If you know even a little bit about the history of Europe, you will know that no country in the history of Europe has had the same influence as the Papal States.

From the fifth century AD, the Western Roman Empire was destroyed by the Ostrogoths, and the center of the church moved to Constantinople. By the sixth century, the Eastern Roman Empire had made a comeback and destroyed the Ostrogothic Empire, and from then on, the Papal States had considerable secular power.

In the eighth century, the Lombard Empire eliminated the last vestiges of the Eastern Roman Empire on the Italian peninsula, and with the help of the Lombards, the Pope finally broke away from the Eastern Roman Empire, that is, Byzantium, and became independent.

Although independent by the Lombards, the Papal States were not satisfied with the divine right of royal rule.

In 751 AD, all Byzantine territories in Italy finally fell to the Lombards. The Roman region (which by this time had developed into the Duchy of Rome) completely severed its ties with the Byzantine Empire. Pope Stephen II relieved the Lombard threat by paying tribute to Pepin the Short, the leader of the Franks.

Pepin twice led his army into Italy, forcing the Lombard king Estuff to surrender and hand over the former Viceroyalty of Ravenna from Byzantium to the Pope and his successors. Thus came the Papal States.

For a long time, the Papal States remained vassals of the Frankish Kingdom. Generations of popes have made great efforts to change this trend.

In order to increase the prestige of the Papal States and to discourage Pepin's heirs from using this consecration to control the Holy See in the future. Between 750 and 850, the Holy See had the audacity to forge a document known as the "Consecration of Constantine".

This document attempts to declare that the lands owned by the Papal States were consecrated to the Bishop of Rome by the Roman Emperor Constantine I to Sylvester II in the 4th century AD.

After the death of Pepin's son Charlemagne, the Frankish Empire split into three parts in the 9th century.

Although in the following centuries the French kings, who claimed to be the direct heirs of the Frankish kings, often declared themselves temporal protectors of the Holy See, and even moved the Holy See and the Pope from Rome to Avignon, no emperor or king in Europe could claim suzerainty over the Papal States as the sole successor to the Frankish Empire.

The cooperation between the Roman Church and the Franks reached its peak in the ninth century AD.

Prior to that, like the Church of Constantinople in the East, the status of the Pope and the Roman Church was subordinate (at least nominally) to the sole heir to the Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Emperor.

The Pope and the Archbishop of Constantinople are considered to be God's representatives in earthly religious affairs, while the Roman (Eastern Roman) Emperor is God's representative in earthly affairs. Both the Christian church and the people believe that there is only one emperor in the world, the Roman Emperor.

The deposition of Constantine VI in 797 and the proclamation of his mother, Empress Dowager Irina, as Empress Dowager of Rome (r. 797–802) gave the Roman Church reason to refuse to recognize the supreme authority of the rulers of Constantinople.

The Roman Church declared that the name of the Roman emperor no longer existed among the Greeks (i.e., the Byzantines), so the Pope, all the bishops, the Frankish senators, and all the elders of the city of Rome decided to crown the Frankish king as emperor and make the Roman Empire last forever.

In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as "His Majesty Augustus, the great emperor entrusted by God to rule the Roman Empire", and the Charlemagne Empire was born.

In 936, Otto I was crowned King of Germany. In 962, Otto was crowned for the second time. Pope John XII crowned him in the city of Rome and gave him the title of "Emperor", thus inaugurating the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire.

However, because the imperial rule of the Eastern Roman Empire was not interrupted, there were two parallel supreme rulers in Christendom, one in Constantinople and one in Rome.

They did not stand side by side peacefully, as the Roman emperors of the past did, but accused each other of being trespassers, declaring themselves the only true and legitimate leaders of the Christian church and the people.

In this sense, by crowning Charlemagne, Leo III freed the Roman Church (and its domains) from a subordinate position to the Eastern Roman Emperor. Since then, the Pope has become the supreme religious leader of Western Christendom.

It was through this alliance with the powerful that the Papal States broke away from the control of Constantinople and became a powerful and religious leader.

