Louis XII picked up a card that had flown to his feet in a panic, it was a 4 of hearts, the face of which was no less beautiful than the small statues hanging from his chest, except for the four hearts of hearts surrounding a plant, and the depiction below—a noblewoman with her skirt lifted and her lower body exposed.98 Impatiently, and a long-nosed, unstoppable dwarf—let's not pay attention to where the dwarf's long nose is inserted.

But the cards were almost always like this at this time, and since the church had filled people's lives with rigid ordinances and boring prayers, people had to have some fun in small places—but these things, in the hands of a cardinal, were really depraved enough.

Joe. The Medici had not yet seen Louis XII, but who else could be wearing a crown in Rome now, and he immediately put on a smile on his face, jolted over, and bowed to the king and kissed his hand, regardless of his decency as a cardinal, and lowered his head to the point where one would worry about whether he would fall on his heel—Louis XII withdrew his hand expressionlessly, and wiped it on the coat of the Count of Cypress: "Who is this?" He asked.

"Joe. Medici. Count Cypress said.

The Medici surname made Louis XII frown, and he looked sternly at Joe in front of him. Medici, the nominal brother of this fat man and the real cousin Giulio. The Medici and him were two different beings, and everyone who saw them wondered if they were really related—Julio was reminiscent of a tall, tall oak tree, and Joma—probably a round acorn, like the one drawn on a card.

For Louis XII's indifference, Joe. The Medici, at least on the surface, was not so panicked, he was like an optimistic pig, always happy and slow before the butcher's knife fell on his neck, and he even squeezed his eyes at another of his card friends, making a look of heart, and the one who was more relaxed and surprising than the two poor soldiers. Morality. Amboise, standing up from the table, straightened his cardinal shawl, and walked over to Louis XII.

"How did you end up with the Medici?" When he had gone a little farther away, Louis XII asked, and when he turned to look, he could still see Joe. The Medici was waving his hands frantically at them, bowing deeply, and of course, as a king, he was happy to accept the compliment. Although the Medici's performance is somewhat exaggerated, it matches his appearance very well, like a clown-like analtic, which makes people unable to arouse vigilance and disgust.

"Money." Archbishop George of Rouen replied without the slightest disguise: "He has already lost to me nearly three thousand gold florins, and it is still a matter of the past few days. ”

"Does he want to bribe you, or the soldiers?" Louis XII asked.

George twitched the corners of his mouth slightly: "No, no, no," he said, "you know, my appetite is not small, three thousand gold florins are really a little compared to a cardinal, as for those soldiers, their captain has warned them a long time ago, if any of them let him go, then they will never have such a wonderful way to collect money." ”

Louis XII slyly and tentatively said, "If I were him, I would give all the money to one or two people, and let them let me go out of Rome." ”

"As a member of the clergy, Joe. The Medici was derelict in his duties, lazy, and stupid, but he was also wise, for example, and now he knows very well that he is safest only if he stays in Rome and is protected by you," said George, "and he knows very well what the soldiers will do, and if he does give a large sum of money to one of them, then that person may try to kill him and swallow the money without risking your punishment or prosecution." He gave them some benefits, just to make his life more comfortable, like fur, women, wine, etc. ”

"Sounds like a pretty sensible man." Louis XII said.

"Well, he is not clever enough," said George, "and now he cannot even memorize the Bible, nor can he ride a horse, and he is out of breath even if he runs a few steps, and it is said that on the bed the woman always sits on him, not prostrate under him—he declares that this is the real enjoyment, but he is certainly not a dangerous man, unlike his brother, who loves only wealth and pleasure, whoever is on the throne, Innocent VIII, or Alexander VI, or Pius III, or Julius II, He hasn't changed—don't expect him to give you any useful response if you want to talk to him about something serious, but he's an expert when it comes to eating, drinking, gambling, and prostitution. ”

Louis XII laughed: "Well," he said, "when I come back, I will invite him to be a guide," he reached out and patted Georges on the shoulder: "But now I will go to Naples first, and drive the Spaniards back to Toledo," he saw that George's expression suddenly became serious, and nodded with satisfaction: "I have entrusted the search for Julius II to the Count of Cypress, you know him, but just in case, I will leave five hundred to you, my dear friend, If Count Cypress leaves Rome, you will hold on to Castel Sant'Angelo, and every cardinal here will be your bargaining chip......" He hesitated for a moment before he said to George, "My friend," he said, "You must know that even if Julius II is still alive and crowns me, I will not let him influence us for too long...... I think you can start thinking about your holy name from today, George, because we'll be using it soon. ”

George immediately smiled in surprise as he bent down towards Louis XII, "I can't believe that I could have received such an honor," he said gratefully, "my king," he said, "you will always be my king, Your Majesty, I swear." ”

Louis XII sighed softly, he didn't fully believe Georges. Morality. Amboise's words – but in any case, it is better for a French cardinal to become pope than a Spaniard or an Italian to become pope.

