Machiavelli apparently received from Giulio a satisfactory answer, and though he was arrogant, he believed that kings choose their courtiers, and courtiers have the right to choose the kings he serves.

However, if he "served" seriously, Giulio would inevitably add many troubles, such as wanting to go out by night, ride his horse to Platuo, and play...... No, it was almost impossible to visit his fat cat son, Cosimo Jr., and not to forget that Machiavelli was also an Assassin, although he looked thin and yellow, and looked weak, in fact, even Michelangelo, who wielded a hammer and smashed stones, exercised his muscles, and was at his mercy to duel with people.

Of course, it's not impossible for Giulio to force his way through, but how do you want him to talk to Ezio? Because I wanted to "suck the", Machiavelli had to lie in bed for three months?

Later, even if Machiavelli knew of the existence of Cosimo Jr., he did not allow Giulio to go to Platuo often, as they had feared, Cosimo Jr.'s safety; Second, it is Giulio's own safety, "You will never know how stupid the world is!" Machiavelli said sternly.

Even the knights from France and Spain felt threatened by this thin yellow man, they were enough to keep to themselves, but in Machiavelli's eyes, they were just outsiders who could not be trusted, but now that Giulio still needed them to deter the Luccas and Pope Alexander VI, they should also be temporarily relegated to the same system. Like before, the oolong conflict with the Castelluccio family must not happen again!

As for how to integrate, Machiavelli drafted a document for Giulio, and called for a part of the donation from Florence, so that this group of knights could compete with the knights of the Spanish general Gonzalo, since the energy was too strong, then try to consume more, and at the same time, it could also collect the loyalty of the knights, even if it could not be compared with their original masters, Anne of Brittany and Gonzalo of Spain, at least in Italy, they should only be Giulio. The Medici ordered to obey.

The 100 arquebusiers were actually transferred from the 300 arquebusiers that Giulio had sent to Florence, and Machiavelli was surprised to find that the discipline of these mercenaries was even better than that of the knights of dukes and generals, and that their lives were fulfilling, and Giulio even had the monks teach them to write and read, a privilege that many nobles could touch, but the effect was obvious, and Machiavelli was more like a "man" than the wandering mercenaries.

And, as some feared, if these lowly people possessed too much knowledge, they would develop unwarranted ambitions, and even though they were able to read the Bible, they would still love Julio from the bottom of their hearts. The Medici, who thanked him for all that he had done for them, and was even willing to die for him, was a loyalty that was rare not only among mercenaries, but also among knights—Machiavelli was also relieved of the two hundred arquebusiers in Florence, knowing that before he left, many members of the Council of the Seventy had already tried to co-opt them for themselves.

"Still," Machiavelli asked, "why do you want them to learn to read and write?" They just need to learn how to fight. ”

"Because I need more than just soldiers." Giulio said.

Machiavelli bit his lip tightly and happily all at once.

But a few days later, Machiavelli approached Giulio for something similar: "Who is this Ralph?" ”

"A mercenary captain."

"He took ten thousand gold florins."

"Well, I allowed it," said Giulio, "and I let him go and do it for me." ”

"You let a mercenary captain do the deal for you?!"

"That's right," Giulio smiled, and Machiavelli coughed twice and turned his head unnaturally, "It's best for him to do this deal." ”

——————————————————

Ralph sneezed.

"It's so cold in here." He muttered.

He was in a huge ancient underground mausoleum, and the road was gloomy, even if every few steps, there was a torch inserted, which could not give people much heat and light, not to mention that Ralph's face was still masked, and the people around him did not say a word, dragging him forward.

After walking about three or four hundred steps, they finally stopped, the mask was pulled up, and Ralph blinked uncomfortably, it was so humid that the torches did not burn enough, the smoke blackened the zenith of the mausoleum, and the air quality was predictable.

