The two of them spent two days in Venice.

The first day is all about having fun.

After a good taste of the scenery and special goods of Venice,

I also visited the water church in Venice.

The layout of the water church makes Nock breathtaking.

Shakespeare, on the other hand, earned a decent tip by performing on the streets of Venice.

At least for today, he shouldn't need Nock to pay for his lodging in advance.

Of course, their biggest gain is not to see the scenery and have fun.

Instead, they heard a piece of news that made them happy.

Recently, there was a merchant ship that departed from Venice and headed for San Rome.

Merchant ships are sea-going ships, carrying precious commodities precisely for the election of cardinals.

The owner of the ship was a famous merchant in Venice, the Grand Grande.

The reason why Master Grande is famous is not how much he has done in business.

but because of his own stinginess.

It's not a last resort, he can save it. Never spend money.

Even his caravan buddies were slaves he paid for, not hired employees.

Ten years of wages for an employee can buy a slave.

And to buy a slave, although it costs ten years of wages for an employee, but to do,

But it's much more than an employee.

The budget-conscious Master Grande never makes a mistake in settling accounts.

Even when people say a word to him,

He had to calculate whether he could get any benefit from this man.

I decided not to take care of others.

By the way, his family's salary is calculated according to half of other chambers of commerce.

That is, someone else's employee can buy a slave with five years' wages,

With him, he had to work for ten years before he could afford to buy a slave.

There is a chance.

Because no one knows if Master Grande will find an excuse to deduct your salary for a year or even three or five years.

Don't think that Grandet can't do this kind of thing.

He's done it.

It is said that their family, although sitting on the top twenty wealth of the city of Venice.

But the whole family, young and old, wore patched burlap clothes at home.

It was only when he went out to talk about business that Grandet would put on the decent clothes he had worn for twenty years.

The name is frugal.

Don't look at this stingy person, but his eye for doing business is very poisonous.

No, he saw the opportunity and stockpiled a boatload of goods early, intending to elect cardinals in the Holy Tribunal.

Pull to the city of St. Rome to make a fortune.

But in order to save transportation costs, he actually started selling tickets two months in advance.

He was going to use his merchant ship to bring in a group of guests who wanted to go to St. Rome and earn a fee.

When Nock heard about this at the market, he planned to buy a ticket for the Grande master.

But when Nock took Shakespeare to find the Grande lord the next day,

I was still frightened by the lion of this old man Grande.

A room with a bed, one hundred gold coins, not including food and accommodation.

The bottom cabin without a bed also costs ten gold coins, not including food and lodging.

What a way to make money!

This is clearly a robbery to give away a trip around the peninsula!

But this old man doesn't eat hard and soft, even if Nock identifies himself,

The other party just politely put on a stiff smile,

But in business, there is no retreat.

Say a hundred gold coins, it's a hundred gold coins.

Nock was unwilling to pay for the entrance fee of one hundred and ten gold coins, just in case.

Unexpectedly, Nock really guessed it.

On the third day, when boarding from the pier.

Nock was still frightened by Master Grande's shamelessness.

In a space of less than three square meters, there are two wooden piers on which a 90-centimeter-wide wooden board is placed.

This is the "room" that Nock bought with a 100 gold tickets!

Looking at the next room separated by wooden boards, no need to ask, next door is an equally small space.

Obviously, Grandet has calculated to the extreme, dividing one room into two rooms to the best of his ability.

Sold to people who buy room tickets.

"Shakespeare, you saw it too. It's not that I don't want to take you in, it's that it's hard to even stand down for the two of us here.

Don't talk about staying. ”

Nock sighed with an ugly face, so that Shakespeare, who was going to live with his dead face, didn't want to speak.

After all, it is difficult to lie down in such a space, and it is difficult for him to let the bottom cabin of Nok Road live.

Give up the room for him to live in? No matter how thick-skinned he is, he can't do it!

"Okay, don't be wronged. You take this money first, as the food on the ship.

I guess along the way, we will have to bear something, and we will meet on the bow deck every day at noon.

If you're in a hurry, come to my room. There are many dragons and snakes on the boat, so you should take care to protect yourself. ”

With a few simple words, Nock let Shakespeare go and go to the bottom of the boat early to get a good seat.

I don't even have a place to sleep.

Because Nock thinks that a man like Grande might fill the cabin with people!

Fortunately, although Grandet loves money, he is not stupid.

The more guests who can pay 100 gold coins in the room, the more the merrier.

But the "poor ghost" who only paid ten gold coins, Grandet did not recruit many.

Except for a few "poor ghosts" he is familiar with, others who buy cabin tickets,

They are all the servants and subordinates of those "VIPs" in the guest room.

The rest were all the slaves of his chamber of commerce and the crews of the ships he hire.

In terms of numbers, it is definitely several times that of the "poor ghosts", which prevents the people in the "poor ghosts" from having the opportunity to make trouble.

Even if he has bad intentions, under his absolute superiority, the "poor ghosts" don't want to fight him!