During the reign of Siqi III to John XII, several women among the Roman nobility gained power in the papacy by becoming mistresses of the pope, and their sons, as well as their sons' sons, were made popes (such as John XI, the son of Pope Syqi III and his mistress Marcia, and his grandson John XII).

This period of the 10th century is therefore known as the period of "*** politics". During this period, papal decrees could only be carried out in the area around the city of Rome. Secondly, the Papal States continued the feudal system of the Lombard Kingdom, in which there were many feudal fiefdoms of counts and marquises, all of whom were almost independent lords.

The Holy Roman Empire, along with the Papal States, controlled most of Europe and the Italian Peninsula.

In the two centuries since, friction between the Papal States and the Holy Roman Empire has continued from time to time.

Whenever the Holy Roman Emperor wanted to exert his power in Italy, he had to come into conflict with the Holy See and the Papal States.

After the struggle of the thirteenth century ended with the Hohenstaufen dynasty, the Holy Roman Emperor ceased to interfere in the affairs of the Holy See at will, and the Papal States and the Holy Roman Empire entered a state of peace. By the beginning of the fourteenth century, the Papal States, like the other Italian states, had become fully independent.

In the fourteenth century, and especially during the reign of the two popes, Alexander III and Julius II, the Papal States expanded significantly and became one of the most important political powers in Italy.

However, the papal rule over most of his domains was still in name only, and the real masters of the city-states of the Papal States were still the local princes and nobles.

In other words, the Papal States only have the right to rule by honor, not by the actual ruler.

However, successive popes used their mistresses, illegitimate children, to begin to expand their power aggressively.

This contradiction reached its peak a hundred years ago, when the Papal States were unpopular and the Holy Roman Empire could not tolerate the debauchery and corruption of the Papal States, which moved the Holy See from Rome to Avignon in France.

From 1305 to 1378, the Holy See moved to Avignon, in the southwest of France, and the Pope became a political vassal of the King of France.

Despite this, the Papal States in Italy remained papal domains, and the city of Avignon and its environs became part of the Papal States.

The Holy Roman Empire has always been not a single state, but a loose union. Although the area they control is large, they do not have a centralized government, and they only rely on the charisma of their leaders to control them.

When the emperor is wise, their power is greater, and when the emperor is mediocre, orders cannot even go out of the city.

Such a country, without even a capital, and the emperor was elected by the electors of the Seven Emperors, which also led to the complexity of the political situation.

After studying the history of Europe, Zhu Zhanji still cannot clearly see the complex context of these hundreds of years, and there is a little bit of confusion in the East during the decline of the Zhou Dynasty.

Decades ago, the Holy Roman Empire had been without an emperor for a long time, and the Black Death was spreading to everyone in the Holy Roman Empire, so the Holy See took the opportunity to return to Rome.

Present-day northern Italy, including Lombardy and Genoa, was part of the Holy Roman Empire, all the way to Florence.

The Papal States only occupied a narrow strip of area from Rome to Bologna, San Marino, and to their south, present-day Naples, Sicily, occupied by the Kingdom of Aragon.

Although they hold theocracy, they are not worth mentioning in terms of secular power.

The strength of the Ming fleet is not something they can provoke at all, and they don't have the courage to provoke the Ming Dynasty.

But they would never tolerate the Ming fleet roaming the Mediterranean as if it were their own back garden. The Ming despise the divine right, and even the divine right is canonized by the royal power, which is equivalent to digging their foundation, and they will never tolerate this.

When hard power is not comparable, then they play conspiracy, this is their tradition.

Is Zhu Zhanji afraid?

Of course, he was not afraid, he believed that without relying on the navy, just his feathered guards and young armies, he could flatten the whole of Rome.

However, he was very conflicted.

On the one hand, he hoped to establish a lofty position in Europe that belonged to the Ming Dynasty. But on the other hand, he wanted Europe to continue to be ignorant and did not want to suppress the power of the Holy See.

However, the arrival of Daming has already awakened them, and at this time, it is unrealistic to hope that they will continue to be ignorant.

