The Medici had their own squires, and Caterina had mercenaries loyal to her, who got into their carriages at dusk and galloped along the newly opened path—and as far as the eye could see, Caterina could see a delightful green, wheat or rye, which was unusually good even if she could not look closely. Some of the peasants, who had returned from their fields, saluted the horsemen and carriages respectfully at the sight of the Medici ball coat of arms, with crosses on their sides, muttering to themselves, inaudible but guessing that they were asking God to bless their lords.

From the eleventh century onwards, the lords seldom collected servitude rent, and monetary rent was substituted for it, but in either case, the burden on the tenant peasants was staggering—the time of servitude was almost equal to the time of non-servitude, that is, the peasants spent half of the year working for their lords; And the money rent also accounted for fifty percent, even sixty percent, and even seventy percent of all the lord's income. Generally speaking, the lords received one-third to one-quarter of the rent, which was enough for the peasants to be grateful to Dade. Cadiz, on the other hand, had only one-fifth of the rent, and before the village was built, deep wells and canals had been built, which, along with the mills, could be used at the mercy of those who had been homeless, and if they were not deliberately destroyed, they would be regularly repaired and cared for.

Catalina also asked Giuliano about this, and Giuliano said that this was the request of the lord in Rome, because the people here lived mainly by making pottery and porcelain, and that the greatest output of Cadiz was also ceramics, not wheat, and that they did not need to set the rent too much.

"Isn't there a disagreement between the Neri family and the Carboni family?"

Cadiz nominally belonged to Giuliano, the head of the Medici family, but in fact belonged to Giulio. Medici, but there are three families in the Panhuan and this - Medici, Neri and Carbony, after all, after producing fine white pottery and bone china, the value of Cadiz is not what it used to be. Moreover, these two families were also in-laws and allies of the Medici, and it was obviously important to have the Neri family and the Carboni family speak on behalf of the Medici before they really returned to the ruling hierarchy in Florence.

"They don't care about that anymore." Giuliano said that white pottery was secondary, but bone china had become a new treasure of Florentine production, highly prized by the nobles—even he, every time he inspected the goods, was deeply fascinated by this porcelain thinner than paper, whiter than milk, and more transparent than glass, not to mention those who were tired of the coarse pottery and heavy metal cutlery.

Add to this the output of cashmere, and they don't care much less about the little income from the rent, and even if they raise the rent to a third, can all the rent of Cadiz be compared to a bone china plate?

Caterina smiled and didn't say anything, she wasn't a benevolent person, Imola and Forlì also had a large number of craftsmen, but she never lost that amount of land rent - the problem was that if the Medici did, she would have to consider those who had returned to Imola and Forlì from Gatiz-of course she liked their skills, but she also had to be wary that if these people were unhappy with the rent she had set, then she might have to take some action...... She had despised these people, but they were the ones who shamelessly betrayed her when she was fighting against Borgia's army.

They could betray her the first time on the grounds that she was a woman, and they could betray her a second time on other grounds—if it weren't for the beautiful white porcelain, she wouldn't have accepted these rebellions at all.

It would be better to keep these people in check first, Caterina thought, but fortunately both Forlì and Imola had many deserted places, and she asked them to live in one place without being too noticeable.

The she-wolf of Foley closed her eyes and rested her head against the wall of the carriage, and the sound of the horses' hooves vibrating came from below—their guards rode to the left and right: "How many cavalry do you have here?" She asked suddenly.

"Uh...... Twenty? ”

"I've got thirty of them." Caterina said, and without even asking Giuliano if someone would come out of Florence to meet them, she jumped up from her seat and kicked the door open, startling the cavalry next to her, but before he could ask anything, Caterina pulled out the small binoculars on her belt and looked out—but Cadiz was a hilly area, with rolling hills and dense grass blocking the wary view.

"You send a team of men to look around," Caterina ordered, "I hear different horses' hooves." ”

The captain was none other than Caterina's squire, and he immediately complied, but as soon as he turned his horse's head, the carriage in which Caterina, Giuliano, Bianca, and Cosimo Jr. were riding suddenly jolted - the groom's body rolled off his seat and fell to the ground, the wheels pressed against his arm, and the other coachman screamed, desperately trying to pull the reins of the deceased, but late, three crossbow arrows struck him, the deadliest one passed through his neck, and he stared wide-eyed, and fell down holding his neck.

