Cardinal Grand Lovere strode into the Vatican Palace, and although he could not become a pope, he could still be the father of the Pope, and he had a series of plans, from the French to the Spaniards, from the Spaniards to the Venetians, and from the Wisneys to the Turks - of course, he had a son who was not so obedient, but Cardinal the Grand Lovere always had a way to make him obedient - he had hired some wizards and doctors, tried many things with death row prisoners that could make people weak, drowsy or dull, But not lethal drugs. Of course, it may have been a good thing for Julius II, for the number of times he punished himself with whips and fasts had left his supposedly energetic body scarred and emaciated.

For the sake of a father's kindness, Cardinal Grande Lovere would not let him go on like this.

The monks of the House of Lovere were ready, and from tomorrow Julius II would be fed into his meal a mixture of poppy 067 millet juice and a mandala, of course, in very small quantities at first, so little that it was almost imperceptible, but when his stubborn son found himself unable to take on the heavy affairs of the Holy See, it was time for him, the cardinal, who was also the manager of the salaries and salaries, to step forward—he thought, the cardinals who had been tortured by his son and the black-clad priests to the point of collapse, Must be more willing to deal with him.

His career was finally able to start again after being forced to stagnate for so many years.

Not only Cardinal Grand Lovere thought so, but most of the cardinals thought so too, they gathered again in the Great Council Chamber, waiting for the Pope to arrive, the atmosphere between them was much more relaxed than when Pius III was, yes, they didn't think that the new Pope they elected could really hold the power in their hands, he was still so young and a little naïve - it was the Grand Lovere who needed their guard - when Little Lovere was still in the Ministry of Jurisprudence, although it was all him and his party members who were responsible for thorough investigation and punishment, But it wasn't Cardinal Grand Lovere who really negotiated with the envoys, the cardinal, and the family behind him, but now that Cardinal Grand Lovere had what he wanted most, then he should make good on his promise.

A priest stepped out of the open door, his face familiar to many, for he was a Lovere, and Julius II came into view after his briefing, and he no longer limped along, for at the request of Cardinal Grande Lovere, his attendants and monks no longer allowed him to tie sharp pieces of iron to his thighs, but he still looked so pale and thin, that he looked younger than his age.

The cardinals bowed to him, and Cardinal Grande Lovere almost nodded slightly, but the men of Pius III, led by Cardinal Baglioni, bowed their heads sincerely, at least superficially. Julius II also had a gentler look at them as he walked by them than he did when he looked at the others—after Pius III handed him the vaults of the great monastery outside Rome, he also let him meet their supporters, among them Baglioni, Joe. The Medici, but also Boins, in the Low Countries, and three other reliable cardinals. Joshua had said that he had feared that their allegiance would disappear with the departure of Pius III or be transferred to Julio. The Medici, but in the papal election, the final choice they made, without a doubt, allowed Joshua to truly let go of his worries.

Cardinal Grande Lovere was the first to come forward, ready for today's topic – the Bentivolio family of Bologna, whose parents had followed Caesar of Borgia but who had his tongue cut out by Caesar in the town hall of Seniga for deliberately betraying his overly tyrannical and moody master. Corero was hanged, and from that day on, Bologna became the possession of the Duke of Romagna.

Soon after, Caesar, Duke of Romagna. Borgia is dead, the Bentivoglio family is back in Bologna, hey, they still think they can continue to be their uncrowned king, but Cardinal Grande Lovere has already made arrangements and plans, neither the Venetians nor Bentivoglio want to take Bologna from him, he wants the Pope to issue an edict to inform everyone that the person who has stolen Bologna now is just a despicable illegitimate son, and he has no right to inherit Bologna - and Urbino, Faenza, Perugia...... All that was ever the case was Caesar. Wherever Borgia declared the papal states were to return to the Holy See, the Pope, or to be precise, to his hands.

But Julius II held out his white-gloved hand and stopped him from speaking: "Rest easy," he said kindly, "my uncle, I have an issue which needs to be raised first. ”

Cardinal Grande Lovere pursed his lips in displeasure, but the phrase "uncle" completely demonstrated the closeness and trust of His Excellency the Pope, and he could not help but feel a little satisfied. In addition, this was the first day after all, and he should give his son a chance anyway, so he nodded slightly, "I'll listen to you." He temporarily retreated into the queue of cardinals.

"I am about to issue an edict," continued Julius II, in his soft voice, "from this day onwards...... All buying and selling in the election of the Pope is strictly prohibited! ”

Even if a thunderbolt fell from the sky and landed at the feet of Cardinal Lovere, he would not have been more frightened, he wanted to scream, and perhaps he would have screamed, but every word spoken by Julius II, his son, continued to flood his ears.

"It is forbidden to buy and sell the priesthood!

