On Christmas Eve, Pope Alexander VI presided over the opening of the Holy Door.

The Holy Gate is the one on the far right side of St. Peter's Basilica, which was brought to Rome by Emperor Vespatian in 70 A.D. after conquering the capital of the Jews - on its left side, is the Door of the Sacraments, the Middle Gate, the Gate of Good and Evil and the Gate of Death, but only the Holy Gate is the door that people are most eager to cross, it is only opened in the Holy Year - the Holy Year is stipulated by the Holy Seeker Pniface VIII in the Edict of 1300 "Since Ancient Times", at the beginning, once every hundred years, the problem is that the life expectancy of people at that time was too short, Most people may not see once in three generations in a hundred years, so Pontifical Clement VI shortened it to 50 years, and later changed it to a 33-year holy year for Jesus to live on earth for 33 years, and in 1470 Paul II shortened it to 25 years...... In fact, the Holy See has been changing the time just to collect money in the Holy Year and to put his coat of arms on the Holy Door.

Because people generally believe that as long as they can pass through the Holy Gate, they can wash away all their sins, even murder, therefore, in order to prevent any daring boy from breaking into the Holy Gate without permission, before the Holy Year comes, there is a solid brick wall in front of the Holy Gate, although one of the duties of the Pope is to knock on the Holy Gate, and if Alexander VI is given a hammer, he can also knock on the brick wall, but such a thing, it is too humiliating for the Supreme Pontiff to do it, so, on the night of the 24th, First, a group of workers were led to the Holy Gate and knocked on the brick wall - a team of Templars in bright armor stood by with their swords, and if anyone appeared to try to storm the Holy Gate before the Pope, his head would fall to the ground faster than his feet.

When the bricks had been removed, the workers had been driven away, and the monks had cleaned the floor and the Holy Door, the Pope came to the Holy Door surrounded by cardinals, and he first nailed his coat of arms to the Holy Door, and then, with a few gentle, ceremonial knocks, pushed the Holy Door open, and walked in first, followed by Cardinal Picromini, and other cardinals, archbishops (several of whom were absent). Then came the kings of the kingdoms, among whom King Louis XII of France had an unusually cold face, but he was still not as cold as King Frederick IV of Naples, and the most striking of them was Caesar, the illegitimate son of the Pope. Borgia, he was only the Grand Duke of Valentino, but he was not ashamed or uneasy in the midst of a group of noble kings.

The king was followed by various illustrious lords, Duke Ludovico of Milan. Sforza did not arrive, and it was evident that he knew that he had completely lost the favor of the Pope, and of all the powerful ministers, the heads of powerful families, the clergy and the monks...... Finally, there are merchants and civilians, of course, to enter the Holy Gate, it is not possible to pay a price, and by the Holy Gate, there is a large vat belonging to the "voluntary donation", guarded by the soldiers, lest any shameless infidels want to enter the door empty-handed.

These vats, which are replaced almost every few hours, are full of gold and silver coins and precious jewelry, and it is expected that more donations from the faithful will sweep through this ancient holy city like a wave throughout the year.

Alexander's mood seemed to be better, his face became rosy again, and he was willing to smile even when facing King Louis XII of France, although he preferred not to have this honor when he looked at the corners of the French king's tense but had to raise his mouth - he and the Pope looked at each other, wondering where the other had gotten the Templar treasure, and how much money had been thrown away by the other party.

This sentiment continued until February, on the eve of Carnival, when the Pope was to honor Caesar. When Borgia held the triumphal ceremony, the King of France could no longer contain his anger in his chest - he did not think that all the money spent on the ceremony came from the Pope's own purse! Despite Alexander VI's retention, he insisted on returning to Milan to continue his battle with Ludovico; And the Pope's face became unpleasant, he heard that Louis XII had bought some artillery from the Spaniards, and these military expenses should have been filled in the Holy Treasury?

But neither of them could accuse the other of stealing their own money, so they had to suppress their disgust with each other and reluctantly continue to cooperate - the French also needed Pope Alexander VI, and so did the Pope, anyway, Caesar. Borgia sent troops to Romagna under the pretext of balancing the French in Italy.

And the triumphal ceremony on February 26 had a brilliant beginning, but the ending was not so perfect.

At first, everything did look as good as the Borgias had hoped it would have been—the people of Rome were greeted by the people of Lucca, the silk provided by the Luccas covered every pillar, and as far as the eye could see, the prostitutes sat on the terraces, constantly throwing down rose petals cut from red satin and splashing perfume. Caesar. Borgia entered Rome at 3 p.m. under the guidance of Duke Alfonso of Bisherbili, and his brother Avery Avery, followed by cardinals and ministers, as well as mercenaries in the service of the Borgia family, who were so rude that they pushed aside the clergy and friars, almost interrupting the ceremony.

