Thirty-eighth, is this my sister's concubine? (Happy New Year's Day)

In fact, the travelers were able to scavenge a fortune worth 3.8 billion yen from the current Roman city, and thanks to the fact that this place is an ancient historical capital that has carried the glory of the Romans for thousands of years, it is relatively easy to get some antiques of Greek and Roman civilization, such as marble statues and relief panels of emperors and goddesses, and even the "Trajan's Pillar" in the square has been removed and pulled away by the travelers...... But the problem is, not to mention that there are far more fakes than genuine in these antiques, just like modern tourists always buy microwave-baked oracle bone souvenirs in Anyang, Henan Province. Even if it's genuine, the pawn prices identified by the [automatic pawn machine] for these antiques are all cheap

For example, the "Trajan's Pillar", which is 38 meters high and 4 meters thick, and is covered with exquisite war reliefs, was only offered at a low price of 150 million yen by the [automatic pawn machine...... At the beginning, the cost of Emperor Trajan's construction of the Ji Gong Pillar was more than this number, okay

As for the other statues, frescoes and relief panels of ancient Rome that are smaller or more damaged, the valuation given by the [automatic pawn machine] is even more disastrous. Moreover, at this time in 1348, nearly 900 years have passed since the collapse of the Roman Empire, and the remnants of ancient artifacts in the city of Rome have been continuously lost, some of which have been bought or plundered by the vassal and elegant Western European magnates, and some are regarded as evil relics of heretical gods, and have been destroyed by fanatical Christians...... So in the end, the looted cultural relics were not as many as expected.

“…… In fact, in order to help us raise money, the church has really done everything it can to scrape the ground, even getting the ancient Roman statues that adorn the tombs of the popes in the vicinity. Paladin Levi broke the news, which immediately aroused a surprised gaze.

“…… Yes? Ma Tong blinked incredulously, "...... Even the Pope's mausoleum dared to be dug up? It's such a."

- Hey, among all the people here, I'm afraid that only you, the black-hearted lily, are the least qualified to say that others lack discipline.

“…… The coffin was not dug up, but only the ornaments on the ground were appropriated. What's more, those statues were originally stolen from ancient temples and even tombs from the Roman era, and now it is normal to demolish them again. Levi shrugged his shoulders and explained.

All in all, by all accounts, the city of Rome had been drained of oil and water, and the nearby satellite towns and monasteries had been able to bring in the most offerings. If you want to scavenge more oil and water from the Papal States without using violent plunder, you can only fight the peasants in the nearby villages...... And all the traversers are extremely pessimistic about this.

-- From any point of view, the life of the peasants in medieval Europe was very difficult and difficult. They live in dilapidated huts, sleep with pigs and goats, work at sunrise and rest at sunset, have no food all year round, and may not be willing to make a new dress for the rest of their lives. Even if you finally have some money to spare, it will be looted by the church and the lords under all kinds of unbelievable names, and this is true in any country.

In addition to their heavy labor, these peasants had to meet the demanding demands of their lords, and often endured poverty and plague. In times of war, the peasants had to join the lord's army to fight, and at that time, the princes attacked each other many times, and wars were frequent. If the condition of the freedmen is still like this, the situation of the serfs can be imagined. At that time, more than two-thirds of the rural population belonged to the serf class without freedom, and it is said that the peasants at that time lived to the age of 40 to be considered "high life", and it was rare to live to the age of 50. Heavy labor and lack of nutrition led to widespread poor fertility, and the average height of the peasants at that time was only about 1.5 meters......

In general, in medieval Europe there were hardly any kulaks in the true sense of the word, and there was very little middle class in the modern sense. The disparity between the rich and the poor in society as a whole was extreme, and the very limited wealth was concentrated in cities, castles, churches, and monasteries, and when all these places were squeezed into purity, even the most greedy could extract nothing more out of the hands of the peasants: they were already so poor that they had nothing left in ordinary life.

Fortunately, Italy is not the only Roman city, in the Renaissance and modern times, the northern Italian city-states north of Rome are the real places where wealth gathers, and they are also the next key targets for the traversers who have been reduced to "ruins of monuments" in Rome.