"Enemy!" Caterina shouted as she slipped out of the open door, stepped on the pedals, and jumped straight into the driver's position - the horses dragging the carriage had been derailed from their original tracks by the loss of their driver and fright—Caterina puffed out her arms and pulled them back to the previous path by pulling them back on, by this time their guards were already fighting with a group of Turkish mercenaries.

Bianca hugged little Cosimo tightly, and Giuliano drew his sword, but he also knew that if he stepped out of the carriage, he would probably be a burden.

A Turk saw the open door, rushed over, jumped from his horse onto the pedals of the carriage, and tried to get in.

"Get out!" Giuliano shouted, his blood boiling in flames, and he stood in front of his wife and children, brandishing his sword. But in the cramped carriage, the long sword was obviously not as good as the scimitar that was only arm length, and after a few exchanges, his shoulder and cheek were injured, "Hold on!" At this moment, Caterina shouted in the native language of Forlì - a simple language like Forlì that Giuliano could understand, and he immediately grasped the handle of the carriage, when the carriage suddenly jumped and lifted the occupants of the carriage more than half a foot high—and the Turk immediately lost his balance and fell to the ground, and Giuliano immediately stepped on his shoulder and kicked him down with all his might.

The Turk immediately let out a scream, and another jolt in the carriage showed that it was running over him.

Caterina gritted her teeth and whipped her horses desperately—their enemies were rushing out from behind the hills, cutting the mercenaries into several sections, all of whom were entangled, while about twenty of them were following them closely.

Some of the enemies came around from behind the hills, raised their crossbows, and fired at Katarina, but fortunately the speed of the carriage was now high, and the bumps made it difficult for the enemy to aim, one of the short crossbow arrows pierced Caterina's bun, and the other stabbed her in the thigh, but neither of them was as dangerous as the third short crossbow arrow - it hit the driving horse directly, and the horse groaned and ran wildly under the stimulus of pain, while its companion ran desperately under Katarina's whip.

Caterina knew that this speed would not last long, and the horses would soon die from a broken heart, but the two horses were held together by harnesses, and the speed of running was not the same, and the carriage would immediately overturn!

The she-wolf of Foley pulled her dagger from under her skirt, bit it in her mouth, and crawled towards the wounded horse's hands and feet, and now could only think of cutting the rope from the harness—she seemed to hear Bianca calling her name aloud, but she could not think of anything now, and she could scarcely find anything to hold herself in place under her feet a curved, thin, and damnedly polished wooden beam, under which the horses galloped like strands, and she could scarcely find anything to secure herself, And the Turks, cursed by the devil, are still shooting at her!

The wounded horse's mouth was already foaming at the mouth, and not far from exhaustion, Caterina grabbed the belt that fastened the harness to it, and plunged the dagger between the belt and the horse—and at that moment another Turkish bolt struck it, and the wounded horse, which was at the end of its strength, could no longer support it, and fell to the ground.

——————

Bianca saw her mother crawling dangerously towards the wounded horse, she knew what she was going to do, but she subconsciously called her mother's name - she knew that she could not change her mother's mind, just as she was under the walls of Forlì Castle, and when she looked into her mother's eyes, she knew that she was going to be abandoned - she grabbed little Cosimo by the arm, pushed him under the seat, and together with Giuliano, pulled the open door back and closed it.

At the moment when the door was about to be pulled up, the harness suddenly broke, and the wounded horse fell along with the tired horse, and the connection between the carriage and the harness was directly twisted, and under the action of inertia, the carriage rolled over until it hit a raised stone.

Bianca didn't even know what was going on and fainted from the impact.

Awakened by the pain, she thought she was back under the walls of Forlì's castle, filled with weeping, flames, and the smell of grease on her sword, and found herself in the car.