"It turned out to be you." A man shouted, "Isn't it the Ralph of the Medici?" Ralph saw that it was one of the mercenary captains he had worked with, and he nodded his hat at the other man, "Ahh ”

"Just barely alive." The captain of the mercenary named Kasapa replied, "Why did you come here?" Aren't you already a lord of Naples? ”

"Your news is a little too far behind," said another voice, "the king of Naples has declared him treason, and is looking for him." ”

This sentence immediately made everyone present burst into sarcastic laughter, to say, the mercenary's greatest luxury is to be able to start from a mercenary like Sforza in Milan and Castelluccio in Lucca to become the ruler of a city, a duke, what a nice title?! All those who can get close to this goal will be hated by them, and when they hear that two of the three lucky ones of Naples have been hanged and one is still on the run, their hearts will not be more happy.

"It's you, honorable cardinal." Ralph said as he bowed deeply.

The one who suddenly appeared among the mercenaries was none other than Escanino. Sforza, Ludovico. Sforza's brother, a cardinal, raised his hand and let one of the mercenaries kiss his ring with rare tolerance: "What is the matter with you here?" ”

Several of the mercenaries adjusted their positions, and Ralph knew from the corner of his eye that if his answer was incorrect, he would be killed instantly.

Anyway, Ludovico. It is also possible that Sforza is hiding here, along with the monstrous fortune he took with him from Milan.

"I'm here to do business." Ralph smiled and said, "Honorable lord, do you want a cannon?" Do you want a musket? ”

——————————————————

A few merchants were in trepidation to put their findings before the Archbishop of Lucca, who were far inferior to bankers as stone merchants, and who most often dealt with lowly stonemasons and at most servants of nobles.

Machiavelli was on the sidelines, and let him see it, and he could barely see the difference between the dust and powder.

"This is volcanic ash," said Giulio, pointing to a pile of dark gray dust, "this is the powder of the burning of limestone, this is the powder of burning chalk," and he pointed to the much whiter powder and said, "This is doped with shells, this is ......" and he said happily: "Marl, you have found the marl." ”

"It is not difficult," said the merchant, after some deliberation, "thanks to your guidance, we searched for the places where the grapes grew well, and found them in a few places." However, Lange & Söhne is the most numerous and the easiest to mine. ”

"Great," said Giulio, "that's what I need, and you can ask my secretary how much I need." ”

He nodded to Machiavelli and handed over the merchant to him, after all, as archbishops, they were not required to ask them something in person, and they were hardly qualified to meet him directly.

Machiavelli skillfully and quickly dismissed the merchants, and then he returned to Giulio's study, where he found the archbishop condescending to be busy among the dust.

"Are they important?"

'It's true for Luca and for us.' Giulio straightened up, "Do you remember when I mentioned that the Luccas were going to build a new wall?" ”

"Of course I do." Machiavelli said: "To fend off a possible attack by Florence. As he spoke, he showed a sinister smile: "They probably didn't expect that the first thing they had to face was Caesar. Borgia's army. ”

"But to build a new wall, it's not something that can be done in a decade or two." Machiavelli continued: "And they also want to include the new town and the Guinici Palace, on such a large scale, even if all the Luccas are involved in the work...... Nor can the time be shortened to five years, Caesar. Borgia had already taken Imola and Forlì, and now the Pope was negotiating with the Venetians for more soldiers for his illegitimate son and dominion over Rimini and Faenza - probably only two or three years, Caesar. Borgia would then become the master of Emilia Romagna and begin to plot to take Tuscany. ”

"He's not going to be so smooth all the time." Giulio assured: "I will let him go at my pace - he can take Imola and Forlì, completely dependent on the French army, then, let the French keep busy, when Louis XII is too busy to take care of himself, he will not take care of Borgia, the loss of the French army, Caesar. Borgia was not likely to continue his journey. ”

"What did you do?"

"I told you, I let Ralph do the deal." Giulio said: "Ludovico. Sforza has taken most of Milan's treasury with him, and his cardinal brothers have at least 200,000 gold ducats in their hands, do you think they will be stingy with a small fee to make themselves stronger? ”

"As for the walls of Lucca," he said, looking at the dust, "thanks to the Romans a thousand years ago, they showed us a great avenue. ”