attractive, especially she couldn't bear to lose to the woman named Barondi.

So she wanted to prove how strong her temptation was for Alexander, and she began to quickly undress him, and then hugged Alexander tightly, asking him to make sure that he was more worthy of his favor than other women.

Alexander hugged the girl in his arms, his heartbeat couldn't help but speed up slightly, these days of non-stop love with Sophia made him know too well how this young but extraordinary charm of this little girl fascinated him, although many times she seemed a little clumsy and even funny, but maybe she was born with a seductive body, her jerky always revealed a great temptation that he could not refuse.

However, Alexander did not have time to roll the sheets with her endlessly, so he carefully took Sophia's smooth body in his arms and let her sit on his lap before telling her what the Jews had suggested.

Sophia tilted her neck in confusion, and Alexander knew she was trying to know what the Jews were doing to do that.

"They want to invest for the long term, and for these Jews, it's better to trade this for an opportunity than to get a guarantee that doesn't fully protect their wealth," Alexander said, kissing Sophia on the forehead, "You don't know how many people care about whether you're pregnant or not, because it concerns too many people." ”

Sophia thought for a moment, then nodded solemnly, which made Alexander wonder what she had in mind.

"But before I have to find out if Joseph Buccini is telling the truth," this matter had already been done before he came to see Sophia, and this reminded Alexander of Ulliu, speaking of which he felt that it was really inconvenient to lack a Ulliu, but he thought that according to the arrangement, Ulliu had already arrived in Milan at this time, and he still had such an important job, so Alexander also dismissed the opposite of summoning Ulliu to his side to serve" If what the Jew said was true, Maybe his suggestion we can consider. ”

In fact, when Joseph Buccini made the suggestion, Alexander was already in a state of flux.

Sophia was going to return to Wallachia for whatever reason, and the fact that they had to be separated for at least a while made Alexander somewhat uneasy, although he had tried his best to make all the preparations, except that the Greeks would become Sophia's staunch supporters in Wallachia, and the gradual infiltration and control of the Wallachian army had already begun, but Alexander was always uneasy because he was not by her side.

The Jewish suggestion made Alexander see the possibility of helping Sophia quickly take control of Wallachia, and what kind of terrible monster would be created if the combination of the two was strong and powerful.

Historically, Wallachia held out for a long time, and when the entire Balkans fell to the Ottomans, Wallachia became the last refuge on the peninsula trying to escape Ottoman rule.

It was not until Suleiman's second expedition to Europe that Wallachia was completely destroyed, and Hungary had already been divided between the Habsburg Grand Duchy of Vienna and the Ottomans.

But now, that could change.

Bayezid II's accidental wound sparked internal strife in the Ottoman Empire in advance, and now the Ottomans seem to be the situation of the Sultan's father and son, if they can be properly used at this time, it may even lead to more changes, such as at least until now there has been no movement in the naval war between the Ottomans and Venice, if the Ottomans delay the invasion of Venice because of the Sultan's accidental injury, then the next impact is really worth looking forward to.

If the Venetians had not been weakened by the naval battle, they would have been more than capable of committing more to this war during the subsequent French invasion of Italy, and the entire Italian war would have changed very differently.

Alexander held Sophia in his arms as he endured the clumsy but yet intoxicated temptation of his lover as he pondered the current situation until he heard a soft knock on the door.

"Here we are." Alexander muttered in silence as he turned and carefully placed Sophia beside her, and a blanket was placed over her plump body, which made him drool.

The Balkan guard named Sher stood at the door without squinting, and when he saw Alexander, he immediately lowered his gaze to the ground: "My lord, the Venetians have sent someone to meet you." ”

"It's a good time," said Alexander, smiling, knowing that the Jews' visit to him would not be hidden from the Venetians, and that it was no secret, or that if it had been a secret in the planning, he would have to go to the studio to meet the Jews, and now there was no need to go any further. ”

As Sher bowed away, Alexander turned to Sophia, who was reclining on the bed and had inadvertently completely protruded from the side curves of her side under the blanket, and said, "Looks like you're going to have to eat dinner by yourself, and I think I'll be back late." ”

Sophia showed a hint of annoyance, and she tried to get up, but Alexander gently pressed her shoulders and lay back down.

"What I'm going to do is important, and it's probably about us and our children."

Sophia snorted a little unwillingly, but she still twisted her head and buried her face in the soft pillow, making a sound sound.

"Yes, go to sleep, you really need to get some rest now." Alexander bowed his head and kissed the corner of Sophia's lips, then walked out of the room.

It was still the Golden Hall, but this time the Secretary of State was standing outside the door waiting, and when he saw Alexander appear from the other end of the corridor, the Secretary of State took two steps forward to show respect, and then the two began a brief conversation at the door of the Golden Hall.

"You know that it is not convenient for His Excellency the Governor to meet with you at this time, or indeed it is not convenient for you to meet with the Jews, but now it is not important, the Fugger family is doomed, and it will be a heavy blow to the Emperor," the state secretary whispered to Alexander, "and the next thing we need to do is to obtain our results." ”

Alexander looked at the slightly excited state secretary, but he also knew why the Venetians were so excited.

As the Secretary of State had said, the fact that he had just met with the Jews of Venice, and then that he had come to visit the Doge, might not have attracted much attention in the past, but which was now destined to cause an uproar throughout Europe, the chain of meetings between them was likely to be noticed.

But it really doesn't matter anymore, the bankruptcy of the Fogel family can no longer be stopped, and in addition to finally being able to deal a near-fatal blow to the old enemy of Vienna, the huge benefits obtained from the dismemberment of the Fugger family this time can also loosen the already strained finances of Venice a little, compared with these, even if the emperor knows about it in the future.

