After a brutal verdict, Giulio. The Medici did not immediately leave the room where death was about to be, and he would not allow Joshua. Lovére had any chance of redemption – he still remembered Pius III's last night, when the old man who was considered withdrawn and mean and ruthless stared into his gaze – and he looked at his most beloved disciple and son, his only heir, almost instantaneously, and perhaps he did not have expected the sudden arrival of the ill, but if it had not been for Cardinal Lovere, Joshua. Lovere's steps are pressing, and when he leaves, he will not be so sad and difficult to let go.

Joshua. Lovere, too, uncharacteristically, said nothing, pleaded, bought, and prayed, knowing full well that there was no one here who would have mercy on him, and no one who would yield to power or money...... He was full of sorrow and wrath, and he condemned the Holy Spirit and God in his heart, and he was at work for them, and now he was reduced to this point, would they not want to reach out and save him?

He also knew that Julio. The Medici was waiting for his death, he was breathing tenaciously, clutching the sheets, enduring the terrible feeling of life dying out of his body, he did not want to die! He might still have a chance! As long as someone is willing to save him, there must be someone who is willing to save him! He is the Father, the Lord, and the ......

"Poof!"

A candle suddenly beat violently like a heart, breaking the dead silence in the room, and Julio and Joshua looked at it in unison—it had burned to the end, and the wick had lost its support, and slanted against the accumulated wax, but it was the accumulated wax that gave it the last bit of strength, and it burned violently, bringing an instant light to the room—just a moment, almost a second or two, it was completely extinguished, and the room was darker than before, It's also colder.

At least for Joshua, yes.

He began to stare at the candles as if they were his life, but since Julio had entered the room, there had not been a single servant here except those who had been called by him, and at first Joshua could endure it, but as the candles were extinguished one by one, he finally spoke: "Call the servants," he said, "Light the candles, Julio," he pleaded, "Light the candles, and don't let me ...... in the dark," he paused, "Please, my brother, My friend...... Light a candle. ”

But these words of shame and resentment did not get a single response. The Medici sat in their chairs as if they were dead, motionless.

The candles were finally extinguished, the room was plunged into darkness and cold, Joshua's eyes widened, he felt the fear of death for the first time, his ambitions and desires were drained away by the cold air, he had trouble breathing, his lungs were like heavy stones, he opened his mouth, but he could no longer make a sound—until Julio. The Medici stood up and walked to the window—a cobalt blue light poured into the room through the cracks in the tapestry, and dawn was coming.

Joshua. When Lovere saw the light, and as if he had caught hope, he sat up straight, his arms stretched forward: "I won!" He shouted, "I won!" An eerie smile appeared on his lips: "I won!" He said this three times, and then he fell, and after that he was never heard again.

Julius II died before dawn fell.

————————————

The death of Julius II was not an end, it can be said that neither his "friends" nor his enemies expected him to die so quickly, although his reform of the Church did be as crazy and complete as Pius III had hoped, but after all, the time was still short, and the black-claders had fallen faster than the devil after becoming the superior whom they had once so much detested. And those cunning cardinals, families and kings are also trying to delay as much time as possible, playing tricks to eliminate as much as possible the possible impact of the Seven Great Decrees on them. Most importantly, because Julius II never cared about the low-level people, the commoners and artisans had no idea what the Seven Decrees meant to them, they only knew that after canceling the sale of relics and indulgences, they would either have to spend more coins in exchange for such a small piece of paper, or they would watch themselves, or their relatives and friends, fall into purgatory with their sins in their arms.

Therefore, with a slight push from the black hand behind the scenes, the anger of the people will turn into a raging tide and annihilate the whole of Rome.

At the same time, the mistakes of Julius II were still going on – as Giulio said, although he hated his biological father, Cardinal Grande Lovere, he accepted what Cardinal Grande Lovere did if it was good for him - before he became Pope, Cardinal Grande Lovere made deals with Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and France at the same time, or more accurately, deceived left and right, in order to gain the support of these three countries, and the recapture of the Papal territories seized by the Republic of Venice.