However, the originally comfortable and gorgeous carriage has been transformed into a wooden box that has been crushed by the giant child, in the dim light, barely you can see a little ragged velvet, silk, broken boards and wooden thorns like sharp teeth, little Cosimo who woke up first pulled off a wooden thorn, woke up Bianca, who had fainted in the past, after Bianca woke up, holding him with one hand and groping with the other, Giuliano may have fallen out when the carriage overturned, one of his arms stretched out from under the deformed car wall, Bianca tried to pull him, He didn't move.

It was dark in the carriage, but it was safe to do so, and when the light came, the wall of the carriage above was rudely smashed, and Bianca was pulled out with little Cosimo.

The mercenary tried to snatch little Cosimo from her arms, but Bianca hugged her so tightly that even the broken finger did not make her relax a little - the mercenary gave up and walked over and spoke a few words to the chief, they spoke Turkish, which Bianca did not understand, but when she saw the mercenary's smile, she immediately understood.

She shoved little Cosimo to the ground, then pressed her body tightly against him.

Bianca waited for the sword she should have received more than a decade ago, but all she heard was the angry shouts of the Turks.

————————

Caterina thought she was going crazy.

Even if the carriage overturned, she was still able to rely on her excellent martial arts skills, jumped off the horse, rolled a few times, and hid in the dense grass. It was dark by this time, and she didn't think that the Turkish mercenaries had come for her - after all, no one knew that Forlì's she-wolf had also come to Cadiz, and as for Giuliano, Bianca, and Cosimo Jr., two Medici who had nothing to do with her, and the other, who had been abandoned by her in front of Forlì Castle more than ten years ago, was not mother and daughter, but enemies.

She had no legal heirs, so she had to accept Bianca, as well as her husband.

And she's done everything she can, and then, she should turn around and go back to Forlì, where she might have another child, or one of the bastards to raise.

But she didn't, and when she saw that the Turk's sword was about to pierce Bianca and Cosimo Jr., the ruthless she-wolf forced her between the blade and Bianca at a speed that she could not comprehend.

————

The light of the torches was obscured by the warm darkness, and Bianca looked up to see her mother's face, the muscles of Caterina's face spasmed from pain and severe injury, making her look like a devil, and the Turk's sword pierced her chest, and the flickering cold light stung Bianca's eyes.

__________________

Click.

Julio's quill snapped, and crimson ink flowed onto the parchment like blood.

He had no desire to continue copying the scriptures, and stood up, and the dim daylight told him that it was already dusk—and that he suddenly wanted to see his teacher, so he went, and Pius III might not see anyone anyway, but he would never see him, but when he got to the door, Brother John told him that Pius III was now talking to Brother Desi.

"Giulio said you could stay," said Pius III, "and you could stay." ”

"You can't spoil children so much." Brother Desi said, "You see, I have been punished. ”

"Children sometimes just play with fire," said Pius III, "and let them ache once in the bone, and they will behave." ”

"Including Julio?"

Pius III nodded.

"I can't really see that." Brother Desi said, "I mean you. He sighed deeply, "But I really can't stay here, they don't look at me here in vain and don't try to get anything out of me." ”

"Well," said Pius III, "I understand that you can't spank him if it does happen—I hear that Joshua has ordained him and promoted him to be a judge." ”

"Someday I'm going to spank his ass." Brother Desi said, "But I can only watch now, Holy Father, and I am sad. ”

"So where are you going? Do you want me to write you a letter of recommendation? ”

"I'm scared, but I've decided to go to Henry VII to be his son's teacher."

"Oh," Pius III gave him a meaningful smile, "that's a good position." ”

"Yes," said Brother Desi, "when I am not in Rome, help me to watch a little Martin. Rodd? ”

"So." Pius III did not answer, but asked rhetorically: "If I am not in Rome, can you help me watch Giulio. Medici? ”

Brother Desi glared at the brazen Pope for a moment: "...... Deal. ”

"Deal." Pius III said, "Giulio is just outside the door, are you going to say goodbye to him?" ”

"Of course." Brother Desi said.

——————

Brother Desi not only said goodbye to Giulio, but before leaving Rome, he couldn't help but go to see Martin. Rudd.

Martin Jr. received the priesthood from a cardinal and served as a judge of the Jurisprudence Sect as Joshua. Lovere's supporters, like some of the priests who openly supported and supported Lovere, wore a chain around his waist, and when Brother Desi saw him, he was with Joshua. Lovere together.