“…… From this point of view, there is no potential for the Roman side to tap for the time being. Fortunately, Venice, Florence, and Genoya seem to be richer in the north. Our goal is to collect at least 10 billion yen from these places, and of course, as much as possible."

As a conclusion to the fundraising meeting, Doraemon summed it up by brandishing a stubby wooden stick and pointing to a map of Italy hanging on the wall. The traversers, who were also lacking in discipline, were shocked, but Levi was still muttering to himself, "Isn't the goal to save the people there as much as possible?" ”

Then, Pope Clement VI was naturally in favor of the willingness of these "good appetites" angels to leave Rome to save and loot other cities—he knew from the beginning that even if he squeezed the wealth of the entire Papal States, he would not be able to make up as many gold coins as the angels wanted. However, in view of the fact that the situation in the Papal States was not yet completely stable,6 and that there were still sick people who came to ask for help, Clement VI wished to leave one or two angels to help the Holy See in the field, or simply to pass on the "divine art" of healing diseases to the clergy of the Church......

Unfortunately, neither of the popes' demands was met: first, the travelers were generally reluctant to disperse between the two places, lest they not be able to leave in a hurry in the event of danger; Secondly, before raising the huge amount of money that Doraemon needed, they didn't dare to leak the spells on the [Encyclopedia of Magic] to outsiders...... When the time comes, you will be able to heal the disease and eliminate the disaster yourself, and what will we rely on to collect money?

Of course, for the sake of the Pope's recent hard work and hard cooperation with the raid, Doraemon still left behind the door connecting Avignon and Rome, so that the members of the church could move the sick from Rome to Avignon at any time, and wait for the travelers to come to the rescue when they were free. Doraemon, on the other hand, took out another random door and used it to travel from Avignon, France, to Florence.

On this trip to Florence for salvation (blackmail), Her Majesty Giovanna, Queen of Naples, volunteered, claiming to be more familiar with the upper class society in Florence and could serve as a guide and introducer for the angels, but she just asked the angels to help her solve a "little trouble" - just like the future Wall Street bankers in the United States, who control the finances of many third world countries, as a "backward country" in this era, The finances of the Kingdom of Naples have always relied on the support of the Florentine financial community, and over the years it has been in debt for an unknown amount of money, and in view of the sad situation of the Kingdom of Naples that there are not even a few people left alive, this debt can no longer be paid off even if Her Majesty sacrifices herself to sell meat.

Hearing that the young queen was in huge debt like herself, Doraemon was suddenly embarrassed, and immediately patted her chest and took it down. And Wang Qiu also came up to "comfort" Queen Giovanna, saying that the Black Death epidemic in Florence should not be much better than that of Naples, and the bankers who once lent money to the Naples royal family are estimated to have died similarly. If these bankers had survived, the angels would have persuaded them to be merciful and not to settle accounts with the God-blessed Queen Giovanna.

Even if some of these bankers had granite heads, refused to listen to the angels' persuasion to forgive the debts of the Kingdom of Naples, and indulged in the filth of the world and refused to ascend to Elysium, the angels would have made them called by the Lord to heaven for blessings, just as the English immigrants on the Mayflower immigration ship that created the United States "thanked" the Indians for their hospitality......

- Well, as the various rituals have fallen less and less, the hearts of these traversers have now been cut open and all black.

Next, the [random door] leading to Florence was finally slowly pushed open by Doraemon's dango palm.

Then, as soon as she stepped into the city of Florence, Queen Giovanna was surprised to meet an unexpected acquaintance......

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Northern Italy, Tuscany region, Florence City

During the Renaissance era, the city-states of northern Italy were pioneers throughout Europe. It has the highest urbanization in Europe, the most prosperous urban agglomeration in Europe, the earliest germ of capitalism in human history, the birth of the earliest modern diplomacy, finance, science and technology, maritime trade, as well as the earliest humanist art and literature, giving birth to the crystallization of wisdom that will make Europeans proud of the world in the future.

