Except on the first day of their arrival in Florence, Julian and Jo no longer wore their formal fuchsia vestments, but they wore either worldly clothes or black trimmed fuchsia robes, lest anyone suspect that they were using the power of the bishop to oppress the plebeians, manipulate the council, or do anything unfavorable to Florence. Tonight is no exception, they are dressed in regular clothes, the purple-red silk satin belt shines in the candlelight, the gold cross is even more impossible to take off the eyes, the light of gold is always the most wonderful, alas, as the poet said, it is the best medicine, cosmetics and clothing in the world, whether men and women, young and old, when they see it, they can't help but have a soft heart and smile.

But this little bit of gold could not be taken into account by the important members of the Council of the Seventy, whose family was still in a pivotal position in the city, if not comparable to the Medici, with silk and wool in their chests, gold and silver in their banks, and strong and handsome Arabian horses in their stables, just as their castle was full of strong and handsome soldiers, and in order to impress them, Giulio had to come up with something good enough to convince them today.

Both Jo and Giulio had discovered that there was only a very small part of the Council of Seventy, but that it included every member of the previous Legation, no more than nine, and it seemed that they did not really value the freedom and independence of Florence over money and power, as they had been claimed—Carboni had prepared wines from Burgundy, France, but no one cared about them, and all attention was focused on Giulio's hands, which had long fingers and fair skin, It didn't look like they had swords in their hands at all, especially when they delicately opened a piece of woolen fabric that would have covered the body of a grown male—Joe was so fat, but it still wrapped him tightly, and there was no gold or silver thread between them, no embroidery or pearl gems, but its cloud-like texture and pearl-like luster outweighed it all, not to mention the fact that they had just seen Julio take it out of a box the size of a palm.

Julio's presentation was not over, he took the bishop's ring from his finger, then took a corner from Joe's body, stuffed it in, and gently pulled it out from the other end, and then the sighs of the people resounded throughout the empty hall of five hundred. As soon as the demonstration was over, Carboni and Neri, a merchant councillor who had a career in textiles and leather, immediately took the three pieces of cashmere cloth that Giulio had prepared, covered them around his body, and wrapped his fingers and neck to see how warm and soft the fabric was. It was only in the Napoleonic era that European countries learned of this warm and thin fabric from the shawl that the emperor gave to Empress Josephine. But here, in keeping with his promise, Giulio brought the fabric to the fore three hundred years earlier.

After all, it was not very difficult to obtain cashmere, mainly because before that, it was generally sheep's wool that was used for spinning, not coarse goat's hair, and almost no one wanted it, and no one thought of collecting the fluff hidden under the coarse long hair.

"How many pounds of cashmere can a goat take?" Someone asked impatiently, and they took turns holding the cashmere fabric in their hands, and it was easy to estimate its weight, which was so wide and long, that it was not even a pound!

"Pounds?" Giulio replied amusefully: "A full-grown ram can only take out a maximum of ten ounces of cashmere, and a minimum of three ounces." ”

"In other words, if you want to make a cloak, you need at least six sheep." Carboni said he had seen Joe wrapped tightly around him, and that the cloak was made twice as much material as a normal robe, and that it was not an exaggeration to say that it was six sheep.

There was a look of excitement on the faces of the people, they no longer had to worry about being divided into sheep and textiles by the people of England and other Low Countries, and new fabrics like cashmere, as long as they were kept a good secret, could continue to flourish for fifty years, and everyone knew that the most profitable thing was not daily necessities, but luxuries, and kings and archdukes, as well as their queens and lovers, who would love this soft and gorgeous fabric, and they could offer as much as they could.

"But if we raise and buy goats in large quantities, there will always be people who will notice." A councillor said worriedly.

"The processing and weaving techniques of cashmere are different from those of wool." Giulio said.

"And," said Carbony, "we can make felt, blankets out of coarse goat, and have carders, dyers, work in the castles, or remove the dyers, and this cashmere has a color, right?" ”

"From off-white to dark brown." Giulio said, opening another small box, which was full of strips of cloth three fingers wide.

The parliamentarians exchanged glances with excitement, already aware of the bright future of the fabric.

"What is this?" Carboni asked, pointing to the third small box.

"Lanolin oil." Giulio replied that he had opened the box, and it was discovered that it was brass, and that it contained oil like a woman's skin, and that the councillors here had a lucrative business in their hands, and were no strangers to grease, which looked extraordinarily crystal white and extraordinarily pleasing, but that was it, and one of the councillors reached out and scraped a little, put it in his mouth and tasted it: "It's quite sweet, a little salty, is it dug out of the belly of a sheep or from the belly of a goat?" ”

"Wool." Giulio's answer caused the councillor to pause, "To be exact," Giulio stopped more outstretched hands, "It's from the water in which the wool is washed." ”

It is impossible for the Florentines not to have seen the water of wool washing, even more familiar than the milk of their nurses, a semi-congealed liquid full of foam and dirt, which contains not only the leaves of earth and grass, but also the urine and feces of sheep, and the faces of the councillors who have eaten the fat oil have become even worse, and they cannot help but turn around and vomit. What was different from him was the brighter and brighter eyes of the crowd, there were no fools here, and they immediately thought that if this seemingly snow-white and lovely grease was made from wool washing water, then it was simply a business without a foundation!

