As the weather began to heat up in June, the situation became more and more tense, with some saying that Louis XII had gathered some 50,000 French troops in the southern foothills of the Alps, and that the French fleet had already set off from their ports in the Mediterranean and headed for Naples.

In the middle of the day, more definite news came, although there was no information about the whereabouts of the French fleet, but the French did gather a large army near the city of Nice, southeast of the Alps, although the number of this army was not 500,000 as previously said, but it is said that King Louis of France had issued a royal edict to all the nobles of France, and from now on the size of this army is more than 50,000 men.

The Piedmontese also became active, and the Piedmontese had to send emissaries to the Vatican for peace because of the defeat of King Charles of France, and then they were spared punishment after agreeing to many harsh conditions, but even then Piedmont had to allow Milan and Genoa to send men to their cities for a long time, so that they could keep abreast of their movements with the French.

These diplomats were in fact overt spies, and they went around asking for information about the Piedmontese court, sometimes simply obtaining useful information directly from some of the courtiers, and because of the agreement, the Piedmontese had to tolerate the actions of these spies.

Now the Piedmontese expelled all these spies from the country, and the result of this was that although the source of information about Piedmont was cut off, everyone already knew that Piedmont had once again become an ally of the French invasion, and it was clear from their desperate expulsion that the invasion was imminent.

The diplomats who had returned to Milan reported to Ludviko what they had seen lastly, and his heart became heavy when they heard along the way that Piedmont had begun to recruit peasants in some villages.

Madame Salmatelli got up a little early, but after hearing that Ludvik was summoning the diplomats who had just rushed back to Milan at night, she stopped the maid from inviting the Duke to have breakfast together, Madame knew that the current situation was urgent, and Ludviko must be anxious now, as a smart woman, Madame Salmatelli could stand out from so many competitors naturally because of her cleverness and interest, so she knew that it was better not to disturb the Duke at this time.

However, apparently not everyone was so smart, and early in the morning da Vinci came to Ludvico's office to ask for the Duke's reception, and although Ludvico's attendants explained to him that the Duke had important business at this time, da Vinci was very stubborn in wanting to see Ludvico.

The entangled helpless squire could only helplessly inform him, but soon after that came out of it was Leonardo da Vinci's nemesis, Geo Comte.

Seeing Gio Comte, da Vinci's face became bad, and now the two of them could be said to have reached the point of mutual disgust, if it were not outside the duke's room, perhaps they could not help but laugh at each other.

"Master, maybe the Duke doesn't have time to see you for the time being," Gio Comte explained in a low voice, "Your Highness is summoning several very important people, you know that the current situation is very bad, and Your Highness should not have time to take care of artistic things." ”

Hearing Giocomte say this, da Vinci seemed to be angry, but thinking of the purpose of his visit, he still tried to say calmly: "Or this matter can be said to you, that is, about the construction of a prayer church in the bend of the Mdogne River, which His Royal Highness the Duke decided a few years ago, and he had promised me to preside over the painting of the frescoes, so now I need to personally see the environment and topography there, and know that if the terrain there is too complicated, the church must be built according to the terrain, So this may affect the load bearing of the roof of the church and the distribution of the pillars, so I have to find the best place to see the frescoes in advance, rather than making an impromptu decision at that time. ”

Geocomte listened patiently, he knew what da Vinci said about this prayer church, and he also knew that the reason why the duke wanted to donate money to build this church was actually just to cover up the guilt and guilt of his usurpation from his nephew, so he still attached great importance to this prayer church Ludvico.

It's just that it's hard for Ludvico to be distracted from the construction of a church, so da Vinci's request is a bit annoying to say.

And Giocomte could guess that da Vinci was probably an excuse that he was actually just here to ask for his "gift".

Because Ludviko wanted a good reputation as a patron of the arts, his artists were unpaid, and they were supported by the more or less annuity that Ludviko gave them in the name of a gift, and Giocomte was in charge of this.

Gio Comte glanced at Ulliu, who had been obedient behind da Vinci, how much he still wanted to take care of this young man, and now seeing Ulio's helpless expression behind da Vinci's back, and glancing at the petty officials who were looking over here, Gio Comte finally asked, "Then how much money do you need for this field trip?" ”

"I'm going to take my friends Brother Pacioli and Zorro Astro, who can help me calculate what I need and what I need to strengthen the walls, and a couple of my students have to go with me, because I may need them to be my assistants when I start work, and my Moorish lad, and I can't do without him, so about nine people, and of course a boat."

