Jem's messenger was a dark-brown-skinned heretic, and his outfit was extravagant, and he stood out like a large parrot between the dark gray Palazzo Picomini and the plants that had not yet budded.

The messenger addressed Julio. The Medici bowed deeply, but did not kiss his ring, after all, they believed in their true gods, and Giulio did not want to embarrass a believer here, it was unnecessary, and it was futile to make trouble, he asked the monk who served him to bring sweet snacks and tea, and attached a jar of honey, and if there was anyone with a more sweet tooth than the Italians, it was probably these Ottoman Turks - sure enough, Jem's messenger clearly hesitated for a moment, between immediately getting to the point and enjoying the snack, But in the end, he chose dim.

It seems that Jem still did not have much available manpower around him, and although the messenger was dressed luxuriously, it was still clear from his skin and eyes that his origin was not very good—or rather, he was not one of those so-called "blood tribute" boys, the best of those children, who had grown up with the Sultan's son in the court, and who had a rich and erosive daily life, and who could easily be distracted by some snacks (even if they were unusually delicious), let alone put them before business—but the boys who had grown up to be human, In any case, the new sultan will not even leave behind his own brothers and nephews, and in some cases, even his daughters will not escape death, let alone these slaves who are destined to become the wings and minions of their masters.

The man, who must have been chosen from the navy of Karaman, had a face as rough as gravel, and his palms were marked with strangulation marks and calluses, and especially his feet, which were so wide that they looked a little deformed, and he walked like a duck when he walked, but this was a testament to his long time at sea.

Julio waited patiently for him to finish all the snacks on his plate, and when the messenger had taken up the honey from the small silver cup and drank it all, he noticed that he had done such a rude thing—but they were so delicious, he had never tasted anything so delicate, and if it must be compared, it was like a plump cloud in the cascading sun, crunchy with a light sweetness, he was not a poet, but at this time he really wanted to make a poem in praise of its existence.

He could not help but feel ashamed when he cast his gaze back on the whole room, nay, it should be said, the de facto master of the whole of Rome, but the disdain of the other man made him let down his guard a little—his master said that the archbishop of Christ was a man of gentle and tolerant disposition—but that gentleness and tolerance like a great beast, which seems quiet and harmless when you do not disturb it, but if you touch his scales, ha, Your whole world will be turned upside down.

But he did not smell the smell of blood and intrigue in this man, and he was not even as contemptuous as the priests or bishops, who sent them either with contempt or with an expression of disgust, and even if he had done such an impertinent act, he had no impatience, and besides, he was so moving, the kind of beauty that could be depicted on the scroll, that if he had been chosen in Greece or in Albania to be sent to Istanbul as a tribute of blood, he would have been an attendant to some prince. and even future ministers.

"Do you want some snacks?" Giulio has seen more such eyes, since he was a child, people of this era, whether they believe in Christ or believe in the true God, have firmly believed that a person's appearance and figure are related to his morality, character and connotation, such as Machiavelli and Michelangelo suffered such hardships, Machiavelli was full of talent, but he was always regarded as a despicable villain, and Michelangelo, some of his actions seem to prove such an idea- When he was in Florence and France with Leonardo da Vinci, he was very angry with Leonardo da Vinci, who was older than him, but had a more graceful posture and elegant temperament than him, and when Leonardo da Vinci got older, he unfortunately met Raphael in Rome, who was younger, more handsome than him, and more in line with Leo X's heart - this can be seen from the fact that Leo X asked Michelangelo to paint the Sistine zenith, but Raphael asked Raphael to paint the frescoes of the Papal Signing Room.

Michelangelo, of course, was furious and repeatedly provoked Raphael, but Giulio warned and reassured him, and promised to give him some important sculptural work, and he reluctantly stopped.

However, Leo X was curious and showed him Raphael's draft.

Raphael discussed the meaning of the Renaissance and humanism in Rome with the classicist scholars recruited by Leo X, and when Leo X gave him great creative freedom, he naturally sketched in his mind a grand and magnificent picture: the two drafts he presented to the Holy Father, the Mount Parnassus and the Academy of Athens. The painting of Mount Parnassus depicts the scene of many poets gathering on Mount Parnassus, the residence of Apollo, the god of Chinese art in Greek mythology, and the muse, the goddess of literature and art, while the Academy of Athens depicts many famous figures such as the mathematician Euclid, the philosopher Socrates, Alexander the Great and other famous scenes - to Leo X's confusion, Raphael did not hesitate to paint Michelangelo as the immortal great philosopher Heraclitus (whose most famous sentence " One can never step into the same river twice"), can this young man be so magnanimous?

In the end, it was Giulio who solved the riddle for him - the philosopher was notoriously bitter towards his rivals.

Therefore, these painters and sculptors really can't be offended, and Giulio can't help but laugh at the thought of Machiavelli's complaints.

Brother John coughed, and Giulio finally came to his senses, and he had an emissary from the Ottoman Turks.

"Your master has sent you," asked Giulio, "is there anything you want to tell me?" He wondered in his mind whether it was a lack of food, a lack of military strength, or ...... Weapons? If it's weapons, it's not a problem, the workshops of Nuoro and Cadiz have never stopped, the French, the Spaniards, the Holy Roman Empire, the Italians are their patrons, and now there are many Ottoman Turks, and he sent Jem to Rhodes with ulterior motives - but from the moment he decided to bring more advanced weapons concepts and technologies here, he had to bear the guilt.