Among these Italian city-states that are as bright as the morning star, Florence, which Xu Zhimo translates as "Fei Leng Cui", is the most artistic among them. It was also the cultural center of Europe of this era, as well as the birthplace of the European Renaissance movement - Leonardo da Vinci, Dante, Galileo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian, Boccaccio, Petrarch, Machiavelli (author of "The Monarch"), a series of famous and world-renowned personalities, all have a great connection with the city of Florence.

-- If the Silicon Valley of the United States symbolizes the Information Age, then Florence is the place where the essence of the Renaissance gathers.

It was not until the rise of the flower capital of Paris and French romantic art in modern times that Florence gradually faded from the crown of "world art capital".

In addition to being a historic art capital, Florence is also known as a financial center and Renaissance Wall Street. The Medici family, who ruled the city for a long time, claimed to be the most powerful bankers of the Renaissance era, and none of the future Rothschilds could compare with it.

However, at this time in the early summer of 1348, Florence, like all cities in Italy, was overshadowed by the Black Death.

Unlike those cities that were not shocked until the end of their lives, the Florentine authorities had received news of the plague the previous year, and knew that it was approaching them step by step, but they were helpless and could not do anything about it: all the filthy places in the city had been swept away, the order forbidding the sick from entering the city had been issued, and the devout believers had repeatedly prayed to God...... But the Black Death came

In an instant, the death knell of bustling Florence was ringing, corpses were piled up, ten rooms were empty, people were panicking, rumors were flying, trade was cut off, and there was a shocking horror everywhere, as if the end of the world had arrived...... Faced with the epidemic that engulfed the city in an instant, the rich loaded their possessions into carriages and fled to the countryside with their families; The poor are confined to their dilapidated huts, desperately waiting for death to come; Doctors pondered all sorts of whimsical treatments, but they couldn't even cure themselves; The devout prayed day and night, and before he could get sick, he had already gone insane. And the literati brought up their quill pens in this miserable and miserable atmosphere of despair......

In the 14th century, there were three cultural superstars in Europe, which later generations called the "Three Masters of the Renaissance". They were Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, and all happened to be Florentine.

When the Black Death came, Dante, who had written the Divine Comedy all his life, was dead, and Petrarch, the "father of the Renaissance", was now in exile because of his involvement in the coup d'état of the Roman Republic last year. Only Giovanni, who has the most gossipy personality and likes the most jokes in the market. Boccaccio, still in the city full of corpses, and trying to use the quill in his hand to leave a record of this living hell - of course, at this time, Boccaccio had not yet begun to write his famous "Decameron", but only had a hazy idea in his mind. His current reputation in the literary world is supported by all kinds of erotic ♂ poems and erotic ♂ novels, mainly known for his bold scale...... In other words, this is a person who specializes in writing yellow ♂ books and yellow ♂ jokes, and also holds a public office in the Florentine government.

In a dusty study room in the city hall of Florence, there is Giovanni, an incompetent financial official and a brilliant erotic ♂ writer. Boccaccio, with a haggard expression, was lying on a table, writing hard with official stationery:

“…… It is a world of dying catastrophes, an age of plague of darkness and sorrow, where invisible sickness engulfs every nation, howling storms hit barren coasts, and mad robbers and bandits pour out of the wilderness to plunder and slaughter our towns.

Merchant ships and trade disappeared from the seas, and law and order were wiped out in the face of death.

God forgot the people of Italy, the old world that we knew so well, that came to an end without warning.

Those noble souls born with glory had to begin to struggle for survival. The precarious short-term life makes the rich no longer have a long-term plan, but only want to have fun in time and wantonly squander the wealth they have accumulated in their lives; The ignorant poor are in ignorance, poverty and fear, and they are dying step by step...... The old years are over, a new era is beginning, and everyone must learn to survive in this new era. Because this land of destruction is our home, and the terrible new world we have to face......"

At this point, he suddenly stopped his pen and frowned, not knowing how to continue.

After reading the text again, Boccaccio, who still couldn't find an idea, put down his quill pen, got up and spread out the paper, grabbed a handful of dry sand from the sand pot next to his desk, and carefully sprinkled a layer on the paper, allowing it to absorb the ink on the paper. Then he opened his mouth to blow the fine sand off, and finally rolled up the paper and carefully packed it into a delicate wooden box.

