Chapter 41: Ludovic. Sforza
Pope Alexander had always been a generous man, and on the surface he could even treat friends and foes equally. As was customary, he offered his property and authority to be shared among the whole of Rome, and each cardinal received further gifts, parishes, monasteries or vineyards, or offices, places and qualifications, even his sworn enemy, Giuliano. Della. Lovelle was also appointed to the papal world, and he was given a castle and a series of important priesthoods and identities, and Alexander VI even sent a credible priest to declare that their feud had been settled, and that he was eager to gain Lovelle's support and was willing to give a handsome reward in the near future, which generally meant that the next pope would be a Lovelle.
Della. Lovere did not believe Borgia at all, he prayed hastily before the cross, turned to his Lord to avoid Borgia's malice, he took Joshua out and sent it to Cardinal Picromini, he knew that Alexander VI's ballot also had one of Picomini's, but he could not put Joshua in his place in the rest of his itinerary, for nothing else, he kept attacking Borgia for his debauchery, extravagance, gluttony, and cronyism, although he also did, But Lovere still considered himself much more upright than Borgia – the problem was that when he denounced Alexander VI for having six illegitimate children, he could not keep his own illegitimate children with ridicule, so Cardinal Picromini turned out to be the only credible refuge he now had.
He left just in time, as he had left his palace, and Miguel and several knights of the Templar Order arrived at his mansion, took a bishop away in the middle of the night, interrogated him, and obtained enough confessions before dawn. If Lovere was not burned at the stake, he would at least be banished or imprisoned for a long time, as Bishop Picomini had narrowly escaped from the perils he had been.
Alexander VI was undoubtedly very disappointed by this, but as always, he did not show it, and then, in order to recover the damage in the Sistine Chapel, he acted quickly, and he persuaded the other cardinals to let his son, Caesar, who was only 17 years old. Borgia's promotion from Archbishop of Valencia to Cardinal caused a lot of criticism, but the ceremony was surprisingly large and prominent, with almost all of Italy's dignitaries gathered at St. Peter's Basilica.
In the name of this ordination ceremony, the inhabitants of Rome also received many benefits, the monks and priests distributed free bread and light wine, threw coins, and for several days there was a magnificent procession through the streets, clowns, jugglers, and the uncovered carriages carrying countless bare-chested and bareback prostitutes, decorated with flower balls, silks, beautiful prostitutes constantly waving to the crowd, throwing roses, and bands following them, harps, violins, lutes, flutes, piccolos, reed pipes, There are also cute little drums that sound vigorously, making people can't help but dance along.
Alexander VI stood on the altar, looking down on the crowd below, and inferred from their faces that they still had some reverence and love for the Holy See, and the result was of course extremely irritating, but this was the last time, the Pope thought to himself, he was going to make these so-called city-states disappear after all, to reunite Italy, to bow to his feet and those of his children and grandchildren—those unruly eyes and wandering smiles would disappear forever, or fall into the dust, and he stretched out his finger and looked at the frescoes on the dome, The images of the Father, the Son and the Virgin are very old and lack the lifelike life of the existing painters, their images are dull, their colors fade, and the images appear to be embarrassingly cracked, which may be a revelation, just as the Lord summoned St. Francis to repair his earthly dwelling, which Alexander VI thought was also a portent, and he followed the revelation and took over a crumbling papapacia, which he now refined, and condensed with blood and fire.
Giulio had received the priesthood, and Cardinal Picromini took the opportunity to take him with him, and every procession—the invitees and their relatives—walked in and whispered as if joking about some secret matter, and Giulio was as eager as a sponge absorbing water, which is not something that is written in a book, every family has its own killer features, and in every family, everyone has its own secrets—Bishop Picomini can know this, because he is a Picomini, And because of his own wisdom and acumen. Even if a young Picromini stood here, he would keep silent, unless it was his son, or a disciple like a son. Had it not been for Bishop Picromini's determination that Giulio was spiritual, Giulio would not have had access to that hidden part of his knowledge, even at Medici's behest.
