Rome, an ancient and glorious city, has been surrounded and protected by many walls for thousands of years, but by the 15th century, only two walls still barely maintained their original prestige, one of which was called the Cervio Wall, because it was the Roman Emperor Servio who presided over the construction of the city. Durio.

The city wall was built in 578 B.C. and completed in 534 B.C., although it is relatively small, it is also compared with the later Aurelinoa wall, it has included the entire Roman seven hills, the length is about 33,000 feet, the height is about 30 feet, the thickness is 12 feet, the main building material is large rectangular stones, each two feet square, and later some Roman rulers, including Sulla, have renovated and expanded it several times, until it was invaded by foreign invasion and the city expanded, The Romans had to build a new wall, the Aurelinoa Wall, to abandon it.

The walls of Aurelinoa are almost twice the size of the walls of Servio, built between 271 and 281 AD, and take its name from the Roman Emperor Luqiao. Aurelinoa, its length is about 57,000 feet, 40 feet high, 10 feet wide, the main body is made of red bricks, the gaps are filled with Roman cement caused by the mixing of volcanic ash and water, and the walls of Servio are different, it has a battlement every 100 feet, more than 300 towers and thousands of shooting bunkers, 16 gates, and there is a wide road outside each gate, so people have a saying that all roads lead to Rome.

Because this city wall is built according to the topography, it is curved, and in some places it is folded like a woman's skirt, so some people call it a zigzag wall, and it also has a strange place, that is, it has only three sides, that is, the north, east and south of the Roman city, because the Roman city is on the east side of the Tiber River, and the defense on the west side can be completely handed over to the wide Tiber River.

But for the Vatican, which is on the west side of the Tiber River, these two walls of Rome are completely defenseless, and in the time of Alexander VI, the ambitious pope once wanted to build walls for the Vatican, but for various reasons, it did not succeed, and when Leo X became the master of the church, Giulio had mastered the method of Roman cement and firing bricks. The Medici, of course, did not let the Vatican Palace stand alone outside the Roman defenses, and he gathered and hired tens of thousands of craftsmen to build the Vatican walls that were not inferior to those of Lucca or other cities, and extended all the way to the northwest and southwest corners of the Aureliano walls, and connected the two walls with bridges.

In this way, those with bad intentions will no longer be able to enter and leave the heart of the Church as if they were no-man, and they must pass from the sixteen gates of the walls of Aureliano, of course, and of course, according to the will of the Holy Father, there are only three gates for pilgrims and monks, and for clergy.

George. Cardinal Amboise sat on his Arabian horse and looked up at one of the largest gates.

Although it is one, there are two small side gates on the left and right sides of it, for slaves or those who do menial work to enter and exit, of course, as a cardinal, George must enter through the wide arch in the center, the sun is shining, but the shadow in the gate is only thickened by this, Cardinal George habitually pressed his wide-brimmed hat to block out the glare that is becoming more and more rampant after the shadow ends.

The gate, which has been named Porte St. Paul, is flanked by towering towers that once collapsed, but since the accession of Leo X, Giulio has been in ruins. The Medici spared no effort to renovate them, and Cardinal George noticed the sturdy soldiers, dressed in silver half-body armor, striped trousers and boots, proud and polite, with no sign that they were originally mere humble vagabonds, artisans and peasants—these people, Cardinal George had heard, were from Tuscany, Medici dogs, whose bishops and popes had transferred them to replace the soldiers.

Either way, they are just short-sighted and ignorant people.

Cardinal George thought to himself as he lowered his head, for the dazzling glare had already irritated his eyes.

Cardinal George was followed by Cardinal Sisneseros, who was now in a very awkward situation, he was the Archbishop of Toledo, that is, the religious prince of Spain, but because he threw himself into the relationship with Charles, the eldest son of Juana I, he was banished to the Holy Roman Empire along with the prince, but everyone knew that the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I had a credible cardinal by his side, and as a cardinal of Spain, he could only be said to be a guest of the court of the Holy Roman Empire. Of course he was very dissatisfied with this, but what could he do if he was not satisfied, the cardinals around the emperor did not like him so much, and the attitude of Maximilian I was always so ambiguous.

