A carriage galloped out of St. Peter's Square in the middle of the night to a town near the Vatican's holy city, with two priests and six Templars on horseback, who soon found the governor of the town and asked him for a list of all the children born in June and July of the decade, according to which they searched one by one, and chose three ruddy-faced, healthy boys—for their parents, these children were to be served as acolytes at the bishop's side. They were each rewarded with ten gold ducats.

The three boys were immediately taken to the stone house that Innocent VIII had built for himself, where there was an astrologer whom the Pope trusted best, and he examined the eyes, ears and chest of each boy, and the doctor with the "beak mask" made sure that they were white-skinned and well-entrailed, and that the priests came to pray for them, chant scriptures, and sprinkle holy water, and the boys were terrified, but no one cared about their feelings, and they were sent into a room after changing into a holy white linen robe, The room was even more palatial than the paradise of their dreams, filled with the smell of white mist and frankincense, but they all smelled a smell of decay that was difficult to hide, the smell of impending death, which the boys did not yet understand.

Before they were blindfolded, they saw only a large gorgeous bed, with a curtain hanging from the side of the bed, and under the bed was a small bed that could be pulled out, which was for the monks or grandmothers who served the pope, and two strong monks put a child on this small bed, and bound his limbs with ribbons, and a doctor came with the blood vessels of the ox, and they cut the blood vessels in the child's forearm, inserted them into the cow's veins, and sent the other end into the veil, and the pope in the curtain immediately bit down as soon as he felt something touching his lips, Sucking violently with what little strength he had left, he knew he was dying, but he still hoped that the young boy's blood would give him a glimmer of life.

It's hardly medical or witchcraft, but there may be some truth to it, just as the ancient Romans believed that sucking the blood of gladiators cured epilepsy, and the blood of boys seemed to give Pope Innocent VIII a glimmer of hope, and he struggled and had the priest anoint him with holy oil every day, but he just didn't die.

None of the three boys survived and got the news of Rodrigo. Borgia just frowned, "Give their family thirty ducats, each." ”

"Thank you for your kindness." The monk said, and then turned around and went about it. Rodrigo threw away the quill behind him and leaned back, from Innocent VIII to make a final effort - after the failure to gather the crusades, the battlefield in the sanctuary was only him and Lovere, but the Pope could not die for the time being, just a few days ago, he had just received the news that the Medici patriarch of Florence, Lorenzo, was suffering from an incurable serious illness, and his most important weight in the papal battle was the Medici treasury, if he died before Lorenzo showed the support he had promised, Then there is a good chance that he will fall short this time, and he may not have another chance, just like if Lovere fails, he will not give Lovere another chance.

"It's called Luigi...... No, Caesar comes. Rodrigo shouted. When his current eldest son appeared in front of him, he was not without a little hesitation, compared to Luigi, who had already become an adult, Caesar was only sixteen years old this year, even if he was tall and had a calm demeanor, but in the eyes of many people, he was still a child, and he was not sure if Caesar would be able to do this important thing well.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Cardinal? Caesar asked, having kissed the ring on his father's finger respectfully.

"An important thing," said Rodrigo, who had only Caesar, and whose second son, Juan, was a cowardly and lascivious bastard, and whose third son, Avery, was a young child, and whose daughter Lucrecia was not at all in his consideration, "I want you to go to Florence in secret," he said, "with Giulio." ”

Caesar nodded, he didn't rush to ask, if there was anything to let him know, then Rodrigo would definitely tell him.

"You take Giulio to Lorenzo and ask him to fulfill the contract between us," said Rodrigo, "and then you are to return to Rome as soon as possible with what he has given you...... That wretched traitor could die at any moment, and I may have been imprisoned in the Sistine by the time you return, so don't panic and go to Miguel, who has a way of getting in touch with me. He paused: "What you need to bring back is important, failure and success are all in one fell swoop, my son, I give Giulio to me, but Joe will be with me, I give you the power to promise Lorenzo all the things he wishes to hear, and if he gives to my satisfaction, the Medici will be richly rewarded - after I become pope, go, go, my child, let me see if you are as good as I expect." ”

"But Cardinal Picromini ...... there"

"I'm glad you still have a little innocence," he said, "and don't worry, Bishop Picromini will let him go." ”

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Cardinal Picromini will of course let him go, compared to being a hostage of Rodrigo in Rome, being brought back to Florence can at least guarantee Giulio's life, he can be said to be a sincere part of Rodrigo, although once Rodrigue's failure, his children and the people around him will be liquidated, but Cardinal Picromini believes that as long as he is there, Giulio's return to Rome will only be a matter of two or three years.