If the army is insufficient, he will not be able to help, and the Italians themselves do not have a formed army. Food is also a problem, Cadiz's potatoes and corn have been harvested, but the wheat and rye in southern Italy, that is, Naples and other places have been destined to only meet the consumption of the local and Louis XII armies, in a few months, the wheat in Florence and Milan and other places has risen significantly, fortunately, the Medici family and the Pienz, Neri and other families have been under the order of Giulio early, crazy hoarding of food, So as not to let the Tuscan defense system he had expected die in the cradle - it was because of the cheap and abundant supply of wheat that the people of Lucca and Pisa no longer had such a strong sense of resistance...... In any case, there are always smart people who can perceive Giulio. The Medici's intentions - but life is undoubtedly much more precious and valuable than cashmere, glass mirrors and dyes, and those lowly people who have no family or domain, castles, only know that it is the Medici of Florence who keeps them and their families from starvation, as for ambition, scheming, dictatorship, etc.? What does it have to do with them?!

"Your Sultan needs ...... Blessing? Julio asked in surprise, and Brother John looked up.

Giulio doesn't think that it was Cem who needed to plant the smallpox vaccine, because he had planted it when he was in Rome, and Giulio had planted it for him, and because of his faith, the time and place of Cem's planting were secret, and it was not a cross on his arm, but a triangle with no extra meaning - out of the aesthetic preferences of the Ottoman Turks. Obviously, Jem won't need a second planting, and his son is still in Italy.

"More people," said the messenger, "his courtiers, his soldiers, his people." He said this with great fear, for Jem told him that the Christians were in fact only more advanced than the Ottoman Turks, who were far superior to the Europa in medicine, and who had not only learned medicine from India, Arabia, Greece and Rome, but had also established a position at the Sultan's side called the chief of physicians, under whom all the doctors were under his authority, and among the physicians were divided into internal medicine and surgery— Even if it can't be compared to modern medicine, it's always better than the Christian medicine of bloodletting, enema, and prayer—so Jem's messengers did not feel that their approach was contrary to doctrine when they made such conditions on behalf of their sultan.

Julio frowned, he didn't think that Jem's request was for the Ottoman Turks...... "Is it just you?" He asked.

This sentence struck the messenger to the point at once, and he lowered his eyes and avoided Julio. Medici's sharp golden eyes, Giulio's heart sank suddenly, and he suddenly understood what Jem wanted to do—something Duarte had not been able to do.

Jem, who was in a difficult time, did not want weapons, soldiers, or wheat, but on the contrary, he was willing to exchange food from Egypt for vaccines, for the blessings of Christendom for his courtiers, his soldiers, and his people, not because he had suddenly become merciful, but because he had decided to bring a terrible plague to his enemies, even if at the same time the viruses would cause innocent people to suffer a calamity that they should not have to bear—he had gone completely insane.

"Then you go back." Giulio said sternly: "Tell your master that I know what he is going to do, and I will not agree." ”

Without a vaccine, it means that Jem's army is no longer secure, but the cultivation and cultivation methods of vaccines have spread in the church, and he disagrees, but Jem can still find people who are willing to help him, and all Jem has to pay is the gold and gems that he must not be so scarce now.

The messenger thought the same way: "The friendship of the Sultan is very precious. He advised: "Even if you are a Christian, you will find how strong and widespread his support will be." ”

"Well, even if I have some conscience." Giulio said.

The messenger stopped talking, but he did look admiring, and bowed to a Christian as if he were to a sultan, before slowly retreating out of the room.

Brother John gave Giulio a worried look.

Jem was not wrong in what he said, if he could gain a foothold in Ottoman Turkey, or even win a place, he would have received a lot of money from the Venetians and Genoese alone. If the Medici were still his allies, the benefits would be innumerable, but what if he was provoked by Giulio? A man certainly values his heir, but he must also have something to inherit, and he may also have a little luck, since he can have a son, he can have a second, and a third, and the Sultan has never lacked female slaves.

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On the south side of Istanbul, there was a small town called Yedikule, which was inhabited by about 3,000 fishermen, merchants and thieves, but just a few days earlier, a sailor came to Istanbul in a panic and said that there was a plague there—after the earthquake and tsunami, the plague was so frequent that it would take even more lives than the first two, and the vizier at that time was not so surprised, he had expected it, but the doctor he sent said that they were not suffering from dysentery, nor typhoid, but the more terrible smallpox.

Even the Ottoman Turkish doctors could not stop the spread of smallpox or treat the sick with it, and the only thing they could do was to destroy, completely destroy, and Selim I's eldest son, Suleiman I, was sixteen years old and had his own slave girl and son, and when he saw that his father was worried, he took the initiative to ask for help and asked to go to Yedikule. Selim I refused at first, but after repeated requests from Suleiman, he agreed.

In fact, according to the usual approach of the Ottoman Turks, the danger of this operation was not great, and Suleiman had been the governor of Kaffa for a year, and would be responsible for the administration and rule of more places in the future, and wouldn't war be dangerous for the Ottoman royal family? The internal conquest was equally life-and-death, but every son of the Sultan would not back down – this time too, Suleiman with a thousand Sipahi cavalry and 3,000 Azhab infantry silently surrounded Yedikul in the dark of night, and then threw grease and fireballs into the city with trebuchets.

The city did not even have walls in the ordinary sense of the word, only a fortress that separated it from the rest of the village, and the houses near the fortress were soon on fire, and the flames guarded the fortress, and people kept running out, but it only gave the cavalry and infantry a chance to drink the blood of their weapons.