Unbeknownst to Juana, her second son faced no easier situation than his brother.

Ever since Cosimo Jr. was sent to his biological father and guardian, he has only been with Giulio. Operation Medici, when Giulio was in Rome, he was in Rome, when Giulio was in Cadiz or Florence, he was in Cadiz or Florence, and when Giulio came to Le Pi, although Machiavelli and others thought it was not very suitable, but at Giulio's insistence, Cosimo Jr. also came to Le Pi with Cadiz's army.

When Louis XII left Rome, Machiavelli and others hoped that Giulio would send Cosimo Jr. back to Florence or Cadiz, but Giulio decided to keep Cosimo Jr. by his side, and that the eleven-year-old Cosimo Jr. should know how to deal with war, blood, and death more than his bed-based education—although such an education is obviously cruel for a child, it is the path he will have to face in the future, even if he can't become a commander or a king for the time being— Giulio didn't want to see another Pierrot, or himself.

In addition to Cosimo Jr., there was also Prince Ferdinand of Spain, a boy with flaxen hair and gray-blue eyes, only six years old this year - he was baptized by Pius III himself in 1504, he was left as a hostage by his own mother, he was not at all like his delicate brother, but a little too reckless and naïve, it seems that his innate open-mindedness quickly won him the favor of Cosimo Jr., they read together, played and received Giulio's teachings, like a pair of good brothers.

"But you know that, right?" One day, Machiavelli whispered.

And little Cosimo just smiled: "Yes. He said: "He befriended me only to gain my trust and affection—for he knew how much my father loved me, and that if one day something happened that we did not want to happen, if I pleaded, he would not be subjected to terrible punishment or humiliation." He stared at Machiavelli with blazing eyes, "But I always felt, sir, that it was not a sin, and if it were me, I would do the same." And, even if our friendship had sprung out of hypocrisy, I don't think it would have to die in conspiracy or betrayal in the future—I know you're worried that I've made the same mistakes that my father did, but even my father never thought that those emotions were useless, that they had something beautiful about, but that they had gone bad for some reason.

But before the fruit is ripe, who knows whether it is sweet or bitter, and what fun is there in rejecting everything and rejecting everything for fear of being harmed? At this, seeing Machiavelli's helpless and worried expression, little Cosimo gave him a reassuring smile: "And, even if you don't believe me, trust my father—to this day, he insists on keeping me here, because he will show me the bright stars and make me face the darkness, and in the same way he will teach me how to break off the smelly roses without being hurt by the spikes on the stalks." ”

He looked tenderly at his teacher and future courtier, "So don't worry too much, I won't be wary of or alienate Ferdinand, as you want, but I won't let him hurt me—this is also my father's lesson for me, and you should not interfere, and my decision, I can tell you now, Machiavelli, I will do to him as he does to me, and vice versa." ”

Machiavelli sighed softly, "I just hope everything goes your way." ”

"Yes." Cosimo Jr. said.

He watched Machiavelli disappear around the corner of the promenade, and when he walked back into the courtyard, he found Ferdinand, the second heir to Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, standing behind a holly tree bearing small red fruits, absentmindedly tormenting a puff of fruit, and the future Medici parents walked over and held out their hands to him with a smile.

Cosimo the Younger didn't ask anything, but Ferdinand knew he should have noticed it, and just now he had eavesdropped on the Medici's conversation with the official, and half of what Cosimo the Younger had said was for him, and he didn't know whether to believe it or not—a six-year-old child, of course, in a merchant or artisan family, could have been ignorant, but in the court it was fatal to be too credulous, and even his brother, Charlie, had never loved him and their sisters, and he admired his father and grandfather, but hated his motherHe was also disgusted by his siblings—he was in Spain and should have made Spain the core of his empire, but contrary to the hopes of Spanish courtiers such as General Gonzalo, Charles, emotionally, preferred the Holy Roman Empire to Spain, and he always felt that he was out of place with Spain, and this idea was deeply entrenched by the violence and impatience of Juana I.

