When Duarte's conversation with Giulio ended, it was late at night, and he had spent the night in the chapel of Cadiz, and when he woke up the next day, he was no longer awakened by the smell of burning stubble, and he was alone in bed, enjoying the silence of the moment, until the priests had finished their morning prayers, and the monks who served the bishop came to invite him to breakfast, which consisted only bread, eggs, berries, and milk, but the food was fresh and tasted quite praiseworthy.

"You said earlier that people are burning plant ashes...... It can be used to encourage the growth of plants," Duarte asked, after drinking all his milk, "Can I go and see it?" ”

It is not surprising that Duarte, the de facto head of the Piruzzi family, who started out of the wool and wheat business, also had estates and considerable land outside of Florence, and that Giulio nodded: "Of course," he said, "I am going to see how the ashes are made, and you can come with me." ”

The two of them walked out of the chapel at about the third hour (nine o'clock in the morning) - the people of Cadiz had insisted on building a sacred abode for their saint and archbishop in the style of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore in Florence. At Medici's insistence, all that was finally settled in the center of Cadiz was a basilica-style rectangular basilica, and the cement bricks that had been made and intended for the construction of the cathedral were used to build the dwellings of the homeless, nay, Cadizians.

But this is not to say that this chapel will be unremarkable, the Cadiz are almost all exiled people from Imola, Forlì, Faenza and Rimini, and these cities are full of ceramic craftsmen, who have done more work day and night after the main body of the chapel is completed, firing tens of thousands of ceramic bricks to cover the rough cement walls and floors, and not only that, but in other churches with frescoes decorating the ceiling and walls, this chapel also has - but not frescoes or tempera. Rather, it is a stunning ceramic brick painting - they painted on the ceramic tiles with turquoise, golden yellow, crimson, and dark brown tin glaze, and then put them together piece by piece to form a solemn and gorgeous picture.

Rather than the inner splendour, the exterior of the church is dominated by different shades of white, and in the turquoise hills, in the bright sunlight, it shines like a precious sterling silver jewelry box.

If it weren't for the peculiar fortress that was tightly guarded, Duarte thought to himself, whoever it was would have wanted to snatch it or destroy it.

Speaking of the architecture of Cadiz, Duarte couldn't help but sigh deeply in his heart - the Italian cities at this time were either old cities left over from ancient Rome, or new cities built according to the style of the old cities, that is, most of them first laid a rectangular foundation, with temples and official residences in the center, aristocratic quarters around them, gladiatorial arenas, baths and warehouses on the periphery, commoners' residences, and prisons and slaves outside - sometimes there was only one rectangular wall, Some also had a wall between the commoners and the nobility.

But the new city of Cadiz is almost always made up of circular castles that only emerged in the 14th century - from above, it is a hollow flat column, in the middle of which is an empty circular courtyard, with cisterns and wells, surrounded by Gothic arches and columns, and behind the corridor are three- or four-story rooms, and the top floor is a wide city wall walk, which has the same battlements and battlements as ordinary city walls, and has four watchtowers and arrow towers attached to the city walls. The height of the walls is about thirty feet, and the height of the towers is about fifty feet.

These round castles, each capable of accommodating between 1,000 and 1,500 people, were built in less than ten months, between Florence and Lucca, in groups of five, connected by drawbridges and funiculars, like myrtles scattered among the hills and moors, and there was little to blame except for the regrettable gray color.

And these buildings can not yet be said to have been completed, because according to Giulio. Medici's plan was for more outcasts to arrive in the future, and they would build more chain-like castles outside the circular castle complex for them to shelter in - these linked alien castles would surround the original castle complex like an embellishment, so that their enemies would find that they would face four immensely solid walls, an outer moat, an inner moat, and tens of thousands of warriors.

Warrior – Duarte doesn't know Giulio. How did the Medici convince the exiles, because for the Italians, although vendettas between families and individuals abound, they were more willing to wield their purse bags than wield swords in the face of foreign enemies, and recruited wandering mercenaries to keep themselves safe. Although, it turns out, mercenaries with good moral character are even rarer than merciful devils, and it is not for nothing that they turn against their employers for more commissions, not to mention that when they encounter a powerful enemy, they will run away without fear, leaving the poor employer behind.

And those so-called, mercenaries with a certain work ethic, also work on the basis of commissions, and if their employers delay the payment of commissions, or exceed the established time, they will immediately strike, even if the battle is in full swing, even if their employer is a duke or bishop.