"Well, Master, you can get the money you need for this trip, but it's unlikely that I'll find you too comfortable with a boat, because everyone needs a boat now." Gioconde glanced at Ulriou, who had been in charge of some of the previous affairs about da Vinci, and the master was only responsible for running to Ludvico to complain or quarrel with Giocomte.

Da Vinci just nodded when he heard this and turned away, he didn't think he needed to be grateful to this Moorish half-blood, because the money belonged to Ludvico, and this attitude was what made Giocomte have evil thoughts about him.

Obviously, a master with a high level of skill is not very good at being a human being.

"You really should leave this man, you can come and help me if you want, and the Duke thinks highly of you, it won't be long before you get ahead." Giocomte said kindly to Ulliu that he still liked the lad, because at least he knew his duty.

"When this errand is done," Ullius did not refuse this time, "but the boat for us should not be too big, but it would be better to be stronger." ”

"You're just going to go around the Mdogne, do you have to go a long way?" Gio Comte asked half-jokingly.

"Actually, it's because of me, I've been in the water before, and I drowned with that master, and it was a terrible experience, so I've been scared to death as soon as I got on the boat since then."

Seeing the look of fear on Ulliu's face, Giocomte nodded kindly: "Okay, go pick a sturdy boat yourself, as long as it's empty, you can use it." After speaking, the head of the private treasury stretched out his hand and pointed to Uliu, "Don't forget the advice I gave you." ”

"Don't worry, this is the last time I'll be on an errand for him." Ulliu replied with a smile, and then hurried after Leonardo da Vinci, who had already gone.

Leonardo da Vinci didn't go far, he waited behind a thick Roman column, and when he saw Ulius approaching, he immediately flashed out and greeted him.

"How?"

"If that's done, we will not only get a fee, but we will also have a boat big enough, and most importantly, Gio Comte does not suspect us." Seeing Da Vinci's faintly uneasy look, Uliuu said disapprerovantly, "Don't worry, master, we will have left Milan long ago by the time he notices that something is wrong." ”

Hearing this, da Vinci's expression paused, he turned to look at the glorious palace around him, and then put his hands together to cover his lips: "I have been here for 14 years, and my proudest works are created here, and now I am leaving here, can you understand my feelings Young man, my feelings." ”

"Don't worry, master, you will have the opportunity to create more works in the future," Ulliu reluctantly persuaded da Vinci, who suddenly looked sentimental, and the second half of his sentence was not heard by the other party because of his low voice, "There are so many empty walls in the castle of Montina, enough for you to paint for a lifetime." ”

Ulliu knew that time was pressing, so he broke up with Leonardo da Vinci and rushed to the docks as soon as he left the palace.

Milan's river transport is not well developed, and as the center of the Lombardy Plain, the city has roads that extend in all directions, but the scale of river transport is pitifully small.

So when Ullius arrived at the docks, he found that there were not many boats for him to choose from, except for a few dhows for inland waterways, and most of the others were rowboats with small hulls and full open hulls.

Fortunately, Ulius already had a plan, so he immediately took out a letter of permission signed by Gioconde and announced to the officials of the docks that he was going to requisition one of these ships.

The dock officials were obviously dissatisfied, and there was nothing more important to them now than to be able to keep a few more empty boats, whether it was to transport all kinds of supplies needed by the city, or to transport the wealth of the wealthy, these were good ways to stuff their wallets, but if they were requisitioned, it had nothing to do with them.

Ignoring the harsh attitude of the dock officials, Uliuu walked along the wooden trestle, and when he saw a half-unloaded dhow, he jumped on the boat in greeting, only if Gioconde saw this, he would have been surprised that he had not shown the slightest fear when he got aboard.

"I need this boat, we're going to the bay above the Mdogne, nine men in all, and of course you're responsible for bringing us back," Uliuu said to a merchant who was apparently dressed as the owner, "I'll pay you." ”

"But if I ship a few more times of goods it will be more cost-effective than sending you people," the merchant was obviously reluctant to take the job, but when he saw Uliu take out the permit, he looked at the signed merchant on it and turned his head and spit into the river, and then waved his hand helplessly, "You'd better let your people come to the dock quickly, I still want to transport two more trips." ”

"Rest assured, they'll be there soon." A smile appeared on Uliwu's swarthy and shiny face.