He hadn't decided how to deal with the Papal States yet, but if they really dared to provoke him, he wouldn't mind slapping them hard.

Looking at Cosimo, who was a little frightened in front of him, he smiled and said, "Since you can know that someone is behind me who wants to deal with me, obviously, you should also know who it will be." Now, it's time for you to show your friendship......"

Cosimo paused for a moment, and secretly complained in his heart.

He wanted to bring trouble to the east, but now this imperial grandson insisted on pulling him in. If he is now an internal response and helps Daming, he will stand on the opposite side of most local forces, and he can only go all the way to the dark.

He regretted it in his heart, and felt that it was a big mistake for him to rush to take the initiative.

However, he did not have the courage to refuse.

He could only laugh a little, wanting to delay until he entered the city, so that his father could deal with this young-looking, but scheming imperial grandson.

For nearly 100 years, Pisa has been an important seaport on the west coast of the peninsula, and although the merchants here are not as powerful as those of Venice, they also have a strong commercial atmosphere.

Before entering the city, you can see that on the north bank of the Arno River, there is a large warehouse, and on the periphery of the warehouse, there is a huge market.

Most of the upper-class people in the entire city came to this market to greet Zhu Zhanji and his party, but at this time, they were all blocked by heavily armed Ming soldiers.

After Zhu Zhanji disembarked, some of the delegates who had been allowed to visit him one by one with trepidation, and then watched him board his huge carriage.

When Qiao Fanne met with other businessmen in Zhu Zhanji, he listened to his son describe his contact with Zhu Zhanji in detail.

The richest man in Florence looked at Zhu Zhanji's tall figure, and the boiling in his heart turned cold.

Do you have to make a choice now? Is Daming really worth taking refuge into?

Florence was originally in the middle of the Holy Roman Empire and the Papal States, and it was because of the tacit understanding between the two sides that this buffer zone was left.

If they take refuge in the Ming Dynasty, it means that they will directly face the anger of both sides!

At this time, Giovanne also regretted it. If I knew this was the case, I shouldn't have actively posted it.

He just wanted to get closer and cooperate in business, but now he had to make a choice politically.

The welcome dinner was very lively that evening, and the business representatives of Daming also expressed strong interest in the trade cooperation with Florence, which made many businessmen very excited.

Only Qiao Fanne showed nervous gaffes from time to time in this joyful atmosphere, which made him, the master, seem to be very disappointing.

Seeing this scene, Zhu Zhanji, who was in the position of the Great Demon King, felt very happy, and this pleasure of manipulating the fate of other people really made him enjoy it very much.

He knew very well that although Giovanne was very painful and entangled, he didn't have much choice.

The next morning, Zhu Zhanji, surrounded by the stars and the moon, came to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, located in the north of the city.

This treasure in the history of architecture is not of much interest to Zhu Zhanji, and his purpose is to climb to the highest floor and look down on all beings from the highest place.

Along the narrow staircase, Zhu Zhanji went up to the top floor at a height of 50 meters, and then looked out at the surrounding fields.

Behind him, in addition to a few chamberlains and guards, there were only Giovanne's father and son, who were licensed to follow.

On this beautiful autumn day, Giovanne's father and son looked out of breath and sweating because of the climbing of the tower and the nervousness.

But when they saw Zhu Zhanji, who didn't even breathe out of the atmosphere, their hearts quickly cooled.

The young man in front of them was not much different from the devil in their eyes, and now they could only face the temptation of the devil and abandon God.

Zhu Zhanji did not want to translate at this time, but said directly in Spanish: "The Holy Roman Empire is nothing but a bloated stupid pig in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, the Papal States is just a cunning fox, Osman is just a lame wolf, and the Eastern Roman Empire is a dead fish that survives." In your 2,000-year history, with the exception of the earliest Roman Empire, there are no respectable rivals in Europe today. ”

Hearing Zhu Zhanji say these words without replying, Qiao Fannei and his son looked at him holding the guardrail and looking at the backs of the surrounding fields, and they all had the urge to push him down regardless of their bodies.

