"I beg my pardon," asked Machiavelli, pouring a glass of wine for Giulio, "but Michelangelo. Bonarotti was not a fit man, for though he looked strong and powerful, he was a coward at heart, and he would have said anything at the slightest intimidation, and people would not have wanted to associate himself with such a notorious criminal—and as a stonemason, he was not very knowledgeable and of high standing, so what secrets could he have access to? Even if an important letter was placed in front of him, he might not be able to recognize every word on it......"

"Am I not going to know this person?" "He is more hateful than you," said Giulio, bringing the glass to his lips, and the Medici raised and raised him with my brothers and sisters, and after Lorenzo's death, he fell to Savonarola without a discount, but unfortunately Savonarola did not take him seriously, and it was Bolgia and I who saved him from the noose." He took a sip, put the cup back on the table, and pointed to the chair opposite him for Machiavelli to sit down, a man he had trained as a secretary and minister, and whose occasional service was only a matter of comfort.

"He probably bowed to Borgia faster than he did to Savonarola, and since then he hasn't even spoken of Savonarola, as if there had never been such a strict monk in his life—look, he's just a wallgrass, and whoever is strong, he's going to fall over without hesitation—if ......" Giulio stroked his lips lightly, "If there's anything he can fight for without risking his life, it's probably ...... Beautiful, he is indeed a devil born for art, even I can't deny that.

Of course, if I had asked him to assassinate Borgia or steal the papers from Borgia's bag, he would have hesitated and run away, but if I had only made a gesture of wanting to make peace with Borgia and sent him to Caesar. Borgia's side, in the form of paintings and statues, to highlight Caesar. What about Borgia's exploits? ”

"Caesar. Borgia wouldn't believe it. Machiavelli said.

"But Michelangelo doesn't say, he's a perceptive fellow, he won't easily tell the identity of his benefactor until he sees me and Caesar arm in arm again—Borgia won't dig into it anyway, as you say, he's just a stonemason, not a doctor, a lord, and his skill is unforgettable, but Borgia will never value or pay attention to a craftsman."

"So do you really just want people to be impressed by Borgia's exploits?"

"Art is a double-edged sword," Giulio said, picking up a translucent piece of bright red ham and biting it into his mouth, "When you see skeletons dancing around people, when you see death standing beside the beds of the sick, when you see saints suffering terrible torture and holding their heads in their hands, don't you feel fear, don't you feel fear?" When you see the blasphemers of Nasi, the infidels, the wicked who take pleasure in tormenting and killing, don't you feel anger and sorrow?

You know, since I've been here, as far as I can feel, the greatest sin of the people of Italy is cowardice, yes, don't look at them all the time with weapons, armor, strong limbs, fierce eyes, as if they were all fearless warriors, but they are still only businessmen in their bones.

They are not even as good as the pagans of the East, who are willing to fight their enemies for their country, their land, their faith, but the Italians, Machiavelli, who prefer to clean their purse and treasury and hire the untrustworthy - God! If you are not willing to protect your home with your blood and life, how can you expect others to do so? ”

"That's right!" Machiavelli excitedly chimed in: "That's what I've been worried about!" ”

"Although Alexander VI was shameless and brutal, we cannot say that he was a stupid man, and he must have seen it long ago, whether it was Florence, or Lucca, or Rimini, Pesaro...... These cities do not even have their own armies, they think that the use of mercenaries can save them from enemy attacks and the loss of blood relatives, and they are proud that they can save a small amount of money to eliminate the crisis of the city, but they do not know that when they finally have to face a greedy and intelligent enemy, they will end up with nothing but no bones. ”

"Like Lucca, or Pisa, or Florence." Machiavelli clenched his fists: "Do you know, even after the events of Charles VIII, some people in Florence are still fantasizing about being able to conquer the enemy with a golden florin instead of a sword, and I have tried to persuade them to build their own army of their own in Florence as soon as possible, but they have always turned a deaf ear - Your Highness, it is for this reason that I have given up my public office and come to you." ”

"They wouldn't be awake without the bloody fact before them, or even if they did, they would look for a reason, for example," Giulio nodded, "just thinking that this was just a war between me and the Pope." And, if I hadn't pointed out the trap, perhaps they would have actually stabbed me in the chest in exchange for the papacy's favor. ”

"Six tithes would be insane indeed, and with the rest of the taxes, Lucas would have to cover all their income this year, and maybe go into debt." Machiavelli said gratefully: "If it weren't for you, Florence would now be in an inexplicable stalemate." ”

