"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." —The Gospel of John.

————

“……

Today, I will begin with the matter of Saint Martin, who was a cavalry guard of the Roman Emperor, and who had never heard of the name of our lord until that day, nor worshipped him, but when he came to a city gate, he saw a naked beggar, and it was cold, and the beggar was shaking, and he prayed to everyone who passed by, but no one paid attention to him, but Saint Martin came to him and said, "Brother, what do you need?" ”

The beggar said, "I need a piece of clothing." ”

But when St. Martin had only weapons and the clothes of the guards, he drew his sword, cut off half of his red cloak, and put it on the beggar's body, and said, "Brother, here you are." ”

When St. Martin returned to the army, he was ridiculed by his companions, reprimanded by his superiors, and sentenced to three days' imprisonment for damaging his armaments.

That same night, St. Martin dreamed that Jesus Christ came to him with half of his cloak on him, and said: "Although he has not yet been baptized, he has given me half a cloak to wear." St. Martin suddenly realized that he should give up his military duties and serve God.

Ladies and gentlemen, the saints of that time had not yet heard our Lord speak, but they had learned to have mercy and love for others, and to do righteous deeds on behalf of our Lord.

As for us, we can hear our Lord every day, just as a sheep hears a shepherd, but the sheep can discern the voice of the shepherd, but we cannot distinguish the voice of the Lord, and we follow the voice of our hearts, not knowing that it is not necessarily speaking for the Lord, but it is possible that the devil is speaking to you.

Then how do we discern, Ladies and gentlemen, the Lord loves us as He loves the world, and when we are in pain, and fear, and anger, we pray to the Lord, and we speak to Him and cry out, and the Lord will answer you in your heart, Child, I am here, so that you may be free from panic and have peace and comfort like a child in a mother's arms.

But if the devil is speaking to you, he will only make you go down the path of destruction, and you will say, "Are you fleshless?" Or rather, isn't that what you deserve? Encourage you to take revenge, to be jealous, to make you think that this is the only way to be happy, but if you are wrong, if you do, your heart will never be at peace, without restraint, and anger and violence out of selfish desires will only bring the same bitter consequences as Cain, Saul, and Herod, and it will make you lose your mind and be full of anxiety, like a sword that strikes another sword, and a torch that lights another torch, and when you inflict pain on others, you inflict pain on yourself.

…… The voice of the devil is often very loud, and the voice of the Lord is always very small, but the loud is not necessarily correct, and the small is not necessarily powerless, so do not listen to the voice of the heart in ecstasy or anger, because that is often wrong, we need to listen to the voice of the heart in peace, because that is the real Lord is speaking to you, He will give you encouragement, He will give you comfort, He will tell you His unchanging love for you, even if our road ahead is always a lot of suffering, and we cannot take a detour, but He is always with us.

The strength He gives us is peaceful, unstoppable, and comes from love, not hatred.

……

Therefore, when we hear the voice of our hearts, we need to discern the good and the evil in it, reject the instigation of the devil, and listen only to the voice of the Lord, just as a flock does not follow a scheming person, so that we can be gathered together as a flock and follow one shepherd.

……”

Jesmo bowed his head, at the Mass of St. Martin's Day, the content of Archbishop Luca's sermon was obviously related to the oolong they had caused not long ago, he couldn't help but be a little apprehensive, but he could swear to the Virgin that they really didn't expect such a stranger of extraordinary skill to be their archbishop—and then Castelluccio's parents, that is, Jesmo and his brother's father, went to apologize, and they also made a deep confession, and were willing to offer three Masses, as well as gold thread embroidered silk fabric worth a thousand gold florins.

But seriously, the content of Giulio's sermon today really had nothing to do with this group of reckless young people, and after a joyful exercise, he was refreshed and relaxed, until he summoned the head of the Knights of Brittany and inquired about it in detail.