Pope Alexander VI waited for Caesar in the Hall of Kingship in the Vatican Palace. When Borgia was admitted, he knelt before the Pope and thanked his father and father with all sincerity, and the Pope replied with the same grace, but just as Caesar leaned down and kissed the Pope's feet, and then his right hand, the ceiling of the hall suddenly collapsed, and a heavy pile of rubble buried the Pope and his illegitimate son in the rising smoke.

There were only one or two screams in the room - most of them were stunned, only the Templars who had been guarding the Pope's side reacted with a quick response, some of them immediately went to guard the door of the hall of kingship, some immediately went to dig up the stones and wood, but fortunately, they quickly dug up the toppled papal throne, it seems that Alexander VI, who still maintained the skills of a supreme master, used brute force to overturn the heavy and huge throne when the sudden change of life occurred, and he and Caesar were shrouded underneath, and neither of them was injured Except for a few tiny scratches.

This turn of events undoubtedly cast a shadow over this glorious triumphal ceremony, and the Pope, though he could still force his face, was already furious, judging by his muscles twitching from time to time, and Caesar looked like, as they were described, "like a hyena ready to bite at any moment." ”

It was assumed that Rome was about to usher in another violent purge, but both the Pope and Caesar endured until the end of the carnival, in which Caesar. Borgia also disguised herself as Julius. Caesar, with a crown of golden laurel branches and leaves, dressed in a white toga with purple trim, rode in a two-wheeled carriage, escorted by guards also dressed as Roman soldiers, and circled Rome for two weeks, waving to the crowd of onlookers. And in the convoy in front of him, there were all sorts of people displaying Julius. Caesar had won a series of military victories, as if he had already attained the same glory as those victories.

Such behaviour was so rare in Borgia that some fools let their guard down, and on the night of the end of the carnival, Duke Biséperi returned to Luclecia from his beloved prostitute - the two places were so close that there was only one St. Peter's Square apart, and Duke Bisebili with his servants and soldiers, thinking that it was all right, but just as they passed a group of equally drunken people, the latter suddenly surrounded them and drew his sword.

The Duke of Bisacebili's soldiers and servants did their best to break through the siege and run back to Lucrecia's residence, where the Duke was wounded, and Lucrecia and his maids hid him at once, and did not leave her husband for anyone, and the Neapolitan envoys arrived.

A few days later, the Pope's previous attack was a conspiracy of the Duke of Biscapile - this rumor spread far and wide, and Duarte, the Pope's personal secretary, came to summon the Neapolitan envoy and demanded an explanation, but the Pope's personal assassin, Miguel Brown. Still, Corero led his soldiers to surround Lucleicia's residence.

"Don't go......," begged Alfonso, Duke of Bisherbilee, "don't go, as soon as you go, they will rush in and kill me!" ”

"But here I am," said Lucrecia gently, "how can I intercede for you, I am sure that you will not hurt my father, but here I am, the voice cannot reach the Holy Father, this is very close to the Vatican Palace, my dear Alfonso, look at the daylight outside, I will be back before it disappears." ”

"Swear by it, swear and I'll believe you."

"Yes, I swear, in the name of my father, that I will come back, and I will intercede with the Holy Father for you."

Duke Bisherbi hesitated, and finally let go of Lucrecia's hand.

Luclecia walked out with the maid, and as soon as she left, Miguel. Corero walked in, and a few minutes later Miguel came out and regretfully declared that Alfonso, Duke of Bisapili of Naples, had fallen out of bed, tore open the wound, and had died.

Lucrecia stayed in the Vatican Palace for three hours before returning to her residence, which had been cleaned, and she did make good on her promise, she returned, and had pleaded with the Pope for her husband.

But things have always been so cruel, and she lost her husband again.

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When the sad news reached Lucca, Machiavelli was busy counting the earth cubes that would be excavated under the candle – and when he had finished reading it, he put the note on the candle and lit it: "God willing," he said, "sometimes pride and prejudice are a good thing." ”

Ezio stood by the door with his arms crossed, "You shouldn't have taken what Julio gave you and used it. ”

"Do you swear you don't have such thoughts? Ezio," Machiavelli sat back down and began to dwell on the infinite numbers: "Boom, one hundred." ”

"Apparently the devil hasn't wanted to reclaim the souls of the Borgias so quickly."

"Rest assured, Ezio," said Machiavelli, "Paula has always done things properly, and who would have thought that such a small thing," he gestured with his little finger, "that it could be so powerful, although the result was not so satisfactory - but it was enough to expose the hypocrisy between Alexander VI and King Frederick IV of Naples in advance, and you must know that King Louis XII of France was still fighting Sforza in Milan, and for a time he did not have time to take care of Naples - this time difference, Enough of a headache for him. ”

"It is true that Alexander VI was not as cautious as he had been in the past," said Ezio, "and Caterina sent him a letter infected with the plague, and it was said that the person who opened the letter would soon die, he did not, but it was not as good as before." ”

"Didn't he show him Cardinal Picromini?"

"He didn't believe anybody." Ezio said.

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And just after Pope Alexander VI was again absent from a High Mass, Cardinal Picromini summoned Joshua.

"Joshua," he said, "your father wants to see you." ”