This behavior was extremely shameless and dangerous, but after Julius II's careful consideration, he decided to carry out this plan - this is how the 50,000 troops of King Louis XII of France were introduced into Italy by him, but Julius II, as a young man with little experience, how could he understand the actions of politicians such as Louis XII, Louis XII did not listen to his orders at all, and after entering Milan in the name of the Pope, he expelled the Venetians, who were also eager to move on this vast territory, began to single-mindedly oppose the Spaniards, and the Spaniards in Milan were indeed inferior to the French, so Milan could be said to have fallen into the hands of Louis XII before the Roman rebellion.

But would Louis XII settle for one Milan? Of course not, the riots in Rome were a godsend for him—or rather, he was aware of, or simply part of a conspiracy, and if it weren't for Julius II's emulator in hiring more than a thousand reliable Swiss soldiers in order to control Rome, the story of Avignon might have repeated itself.

But give the king some more time, and he will find them.

"The news of Julius II's death cannot be spread for the time being." Julio said Avery . Borgia immediately stood up: "Fortunately, it has been cold lately," Giulio looked at him and said, "We will move him to the cellar and keep it for a while, and his room, except for Brother John and me, Cardinal Baglioni and you, will no one be allowed in - we need to ......" He lowered his head and roughly estimated: "It will take five to seven days." ”

"As far as I know, Louis XII has taken Rome." Cardinal Baglioni said worriedly: "I understand your thoughts, Your Highness, if Louis XII had known the news of the death of Julius II, he would not have left the Vatican Palace, after all, the papal election must be held in the Sistine Chapel, and in his hands, except for the Archbishop of Rouen, Georges. Morality. Cardinal Amboise, Armanisius of Navarre. In addition to Cardinal Albrey, there were four cardinals, who unfortunately did not leave Rome at that time, so they were all controlled by the soldiers of the French king - Louis XII must have offered to let his close friend, George, become pope before he was willing to evacuate Rome and release the hostages. ”

"Or maybe he could just take the cardinals and hold a pope election in France, which is not the first time anyway." Brother John added.

"If that's the case, we're going to have elections in Le Puy." Cardinal Baglioni said.

"By no means," said Giulio, "the credibility of the Church can no longer withstand such a great challenge," he said, looking around the crowd, "and once again the popes, excommunicate each other, attack each other, and become the laughing stock of the nobles?" ”

"But what else can we do?" Cardinal Baglioni said angrily: "Alas, our Holy Father is a fool! ”

"He touched so many interests," Giulio said, "and his notion was based on a false foundation — he seemed to think that if you were in a high position, you could do whatever you wanted." ”

"Because he served my father, Alexander VI." Avery said calmly, "No one can fail to be shaken by that power and glory. ”

"Rest easy," said Giulio, "and things are not yet salvageable, Baglioni." ”

"If you do have any ideas," said Cardinal Baglioni with a sigh, "just say it, stop torturing me as an old man." ”

Julio smiled, "What do you do when you find out that your bed has been taken over by a vicious dog?" Of course, many people will say that we can drive it away with swords and torches, but if time and circumstances do not allow it, as we are now, our strength is still weak, and I am not prepared to reveal it to the world so quickly, and Rome, the Vatican Palace, we do not want to see them destroyed in the flames of war, like an expensive and beautiful bed, even if we can drive away a vicious dog, the owner does not want it to be burned by a knife, does he? ”

Cardinal Baglioni couldn't help but rub his hands and stomp his feet, looking helpless and anxious.

"Well, I'll be blunt, I'm going to give this vicious dog some bait, say, a delicious piece of roast meat, and lure it away."