But the people of Cadiz were willing to take up arms to defend their homeland, which was undoubtedly very painful, because in addition to working in the workshops and working in the fields, they had to give up time for rest and recreation, and train like soldiers and even knights—and Cadiz's training was the most rigorous Duarte had ever seen, and at this time, known as the most pious and powerful knights, the Knights Hospitaller only trained three afternoons a week, but in Cadiz, the people had to train for three days in a row. Two hours a day, followed by a day off, and in other places, such a militant lord would inevitably be regarded as the devil's incarnation, and the church and the king would rebuke or punish him.

But in Cadiz, Giulio. The Medici were the supreme rulers of the sacred and the profane, and the people of Cadiz were happy to do it without feeling the slightest hardship.

"Why, you ask?" Giulio smiled and said, "Probably because only these people who have suffered from war and exile can understand that it has always been extremely ridiculous to put their lives and hopes on others." ”

Duarte leaned down slightly in respect, and then he asked, "But I heard that you have entrusted this important matter to two people. ”

"Yes, one is Nicholau. Machiavelli, one is Constena. Medici. Julio said tolerantly, "Do you have any questions?" ”

"Machiavelli, Your Highness," Duarte said.

"I thought you were talking about Constena." "She's a woman, anyway," Giulio said. ”

"So what. Isn't Forlì's she-wolf still a man, no man dared to show off in front of her when she was in Florence—and Madame Consterna once led the Neri and Medici families to resist the attack of about five hundred mercenaries when the Sodrini family suddenly attacked. ”

"And what is it about Machiavelli that you are dissatisfied?"

"Dissatisfied?" Duarte laughed hoarsely: "No, I have no grievances, Your Highness, don't you realize that he is a very similar person to me, in fact, and I don't mean outwardly, but inside, we are all people who will stop at nothing to achieve their ends - even to abandon conscience, trample on morality, or abandon justice and mercy - but there is one thing he has not been able to abandon compared to me, and that is Florence, who is still persistently asking the Council of the Seventy to pass a resolution to establish the Florentine Army, It's just been rejected again and again.

"Are you worried," said Giulio, "that Machiavelli might affect the army of Cadiz?" ”

"The people are foolish, Your Highness," said Duarte, "their eyes are as short-sighted as rats, and they can only see those in front of them, and what you need is the army of Cadiz, and Machiavelli needs to be Florentine, and perhaps he will betray you and take the army you have given him in his hands and give it to Florence." ”

"But I never thought that the people were ignorant." "They are ignorant because there is no one to teach them, and if there is anyone who is willing to teach them, you will find out, Duarte, how wise and powerful they will be, and their eyes will be as bright as the stars, and they will know what kind of existence they ought to follow, and not to follow the crowd and follow the crowd—I have never worried about the influence of Machiavelli on them, because they are judgmental and capable of controlling their own destiny." ”

"You're talking about the monks." Duarte said with mixed feelings, he was still with Alexander VI at that time, and he had heard that Giulio had asked the monks to teach the soldiers and peasants, but they didn't care about it. The Medici, an unaware and idealistic young man, would do such a futile deed, where soldiers and peasants were expendable, and even if they were lost, as long as they had golden florin and wheat, they could be re-recruited in a few days, so what was the use of having monks teach them to read and write? Can they still be commanders, or priests? Maybe a battle, years of hard work will be in vain.

But as Giulio said, if a man is learned, he can know how to think, but a man who is willing to think is not able to be tempted by small profits, for example, if a man comes to him and asks him if he will betray his master for thirty silver coins, will he be ecstatic to accept it? No, not only will he not accept it, but he will capture that person in search of some unknowable enemy - even if he is a vile, ungrateful villain, he will calculate the possible gains and losses. The Medici could clearly give more to the outcasts than anyone else.

Both he and Alexander VI had despised the young man's kindness, which bordered on cowardice, and his generosity, but it was this kindness and generosity that gave him a strong and loyal army in just a few years, something that the current kings and dukes could not necessarily have.

Instead of riding in a wagon, they rode on two strong mules and walked along a flat road towards what had been just a wilderness.

The roads and aqueducts of Cadiz were made of gravel, lime and Roman cement, the roads were smooth, the ditches were straight, and they would not collapse due to rain or raise dust from the sun, and it is said that the ditches were also divided into open channels and culverts, and in order to prevent the plague, before the construction of the round castle, the archbishop instructed the people to dig up a large amount of earth, just to stabilize the base, and secondly, to bury the dense sewer pipes like cobwebs, from which all the sewage was discharged into a swamp.