After finishing his writing for a while, he sighed and stretched, turned to look out through the window of his study, and the scene on the street seemed to be the same, and the noisy stalls and vendors of the past had disappeared completely, and not even a beggar could be found.

As far as the eye can see, there are only unusually dirty streets, abandoned houses with doors and windows open, and a very small number of sloppy men leaning against the corners waiting to die, as well as countless white bones that have been discarded at will, making this city that has suffered from the baptism of plague seem even more empty and barren.

He vaguely remembered that earlier, before the city hall and the church collapsed, there were carts that collected corpses up and down the streets, transporting large numbers of corpses to various churches in the city, and then digging some long, wide deep pits there, and burying the corpses in hundreds of hundreds, like piling up cargo in the hold, although there was no mourning to speak of, but at least the minimum of decency was maintained.

But now, even the corpse collection team organized by the government has been infected and died, and the dead can only rot and stink on the streets and at home, but no one is willing to clean up, lest they themselves be infected with the plague. What's even more terrifying is that in the streets of Florence, there are still some half-human, half-ghost things. They claim to be foundation diggers, dealing with dead bodies every day, and they no longer care about their own life and death. They wandered the graveyard like vultures during the day, and by night they became devils - at first they were just stealing, and then they had become a group of madmen. These gravediggers often come in groups and rush into someone's house at random, demanding a large sum of money. If you can't pay it, you will use a woman to pay for it

These lawless atrocities often take place during this special period. For they are not afraid of death, but have the power to spread the plague. Everyone is afraid of them. The municipality of Florence was in the process of disintegration. So, sometimes they extort money, and sometimes they gang ♂ rape women...... This great tribulation turned some of the living into dead and some of the living into devils. Some disasters bring people together, but not with the Black Death. It belongs to another type of catastrophe that only unleashes evil in the hearts of human beings, making them darker and more alienated.

Hey, staying in this living hell, watching the familiar Yiqiē gradually being swallowed up by rotting corpses and darkness, almost every day is a kind of torment

The next thing he felt was hungry.

-- By this time, the order of the city had long since collapsed, and not a single bakery selling bread and pastries dared to open its doors, and the livelihood of many citizens was in jeopardy, but this was not difficult for Boccaccio, who had already prepared. On the eve of the final collapse of the city of Florence, Boccaccio, who had already foreseen disaster, used the last of his rights to secretly hoard a large quantity of bread, cakes, bacon and wine in the cellars of the town hall, enough for him to eat and drink for more than a year. If nothing else, I can probably survive this catastrophe ⊥ myself.

However, just as he was humming a little tune in bitter amusement and walking down the stairs with the key, he stopped at the door of the hall in amazement.

Because, in the Florence City Hall, where he was the only one left, a group of unwanted guests suddenly broke in.

What made Boccaccio's thinking even more broken was what an unbelievable group of strangers this was

- What about a suspected "angel" with wings on his back, a few priests and nuns in robes, several knights in bright armor, and a young lady in a rich purple dress that looks familiar? What kind of strange combination is this?

It's just that I'm doing fake accounts and embezzling public funds, so I don't need to get such a bunch of strange guys to review it

What's more, at this time, everyone is alive today, I don't know if there is tomorrow, who else can take care of this little thing

Suddenly, Boccaccio's mind was swirling and chaotic, and he stood on the stairs and stammered, not knowing what to do.

At the same time, the lady in the long purple dress looked up at him for a moment, but seemed to recognize Boccaccio's identity, "...... I didn't expect there to be a living person in the city hall of Florence...... Huh? Why are you? Aren't you dead yet? ”

“…… Belch? Is this guy an acquaintance of yours? Her Majesty the Queen? An "angel" with wings on his back asked curiously.

Then Boccaccio heard the noblewoman in the purple dress say something thunderous to the "angel":

“…… Well, yes, Lord Angel, this guy used to be the concubine of one of my sisters, and he was very good at writing all kinds of lewd ♂ and crooked poems......"

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e: On the last day of 214 years, I wish you a full harvest this year, and a happy new year, please continue to support the old Wang Meow, please continue to support the old Wang Meow, because it is very important, so I said it twice

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