But they didn't dare, Zhu Zhanji's figure was too burly, and the father and son combined, I am afraid they were not each other's opponents. Not to mention that there were so many samurai around him, and each one of them was looking at them with fierce eyes.

Qiao Fanne took a deep breath and asked, "Your Royal Highness, since Europe is not worth mentioning in the eyes of your Ming Dynasty, why do you want to meddle in European politics in addition to trade?" ”

Zhu Zhanji still didn't look back, and said: "Because Daming wants to establish a rule around the world, no matter who you are, whether you are weak or strong now, you must act according to Daming's rules." ”

Zhu Zhanji turned his head, his eyes swept around the body of their father and son, and then said: "You are indeed very weak now, but society is gradually developing, and the law of the jungle that you are using now does not conform to the laws of this world. In the past two thousand years, you have been fighting endlessly, which is not conducive to the development of the whole society, so the Ming Dynasty wants to change all this. ”

Many of Zhu Zhanji's words are somewhat different from the current words, but this does not affect their ability to understand Zhu Zhanji's words. But they could understand every sentence of Zhu Zhanji's words, but they still couldn't understand what Zhu Zhanji meant.

The law of the jungle, society, law, development, these words have always been there. But when they are connected, they give the Medici father and son an unfathomable feeling.

It seems that these are the trends of the whole world, which are far more profound than the set of laws that are currently practiced in the countries of Europe.

Qiao Fanne boldly asked, "Your Royal Highness, the Ming Dynasty is from the far east, do you have the ability to make the European countries submit?" And by what means will you use to bring the countries of Europe to their knees? ”

"Interests, etiquette, morality, ......and culture," Zhu Zhanji smiled, and a smile was incomprehensible. If these are not enough, then there is war...... All the means will be used by the Ming Dynasty, only for one purpose, and that is the rules! ”

"Is it a rule that is in the interests of the Ming Dynasty, and a rule that is in the interests of everyone?"

Zhu Zhanji laughed and said with great interest: "You are a smart person......"

He did not directly answer Giovanne's words, nor did he bother to answer, but added: "A hundred years ago, there were about twenty-five million people in the whole of Europe, but now, there are only about fifteen million left. But do you know how many people I have? ”

The Medici father and son were of course very curious about this issue, and this Ming suddenly appeared, and then he showed great power and advanced civilization, as well as the normal state of abundant life.

Their warships were unavailable in Europe, and their weapons were more advanced, and they had countless silks, porcelain, tea, spices, and gold and silver.

These have a great impact on European countries, but these can be seen with their eyes, and no one knows how much strength this Ming has.

Even those businessmen who have been to the East can't tell the strength of Daming, they haven't really been to Daming, everything is heard.

The mysterious Da Ming shocked everyone, but everything was still just a façade.

Without waiting for them to reply, Zhu Zhanji said again: "The Mengyuan people, who once attacked Hungary, are also a branch of our Eastern civilization, but now, they have been driven to the desert in the west of the Ming Dynasty by our Ming Dynasty. The direct population of my Ming Dynasty today is 60 million, and within the sphere of influence of my Ming Dynasty, the total population has reached more than 200 million people.

Although you have fifteen million people in Europe, you are not even a tenth of ours. Our land is dozens of times that of yours, and our population is dozens of times that of yours, and if it weren't for the fact that you still have some trade interests, I would have no interest in you at all in Europe. In order to expand trade, you can no longer wage useless wars, and the saved military expenses can be exchanged for soft silk, cloth, tea, and spices. If you don't have to make your people's lives better if you don't go through war, why should you go to war? ”

All this subverted the Medici father and son's outlook on life, values, and worldview, and although Zhu Zhanji's words were simple, they gave them a taste of a corner of a huge empire.

They don't have much choice in the first place, everything is just a force. At this time, Qiao Fanne took a deep breath, knelt down on one knee, and put his hand on his chest.