The long-term confrontation with the Ottomans has made the Venetians' finances show signs of distress, although this sign is not so serious now, but as long as the Venetians with a little brain know that they are competing with the navy of a huge empire with the power of a city, and a hundred victories for them are not worth a defeat, so the Venetians have been desperately expanding their navy, and their purpose is certainly not to compete with the Ottomans for supremacy at sea, Rather, they simply wanted to encircle their interests and colonies in the Mediterranean, but even the Venetians were overwhelmed by such large naval expenditures, and at the same time they had to be on guard against threats from within Europe.

Now, with the imminent demise of the Fugger family, it is a real benefit for the Venetians to snatch a large sum of money from the emperor to put a scruple on the increasingly pressing finances while puncturing the money bags that Maximian used to wage war.

The Venetian governor Barbarige's health in the past two years was significantly worse than before, especially after the Battle of Fornovo, although after that battle the Venetians became the heroes of the defeat of the French invading army, but this actually ugly battle became an excuse for Barbarig to be constantly attacked by the 500-man house.

Many people believe that it was because he chose Pitiliano as commander that the Venetians suffered heavy casualties in this battle, and some people believe that Barbarig had the opportunity to negotiate with the French at that time, but in order to show that he was a Venetian governor who defeated the French king, he did not hesitate to give up the opportunity to make peace with the French, and at the same time let Venice be involved in this war that did not worth the loss.

These attacks shook Barbaregg's position for a while, and some even doubted whether he would be re-elected, but the Governor himself did not seem to be very worried about this, and when Alexander saw him, the Governor was teasing a very pretty-looking parrot, and the Governor's wrinkled face showed a happy smile as he watched the parrot jump up and down on the birdstand.

"You're here, Count," Barbareg beckoned Alexander with some difficulty, and then took two steps forward with the help of his servants, and after exchanging greetings with Alexander, the three of them walked through the Golden Hall to the large balcony outside.

The balcony was large, like a small hanging garden, from which he could see most of the courtyard of the Doge's Palace below, and looking at the crowds of people bustling in and out of the Doge's Palace, Barbareg pointed down: "We know that all the people who walk in here are in pursuit of wealth and power, but how many people know what is going to happen?" ”

Seeing Alexander's inquiring gaze, Barbarig shook his head slightly: "Earl, I'm not talking about the Fogel family, they don't matter to us anymore, I'm talking about what will happen in Europe next." ”

Alexander nodded secretly, knowing he had guessed correctly.

It's clear that Barbareg is a man who, though he is dying, is definitely more ambitious than anyone else.

Many of the historical Venetian governors were ambitious, but one of the most famous was Enrico Dandollo, who was old and blind, but still able to encourage the Crusaders to capture and sack Constantinople, and then bring countless art treasures from Eastern Rome back to Venice as trophies to decorate his palace.

However, Barbarig clearly did not want to make this predecessor predominant, and he had already set his sights on Europe before the Fogel family was completely destroyed.

And without the threat of Emperor Maximian, who had lost his economic pillar and become precarious, there was so much for the Venetians to do in the future.

"The French may invade at any time," the Doge glanced at Alexander with cloudy eyes after taking a sip of tea, "I have received the news that Louis is making final preparations, but he has done something before that, he has found a family for Caesar Borgia ......"

"You are talking about Charlotte de Albrett, the sister of King John III of Navarre, and Louis's own cousin?" Alexander asked softly.

The Governor's eyes glanced at Alexander with some weakness, and nodded without surprise: "It seems that you are no stranger to this news, so what do you think about this matter?" ”

Alexander did not answer immediately, he glanced at the state secretary next to him, and saw that the state secretary nodded slightly, and then he said: "I think you must know that I have some kind of special relationship with His Majesty the Pope, so I can only say that I hope that the situation will not become too bad in the future, so that I can avoid conflict with my family." ”

"Love," the Governor smiled and shook his head, "it is indeed a beautiful thing, but I believe that such a beautiful thing can sometimes be a little torturous for you. ”

Listening to Barbaregg's mocking jokes, Alexander shook his head helplessly with self-deprecation.

"But I would like to remind you that the French are very strong, and Louis has been preparing for a long time this time, which is enough to ensure that he will be more difficult to deal with than Charlie." "And I have to say to you additionally," said Barbaregg, "that Venice did not want to intervene too much, at least for a long time, in the event of a possible military invasion by the French. ”

Alexander nodded silently, he knew that what Barbareg said to him was actually blocking his possible offer of assistance to Venice in advance, in fact, Alexander clearly knew that Venice would not actively join the anti-French alliance as before in the matter of the French invasion, on the contrary, there was an inexplicable ambiguous relationship between Venice and the French during this time.

So when the joint dismemberment of the Tasty prey of the Fuggers came to an end, the alliance between him and the Venetians was dissolved.

"Sofia will leave soon," Alexander said to Barbarig, "but I hope that the connection between Wallachia and Venice will not be lost." ”、

"Of course not." The Governor smiled and replied happily.

Venice had to provide Bohemia with huge sums of money every year in exchange for many years to ensure its own security in the East, and now with the Ottomans retreating, the Balkans are expected to become much more peaceful for a long time, which may not be a good opportunity for the Venetians to take advantage of the opportunity to open up the eastern market.

Alexander knew that this meeting with Barbareg would be a crucial negotiation in determining the future decision to divide the dominance of Fugger's trophy, so he first threw a sufficiently large advantage to the Venetians.

But then, he decided to let the Venetians weigh what to do.

"The Emperor will lose this war," said Alexander suddenly, and before he could react he continued, "I am not talking about a war with the French, but a war with the Montagonal Federation, and he will lose miserably." ”

Hearing Alexander's words, Barbaregg's cloudy eyes instantly cleared!