They left Rome that night, the noise and lights of Rome left behind, and Julio sat face to face with Caesar in a carriage that galloped along the way, surrounded by the sergeants and knights of the Templar Order. Giulio put his hand on the open window and gazed worriedly at the moonlit wilderness and woods. The Medici had little impression of the fact that when they were studying jurisprudence and theology in Pisa, a short distance from Florence, the wife and children of the uncrowned king of Florence came to visit him, but Lorenzo was too ill to travel long distances and had to stay in Florence.

But Giulio doesn't think so, Lorenzo probably loves him more than he does for his son Joe, and although he lives with Bishop Picromini, he never lacks friends and servants of the Medici family, and his eccentric and even extravagant ideas are always supported by this uncle, who mocks him as a fairytale prince with an inexhaustible money chest (Leonardo says he is pure jealousy).

They arrived a few days later at the Medici villa in Carrechy, and when Lorenzo felt that he could no longer support himself, he brought his friends to accompany him, and when Giulio and Caesar were walking to his room, he met in the corridor a monk with a mysterious expression, short, ugly, skinny, and yellow-faced, who looked very much like a sick man, but whose eyes were as if filled with lightning and lightning, and who, when he saw Caesar's bishop's attire, not only did he not salute, but exclaimed: "Sinner! ”

"Who is he?" Caesar asked.

"Savonarola." Someone said this, and then, Caesar could not continue on the subject, he had more important things to do, and he and Giulio rushed into Lorenzo's room, and Lorenzo was calling his eldest son Piero to his bedside alone, as his father did, to dictate "to be humble in public, and to always remember that the people of Florence are his own children...... Be grateful for the support of the people, so that the people can see the substantial benefits and the ...... of your actions" These words sound hollow, but in fact the Medici family has always been able to stand in Florence, but unfortunately, even Lorenzo must admit that his eldest son has no talent in this area, he is arrogant and does not know how to disguise, when he sees Caesar and Giulio enter the room one after the other, Piero angrily stands up and wants to drive them out. Lorenzo stopped him, "This is my creditor coming." He said, "Go out and be with your mother." ”

Caesar gently pushed Giulio's back, Giulio took a deep breath, he looked at the man on the bed, his bones almost broke through the skin and pricked out, his hair fell out, but he could still see a strange resemblance to Giulio, in blood and physiognomy, Giulio knelt down by the bed, holding his hand, his fingers were cold, and his palm was hot.

Caesar walked over to Lorenzo's bedside, "Joe is already a bishop," he said, "and after my father becomes pope, he will still have three new dioceses." He will give shelter to the Medici, and your Orb of Gold will not disappear from Florence. ”

Lorenzo looked at Giulio.

"Of course he ......" Speaking of this, Caesar suddenly had a new idea: "Do you want him to come back?" Back in Florence? "He didn't want to be a priest, a bishop, a cardinal, if his father allowed it, he preferred to be a commander-in-chief, as his name suggests, an emperor, if so, in the world, he needed a credible and capable courtier, Giulio was one of the best alternatives, intelligence and strength were secondary, Caesar valued him for a noble character that most people did not have, at least on the battlefield, he never had to worry that Giulio would betray him.

But Lorenzo was visibly hesitant, he knew what kind of man his eldest son was, according to his age, Giulio was his third son, and when the second son Jo was in the priesthood, if there was a gifted and tolerant and wise man in the Medici family, he would gain no less supporters than Piero, and the Medici family might be chaotic and divided. In addition, out of the selfish interests of a father, he was reluctant to add such a formidable enemy to Piero - he and Giulio met for the first time, but all Giulio's messages would be sent to Lorenzo through his monks and friends.

Giulio shook his head, he would not return to Florence, in addition to not wanting to arouse the jealousy of Lorenzo and Piero, he preferred to treat him like a father, Cardinal Picromini, he had long been prepared, after the end of his university studies, he would return to Rome, serve his mentor, and inherit his mantle.

"I beg you to ......" Lorenzo swallowed a mouthful of bitter saliva and shifted his gaze to Caesar. Caesar sighed regretfully, "If you insist," he looked at Giulio and then at Lorenzo, "I swear he's my lifelong friend, I'll drink with him in a glass, and if I do what I do to him, let him do what I do to me." ”

Lorenzo looked a little relieved, his face flushed uncomfortably, and the Medici patriarch put his hand under his pillow and took out a long, narrow flat box containing millions of gold florin certificates, commercial bills, and various deeds—a large part of which Lorenzo had even embezzled from the Florentine treasury, Lorenzo was more of an artist than a merchant than his father, Piero the Elder, and during his time in control of the Medici family, The Medici family's banking sector shrank by half instead of expanding, and as the wool trade between England and some of the Low Countries began to rise, the Florentine wool trade was also hit hard, and groups of workers were dismissed and wandered in the streets and squares, and Lorenzo paid a great price to suppress and comfort them.