"Giovanni DiBeech de' Medici was henceforth willing to submit before His Highness and become an agent of the Ming Empire in Europe. Everything is in the interests of the Ming Dynasty first, and the glory of His Royal Highness is the greatest glory of our family. ”

After he finished reading the vow, he leaned down and kissed Zhu Zhanji's boots with his lips, and kissed Zhu Zhanji's boots on the edge.

Zhu Zhanji waited for him to kiss him before holding his arm and saying, "As long as the Medici family can be loyal to the Ming Dynasty, I will make your family one of the most powerful forces in the whole of Europe." ”

If the Ming Dynasty wants to control Europe, it is certainly not enough to rely on its own strength, and there will always be natural barriers between different races in the process of contact.

Daming needs an agent, and this agent can't be too weak, and of course it's not too strong.

Like the king of a country, even if they take refuge in the Ming Dynasty, at most they will only cooperate with each other, and this relationship is difficult to continue.

But the Medici family is different. The family has been developing well for the next few hundred years, indicating that most of their descendants are relatively successful and trustworthy.

Florence was not in the middle of the Holy Roman Empire and the Papal States, with greater powers in the north and south.

As long as they become the puppets of the Ming Dynasty, they have no other choice but to go all the way to the dark.

Otherwise, without the support of the Ming Dynasty, they would definitely be the first target of the two major forces to retaliate.

Coming down from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the others didn't know that their biggest force, the Medici family, had taken refuge in the Ming Dynasty.

Nowadays, people still want to get closer to the business representatives of the Ming Dynasty and get more goods.

Zhu Zhanji stayed in Pisa for five days, and during these five days, the merchants of Florence and Pisa reached countless cooperation with the Ming Dynasty, and the trade volume even exceeded that of France, which is now in a state of power.

In this, the Medici family is of course the largest trading party, and the total amount of their trade with the Ming Dynasty exceeds three tons of gold. But almost one-third of them are supported by the Ming Dynasty.

With this support, they will be able to use this wealth to form a larger army and form a local force that cannot be ignored.

In addition to the trade on the surface, there are many more things that the Ming and the Medici family are not known about, including the major power networks they provide for the Ming in the current Papal States.

As a local snake, those large forces in the Papal States, which ones are worth entrapment, and which ones are hostile to the Ming Dynasty are clear.

Even including which forces wanted to attack Zhu Zhanji, they also gave detailed information.

In addition, Cosimo will also join the negotiation mission between the Ming and Venice, conduct trade negotiations with the other party, and participate in the purchase negotiations of Crete.

Crete was not stable under the control of the Venetians, and although they were still more powerful than the Ottomans, the country was too small and its overall strength was greatly inferior.

In the past, they had struggled to face the threat of the Ottomans, and several times wanted to abandon this crossroads of the Mediterranean.

The Ming Dynasty is now only buying part of the ownership of this island, which is actually more beneficial to the Venetians, because with the defense of an additional Ming fleet, their rule over the island is more stable.

But they are all merchants, even if they are very difficult to maintain here, but they are not willing to give Da Ming for nothing, and they want to sell it at a high price.

Although Daming has money, he can exchange a little cargo for a part of this island. But since it is a business, there must be a standard, and you can't be a big wrongdoer.

Before Zhu Zhanji arrived in Venice, the negotiations were still going on with great difficulty, and there was little progress.

The Medici family participated, and they could directly go to Venice to find out where the bottom line of the Venetians was, so it was more convenient than the Ming people of different races.

In addition to these, the Ming can also use them to conduct intelligence investigations in European countries, which is twice as effective as the Ming people themselves.

But at this stage, their main focus is on intelligence exploration of the Papal States. Since some of them want to deal with Zhu Zhanji, then Da Ming will inevitably give the heaviest blow.

But in fact, although the generals of the Great Ming Dynasty were indignant that some forces in the Papal States wanted to attack him, Zhu Zhanji himself did not care.

Because now life in the Papal States is not at all easy.

First of all, within the Papal States, Archbishop Blasio of Perugia and Ontoria was ambitious, often using force to intimidate the current Pope Martin V in order to gain greater power.