The matter is very simple, it is just the jealousy of young people, and the person who caused the dispute is not even a famous lady, just a commoner woman, and when people look for her, she has disappeared - not to mention Giulio, even the head of the knights does not believe that this woman is really an ordinary person, no matter what else, the knights of Brittany, and the second son of Castelluccio's parents, are not poor creatures who have never seen the world, how can they be tricked by an ordinary peasant girl? It may seem like a small thing, but if it weren't for Julio's accident, a small misfortune might eventually lead to a huge disaster.

The heads of the large and small families in the city of Lucca were gathered in the small sanctuary of the Cathedral of San Marino after the Mass. On the first day the Medici entered Lucca, they waited, almost impatiently—every archbishop would try to make a fortune out of Lucca's treasury and the pockets of his parents, some in moderation, others in excessive greed, but as with buying and selling, there was always a bargain.

What they didn't expect was that Archbishop Lucca did raise something about money, but it didn't fall into his pocket, or rather, it wouldn't fall into anyone's pocket, because his issue was to renovate and strengthen Lucca's old walls, or to build a new one.

Lucca's walls are in some places even older than the city, and only half of Lucca is included, the new town and the Granici Palace are not included, and the Luccas have indeed been planning to rebuild a new wall, and Castelluccio's parents glanced at Gonici with a smile, the new walls were prepared for the defense of Florence, and now a Florentine man is suggesting that they start the project.

"What are you worried about?" Castelluccio's parent, Alfred. Castrolicio laughed, "Do you think that the people of Lucca can't protect you?" He was about to make a slight sarcasm, but remembered that just a few days earlier, the archbishop had beaten a dozen young men of his family to the ground, so he had to take it back in a huff: "And there are so many brave knights with you by your side, and if a king comes, we can guarantee that you are safe and sound." In the end, he couldn't help but stab - everyone knew that when Charles VIII invaded Naples, it was a Medici who sold Florence.

Giulio is not angry, it's all the truth, angry about what: "What about a pope? ”

The atmosphere in the room suddenly cooled down, and Danilo, the parent of Guiniki, laughed dryly, "How so? He said: "The lowly laity cannot meddle in the affairs of the Holy See." ”

"Who knows," said Giulio, with the same smile, "isn't every saint sent to heaven by a layman—though as a small mortal I cannot compare with a saint, there are many who want to send me to heaven, and I know that some of you may already be thinking about how to please the Pope......"

"How is that possible!?" Alfred's eldest son, the yellow-faced young man, retorted almost without thinking: "We'd rather fight the wolves from Florence than sniff each other's dogs!" ”

Castelluccio's parents glared fiercely at their eldest son and remained silent.

"It seems that you are aware of it," said Giulio, "but you do not want to intervene, even if they are already using your child, the messenger of love, to escape, but I have taken her back, and you will not read her statement, just as you want me and the Pope to lose both, and they want you to fight with me to the death." ”

"We have no place to offend the Holy Father."

"Your existence is a sin!" Julio shouted, "How long are you going to blindfold yourself and hold your ears down!" Rimini, Pesaro, Imola, Forlì, Camerino, and the Duke of Urbino have been stripped of their titles and confiscated territories, how long do you think it will be Lucca's turn?! ”

"How could it be," Danilo said. Guinici shouted: "Lucca has always been a free city! ”

"As long as it is on Italian soil, in the heart of the Pope, it can only be the possession of his illegitimate son."

"We paid all the annuities, tributes, protections, tithes, assistance payments on time...... Never in arrears, never slacking off. He has no reason to ......"