"I'm sorry," said Giulio helplessly, "this fat is inedible, and although it doesn't matter if it's in small amounts, it's too much...... It's going to be a little bit bad. ”

Now even Jo laughed, and Julio finally revealed that he was ignorant of the world, and of course, they wouldn't eat the mutton fat from the wool washing water, and what about the poor people who couldn't even afford bread and bean porridge? Will they refuse cheap, sweet fats? Even the craftsmen and small merchants who can barely make ends meet will happily ask for several pounds of this cheap grease...... They are all starting to estimate what price they should sell for the oil to make the most profit.

"In fact, it's a shame that this kind of lanolin oil is sold as edible oil." Giulio said. "What, then," said Carbony, "is the most advantageous way?" ”

Julio continued to open the box, and they noticed that the box was two-layered, with white grease on top and two small boxes below, and in a small box there was also white grease, but it was full of roses, "This is used to wipe your face and fingers." Giulio said that someone tried it right away, and the results were immediate, of course. You can also add pearls to make your skin fair and soft. Then he opened another box, which was filled with a light red grease, "which can be used to apply to the cheeks and forehead, giving it a glorious glow." Finally he pulled out a small tube, and a crimson ...... spun out of it The grease stick, gently rubbed on the back of the hand, and the red color suddenly grabbed everyone's attention.

"Women are going crazy about them." One councillor muttered.

"Men too." Another parliamentarian said.

"Thankfully, Savonarola didn't make it to tonight's meeting." The third man said this, and then the crowd snickered for a moment, the monk who hated all luxuries, cosmetics, clothing other than linen, ornaments other than wood or bronze crosses, and would not stop when he saw them and burned them together.

"These can also be used for the maintenance of armor and swords." "The profit may be lower, but the output will be very large and lasting," Giulio said. ”

The parliamentarians nodded their heads one after another, it is true, think of the army of King Charles VIII of France, 25,000 soldiers, their weapons and armor need grease to ensure that they will not rust and rot quickly, since this is the case, one pound of grease per person per month is absolutely necessary, then it is twenty-five thousand pounds of grease per month, thinking of this, some people can't help but hold down their chests, and their hearts are about to jump out of their throats.

"Well," Joe could not help but interject, "have the people of Florence felt the sincerity of the Medici and were willing to forgive Pierrot for his mistakes?" ”

The question silenced the lawmakers for a moment, and they looked at Carbony, "Is this way of oil refining difficult?" ”

"It's not difficult," said Giulio, "it's rare to make a potion for the extraction of lanolin oil." ”

"The potion?"

"Only me and my teacher can make a match."

"Your teacher is Cardinal Picomini, and he is a man worthy of respect." The main Picomini family bought and sold grapes, wheat and spices and flowers, and even if they used this technique, it would not be a big obstacle to Florence, and this potion was the guarantee that Florence would flourish for fifty years.

"Well," said Carboni, "yes, you have proved your loyalty to Florence, and I declare that the exile of the Medici will end tomorrow, and that all the Medici except Pierrot and Medici may return to Florence, and they may continue to live in the Palazzo Vecchio, without being attacked or humiliated, and by my surname, they will be protected by me." Then the councillors present swore an oath, and Joe and Julio swore to their heavenly father that no matter what happened, the Medici would not take revenge on the members of the Council of the Seventy or the family.

The day after the deal was formed, Joe and Giulio began to prepare to leave for Rome, they had stayed in Florence for too long, and before leaving, a man from the inner family sent a letter from Constina, in which he said that Florence was about to establish a "Council of Three Thousand People", as the name suggests, at the age of 29, full payment of taxes, and that anyone who had held government office in himself or his great-grandfather could become a councillor, but Constena's husband swore that if he could, he would be the only secular man in the Medici, Giuliano Jr. fought for a reserve position, and as soon as he reached his age, he could become a member of parliament.

Giulio shook his head when he saw it, and he asked little Giuliano to live with his sister Constena, but not to get involved in any political activities, even if he was invited.

Joe and Giulio left Florence at dawn on the third day, before the people were in the streets, and at the end of the streets, Joe turned to look at Palazzo Vecchio, shrouded in gray mist: "Can we still come back?" ”

"Yes." Giulio said, just don't know how long it will take.