He Grande has been in the business world for decades, but he has not only saved his wealth through frugality.

The merchant ship slowly sailed away from the port.

Although Grandet is usually stingy, he is not stingy when it comes to renting merchant ships.

He rented a sea vessel, a sea ship capable of carrying hundreds of people.

And the most experienced captains and seafarers are hired, all old fellows who have worked together for more than a decade.

He also paid more for the captains and seamen than other merchants.

But let the captain and seafarers keep it a secret.

Because he knows that on the sea, he can keep his goods and himself safe.

Not the guards he had hired, but the battle-hardened crews and guards.

Their experience can smell pirates from afar,

Their technology can leave pirates far behind.

He, Grandet, would never be stingy with these people.

Because he can get a higher reward from these people.

Merchant ships float on the sea.

On the first day, people who are not used to the bumps of the waves stay in bed.

However, there are only a handful of such people.

Because there are few people in Venice who can't adapt to the waves.

Shakespeare is one of the very few.

Nock noticed that Shakespeare did not show up at noon, so he asked someone to ask him.

Only to know that Shakespeare was seasick!

When Nock heard the news, he couldn't help but smile gloatingly.

Still, Nock went to visit Shakespeare.

Then he was surprised to find.

This dog thing lives better than he does!

Although there were many beds and bunks in the cabin, they were occupied by the Chamber's slaves and crew.

But in addition to them, there were less than fifteen "guests" in the cabin!

Living in a spacious cabin is much more comfortable than living in a small "coffin" like Nock!

Of course, the air quality can't be compared to Nock's.

Nock doesn't envy this.

After learning that two of these guests were husband and wife, who had taken a boat to St. Rome to run merchants,

The other thirteen people, including Shakespeare, were actually servants of the group of guests in the guest room.

It was also at this time that Nock learned that in addition to a captain's lounge and Grande's room,

The rest of the rooms were divided into single rooms by Grande to earn money.

Unfortunately, not all of the rooms were sold this time.

Therefore, although these people live in a small cubicle, they can be regarded as occupying an original room alone.

The next door cubicle is not arranged.

When he heard the news, Nock had thought about opening a room for Shakespeare.

But considering his suspicions about him, plus his travel expenses, it is actually not much.

After all, Richelieu, on his side, borrowed half of Nock's travel expenses, and Nock was also paying the bill along the way.

Who let Richelieu and Roger Fit not take a penny with them, was fooled by the two envoys of the Church.

Lacking funds, Nock decided to let Shakespeare suffer.

But even so, Nock was shocked by Grandet's ability to make money.

The room fee for ten guests alone is one thousand gold coins, plus one hundred and fifty gold coins for fifteen "poor ghosts".

This alone is estimated to be enough for Grandet to pay off the charter and the crew's salaries.

Maybe there's still some money to be made.

The rest of his shipload of goods is completely pure earning!

All the way south for a few days, the road was calm.

No wind and waves, no heavy rain. There was no snow either.

Head south along the coastline and occasionally replenish fresh water and food in coastal cities on the east coast.

Nock and the others had an easy time.

Even, because of the small size of the room, the guests of the room like to walk around on the deck.

They are also familiar with each other.

If it's pleasing to the eye, I also made a superficial friend by the way.

It's also like having a talking companion on the journey.

Even Nock was half-acquainted with Grandet.

After all, others don't know Nock's identity, but Grandet knows it very well.

Although he can't make concessions on the deal, outside of the deal, Grandet still wants to curry favor with Nock.

With such a young bishop, I am afraid that his achievements will be very high in the future.

Coupled with the fact that this trip is to the Holy See, with such a bishop taking care of him, he may be able to expand new connections.

Although he also had connections in the Holy Court, the person who cared for him had a growing appetite.

If he has a new backer, he can get rid of that one and cooperate with someone else.

This young man may be able to benefit the descendants of Grandet immensely.

Therefore, in the case that they are interested in making friends with each other, the two can be regarded as "friends" who talk about everything.

However, in addition to Grandet, Nock also made a special friend.

A lady who lived next door to him was said to be on a ship with a guard, but because of the difference between men and women.

She didn't let the guard follow.

Only when eating in the restaurant, I will communicate with the guards about the situation of the day, so that the guards have a bottom in their hearts.

The lady was only twenty years old and was said to be married.

The husband is also a businessman, and since the husband has not been home for half a year,

She wanted the guards to accompany her to her husband.

Nock also found out that the lady missed her husband too much, and always liked to cry alone at night.

I couldn't help but help to unravel and comfort this lady.

With Nock's comfort, the lady relieved her lovesickness and talked less about her husband.

His face was radiant and his smile was sweet.

Nock felt that his merit was immeasurable, and he was determined to make this part of the journey to St. Rome.

must work tirelessly to help this lady and help her untie her heart,

No more tormented by longing.

Maybe she can bring good news to her husband when the time comes, and she will hug a big fat boy next year!