Reality doesn't give Giulio much time.

It's 1495, and in 2 or 3 years, Sforza's alliance with Borgia will come to an end, and Giovanni will be able to continue to mourn his dead wife in his new palace, while Lucretia will face a new marriage.

Julio. The Medici were able to become the archbishop of Lucca at this age, and the Picomini family played a great role in the reciprocal favor of the Portuguese, but before Cardinal Picromini became pope, he was afraid that it would be difficult for him to be promoted in a short period of time, not to mention that Giulio decided not to hold the priesthood after accepting Lucracia's courtship, and he hoped to be able to enter into a formal marriage contract with Lucracia, and their children would not become despised illegitimate children.

But with the ambitious Pope Alexander VI, or more correctly, Rodrigo, the head of Borgia, he would not easily give his daughter to a person who could not bring them benefits, for whom love, family affection and the happiness of his daughter were not at all as important as the great cause of the Borgia family, as Lucleia's first three marriages could attest, Giulio. The Medici was sometimes anxious, but he was also well aware that hastily acting would only lead to defeat - the war between the Holy Alliance and Charles VIII of France was an opportunity for him to be revealed before he was revealed, but he could not have mastered the skill and experience of leading an army overnight, nor could he turn the tide of battle alone like the legendary Samson or David, and his men were all experienced mercenaries, with whom his safety could be guaranteed, But it also meant that they would not be easily subdued by a young priest – but could be bought.

Julio. The Medici did not put in his shirt the commercial bill handed over to him by Cardinal Picromini, he exchanged it as soon as he left Rome, and of course he was not so foolish as to open his purse at will—he was very congenial, and he did not interfere with the management of the soldiers by the three captains, he fed them, had a glass of wine for dinner, did not hesitate to replenish their weapons and armour, sometimes prayed for them, and made mass when passing by the church. When they entered the Emilian Strip, the soldiers became very familiar with him, and he asked the Medici merchants to deliver the goods of good and good importance, and when the soldiers and captains were happy to choose what they wanted, and fearing that they would be lost or damaged in the rest of the battle, he promised to let the merchants take care of them on their behalf, and when they returned, they could take them from the Medici merchants.

"I don't know how many lads will be able to come back and take their things." While the soldiers were elated and noisy to register (there was Julio. Medici's assurance, they were reassured), a mercenary captain said, Giulio turned his head to look at him, it was Ralph, a German, who had been employed by the Medici in Florence for twenty years, and according to Lorenzo, he was more credible than any Florentine, this sentence seemed unintentional, but it was the first time that the three mercenary captains had spoken to Giulio about the war.

"If they can't come back, their stuff still belongs to them." Giulio pointed to the merchants who were busily recording the secret notes, messages, and addresses left by the soldiers (and if they did not return, they would be handed over to their relatives): "But if possible, my lords, perhaps I was naïve, I wish I had brought three hundred men, and three hundred more." ”

The other mercenary captain laughed at once, he was recruited by Lucca, and he was not an Italian, but a Venetian, and he had many Turkish hussars in his ranks, who were good at using scimitars, and who were good at using bows and arrows, and who had the style and cruelty of robbers, and who many employers were willing to hire, "You are a good and merciful man," he glanced at his temporary companion: "God will bless you, and in fact it is not impossible to ensure that a good man is unharmed, Even on the bloodiest battlefields. ”

Giulio nodded as if interested, encouraging him to continue, and sure enough, as he had learned, not every mercenary was eager to fight, and they might be happy to participate in a war because it brought them wealth and glory, but it was better if it could be obtained by not fighting, or by not fighting with all their might.

"No, an adult like you shouldn't have wasted your life on the battlefield in the first place." The captain of the Picromini mercenary added that, after all, he had been ordered to keep Giulio safe at all costs, and that if Giulio could heed their persuasion and try to stay behind the army, the chances of this mission being completed were greatly increased: "I think you may be able to bribe the Spaniards to allow you to stay away from the battlefield." ”

"If it were someone else, this might work." Giulio reminded: "But it was Gonzalo who was sent by the King of Spain. Morality. General Corvado, I think you've heard his name, and there's a good chance he'll allow me to stay in the church, but you'll be co-opted. ”

"But we're your soldiers." Ralph shouted.

"Well," Giulio nodded, "but you must also know that the stubborn are tougher than stones, and in the eyes of General Gonzalo, I am only a symbol, and I cannot be protected by so many troops." ”

The mercenary captain has his own intelligence sources, they know that the principal of Sicily is the Spaniard Gonzalo, but they don't know him very well, so after today's conversation, they spent a few gold coins to find out about the situation of the Spanish general and the army, and the result is of course very disappointing to them, of course they are not willing to be sacrificed and the French edict knights and the Swedes spear face head-on, a large reduction in personnel is something that no mercenary army wants to face, But they had already taken the Medici money and had almost squandered it.

Could it be that this time they must meet the blow of fate? As Ralph walked around his tent, a soldier came to report that a merchant wanted to visit him, and that Ralph had told him to get out, but he let him into his tent.

"Well," said Ralph, "I have run out of money for your things." ”

The merchant didn't believe him, a mercenary captain, during the war, said that he had nothing in his pocket than that there was no fire in hell, they had always been good at fraud and extortion, not to mention that their employer was a Medici, Archbishop of Lucca: "What I brought this time is not ordinary. He said, "That's what you need most." ”

Ralph had seen the box early in the morning, it was half a man's height and a woman's width, and it took a lot of effort for the merchant to bring them in.

