The Templar rebels carried the fuse of greed everywhere like a plague patient carrying germs, and of course, it would be long before it really broke out, and Cardinal Picromini returned to Rome before the feast of St. John the Baptist, and he had to return because more and more cardinals came to the Picromini Palace in the hope that he would change the mind of Pope Alexander VI - in order to give Caesar. Borgia prepared a real army of his own, and the Pope not only drew money for the Crusades (i.e., the war against the Turks), but also invested most of the money donated to the Holy City by the devout pilgrims during the Holy Year into a bottomless pit of swords, arrows, armour, horses, and artillery, but these were not enough, and the Pope came up with the idea of increasing the number of cardinals.

This is certainly not a good idea for the current cardinals, not only will the number of dioceses they own inevitably decrease, but the right to speak in the Holy See will also be divided, and the interests of the world will be greatly damaged, but since the Pope has decided, no one will be allowed to delay or veto, and before Cardinal Picromini returns, he has warned several cardinals who deliberately pretend to be sick or fasting (such a concrecy must have a quorum, otherwise the result of the meeting will be invalid), Command them not to make trouble for themselves. He even threatened the Archbishop of Siena because he had been coughing for three weeks in a row, and the Pope said that if he continued to cough, he would have to be the Archbishop of Siena with someone else.

Cardinals at this time, except for those such as Caesar. In the special circumstances of Borgia, the resignation often meant the abandonment of all earthly duties, and the Archbishop of Siena had to be cured in an instant. Cardinal Picromini was one of the loudest to complain when he returned, and he told them very frankly that it was impossible to change the Pope's mind, because the Pope was short of money, and if they did not allow the Pope to receive the conferment fee, the annuity and the secretary fee (note 1), the Pope would be able to take their income (note 2). But it's not without their benefit.

Picomini sat them down, then asked the monk to bring them a glass of salted water, and asked them to take turns drinking: "It's salty." Cardinal Picromini said, and then he added sugar to it, "And now? ”

"It's kind of sweet." A cardinal said cautiously.

Cardinal Picromini added more sugar to it: "Again? ”

"It's sweet."

"Can you still taste salty?"

"Not really."

"So, the next time we have a secret meeting, be there, it's not necessarily all bad for us."

The cardinals understood that if their families could afford enough money, they would be able to put their sons and nephews in a bright red cardinal hat that would strengthen their family and their own weight in the cardinal corps – Pope Alexander VI wanted to enrich himself and dilute the power of the cardinals, and they certainly couldn't have both.

After their departure, the Pope convened another conclave, this time with fifteen cardinals, including Cardinal Picromini and Cardinal Lovere, who, after a long tug-of-war, agreed to add thirteen new cardinals.

At this time, a figure whom we had long met, but perhaps forgotten, appeared in the Palazzo Picomini, and when he saw Cardinal Picomini, he could not help but cry - when they met at the convent of St. Francis of Assisi, he was still teaching Cardinal Picomini to regain his strength and return to Rome, and at that time he thought that he could bet on Borgia and change his clothes with the jingling golden florin.

Who knew that the devil was at work, first a guy that no one had ever heard of benefited from the battle between Lovere and Borgia, and then went from a mediocre guy to Pope Innocent VIII - but with Caesar. Borgia once lived in the convent of St. Francis and had a friendship with tens of thousands of golden florins, Adrian. Baglioni, Bishop of Perugia, at least retains his original position, but who knows that Giuliano. Della. Lovere has gone mad again - God! It wasn't poor Adrian who told him to kill his own son! Rodrigo. Borgia duly began to pretend to be deaf and dumb, and Adrian had to leave Rome and take refuge in Assisi, and when Borgia finally became pope, Adrian thought he had finally come out - who knows...... Atalanta, the sister of the Grand Duke of Perugia and his cousin, in order to give her illegitimate son all of Perugia instead of the orthodox heir Tyra, went so far as to poison Terra at the wedding banquet of her nephew Tosino and assassinate Caesar. Borgia and his party - he didn't dare to appear in Rome now, and finally Pope Alexander VI could forget about himself.

"If it weren't for your repeated letters to me and your assurance of my safety," complained Bishop of Perugia, who was even more fat and tender than he had been a dozen years ago, "and I would not have dared to come back, for today I went to see the Pope, for fear that he would put poison on the ring I was going to kiss." ”

"You haven't paid the annuity, the investiture fee, the secretarial fee," said Cardinal Picromini mercilessly, "at the very least, he will have to wait until he gets the money, and then worry about your deprived income." ”

The Bishop of Perugia shuddered, "Please," he said with a sad face, "stop scaring me with this, I'm almost going to run away." ”

"Then your patron will be angry," said Cardinal Picromini, "I remember his name ...... Gian Paul? ”

"yes, Terra is dead, Neto is dead, Atalanta is dead, GianPaul . Baglioni is a branch of our family, he inherited Fort Paulina and Perugia - he supported me to get this red hat. Bishop Perugia said: "By the way, help him to have a good word with Pope Alexander VI." ”

"Oh, what kind of good words?"