"But what kind of bait will lure Louis XII away?" Cardinal Baglioni asked impatiently: "That is a man who is even more greedy than Charles VIII, and he has prepared a force of 50,000 men for this war, for which it is said that he borrowed a large sum of money from the nobles of the country, including his queen, Anne of Brittany, and he would not have been tempted at all if it had not been for real benefit." ”

"Of course it is," said Giulio, "Naples, how, is it tempting enough?" ”

Cardinal Baglioni looked confused: "...... Naples, Giulio," he cried, "but isn't that the territory of the Spaniards?" ”

"Yes, but in the near future, there will be a great change in Spain, the current governor of Naples, the Duke of Terranova, General Gonzalo will inevitably return to the country immediately, once he is gone, the Spanish crowd is leaderless, and Louis XII, who has an army of 50,000 troops, will invade at this time, and he will not be met with much resistance."

"What kind of change would make him ignore Naples?" Cardinal Baglioni asked subconsciously.

"Probably ......," said Giulio, "Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire, bought Cardinal Sisneros of Spain, united with some nobles who were dissatisfied with Queen Juana I of Spain, deposed her on the grounds of madness, and then put his eldest grandson, Charles, as king of Spain, and used it as an opportunity to incorporate Spain under his rule." ”

The news struck Cardinal Baglioni like thunder, and for a few seconds he wondered if it was true, but he also knew that Giulio was a bolt on the head. The Medici would never joke with him, and he took two dazed steps, slumped into a chair, and after a while he asked weakly, "What if," he still couldn't believe it...... Then it was probably possible that Louis XII would have abandoned Rome and attacked Naples – provided he could not have known that Julius II was dead, of course. ”

"Yes," said Giulio, "and this is the only one that will make him change his mind." ”

"But ......" After a moment's hesitation, Cardinal Baglioni hesitated and probed: "Isn't Queen Juana I of Spain one of your protectors?" "The queen was unusually generous and religious, and the way she looked at Giulio was utterly unpretentious.

"Of course she is trustworthy as a believer," Giulio smiled and shook his head slightly, "but as a queen, she also has her duty, Baglioni, when Spain had a dispute with Portugal, when she came to meet my teacher Pius III, and then she knew that she had deliberately not seen me in order to avoid my influence on her—when she had to put me and Julius II on the scales to weigh, I was rightfully abandoned, and she did not completely abandon her obligations to me, She had promised to build a monastery for me, that is, whatever fate I had, at least my life would be safe.

But on the other hand, she preferred to have a Spaniard pope, and Baglioni, who is said to have chosen that person with General Gonzalo. ”

"It's not that I don't want to believe it," asked Cardinal Baglioni, "but if this news comes from Rome, I know you must have channels, but Spain?" Of course, if I don't have the right to know for the time being......"

"It doesn't matter," said Giulio, "can I still doubt you." This is thanks to Avery. Julio turned to Avery as he turned to Avery. Borgia nodded gently, if Avery hadn't given him the last bit of power that belonged to Borgia, he wouldn't have been able to find out so quickly about the secrets of the Spanish court - the Borgia family came from Spain, and although most of them had become Italians, some remained in Valencia. They also had friends and enemies in Spain, and in order to ensure that the two co-rulers of Spain would not have any irreparable ill feelings against them because of the slander and rumors of others, Borgia also planted a lot of eyes and ears in the court with the help of wealth and power.

Although after the fall of the Borgia family, there were quite a few people who had unfortunate accidents or refused to serve the family anymore, there were still some people who were still willing to do things for them, and as a result, as soon as Gonzalo left the reception hall of Queen Juana I, his conversation with the queen was copied on a small piece of paper and sent out of Spain with a pigeon on his feet.

Cardinal Baglioni opened his mouth like a goldfish starved of water, and finally sighed for a long time: "Woman, this is woman, a group of changeable and ruthless devils!" ”

Julio laughed, "No, you should say, King. He said: "Baglioni, the rulers are the most fickle and cruel." ”