The merchant opened the box, and Ralph saw three pairs of arquebuses inside.

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To say that Ralph vs. Giulio. What was the deep impression of the Medici, it was lying, all he could know was what the wife of the head of the family of Neri, the beautiful Constena, told him, he didn't believe it very much, after all, not everyone can press the sword on the neck of a king, if anyone really did that, then this person must be a desperate and disrespectful outlaw, and a Medici, at worst, can get a noble priesthood, and at that time he was already the archbishop of Lucca, Why risk your life for the sake of a decrepit family?

Of course, he did not know what kind of complicated feelings Giulio had for the Medici family, and when Ralph led the soldiers out, he only feared that the priest had made a reckless mistake because he was too young to despise the bloody battlefield and strange politics, just like Juan, the second son of Pope Alexander VI, who was constantly pointing fingers wherever he could interject, not only to displease the real generals, but also to make the Pope arrange for him to be his right-hand man. In essence, the commander of the Church Army, Gaido, is grumpy, but for Ralph, Gaido. Fürth was not a good man either, he was a knight in books, a murderer in words, and to say that Gaido's father was a truly admirable warrior, but it was a pity that the general loved his son too much and gave him his glory and soldiers too early.

Fortunately, the archbishop seemed to be quite self-aware, and he did not plunder their soldiers, nor did he send them as servants, and he was a generous and good host, and during their journey to Sicily, Ralph and the other two mercenary captains discovered that Julio . The Medici were not inferior to theirs, and to tell the truth, if they were to speak of the skill of wielding daggers, daggers, and crossbows, they were perhaps lacking—the young bishop, who had barely used a carriage during the journey, was not only a skilled horseman, but also had an Arabian horse with a fur as the morning light, which ran like a gust of wind, and for this horse alone their soldiers would have suppressed their awe of a bishop and his employer, and tried to get closer, and say a few words to him, and wash his horse or feed him some grass…… At a time when the owner of the horse is not only amiable, but also a little childish, it is not unthinkable that the young people will mingle. A stupid young man, mistaking Julio for a vain friend, made a point of mentioning it to Ralph in the hope that Ralph would hire him into their team.

"No wonder it is said that the bishop does much more sacraments on horseback and on bed than in front of the altar." Ralph muttered something close to blasphemy and walked into his employer's tent.

Ralph had come to Giulio to ask for more arquebuses, arquebuses were well known at this time, but no one had tried to apply them systematically to the battlefield, Ralph did this because the merchants had brought him information that the Spanish general they were about to face did not like the new weapon, the arquebus, which he thought was a gadget for the nobles to play with, and that it did not work better than a bow and arrow on the battlefield, and that the smoke and light of the gunpowder would also hurt the eyes of the user. If Julio had brought 300 arquebusiers, they would probably have been placed on the side of the battlefield at a better place, and they would have been able to decide whether to move forward or backward depending on the situation of the battle, and besides, as arquebusiers, there was nothing to say about retreating first after running out of gunpowder and primers.

The other two mercenary captains unanimously elected Ralph, after all, he was familiar with the Medici family, which virtually established Ralph's position as the temporary chieftain, Ralph had thought that it might take a lot of money, after all, arquebuses were worth a lot of money, but Giulio readily agreed after looking at the sample he brought.

"Ralph."

At the time of Ralph's retirement, Giulio. The Medici stopped him, and the mercenary captain turned, and the sunlight poured into the room from behind Archbishop Lucca, leaving a large black shadow, but it also drew a bright edge of light around the shadow master.

"You're going to practice your arquebus, aren't you?"

“…… Of course. Ralph nodded subconsciously and said, "Of course." ”

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When General Gonzalo crossed the hill, he saw a group of arquebusiers, with arquebusiers on their backs, with a small white vial of propellant (one for each bottle) hanging from their chests, a small pot for primer and a leather case for projectiles at their waists, and their servants leading pack horses, which already had a lot of prey, and the man at the head was wearing a splendid worldly cloak over a solemn black robe, and a wide-brimmed fuchsia hat.

As soon as the other party saw Gonzalo running towards him, he immediately raised his whip and ran towards Gonzalo, his attendants following closely behind him. Just when there were still three or five hundred feet left on both sides, Gonzalo heard a sharp cry of terror from the bishop's ranks, and one horse first fell to one side, and then kicked the other horse beside him in a panic, causing it to fall in front of the bishop's hooves, and General Gonzalo's heart was just cursing the omnipresent devil, when he saw the pale golden Arabian horse leap high again in an instant after slowing down to avoid it, and flew lightly past the unfortunate man with four hooves in the sky, and landed steadily on the other side.

"Okay!" General Gonzalo shouted.

The bishop turned his head to look at the fallen horses, and saw that only the horses had fallen, but the attendants were all unharmed, and then continued to gallop towards Gonzalo.

They met on a gentle slope full of wild lily of the valley, and in the world, the other party should first bow to Gonzalo, but in terms of sacred etiquette, Gonzalo should first kiss each other's ring, or robe, but they seemed to have a heart, just bowed to each other on their horses, and Gonzalo couldn't help but like each other when he saw this young man, this is a lively, beautiful and upright face, bright eyes, not cloudy and gray brought by excessive drinking, even as a bishop, But the skilful horsemanship and the lack of panic in the face of danger were no worse than those of the seasoned javelin knights.

What a good lad, Gonzalo let out the same sigh as the mercenary captain Ralph, if he were not an archbishop, he could have been a good knight (warrior).