"He is willing to submit to Borgia, but he wants to keep Perugia and Fort Paulina."

"Doesn't sound like a big appetite."

"His appetite is not big, but has he thought about the appetite of the Borgias?" Bishop Perugia hit the nail on the head: "But it has nothing to do with me, I need a red hat and he has a whole Perugia." ”

Pictromini leaned back, his face suddenly hidden in the darkness where the candle could not be found, "Let him continue to think like this, even if the fire of heaven falls on his head, there will still be people who think that they are safe with their cloak on their heads—you don't have to worry, Alexander VI can't find you for the time being, he has more people to deal with." ”

"I hope so." Bishop Perugia shrugged his shoulders, but he soon understood why Cardinal Picromini said that, because after the list of thirteen new cardinals was settled, Pope Alexander VI's face was not very good, because according to his original plan, he wanted money and support his own power, so he originally preferred the following candidates: Caesar's brother-in-law, Princess Charlotte's brother-in-law, Armanisius. Albrey; His cousin, Pedro. Bolgia and Francisco. Borgia; Juan's mentor, Jamie. Sero, as well as Caesar's Mentor (not Picomini), Juan. Vera; Consul of Rome, Isavalles; the Pope's personal physician, Pado Casaro; Inquisitor of the Pope's Sacred Statues, Ferrari...... Wait, in short, it's either his dependents or his cronies. Who knows, this plan was thwarted at the outset - both the King of France and the King of Navarre refused to pay for the cardinal office of Albre, he had no income from it, and his cousins and officials were sniped by the cardinals. Borgia, Isavalles and Jamie. Sero became a cardinal. There were also nine cardinals' red hats, which were worn on the heads of the other cardinals' relatives and friends, and they were apparently prepared, and when the results were announced, the thirteen new cardinals entered the Vatican Palace, kissed the pope's feet and hands, and settled the matter.

Alexander VI certainly wanted to veto those who didn't like it, but he really needed a golden florin or a golden ducat, and Albré's cardinal hat was almost a free gift, and he had to recoup his losses elsewhere - to ask for money, he had to give up power, which made him miserable, but also vicious.

And while the crowns on the heads of the new cardinals were still shaking their tassels, a tall man in a hooded cloak walked into the Palazzo Picromini.

"Greetings, honorable lord!"

Cardinal Picromini put down his book, "I didn't expect you to come so soon. What is the situation in Rhodes? ”

"It's not good," the visitor untied his cloak, revealing a white cross on a red background on his chest, "We lack food, medicine, warm clothing, weapons, armor, to put it simply, we lack everything, only death and pain." ”

"How much did Borgia withhold from you?"

"You should ask how much they have given us," said the head of the Knights Hospitaller, who had been the only Christian power in the entire Eastern Mediterranean since Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453, opened his scarred hands: "My lord, no more than I can hold with one hand, we are running out of ammunition......"

Cardinal Picromini immediately stood up and drew a cross: "O God, please forgive me. He whispered.

"It's not your fault." The head of the Knights Hospitaller said, "It is not your duty in the first place," he said, looking at his hand, "I am also cornered, my lord, I am ashamed, but I cannot wait any longer, the Pope has repeatedly denied my hearings—and those whom I know seem to have disappeared—I have heard that something terrible has happened in Rome lately." ”

"The Knights Templar have some ...... Fluctuation. Cardinal Picomini said.

"Is it a change, or is it murder?" The head of the Knights Hospitaller said indignantly: "Was Alexander VI bewitched by the devil?" Had he forgotten that he was still the Grand Master of the Knights Templar? ”

"I think it's probably because he remembers it too hard......" Cardinal Pikromini shook his head: "Okay, don't talk about it, time is pressing, tell me, how can I help you?" ”

"We needed a lot of things...... That's a lot of money. ”

"It is the duty of every Christian to fight against the invasion of the infidels, not to mention that I and my family, and my disciples, we will do our best, brother, compared to you, what we can do is always insignificant - I have here a bill of exchange of one hundred thousand gold florins, which is not a lot, but take it, or if there is anything else you need, please tell me, or write to me."

The head of the Knights Hospitaller froze, and thought that he might only get reprimands and disgust from this harsh cardinal, as he had from Alexander VI, but ...... 100,000 gold florins! Although it cannot be compared with the money and provisions that the Holy See should pay, it is enough to give them a little respite!

"You...... You don't know what this means for us! His eyes were red, he stammered, and his whole body trembled involuntarily.

"No, I know," said Cardinal Picromini, "so the one who is ashamed should be me." ”

The head of the Knights Hospitaller hesitated, as he did to the Pope, knelt down and kissed his hand, "What if...... I mean, if you need it," he whispered, "call us, and we'll come wherever we are." ”