No buying and selling of holy relics and indulgences!

Bishops and priests must stick to their dioceses and churches! Unless you make a pilgrimage and debriefing, you must not stay away!

……”

Does he know what he's talking about? Did he know that if these edicts were issued, the cardinals, bishops and priests would hate him like demons? Did he know that he was destroying the Lovere, his father, and himself?

Cardinal Grande Lovere, who didn't even care about Joshua's current status, jumped to his feet and shouted, "He's crazy! He's crazy! He's crazy! He shouted three times in succession, and then rushed forward, trying to pull his son down from the papal throne, but before he could do so, a large number of soldiers poured in from outside the door, all dressed in uniform black clothes, armed with a cross and a triple crown etched on their chests, and like Joshua's monks with chains around their waists, but far more dangerous—they were all armed, forcing the cardinals to retreat and kneel.

Joshua smiled slightly, his smile was always a little tired, a little weak, but at this moment, the cardinals only felt that there was a myriad of terrible and unknowable things hidden in it.

"Arrest this sinner." He pointed to Cardinal Grande Lovere, and said that the soldiers did not hesitate to do so, Cardinal Grande Lovere, who was much taller and stronger than the others, and he grabbed a brass candle stand and confronted them, and the leader of the soldiers glanced cautiously at their master, Julius II, and saw that he only lowered his eyes, and no longer hesitated, and surrounded him with a few soldiers—somewhat unexpectedly, Cardinal Grande Lovere's martial arts were not inferior to his theological achievements, Although he did not have the right weapon, he still wounded two soldiers and even narrowly escaped the line of defense in front of Julius II.

The leader of the mercenaries was annoyed, and instead of holding his hand, he burst out with real strength and skill, and in a few moments Cardinal Grande Lovere was struck in the right arm, and the candle stand fell from his hand, and the soldiers rushed up to catch him, and forced him to kneel until his forehead touched the ground.

Cardinal Grande Lovere scolded desperately, and even Baglioni or Joe blushed or blackened a little, but Joshua. The Pope waved his hand lazily as if he hadn't heard, and the soldiers skillfully lifted Cardinal Rovere, tore off the corner of his robe, stuffed it into his mouth, and carried him out in a state of embarrassment.

Cardinal Baglioni noticed that even the members of the Lauvere family, who had previously been close servants to the Pope, were gone, and he shuddered violently and quickly drew a cross on his chest.

Fortunately, Julius II seemed to have felt that enough, and he did not point that terrible thin finger at anyone again, but gently and amiably brought the cardinals to their feet and continued to discuss the subject of the day, and he even allowed them to discuss and deliberate, or to talk about other more important topics.

Is there anything more important than that? The cardinals' hearts were full of sorrow.

All buying and selling in the election of the Pope is strictly forbidden - it doesn't matter, there are still several years before the next papal election, and the papal edict is not impossible to overturn, tamper, they are not without chance.

Buying and selling the priesthood - this means that they, as well as the Holy See, will lose a large amount of income, and the kings and dukes will be angry that they have lost a shortcut to the ascension of their cronies and descendants, which is absolutely not acceptable

The prohibition of the sale of holy relics and indulgences, in addition to income, involves a very serious question—when people ask why they are forbidden, do they have to admit that these things are useless except for profiteering?

Bishops and priests must cling to the problems of the dioceses and churches they receive...... Yes, it stands to reason that they should have done so, but the problem is that the high clergy, such as the cardinals, are in charge of two or more dioceses, for example, when Alexander VI was a cardinal, he led three dioceses, Valencia, Portus and Cartagena...... Let them hold on to one place, and there is no other way except to tear them apart with horses.

Or some say that they can give up one or more of them, but it is like asking a king or duke to give up his domain, and without a parish, how can they use gold-trimmed dishes, wear elaborately embroidered silk clothes, pull carts for themselves with four-legged Arabian horses with long necks, keep hunting dogs, prostitutes, and assassins, and spend their days and nights in pleasure, gluttony, and heavy drinking?

But under the sword of the soldiers, they did not dare to speak out loud - although they all thought that their new pope, Julius II, had indeed gone mad, and that they had the intention of not allowing the edict to leave the Vatican Palace, it was clear that Julius II, though young and weak, had the same viciousness as Alexander VI, the decisiveness of Cardinal Rovelle the Great and the meticulousness of Pius III, while they were still asleep in the soft pillows of their beds. His soldiers had infiltrated Rome silently, like the Vatican Palace now, and almost all of Rome's vital points fell into the hands of this seemingly reckless Pope.

The Vatican Palace was closed like the Sistine elected by the Pope, and no cardinal could leave it until Julius II got the answer he wanted.