Little Martin was of course very happy when he saw Brother Desi, who thought that the teacher would not forgive him, so much so that after taking two steps he found that he had left his benefactor behind, and after he had retreated to the cardinal's side, he even Joshua. Lovere all smiled (though only a fleeting smile), "Your teacher?" He raised his hand and coughed twice, "Then go ahead," he said, "speak well to your teacher—although you may think differently, I don't want to see a student under my command who doesn't respect his teacher." ”

Martin. Rude hurriedly swore to him that he had no intention of doing so, and went to speak to Brother Desi.

Brother Desi bowed to Cardinal Lovere Jr. and watched him enter Lovere's mansion.

Joshua. Lovere's back was easily recognizable even in the midst of the cardinals, for he walked, limping and hunched over, slowly like an old man of ninety years old.

Then he looked at little Martin for a while, Martin. Roed's eyes were full of admiration for Lovere: "You know what? Brother Dési replied, "Was there any last person who tortured himself with penance and whipping like this?" ”

He didn't wait for Martin to answer, "It's Savonarola." ”

Martin. Roed, of course, had heard the name, but he did not think that this evil monk, convicted of heresy, could be compared to Cardinal Lovere Jr.

"Savonarola was originally just an ordinary monk," said Brother Desi, "he had no outstanding talents, no special gifts, an ugly face, a hoarse voice, and the only thing he could attract to the congregation and convince the faithful was his penance and the whip – and he did impress many...... You were a child then, but I saw it with my own eyes, child, and I went to Florence when he was at his most illustrious - there was no one in Florence, from the old man to the child, from the nobleman to the beggar, from the man to the woman, who was not mad for him. He pointed to it and said, "It's a pagan statue," and they went and smashed it; He looked at a robe and said, "It is a symbol of lasciviousness," and they threw it into the fire; He said that it was sinful to wear jewelry, to read books, to enjoy good food, and that the masses threw them into the Arno River...... In the end, even if a person is found guilty of Savonarola, he is guilty and will be thrown into prison or put to death.

At that time, Florence was the kingdom he had plucked from heaven to earth, and he was the sole ruler of the city. ”

"So, they're not the same," Martin. Rudd argued: "Savonarola uses this evil means to satisfy personal desires, but Joshua. Lovere was already a cardinal. ”

"Cardinal is not the end," said Brother Dési, looking at the Vatican Palace, and the meaning of his words could not be understood: "Not only the cardinal, but even His Excellency the Pope cannot be said to have reached the most glorious point at all – do you remember what the devil said when he brought Jesus Christ to the highest mountain and pointed to the nations and the glory of the nations below?" ”

He stepped forward: "If you fall down and worship me, I will give you all this, saith the devil." ”

Martin. Roeder unconsciously took a step back.

"Now he says to you," said Brother Desi sternly, "if you fall down and worship me, I will give you all these things." ”

Martin. Rudd turned his head away.

"Do you know we're all sad?" Brother Desi said.

"But he expelled me."

"Because you're willing to do things for the devil."

"But Joshua. Cardinal Lovere is not the devil," said Martin. Rudd couldn't help but argue: "He's a pious man, and everyone can see it." ”

Brother Desi shook his head sadly: "Do you remember when you overthrew the Holy Barrel? He reminded: "At that time, you did not think that people could be washed away from their sins by entering the Holy Gate, and that those who were full of original sin could not atone for their sins by these external objects, but could only believe in the Lord and ask the Lord to intercede for themselves to be liberated—then why are you now under the influence of these external objects, and are these penances and lashes also a kind of pretentiousness?" It's just a tangible and an invisible, why do you love this and hate that? ”

"No, it's not the same......"

"Then come and refute me!" Brother Desi said categorically: "The truth is always clearer and clearer, and only what is false needs to be concealed." ”

Martin. Rudd puffed out his face sadly. He didn't know how to refute it, but he also didn't want to admit that Brother Desi was telling the truth.

He stayed for a while, looked left and right, and saw that there was no one around, so he lifted his robe and ran away without looking back.

Brother Desi was left alone to stand there in astonishment.