For the Medici family, but also for Florence, Lorenzo. The Medici can be said to be all or nothing if Rodrigo. Borgia could not become the Pope, or if he became the Pope without regard for the favor of the Medici family, then the Medici family would have to become a second Pacci.

Caesar and Giulio rushed back to Rome overnight, but Innocent VIII was still struggling to hold on, and it took more than three months for him to finally get out of this sordid world.

More than thirty cardinals entered the Sistine Chapel under the worried gaze of the Roman people, the doors of the church were closed, the bolts were dropped, and from this day on, until a new pope was elected, they would not be released from the Sistine.

The Sistine Chapel was cut off from the inside and outside, and no one could enter or leave for any reason, simply put, in the event of misfortune, they had to be chosen by the Pope to be carried out of the Sistine. But Miguel soon took Caesar to a village on the outskirts of Rome, where in a barn with more than thirty pigeons, "which I bought at a high price from a count of Nelle, France," said Miguel proudly, "each of which was worth as much as a horse." "It's not that I don't believe you, Miguel," said Caesar, confused, "but for the first time I've heard that pigeons can send a message, and that they really don't fly to other people's places?" He apologized and said, "You know, they may have to carry something very precious. ”

"I promise." "We can even try a few more times before people understand what they do, if you're not sure, but they're really smart little guys," Miguel said. ”

The doors and windows of the Sistine Chapel were sealed with stones, but birds could land on the courtyard and the towers, and Rodrigo soon received a letter from his son, and he brought back his needs with carrier pigeons, and in the Sistine, the bishops and bishops were speculating with each other, and although they nominally decided through prayer and revelation who they should choose to become the Holy Father, in fact, they valued their family, territory, or country more than a little conscience, and this choice was as difficult as every previous one, Once again, the city of Rome was plunged into darkness and riot. People waited outside the Sistine holding wooden crosses, but to their disappointment, the gray smoke of burning ballots still rose from the chimneys.

Rodrigo walks around the Sistine late at night, and although most people should go to bed at this time, there are always people waiting for him in the hallways or prayer rooms, where they haggle in secret, and of course, all decisions cannot be made right away, let alone because, as one person puts it, "He who can be bought by one devil will also be bought by another." "Their minds may change at any time, and their patrons, a king or an archduke, and their families will also have a hand in it, and some bishops do not have carrier pigeons, but when it comes to bribery, it is the Roman clergyman's specialty, letters are wrapped in wax pills, and wax pills are put into dishes; or the clothes that were sent for change were sewn up and the inner layers were filled with words; The monks who were busy in the Sistine were also able to function as ears and tongues.

When Luigi died, Caesar was the only one left to get around, he was so tired that he had to turn to Giulio and Joe, and it was at this time that Giulio realized how difficult it was to bribe a ballot in a papal election, with Medici certificates every day, contracts sent to the Sistine by carrier pigeons, and not only that, but also the title deeds of mines and vineyards, the appointment and dismissal of parishes and monasteries, the positions of the king or the archduke's close courtiers, and even the conclusion and banning of marriage contracts, or the right to pay taxes...... The woman, the gold, and the mansion were almost the most inconspicuous of them all, and in the last days, not only Caesar, but also Julio and Joe, whose eyes were red, and their faces haggard, and exhausted, looked at each other, and in front of them were empty boxes, and the title deeds of a vineyard and a convent, "This is the last." Caesar said in a hoarse voice, wrapped it around the pigeon's leg, and let it go.

After doing this, he also fell, motionless, and then, it was no longer within the scope of their interference.

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Ezio raised his crossbow and could shoot the pigeon down with his heavy load, but he eventually changed his mind.

"If Rodrigo becomes pope......" Paula said worriedly.

"The Grand Master of the Templar Order can become the Pope," said Ezio, "but the Pope may not be the Grand Master of the Templar Order." ”

The pigeon, unbeknownst to his luck, flew straight into the purple twilight towards Sistine, bringing with him what Borgia had left, and they were about to start the fourth election, the first two times Rodrigo was not doing well, he was behind Lovere and the other candidate, but fortunately, no one exceeded two-thirds of the vote. The fourth election had begun, and the cardinals had gathered, and Rodrigo had seen their faces one by one, but the people who could stand here were not young men like Caesar, whose countenances were either pious, gentle, or severe, without a trace.

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Caesar, who was in a coma, suddenly jumped up, they lived in a small building facing the Sistine Chapel, Caesar's sour eyes vaguely saw the figure emerging from the incomparably important window, a priest, holding a cross high, he couldn't hear what he was saying at first, but he didn't need to, his appearance here means that the pope has been elected, Caesar nervously looked at the second person who appeared at the window, he threw down countless pieces of paper with the name and surname of the new pope, and just a few tens of seconds later, Miguel rushed into the room, "We won!" He shouted frantically: "We have won, the new pope is Cardinal Rodrigo of Valencia. Borgia, Alexander VI! ”