Julio. As soon as the Medici arrived at the Saccramental Liturgical Ministry, his superior, Cardinal Bouns of the Netherlands, took him with him and received two important people in succession, one was Joe, who had a relationship with Julio in France. Morality. Cardinal Amboise, a close friend of King Louis XII of France, and it was Louis XII's deal with Pope Alexander VI that earned him a cardinal hat when he was still Archbishop of Rouen, but like Louis XII, his enthusiasm for Alexander VI and his illegitimate son Caesar was only superficial. The Medici were interested, after all, there were not many people who could escape from the shameless and vicious Borgia again and again.

The other was an envoy from the Kingdom of Aragon and Castile, i.e. the Kingdom of Spain. Ximenez. Morality. Cisneros, cardinal of Toledo, he and Cardinal Bouns were acquainted, but not so harmonious.

The cardinal was of the same age as Cardinal Picromini, but unlike the latter, he was as harsh and arrogant on the inside as he was on the outside, and although he was of humble origin, he was quite stubborn and self-serving, and since he was favored by Queen Isabella, from 1495 onwards, he began to vigorously reorganize the Church in Spain, in addition to strictly prohibiting the marriage of the clergy, he also required the clergy to live in the parish and make confessions often; The Gospel is preached to believers every Sunday. and forced the Moors to convert to Catholicism – which led to a Moorish rebellion that lasted for the entire Holy Year from 1499 to the end of the 500s.

However, looking at him, he did not seem to realize how much trouble he had caused Queen Isabella, and Cardinal Boins privately and viciously wondered if Queen Isabella did not want to see this old face for the time being, so she sent him to Rome.

The two important ministers were ostensibly responsible for what seemed important: Cardinal Amboise had come for His Royal Highness Francis, Duke of Orleans, who was born on September 29, 1499 (St. Michael's Day), and King Louis XII of France and Queen Anne of Brittany had unanimously decided to celebrate three great Mass of Thanksgiving in Rome every year for his birthday.

Coincidentally, Cardinal Cisneros was tasked with four children, Queen Isabella of Spain and her co-husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon, of whom the eldest and eldest had unfortunately passed away first, leaving behind a second and a second daughter. The second daughter, Juana, was married to Crown Prince Philip, the eldest son of Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire, and their eldest son Henry was born on the feast of St. Matthias in the Holy Year, that is, on February 24, 1500.

And what they were really responsible for was taken by Cardinal Picromini as an exam question, and it was used to test Giulio.

"It's because of Naples." Giulio thought for a moment and replied: "King Louis XII of France originally wanted to take Milan before the end of the Holy Year, but it backfired, although he accepted the key of the Milanese in 1499 and called himself the Grand Duke of Milan. Sforza's comeback made him sick. ”

"And the 'Spaniard' artillery." Cardinal Picromini interjected playfully.

"That's right," replied Giulio with a serious look, as if the artillery had nothing to do with him, "the Spaniard's artillery...... In any case, it was only after the Holy Year that he was able to pull himself out of the mire of Milan and march on his greatest prey, the Kingdom of Naples, where his offensive with the Duke of Romagna had been smooth at first, until they advanced to Capua, a small city that had succeeded in holding back the coalition for fifteen days. ”

"Well, I've heard," Cardinal Picromini's eyes sharpened, "though it's a small town, it has artillery, arquebuses, trebuchets and ballistae that a duke doesn't necessarily have, not to mention, those 'Spaniards' are quite good at business." ”

"King Frederick IV of Naples was a stubborn man who would do anything to defeat the French."

"Yes," sneered Cardinal Picromini, "and Borgia was furious that he refused to pay tribute, assistance, and tithes. ”

"Because he knew very well that even if he emptied the treasury of Naples, Alexander VI would not abandon Louis XII and would take his side, after all, Caesar. Borgia also needed the King of France. ”

"Then I can know what Frederick IV of Naples got from the 'Spaniards'? Since his hollowed out treasury failed to cheapen Borgia. ”

Julio was rarely ashamed: "Don't laugh at me, teacher, I have no choice but to do it." He said: "All the output of Nuoro, except for those taken by General Gonzalo, and those that were sold later, and the rest went to the Neapolitans, and ......."

"And cement." Giulio made a gesture: "You know, the walls I built in Lucca......"

"Oh," Cardinal Picromini nodded, "I know that thing, the volcanic ash is mixed with lime, and when it is left to condense, it turns into hard stone, I remember that Vesuvius is on the south side of Naples, and you gave them cement, or the formula?" ”

"Recipe," Julio said dryly, "after all, I don't just want money. ”

"I remember that the fortress of Fort Sant'Emmo in Naples had a wall fifty feet high, and together with the Monastery of San Martino, they should have been able to hold on for a long time if they could have strengthened the walls in a short time, and if they had erected artillery on the walls, and the castle did not have to worry about food and water."