This allows the densely populated circular castle not only to worry about plague, but also to avoid many of the stench and filth that are common in new towns.

After a little further walking, they saw the source of the black plumes of smoke, and the people of Cadiz uprooted the grass and trees of the wilderness, dried them, and burned them in the fire along with the wheat straw, and when they had cooled them, they collected the dark black ashes together with the dirt on the surface, and poured them into oak barrels half a man high.

There were also oak barrels of the same size on the side of the hills that had been cleared and harvested, and Duarte got off the mule, walked over, and saw that the barrels were filled with potato wedges stained with plant ash, "Is that all right?" ”

"This is to avoid worming of the potatoes." Giulio replied, "Sweet potatoes and corn do the same, but they are submerged in water instead of being rolled directly onto them." ”

At this time, the people who saw them and came to bow to them dispersed and went about their work. The appearance of the Medici was neither surprised nor afraid, but with his chest held high, his head held high, and he tried to show a very natural and proud appearance—as if to say, look, this is our lord, our saint! There could not be a kinder and kinder person than him! But you can only see, because he belongs to us, and we belong to him.

Duarte's lips curled slightly, a sight he had never imagined and never seen in his dreams, and these simple people did not even shout slogans like "Long live the Medici", but the way they looked at Giulio was enough to prove their loyalty—they were willing to die for him.

A group of children, men and women, young between 6 and 8 years old, dressed in the same black clothes and carrying backpacks with two shoulder straps, came running from not far away, one of them headed straight for Julio. The Medici rushed over, and as soon as they saw him, they hugged him tightly by the waist and pressed their heads into his arms. The other children followed the child, but stopped and bowed when they were still a dozen feet away from Giulio, and only a girl with dark brown hair and eyes stopped to salute only two or three paces away.

Her posture was different from that of other children, with great grace and poise, and as soon as she looked up, Duarte's heart skipped a pound and fell.

That's Caesar. Borgia's face.

And that one put Giulio. The children in the arms of the Medici, except for little Cosimo. Who else could the Medici be, Giulio. The nominal nephew of the Medici, and the de facto biological son, Duarte had heard of the child before—from Alexander VI and Caesar. In the mouth of Borgia, he also knew that it was Alexander VI and Giulio. Between the Medici, the last thin layer of camouflage was torn apart, and the culprit was destroyed, and his mother was none other than Luclayia. Borgia. Duarte came to Rodrigo in 1484. At the time of Borgia, Luclecia was a young boy who often hovered over the lap of the Archbishop of Valencia. Borgia was also just a precocious boy.

The turquoise eyes inherited from his mother instantly took Duartra back to a long time ago, and he took a step back with mixed feelings, bowed his head to the blood of Cosimo Jr., the Medici, and Borgia, and bent down deeply.

Compared to Duarte, Cosimo Jr. was completely unfamiliar with the person in front of him, Duarte didn't even wear any clothes or decorations with the coat of arms of the Piruzzi family when he left Florence, so after looking for a while, he looked up at his father, and if Giulio felt that this person could be introduced to him, he would definitely say it, and vice versa.

Giulio did not disappoint him: "This is Duarte. Piruzzi," he said, "is a credible person." ”

Little Cosimo burst out laughing, for some reason, when he laughed, he always had a little bit of innocent cruelty, which was similar to Caesar's. Borgia subtly coincided with each other—Duarte's mind grew more and more complicated, "I know you," Cosimo Jr. whispered, "you are a man of wisdom and perceptiveness. "In those secret letters, the initials of this gentleman often appear.

"If you can," said Giulio, "Duarte, take off your mask and let little Cosimo see your face." ”

"I have a very ugly face." Duarte said: "Maybe you can be fearless, but little Cosimo only has ...... It's still a child. ”

Giulio turned to Cosimo Jr., "Do you want to see his face?" This gentleman has been in a terrible accident, so half of his face has been ruined, which is a little scary, do you think it matters? Would you be scared? ”

Cosimo Jr. stared at Duarte for a moment and said, "If you see it suddenly, maybe it will, but since you have warned me and I am ready, maybe I will be a little surprised, but I will not be too afraid." ”

"And I need to know his true colors, don't I, uncle?" He added.

This made both Giulio and Duarte laugh, but before Duarte could raise his hand, the girl closest to them suddenly made a stop gesture: "Let me take my leave, gentlemen." With that, she saluted Giulio and Duarte, and immediately turned away without any affection, and took the children with her.