As a threatening brother rather than a sister, under the influence of Cardinal Cisneros, Charles was even more wary and wary of Ferdinand, and he pushed Ferdinand to the ground more than once, imitating his mother and beating him.

Cosimo. The Medici were the same age as Charles, and in the beginning, Ferdinand was also afraid of him, although he knew that he could at least survive his life, but Cosimo was taller and stronger than his brother, and when he first appeared in front of Ferdinand, Ferdinand couldn't help but tremble—but, although Cosimo. The Medici did not greet him and serve him like a servant or a servant, but they did not embarrass him or treat him rudely......

It must be said that he is like what Ferdinand once fantasized about, what a brother should look like.

——————

"Where are we going?" As they walked up the spiral staircase of the tower, Ferdinand finally asked.

"There's going to be war here." "We went up to the tower, and the archbishop said we should ...... Experienced it, it was war, have you been through war? ”

"Nope." Ferdinand said that he knew the archbishop, that is, Giulio. The Medici, the saint to whom his mother worshipped, was none other than Cosimo's uncle, who had deliberately made Cosimo his earthly agent and, more precisely, his heir. Ferdinand had seen how they got along, and it was quite enviable - when Ferdinand could remember, his father Philip had returned to the feet of God, but from the words of the people, he also knew that even if Philip was alive, he would not treat his children as gently and amiably as the archbishop, or that every child in this world, from apprentices to princes, could hardly have a reasonable, forgiving and loving father.

Perhaps it is because of such a guardian that Cosimo. The Medici had the courage and the heart to move forward, but he knew that he would always have a solid and solid support behind him.

"Don't think about it so much." "We're still kids, we," Cosimo said. He turned his head, and his green eyes shone brightly in the light of the torches, "We are in the brightest, the most vibrant, the most carefree and hopeful," he shook Ferdinand's hand vigorously, "so the Archbishop said, maybe we will have many worries and many worries in the future, but at this time, let us leave it behind." ”

Ferdinand looked at him, and once again he questioned his heart, but he was uncontrollably tempted - well, he said to himself, wasn't it Cosimo that he had hoped for. Medici fraternity? Since he has already stretched out his hand first, then he only needs to accept it...... Yes, that's it, maybe he will give something in return......

They ascended to the top of the tower, which was cold and dark, but it was the safest place - as long as the castle was not breached, and the squires did not light torches, so as not to attract the attention of the enemy, they looked down, and by the light of the morning rising from the mist, they could see the wide avenue that shimmered like a river with silver light, which was one of the throats of Rome to the outside world, and the castle of Lepuy was built to defend it, but it was built too early, and it was very backward in terms of structure and main materials. Especially now that the artillery was in place, Ferdinand saw that the people on the city walls were assembling some equipment quickly and methodically.

"What's that?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Trebuchet." Cosimo said.

Ferdinand couldn't help but be a little disappointed, he knew artillery, and there were no less than twenty cannons in the castle of Segovia: "No artillery?" ”

"Even if there were, it wouldn't work," said Cosimo, "neither Lepi's turret nor the walls could withstand the recoil of the artillery, and the firing of the cannons would cause the base of the wall to loosen and collapse." ”

But if there is only trebuchet...... Ferdinand couldn't help but clench his little fist, the French have artillery, can Lepuy's walls fight artillery?

——————————

"The commander of the French was the Count of Cypress, who had followed Charles VIII in his invasion of Milan and Naples in 1494, was captured at the Battle of Fornovo, and was later ransomed by his family to France." Machiavelli read the intel.

Julio smiled, it was really an old friend, "I know him. Said the Archbishop of Florence. A knight of the Imperial Decree who was anxious to clear his name of shame and gain merit.

"They will probably arrive at Le Pye from the first to the third hour (six to nine o'clock in the morning) and then start attacking at the ninth hour (three o'clock in the afternoon)." Machiavelli continued, "Count Cypress brought with him about two thousand infantry, a hundred knights, a hundred arquebusiers, and five cannons. He added: "These cannons are from Castel Sant'Angelo." ”

"Lepuy's castle won't stand up to a few artillery attacks." Duarte said.