"It should be possible to hold on to Louis XII and Caesar. Borgia's inner bag was exhausted, after all, nearly 30,000 people were not a small amount of money, even if they were able to plunder the surrounding cities - Louis XII would not have been willing, because it would have been his. Giulio was silent for a moment, then said, "So these two great men came to Rome not only to celebrate Mass for their crown prince, but, perhaps, to negotiate the covenant under the mediation of Alexander VI." ”

"Ferdinand II of Spain has always had his eye on Naples, after all, Naples originally belonged to the royal family of Aragon, although it was an illegitimate son who got Naples at that time." Cardinal Picromini clasped his palms happily: "I'm afraid that our French king, Louis XII, will be angry for a long time, he wants to get a complete Naples, and now he has to share it with Ferdinand II." ”

"Unless he has a way to get a second Brittany." Giulio said coldly. "Otherwise, once he is defeated, he may not even be able to get his own ransom."

Cardinal Picromini laughed loudly: "By the way," he made a curious look: "If possible, tell me about Anne, Duchess of Brittany?" It is said that you have received a lot of help from her...... And I've heard that she's a fair-skinned beauty with a beautiful face......"

"Teacher ......"

"You have a reliquary from Brittany here." Cardinal Picromini said, his face suddenly strange: "Is that the one?" Why are you showing little Cosimo? And he looked very angry...... What did you do? ”

Does it count if you knock over a vinegar jar? Giulio thought to himself, but even to Cardinal Picomini, he couldn't say anything - this Duke of Orleans, France's Dauphin Francis, was in fact his son...... Younger than little Cosimo, he brought the reliquary with him so that little Cosimo could see his brother - maybe when he was older, Giulio would hand over the secret to Cardinal Picromini, and to be honest, he was the only one who bothered about it, and he was tired.

"I can't say right now." Giulio said apologetically, and Cardinal Picromini just waved his hand, maybe it was just some romance, although it didn't quite fit the character of his disciple, but at that time he suffered several betrayals, and it was normal for him to lose control occasionally, and it was also good for him to have such a protector - if Anne of Brittany was just a queen who needed and could only rely on the protection of the King of France, he might have to worry about it, but as far as he knew, this woman had the heart and courage of a man, As soon as the Dauphin Duke of Orleans turned one year old, she was ready to get up, completely ignoring the quarrels of the French court, and left Blois with her son, and went to Brittany, and most surprisingly, this move was approved by her husband, Louis XII.

Juana, the future ruler of Spain, was far worse off in this regard, and her fascination with her husband, Philip, the crown prince of the Holy Roman Empire, was so well known that she had lost her dignity and dignity for him, and in Giulio's words, Queen Isabella must have been willing to put her back in her belly and give birth all over again.

At this moment, Cardinal Picromini forgot about the reliquary, and Giulio breathed a sigh of relief, "Teacher," he said, "there is one more thing." ”

"Say it."

"I want to hold a secret mass for the people of Capua."

Cardinal Picromini looked at him, sighed, reached out and touched his head: "Okay, go ahead, then it doesn't matter if it's not so secret, Borgia this time...... It's been done too much. ”

As Giulio said, in order to defeat Borgia and the French, King Frederick IV of Naples has no scruples at all, even if he will be "excommunicated" by the Pope, he will also withhold the tribute and other taxes to be handed over to the Holy See, which will be used to purchase artillery, arquebuses and cement formulas, and Capua is his first experimental sample, this small city, he built a huge fortress, and it is precisely because of this that the alliance between Borgia and France has been dragged by it until now, Overstretched, Louis XII had to form an alliance with Spain in order to continue his assault on Naples.

One can imagine how high Louis XII's anger was, and Caesar. After the great defeat at Florence, Borgia could hardly accept any defeat - Capua's fall was not even a defeat to a foreign enemy, but a stupid and cowardly man, fearing the cruelty of the enemy, or greed for money, who secretly opened the gates of the city - what this man did not know was that as soon as Borgia rushed into Capua, he dragged him behind his horse and dragged him to death.

Borgia mercenaries, along with French soldiers, reveled in Capra for a whole week – rape, looting, killing, even the nuns could not escape the fate of being ravaged, officials were hung from the walls in rows, and it was later estimated that about 6,000 people died from this man-made scourge.

It's not his fault, Giulio knows, but he still will...... Saddened.

Rather than praying for the illustrious nobles, he prayed for those innocent people who would ascend to heaven and not be born in this age and this world even if they were reborn as human beings.