He wanted to continue to mentor Prince Charles, but the problem was that Prince Charles had also become an outcast, and he was sent by Maximilian I to the Low Countries, the former domain of his father Philip, and the dowry of his grandmother, Mary of Burgundy, who was originally a Dutch in Rome. And the person who served as Prince Charles's guardian, his aunt Margaret of Austria, also had her own priest and bishop by her side, and she was a frivolous woman, neither for the unattractive Charles, nor for the bloated Cardinal Cisneros, let alone trusting and loving them.

Cardinal Cisneros arrived, in addition to avoiding his absence from Rome at the time of the Pope's death, but also had his own urgent matters, such as trying to reconcile himself with the Holy Father and his brother Cardinal Medici in order to obtain the understanding of Queen Juana I of Spain that he would return to Toledo as his archbishop, and that Charles would return to Spain, to his mother, as her son and heir, and to put it bluntly, he expected either to regain his former position for himself. Either for Prince Charles to obtain the title of Prince of Asturias.

That is, Castile, or the current Queen of Spain or the legal heir to the king, would be canonized as Prince of Asturias, and if Charles hadn't done that, his canonization would have been put on the queen's calendar, but now, he had to worry that his mother might transfer the position to his brother Ferdinand.

The idea of Prince Charles and Cardinal Cisneros is not unfounded, because Duarte and Giulio were indeed plotting this, otherwise why would they ask the queen to send her second son to Rome and to Giulio's side.

Giulio stands in the corridor of the Vatican Palace, from which he can see the monks and clergy coming and going like carp crossing the river, and Duarte is hidden in the corner of the room as if he were serving Alexander VI.

"The results of the battle of Ravenna are already in," said Giulio, "and the coalition forces have lost two-thirds of their forces, but the enemy has also lost the lives of six thousand soldiers, and the same number of prisoners." ”

"A victory, albeit a little more tragic." Duarte said.

"If you count Gaston. Morality. Fuwa, almost. Giulio said that Cardona insisted on bringing the general's body back to Rome, and that Giulio was ready to celebrate a mass for him, after all, the general had no chance to repent before he died.

But General Cardona's behavior was more flattering, because he himself knew very well that he was not the one who turned the tide in this battle, he was indeed inferior to Gonzalo, and if it were not for the Tuscany, or the Medici army, which supported and presided over, he would have better but flee Ravenna with the remnants of the coalition soldiers, rather than turn defeat into victory.

"He is indeed to be ashamed," Duarte said contemptuously, "that he is not even as good as a twelve-year-old." ”

"Don't say that," Giulio corrected mildly, "little Cosimo hasn't been able to do anything either. ”

"He's a duke, not a soldier," Duarte said disapprovingly, "and it's a great merit for him to believe in them, and to give them power." ”

"All right," said Giulio affectionately, "you know I just want him to touch and understand ...... War...... The real inside, rather than just appreciating its pompous appearance from books and poetry, that's all. ”

"You know we can't convince you," Duarte said smuffly, "but I hope you don't teach him too well." ”

Julio smiled: "How so, my dear friend, I know what he will become in the future." He turned his gaze out the window again: "He wasn't born to be king, so he needs to learn more." ”

"Those who are born kings may not be able to do much better." Duarte said: "Cardinal Cisneros brought Charlie's letter. ”

"The prince?"

"Who else?" Duarte laughed: "He confessed to you, and his mother." ”

"He's only eleven years old," said Giulio, "he was born in the Holy Year, I remember," he shook his head, "I have to say......" He paused and looked at Duarte: "Let Raymond. Morality. General Cardona went and told Juana I that we wanted Ferdinand, my student, to be canonized Prince of Asturias. ”

"Do you think the queen will agree?" Duarte asked.

"We're not talking to her," Giulio said, still calm but unequivocal, "I need to see tangible returns, not empty promises—she left Gonzalo behind, gave me a mediocre person, and nearly put the church in trouble, and she needs an explanation." ”

。