However, Martin V was born into the Roman Colonna family, which became the most powerful family in Rome after Martin V became pope, monopolizing many secular privileges.

The dominance of the Colonna family has caused the dissatisfaction of many bishops, the Papal States is so big, the Colonna family is too strong, and the encroachment is naturally the power of other families.

The many family alliances, led by Archbishop Eugene, are the worst enemies of the House of Colonna.

Zhu Zhanji is not too clear about the history of Europe, and if he had, he would have known that the Archbishop of Eugene would become the successor pope in the future.

The whole papal state was full of miasma, the upper classes were lascivious, everyone was a multiple mistress, whether overt or covert, and there were countless nuns in the Holy See for the enjoyment of these great people.

They also use their power to do businessless business, seize fertile land, and have no regard for the lives of the people.

And in the Holy Roman Empire, where they are facing each other, although a new Roman emperor has now been elected, it has gone through a period of decades without an emperor, and it is impossible for the emperor to regain power.

The new Roman Emperor Sigismun executed the theologian Hus at the Council of Constance, triggering the Hussite Wars that lasted for fourteen years in the Czech Republic.

Now that the war has broken out, Sigismun has been leading the war in the Czech Republic, even in his home base of Hungary.

Without the help of the Holy Roman Empire, a small papal state, if it still wants to oppose the Ming Dynasty, it is only self-defeating.

Zhu Zhanji didn't care, but none of his subordinates dared to be careless.

As long as Zhu Zhanji has a little accident, these people have only one way to die. Unless they stay in Europe and don't go back to Daming.

For several days in a row, Zhu Zhanji took his concubines around, but they were in full swing to learn about the information of the Papal States and make countermeasures.

By the time Zhu Zhanji left Pisa and was about to leave for Rome, the entire fleet had been arranged. No matter who it is, it is simply impossible to hurt Zhu Zhanji.

From Pisa to the sea off Rome, it's almost 400 kilometers. Nowadays, the northwest wind is blowing in Europe, and if you want to go to Rome, you can reach it in two days.

When Zhu Zhanji's fleet reached Ostia off the coast of Rome, the first snow of the winter fell on the entire Italian peninsula.

The first to enter the Tvere River were the young army and the front army of the inner chamberlain, who made a second contact with the outreach personnel sent by the Papal States, and arranged Zhu Zhanji's itinerary to the exact hour.

More importantly, Zhu Zhanji's guard of honor and the encampment of the army cannot be determined by empty words.

But by the time the fleet arrived, everything was clear, and the arrangement of each step was determined in turn.

Zhu Zhanji's flagship entered the Tvere River, which seemed to be a natural process, but it was arranged by the concerted efforts of hundreds of people.

Rome is only twenty kilometers from the sea, but it takes more than thirty kilometers to enter it from the River Tvere.

Zhu Zhanji has many honor guards, and of course it is more convenient to enter from the river.

Before Zhu Zhanji's ship arrived, they not only interrupted the navigation of the merchant ship, but even brought a few large trawls to salvage all kinds of floating objects in the river, and at intervals there were special personnel to protect them.

Below Rome, the Tvére River is almost as wide as 50 meters, and although it is now a dry season, the depth of the water is about 5 meters.

In addition to the large treasure ships, the first class warships and the second class warships could be carried directly through the river to the Basilica of St. Paul on the outskirts of southern Rome.

Zhu Zhanji's flagship was replaced by a first-class warship, and the various national flags and dragon flags on board were waving in the northwest wind.

This large fleet from a foreign land has also attracted the attention of the local people, and many people can be seen watching the excitement along the river.

Zhu Zhanji, who was sitting in the cabin, saw this scene from the window, and couldn't help but ask Zheng He with a smile: "If the enemy wants to attack, where do you think they will do it from?" ”

Zheng He was not as relaxed as Zhu Zhanji, and said with a tense face: "After His Highness landed, this journey to the city of Rome probably requires important precautions. ”

"I hope they don't disappoint Lonely, the scene should be at least a little bigger......"