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Louis XII's army marched south from Milan a week after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8), and if possible, Louis XII would have wanted to be faster, in addition to the Spaniards, there was also the mercenary system at this time - generally speaking, mercenaries were only hired for a period of three months, plus a maximum of three months of extension, Louis XII's contract with those mercenaries was only until December, and now he had to pay double the salary to keep these people for an extra month, but compared to the loss of money, He was more worried about the loss of morale, for the feasts of December were approaching, and in the harsh winter days the people would leave behind the toil and worries of the year and begin to eat and drink and rejoice while they would have to fight in a foreign land—one can imagine how many complaints the soldiers would have, and even the considerable money would not be able to keep them in their mouths, or rather, it would be because they had money that they would be more eager to use them.

In Louis XII's original plan, the battle for Naples should take place in the early summer of the following year, so that his soldiers would not be given the opportunity to relax and not delay the cultivation of the fields. Morality. Córdoba's military talents, whether Spaniards, Italians, or French, were willing to admit it, and Louis XII admitted that he did not want to face Gonzalo, let alone become the second French king he captured.

He now only hoped that the rebellious Spaniards and the Holy Roman Empire would be able to drag Gonzalo in Toledo as long as possible.

——————————————

But things turned out contrary to Louis XII's expectations, and by the time he was heading for Naples, Gonzalo had already entered Toledo, and yes, although sometimes the Spaniards jokingly called them a mad queen, Juana I, who had always been mad in her actions or childish thoughts, had never gone wrong in the big picture since her accession to the throne - her gift for ruling and her willingness to accept the guidance and teachings of her courtiers was already comforting to many, After all, Juana never received a comprehensive education as an heir.

And Charlie, is there anyone else who doesn't know? A child who is only nine years old! Once he became king, he could only be a puppet of his grandfather Maximilian I, and the Spaniards could accept a prince of the Holy Roman Empire, or even a king with the blood of the Holy Roman Empire, and absolutely could not accept Spain being incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire.

Cardinal Cisneros and Charles were engulfed by the emissaries of the Holy Roman Empire when Gonzalo landed on the Citrus Coast, and fled to the Kingdom of Aragon, where they tried to summon an army in the name of Charles V, but almost no lords were willing to pay attention to them, not even the Catalans, although they hated Juana too, but they also knew that if Maximilian I ruled them, their situation would only be worse, and in the end, Charles V and his party could get the best treatment. It's just being turned a blind eye and a deaf ear.

Gonzalo had been chasing them so closely that Cardinal Cisneros and the emissaries of the Holy Roman Empire were about to lash out, even though he was loyal to Juana I, but wasn't it the eldest son of the queen who was beside them? Fortunately, although Maximilian I was reluctant to use his precious army, he sent reliable men to meet them, and they boarded a ship in Barcelona, crossed the Mediterranean, reached Genoa, and then disguised themselves as a group of Spanish merchants - by this time Louis XII had already left Milan and passed through Milan and Venice as merchants before finally arriving in Austria.

Since then, Cardinals Charles and Cisneros have been hostages and guests of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I.

And then they understood why Gonzalo had been chasing them, because Juana I, though he had been taken out of Toledo, was missing, and Gonzalo thought they had taken the mad woman with him - what a joke, God forbid, they didn't want that!

Gonzalo was anxious, but before Christmas, he finally met the Queen of Spain, Juana I, and her eldest and second daughters.

"What about His Highness Ferdinand?" He asked, "Did you take those guys with you too?" ”

Juana gave him a strange look, "No," she said, "I left him with his teacher." ”

"Cardinal Cisneros?" Indeed, the education of these two princes has always been the cardinal's responsibility.

"How is that possible?" Juana said, "It's the saint." ”

As far as Gonzalo knew, there was probably only one saint who could live and breathe, and who could become the prince's teacher: "That one? He asked hopelessly.

"Hmm." Juana replied wistfully. "And," she added, "I take back your Nuoro—now it's Medici's domain." ”

"But I'll give you another fiefdom." The queen said, "How is Rayal?" I think you'll be willing to be by my side. ”

"Wait." Gonzalo had to stop: "Your Majesty, are you talking about the Medici?" ”

If it's his little friend, Julio. The Medici, who gave Gonzalo the impression that he was almost a saint, if not a saint, even though he had created an unprecedented sharp weapon, and who had a keen sense of war and a great talent for command, but he gave Gonzalo the impression of a gentle, soft, and non-threatening man - but meddling in the internal affairs of other countries, taking the queen and her heirs, blackmailing and taking hostages, if Caesar. Gorgia would not have been surprised at all that Gorgia had done such a thing, but Giulio. Medici?

Juana I nodded heavily, her perception was also ruthlessly destroyed and was being rebuilt......

She knew that many people, including her mother, her father, her husband, almost all the courtiers (Gonzalo included), and the kings and dukes, the pope and his cardinals, were dismissive of her, because she was not only a woman, but she had no formal education and a bad reputation, but when she became queen, she found that, in fact, these people were no different from her!

They just want all the good stuff and don't want to take responsibility or give something in return - the only difference is that they will pretend and disguise, but she doesn't need it, she knows what she wants, and what she wants can be snatched into her arms before those people are ready to deal with a lunatic who is scorned by herself.