It's like Ludovico from Milan, he's a dark-skinned, hard-looking man in the prime of life. Sforza's reputation is not very good in Rome, or in the whole of Italy, Sforza's history is not long, their ancestor was just a mercenary, usurped the rule of Milan from the Visconti family in Milan, Ludovico was in charge of Milan after the death of his brother, when his nephew was only 7 years old, but it didn't take long for his ambition to be exposed, so his political rival Chico and sister-in-law Bona worked together to drive Ludovico out of Milan, who knew that he actually relied on flattery and bribery, successfully returned to Milan, Upon his return to Milan, he mercilessly assassinated Chico and sent his sister-in-law, Bona, to a convent.
The Medici family of Florence entered after the Este family of Ferrara, headed by Pierrot. The Medici, the young man was richly dressed and haughty, and behaved not so much as a banker but as a prince, but Giulio immediately noticed that Ludovico turned his head in disgust when he saw him: "What happened? He asked in a whisper, he is also only 14 years old this year, in Lorenzo. After the death of the Medici, the Medici family's resources began to favor Joe, Giulio had no objection to this, he was only a nominal brother, and for the time being, he was only a six-rank deacon, which was already high for ordinary people, but compared to Joe, who was already a bishop, both Pierrot and the Medici family would of course choose the latter, and the only thing he was worried about was that he was no longer as well-informed as before, especially after Ezio also disappeared suddenly.
"Not so long ago," Cardinal Picromini did not disappoint his disciples, "Ludovico's nephew, the rightful heir of Milan, intended to form an alliance with the Duke of Alfonso of Naples, well, his father-in-law, to drive his uncle Ludovico the Moorish out of Milan, or to kill him, so Ludovico appealed to the Medici for help, but Pierrot refused him - he probably came this time to seek the help of the Pope or others, after all, there was no better opportunity. ”
Giulio frowned in annoyance, he didn't know Ludovico or his nephew, but he knew that Milan might not be a friendly friend, but definitely a tricky enemy, Ezio had also mentioned to him the Moorish Ludovico, of course he would not be a gentle and good man, perhaps the moment Pierrot rejected him, the Medici of Florence was included in his list of enemies, so his performance seemed to prove it, But Pierrot seemed to have no idea what kind of enemy he had brought to the Medici, and he looked left and right, with a reserved posture, not feeling the slightest hint of hatred, contempt, and mockery.
"Legends arose that the Medici rule in Florence was coming to an end." Giovanni. Sforza said in Ludovico's ear.
The Moorish Ludovico reached out rudely and pushed him away, Ludovico had no son of the right age, so he had to take the Duke of Pesaro, that is, Giovanni. Sforza was brought to Rome in the hope of facilitating the marriage of the Pope's daughter, Luclesia, to the Sforza family, and thus to obtain the help of Alexander VI, for example, how the Pope could declare the marriage of his nephew Gian and Isabella, the daughter of the Duke of Alfonso of Naples, invalid - the covenant between them might also be shaken or even collapsed.
"Stand straight." Ludovico said coldly, Giovanni. Sforza put his body back in his original position, and Ludovico sighed, he knew that Giovanni was still missing his dead wife, and it was rare for the Sforza family to have such a love species, "Lucrecia is also a beauty," he said, "and she will have a rich dowry." Giovanni showed a little spirit, his palace had not been repaired for a long time: "It's a slut too." He said for no reason. I don't know. "But I haven't heard anything bad about her, and I've heard that she had been living in a monastery outside Rome." ”
Giovanni pursed his lips, he didn't feel anything like Rodrigo. What a stallion like Borgia can raise good cubs?
Caesar. Borgia had now put on the crown given by his father, who was also the Father, and he stood up and faced everyone, even Giovanni, who had to admit that the young man looked like a beautiful statue, but not a saint, but more like a Mars (Roman god of war).