Duarte then took off his mask, and little Cosimo was slightly taken aback, as he had said, but instead of showing any look of disgust or disgust, he looked at Duarte's face seriously, and the look was no different from that of his biological father.

"Alright," he continued to whisper after looking at it for a moment, "I remember your face." Sir, you may put the mask back on. He looked at Giulio again: "Have you and Mr. Piruzzi come to see the situation of the ashes?" ”

"yes, are you already out of school?" Julio glanced at the sky: "It's a little early today. ”

"Because Brother Adam's headache has flared up again," said Cosimo Jr., giggling, "but I think he's having a gluttony, and it's market day, and his candied crate is long empty, waiting to be filled." ”

"Then you can bring him some fried sweet potatoes later." Giulio said, rubbing little Cosimo's head rudely, Duarte couldn't see it, and took out the comb he had with him and combed little Cosimo's hair: "Don't do that, Your Highness," he said, "haven't you had enough of the curly hair?" "It's hard to keep it tidy, but it's messy...... It's so simple.

Cosimo Jr. gave Duarte a lovely smile, and then, in the blink of an eye, he stepped back between Giulio's arms, moving so fast that Duarte couldn't see it, "Then I'll go first, two," he said, "I'm going to play with my classmates." ”

With that, he ran away as fast as he could.

"Classmates?" Duarte asked.

"Yes," said Giulio, "he is now studying with the other children in the church school I have set up." ”

"But as far as I've seen," Duarte said, "it's not like what is taught in a church school." ”

"Well, he has his own martial arts teacher."

"That must be a very good master."

"No doubt," said Giulio, with a smile, "he is my teacher too." ”

Duarte knew that the Medici family once had a very good martial arts teacher, Caesar. Borgia had thought about recruiting him, but because he wasn't just a martial arts teacher, he was also Lorenzo. The Medici's friend had to give up—the man he thought was the martial arts teacher Giulio was talking about, and he didn't ask any more—presumably that man was also one of Julio's hidden powers.

"And ...... The girl," Duarte asked, "always felt that face very familiar." ”

"If you have to say it." Giulio didn't think to keep this secret in front of Duarte, and whether or not he could hide it from him for the time being, as someone who had served the Borgia family for nearly twenty years, he wouldn't look at Caesar. The only descendant of Borgia died.

"She's the Duchess of Valentino, Louise. Borgia. ”

Although expected, Duarte's answer made Duarte gasp impatiently.

Giulio simply took Avery . Borgia and his patronage and Princess Charlotte told Duarte about the commission and the whole process, "Of course, now she is a girl in the Medici branch, her family is far away in Pesaro, and now Pesaro is in the hands of the Venetians, and the news is cut off, so my sister took over her care......"

"It doesn't matter." Duarte interrupted Giulio in a rare way: "You're not going to resign from the teaching position, are you?" ”

"Yes."

"Then you are destined to have a worldly agent."

"Yes."

"Cosimo Jr. The Medici is your chosen heir. ”

"Yes."

"Then you let him talk to Caesar. Borgia's daughters together. ”

"If I could," said Giulio, "I don't want to," said the cousins, "the problem is that they seem to ...... Quite a fit for the look. ”

"You know I'm not talking about that," Duarte said angrily, "and in the future Cosimo the Younger may well be the King of Italy, and his wife must be a princess, a king, or an emperor, or a duchess—yes, Louise. Borgia is also a duchess, but everyone knows that it is only an empty title, even Louis XII did not dare to claim that Valentino belonged to France, and people know very well that her father was only the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, do you want such a girl to become the queen of Italy? ”

"Uh-huh...... It may sound like a bad thing, but they're still young, and no one knows what they'll be like in the future. Giulio persuaded softly, but Duarte became even more annoyed: "In fact, little Cosimo is already nine years old, nominally seven years old, Your Highness, time is always like an arrow, fly out and never come back, what you thought will soon pass two or three years, and for the sake of your career, little Cosimo must choose a wife at the age of fourteen, marry her, and have children......"

Giulio looked at him.

Duarte slowly shut his mouth, knowing that he had just made a very serious mistake, very, very, very serious. If to say, when he saw Louise. Borgia's face had only beaten violently, and now his heart had fallen heavily into the abyss, cold and painful.

"Duarte, you know what happened to me and Lucrea," Giulio said softly, "and what I have done so far is not to let my child suffer like I am—it is his freedom to marry and have children who he likes, who he loves, who he wants to marry, and to have children." He lowered his eyes, looked at Duarte and smiled: "If he is destined to marry a princess, then even if he falls in love with a beggar, I can make her a princess." ”