"It's nothing." "Even though I am now in the service of God, I am still a citizen of Florence – it is said that they have carved out three secret trade routes to Ottoman Turkey," Giulio said. ”

"Thanks to Jem. Sultan, it is not so easy to open up new trade routes, and we are dealing with pagans, but whether it is cashmere, silk, porcelain, large pieces of glass, mirrors, the market is unusually good. ”

"Then remember to remind the councillors and parents that in addition to guarding the secrecy of goods and trade routes, you must also try to protect Jem properly. The Sultan, he was a key man, not only on the trade routes, but also on the battlefield - I don't know when Alexander VI would accept Bayezet II's request to sell Jem's life for a high price! ”

"Could he be so stupid?" Machiavelli whispered, "He knew that Jem. The Sultan is the most important bargaining chip in the Catholic world. ”

"Lust is greater than righteousness, greed overcomes reason," said Giulio, "and ask the Assassins of Assasin to take care of Jem, and if anything happens suddenly, take him out of Rome at once." ”

"I will." Machiavelli said, "Also, I found Gutenberg of Mainz, which you asked me to seek, but he died in 1468, and now his son runs his business," he said, standing up and taking out a parchment Bible from the bag he had brought, "Look, this is it, is there anything you need?" ”

"That's it."

"It's a Bible." Machiavelli said puzzled, flipping through the scriptures: "I see, it's nothing special, in fact there are people who take this to Florence, but people think they are just a bunch of liars, and they drive them away." Although Machiavelli was born in a family that had long since declined, he had read a few good Bibles, and although the printed Bibles were also handwritten and hand-painted in color, they were still too rudimentary and crude for him.

"How many did they print?"

"Of the 180 volumes, only 40 are parchment, and the rest are linen (note 1)."

"So do you know how much time they spend?" Giulio said: "Do you know what it means that it is a two-volume Bible of 1,282 pages, each with 42 lines, and a few workers and a dozen days and nights can print hundreds of such scriptures, and the most skilled monastic monk would have to copy it for a whole year to produce a book to read? ”

Machiavelli's expression was in a trance for a moment, and he looked at the book in his hand and found that it was as hot as coals of fire.

"Of course," Giulio leaned back tiredly, "now is not the time, Machiavelli, since you say it has spread to Italy...... So for us, it was the right time – a printed book would be more useful than a manuscript – and I think Michelangelo's work would make it so popular. ”

"I know you want more people to know about Caesar. Borgia's 'great feats,'" Machiavelli reluctantly regained some composure: "But have you ever thought that his brutality and ruthlessness will certainly arouse fear in people, but fear will also make them cringe, and perhaps some cities, without attacking, will spontaneously succumb to Borgia's feet. ”

"Did you know there's a joke in Rome?" Giulio said suddenly.

"What?"

"Someone cursed Alexander VI and said, 'He is a devil!' Another retorted angrily: 'You can say that? Of course, the devil has many bad things, but compared to Borgia, he at least talks a little bit about faith! ’”

Machiavelli was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh.

"See," said Giulio, "this is the deadliest part of them, a man can be brutal, he can be ruthless, he can even be shameless, but he must not be without credibility, he is not worthy of trust—a king can conquer his enemies with violence and meanness, but then he will rule the people with goodwill and sincerity, and it can even be said that he is a successful conqueror when his enemies are happy to submit to his character more than his hand."

Borgia may have been able to be prominent for a while, but when they were on the throne, everyone, whether it was their friends or the people, would tremble and be at peace day and night, because they did not care about honor and dignity, and there was no law or power to restrain them, and they could do whatever they wanted, and no one could be at peace and joy under their rule. Like the former Roman Emperor Nero, who doesn't say he's like a god? Countless people swallowed their anger under his obscenity, and survived secretly, but what kind of ending did he get? The throne that has been laid down by violence will last to be violently overthrown.

Machiavelli, I know you think that a king should have both animal and human nature, but I think that a king can and should only have human nature, because before he can become a king, he should first be a person. ”

Machiavelli looked up, the room still warm, and Giulio's tone was still so calm, but he could hardly help but shiver.

Giulio gently put his hand on his shoulder and said the last sentence: "And if a man is not a man, but only wants to be a wild beast, then he is rightly expelled as a wild beast and hunted." ”

(To be continued)

Note 1; That is, plant fiber paper, Renaissance papermaking basically used torn linen as the main raw material.