"They won't have a chance to launch." Giulio said.

On 14 December, the third day after Louis XII left Rome, they sent an Assasin assassin to sell several rings that had once belonged to Alexander VI under the guise of a goldsmith.

And as Giulio had predicted, in order to prevent Julius II from escaping again, Count Cypress had to take all the cavalry and most of the infantry, leaving some of the infantry of the Cardinal of Amboise, half of the arquebusiers, plus the five hundred soldiers that Louis XII had left for the cardinal.

Fifteen hundred soldiers, against the Roman mob, or one or two mercenary teams, were enough, but what about an entire army that was ready to attack?

The army came from Cadiz, along with a number of Swiss mercenaries with fifty cannons and thousands of arquebusiers, three times as many as the French army that remained in Rome - in any case, Cadiz's soldiers were far superior in courage, loyalty, and equipment to the Italian mercenaries, but Giulio had to consider that they were still newcomers who had not yet been tested in war, which is why he still hired a considerable number of Swiss mercenaries in case the battle was lost. They were needed to hold the position down, and as long as they got through the initial panic, with sharp weapons, the Gardis army would not be able to be defeated.

As for the French troops who came to attack Le Piy, Giulio was not prepared to let them return completely.

Sure enough, the French began to attack at the ninth hour - at this time, there were not many people in the whole of Europa, like Gonzalo and Giulio, who would change their tactics according to the situation on the battlefield, and the Count of Cypress was no exception, and he even sent messengers before the battle began, demanding that the people of Château Le Piy surrender and surrender the Pope, and only when they were refused did they begin to order the artillery to come forward.

Castle Le Pie was an old square castle with turrets at the corners and round forts on either side of the gates, as feared, but that was it, and when the cannons were pushed into their intended positions, Count Cypress smiled reassuringly - since the artillery, siege warfare had become simpler, and he had seen trebuchets on the walls, but could trebuchets still be compared to artillery? Besides, they were so small, he almost had to pity the people in Le Pi Castle.

But before the French artillery roared, the trebuchets of Château Legpi were the first to attack—but instead of stone projectiles, they threw barrels, which were thrown far away because of their reduced weight, and they landed in front and in the center of the artillery positions, and in front of the ranks of the knights of the Imperial Order, and as soon as they landed, they were torn apart, and the black slime splashed from them flew all over the sky, and some of the people's eyes were hurt, and they immediately cried out in pain, and the Count of Cypress hurriedly told them to retreat— The liquid in the barrel flowed on the ground and gave off an unpleasant stench, but if it could do any great damage, Count Cypress did not believe it, and he reached out and dipped it a little, and found that in addition to the pungent smell, it was also very viscous, and it was difficult to wipe off even the barrels of bronze or black iron.

And just as he was in a daze, the people of Château de Le Pi once again pulled up the trebuchet, and Count Cypress saw that there were countless bright spots on the walls—they were burning fireballs, which were still so dazzling even in the afternoon sun, and a word suddenly jumped into his mind, and he wanted to shout, but the fireballs were already pouring down on them like meteor showers, and the black slime that had stained the whole land burned violently at the slightest spark!

The wooden pedestal on which the cannon was erected was immediately surrounded by ferocious flames, and even the cannon was burning, and those unfortunate enough to be contaminated with slime became a running flame, screaming and running around frantically, and some people tried to help them, but to no avail of anything other than igniting the fire.

"Roman fire!" Count Cypress shouted: "It's Roman fire!" ”

Roman fire, it was created by the Eastern Roman Empire in the 8th century against the Arabs, and later the Crusaders also suffered a lot from it, according to one crusader, when they saw the enemy spraying fire at them, there was no other way but to kneel down and pray to God, but since the fall of Constantinople, the method of making Roman fire also disappeared with the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Who knew that they would encounter such a terrible weapon here!