"When an archbishop dies in your city, there will be." Giulio said coldly: "Just like the death of Archbishop Salviati of Pisa in the Florentine riots, Pope Sixtus IV could confiscate all the property of the Medici family in Rome, excommunicate Lorenzo and the entire Florentine court, and deprive the whole of Florence of clergy." If I die, do you think the Pope who hears this news will be overjoyed and fulfill his promise to bestow upon you unimaginable favors and blessings, or will he be furious, as Sixtus IV did, and punish all those concerned with confiscation of assets, excommunication, and then the deprivation of all Lucca's clergy, waiting for you to weep and beg at his feet, and it is more likely that Lukka's hands will be given to his illegitimate son? ”

As he stepped down from the pulpit, the sun shone over him in the west, and the rich sacrificial cloak on his body was as bright as flowing blood—the archbishop of Lukka tore it off without hesitation, and threw it to the assistant priest on the side, and then he took off his holy belt and frieze, untied his belt, and took off his white shawl and white robe in turn, leaving only the black robe inside, so that everyone could clearly see that he was not wearing chain mail and carrying no weapons.

"I have never been afraid of you!" He shouted, his voice low, but like a bellhammer striking Lukka's heart, "for I know that if misfortune befalls me, it will only be Lukka who will be destroyed!" But there are always those whose ears are filled with the voice of the devil, and they obediently follow the path he has guided, not looking around at all, not looking ahead, but going into the abyss! If someone tries to stop you, you have to complain about his meddling! ”

"Okay!" He continued, walking among the Lukkas: "Now is this opportunity, you can stab me here, stab me here, just one moment, and put an end to your troubles. "Julio. The Medici pointed to his chest, and he looked at the Luccas one by one, and they either lowered their heads or turned their gazes, only Alfred. Castrolicio was still stubbornly staring at him, "That's your war with the Pope, you shouldn't have involved us." ”

"I'd rather do that." Giulio sneered, "It's a pity that the Pontifical See doesn't think so—I've received the news that next year is the Holy Year, and the Pope has raised the tithes of one-third of the dioceses to six for this reason, and Luca ...... It's one of them. I think that with it, tribute, annuity, protection, assistance, ...... or something else...... It's going to rise sharply. ”

"Six!" Danilo. Guinicki cried out: "That's six tenths, our income...... We ......"

"If I can't wait for you to make a mistake," said Giulio calmly, turning around as he walked through the Lucca with the same fearlessness and arrogance, and walked back to the pulpit, putting on his full costume with the help of the priests, "then I will make a mistake for you." Caesar. Borgia will declare war on Imola and Forlì years ago, and once the war begins, the military budget will flow out like flowing water, and the Holy Treasury will only become more and more empty, and there will be no other way but to draw blood from other places, either pay taxes, strengthen Caesar, weaken yourself, or refuse, and follow in the footsteps of Rimini, Pesaro, Imola, Forlì, Camerino, and Urbino. ”

"Listen to your hearts," he said at last, "and decide where to go." ”

————————

Julio. The Medici returned to the room, and there was a gentle applause behind her.

Machiavelli dressed as a monk stood in the corner, clapping his hands in admiration.

"How about you," Giulio asked, "what about Michelangelo?" ”

"You mean that guy?" Machiavelli said lightly: "I threw him into the barrel in the cellar." He stepped forward: "I'm here to serve you." ”

Giulio didn't refuse, he got used to it...... In this era, even the most eccentric Cardinal Picromini was accompanied by two monks and nuns who served in his personal service.

"If I knew I wouldn't wear it again." Giulio muttered, shedding his heavy sacrificial garments, and he sighed deeply.

"You're really not wearing chain mail." Machiavelli sighed.

"What can those weak chickens do to me?" Giulio said, "By the way, what did you throw Michelangelo into the cellar for?" ”

"Tomorrow drag it out and bury it directly under the vine." Machiavelli said.

"Did he provoke you?"

"I don't like the way he looks at you."

"He was a painter and a sculptor." "He's always wanted to draw me, or sculpt me, and it's normal to have that look," Giulio said. ”

"I know." If the lewd eye only strips people of their clothes, Michelangelo's eye peels away your hair, skin, muscles, internal organs—layer by layer—right down to the bones: "If not, I'll put a nail in the barrel." ”

Julio smiled: "Let him out tomorrow morning, I think then he will have had enough of the lesson." ”

"Why?"

"Because...... It's ......" Giulio sighed and said, "Deposit." ”