Or rather, there was only one, Cardinal Grand Lovere, who was quickly put on a hooded cloak, covered with a crimson round hat and vestment, and sent into a carriage, which galloped towards Castel Sant'Angelo, complete with its cells and torture chambers, and when Cardinal Grand Lovere, pushed by the soldiers, walked along the gloomy corridors, he even felt that he was having a nightmare—a nightmare he had in France, in which he dreamed that he was captured by the Assassins of Borgia or betrayed by the French and brought back to Italy, Locked up in Castel Sant'Angelo.

But he never imagined that he would be sent here by his own son.

As he walked through the corridors of the dungeon, he heard cries coming from the rooms on either side, many of them familiar to him, and he shivered - the most terrible suspicion came true, that he had put an enemy in the Pope's place, and that he was now going to destroy him and his family.

Cardinal Grande Lovere was locked up in an empty room with two guards at the door, who tried to bribe with his golden cross, then made numerous promises, and finally asked only to see His Excellency, but no matter how much he tried to persuade him, how much he threatened, no matter how much he threatened, the two guards were unmoved.

When it was time to eat, Cardinal Grande Lovere was given a palm-sized loaf of bread and a glass of water.

There were no windows in his room, and there was no clock, so Cardinal Grande Lovere had to try to count the time by the number of meals, and after he had eaten the fifteenth meal, the door was opened.

Joshua. Lovere looked even more emaciated than Cardinal Lovere the Great, who had been imprisoned - he had worked hard to bring them to their knees, and before he could enjoy the sweet fruits of his victory, the mercenary captain had to deliver a piece of information that made him furious - the soldiers of the House of Lovere, instead of keeping order in Rome during the papal elections, as he had demanded, had joined forces with the mob, bringing purgatory-like misery to those who had mistakenly believed in them.

He endured the taunts of Cardinal Grande Lovere, and he humiliated himself admitting that he was emulating Giulio and the Medici, and he generously paid and fully equipped the soldiers of the Lovere family, all of which had been a complete joke!

Will those people think that he is also an innocent person? No, it won't, they will only think of him as a tyrant, a liar, an insatiable villain!

The thought of this made his heart ache as if it had been torn apart.

"It seems that your situation is not very good, Your Excellency." Cardinal Grande Lovere scoffed that he had nothing to fear, even though Joshua. Lovere was not his son, just an unrelated man, and he could not easily have put himself to death, except for someone as mad as Alexander VI, who could underestimate Giuliano. Della. Lovere?

The Spaniards waited for his reply, the kings of France who were the only ones he could pacify, and the lords of Romagna who were the only ones he could fight...... And then there are the cunning cardinals, who can succumb to the threat of force, but once they can fight back, they will bite more than anyone else......

He had to convince his son to ...... As Alexander VI repeatedly reiterated, the most important thing is the family...... They must be closely united, even if it takes him to grovel to his son for a while......

"I want you to meet personally." Joshua. Lovere said, and then he gestured with his eyes, and the two soldiers dragged a man in a mask and hood over and told him to stand in front of Cardinal Lovere the Great.

One of the soldiers pulled down his hood and tore off his mask, exposing himself to the light of the torches with a face that was alien to Cardinal Grande Lovere.

"Ah......" Joshua. "You have forgotten him," said Lovere, "and let me remind you, then," he turned to his father, "and he has a nickname, 'Lardskin.'" ”

Cardinal Grande Lovere remembered that twenty years earlier, he had sent this Assassin to Assisi to get rid of his demonic son, and after that he had failed, he had disappeared, thinking that the Assassin had been killed by Picomini or Borgia, but he did not expect that he was still alive.

"You can do your job." Joshua. Lovere said.

"Lard" hesitated, "Really? He asked, "As long as I do it, you will let me go?" Your Excellency," he said in a hoarse voice, "he is your ......." ”

"Father," Joshua. Lovere added to him: "But at that time, I was also his son, right? ”

"Lardskin" no longer hesitated, Cardinal Grande Lovere's eyes widened in disbelief, he wanted to roar, scream, struggle, but for an assassin who was still strong even after twenty years of captivity, his resistance was like a prostitute and a guest.

"Bless me, O God, for I have taken refuge in you." The Assassin placed the rope around Cardinal Lovere's neck and began to recite the poem he knew so well.

"O my heart, you said to the Lord, 'You are my Lord; My good is not outside of you.

And of the saints of the world, they are beautiful and good, and they are the most pleasing ...... to me."

The familiar gurgling sound of "lardskin" sounded.

……

“…… I will bless the LORD who hath taught me, and my heart will warn me in the night. ”

To strangle a child, one should recite the prayer more than twice in a row, to strangle a woman with a full breast, four times, five times for a strong man, and six or seven times for an old man, who, though old and weak, need less air than a young man.

This time he read it nine times.