After making the decision to leave Milan, da Vinci and his friends prepared overnight, in fact, they didn't need to bring much, and fortunately, everyone was panicking now, so no one would notice their unusual behavior.

Even so, the wait seemed a little long, and when the sun was almost in the middle of the sky, Uliu saw several hurried figures walking through the crowd towards the docks.

Seeing the figure of Da Vinci, Ulliu exhaled slightly, in fact, his heart was not as relaxed as it seemed on the outside, although he didn't know why the master would attach so much importance to these people, but Ulliu knew that he had to complete the task.

It's just that when they walked up to the trestle, for some reason, the box in Zoro's hand suddenly fell to the ground, and with a muffled "bang", the lid of the box collapsed, and a hammer that looked very heavy rolled out.

This caught the attention of a dock officer, who walked over to look at Zorro Astro, who was busy packing boxes, and when the blacksmith was about to pick up the hammer, the officer stepped on it.

"What is this, and why are you carrying a hammer?" The official asked suspiciously, and he looked the blacksmith up and down, as if to determine whether the burly man, with a beard and a blind eye, was a thief who had done evil.

"It's a tool for my work, and I feed my family from it."

Zorro Astro stood up and looked down at the dock officer, which made the man feel even more uncomfortable.

But before he could speak, I don't know when Uliu, who had already run over, had cleverly inserted himself between the two, and just as he staggered past the junior official, the junior official felt that something hard and cool was stuffed into his hand.

Touching the familiar outline of the gold coin, the anger on the petty official's face slowly disappeared, and he glanced at Uliu, then retracted his feet and tilted his head to signal them to leave as soon as possible.

"Uliu, why do you want me to ......" After getting on the boat, Zoro Astro couldn't help but want to ask, but was interrupted by Uliu's hand, as the sailors worked nervously and hurriedly, the river boat began to slowly leave the dock trestle, and after the hull gradually rowed into the middle of the river, with a few horns, the sails were raised.

"It's a tailwind," said the owner, smiling satisfactorily at the drummer, which was quickly bulging, "so that you will soon be able to get to your place." ”

"Yes," Uliuu replied casually.

Because it was a tailwind, the boat traveled quickly on the river, and as the river gradually opened up, the scenery on the shore gradually thinned from the bustling banks of the city center, until later, except for a few houses that loomed from a distance, the shore was completely obscured by a one-man high reed pond.

Ulliu walked through the busy sailors to Da Vinci who was telling the students to put things in place: "Master, remember the ruler I showed you earlier?" ”

"Of course," said da Vinci with interest, and greeted Brother Pacioli, who was busy, "I remember you saying that it was invented by your previous master, and that it was very interesting to say, not only that it could be reduced to scale, but that it also had a very detailed angle tool, which was a rare tool for designing large buildings. ”

"That's not really a big deal, I have something here that you might be more interested in." Ulliu said as he took out another ruler from the leather bag they had brought with them, but it looked like a crab's pincers, connected by two rulers with different values on the top and bottom, and a piece of wood in the middle that could slide from side to side.

"What is this?" Brother Pasioli began to wonder a little, he took the ruler and moved the middle stick back and forth incomprehensibly, and gradually as he compared the values on the stick with the values of the upper and lower rulers, the monk's face began to show a look of surprise.

Then his movements became faster and faster, and he couldn't help but let out an unexpected sigh in his mouth.

"It seems to be used to calculate a specific formula." Da Vinci had said something, but before he could finish speaking, Brother Pacioli had interrupted him excitedly

"It's not a simple calculation, my dear Leonardo, if you look closely, you will notice the special relationship between the upper and lower values, look at this, if there is no error in the value on this ruler, then what we see is a total of 14 different squares from 1 to 10, do you know what that means?"

"God, it's true?!" Leonardo da Vinci almost thought about the monk's words for a moment, and his face became bright, and he rudely snatched the ruler and moved it up and down according to the monk's words, and then he slowly raised his head and looked at Ullius with strange eyes with Brother Pacioli, "Where did you get this, don't tell me it's your previous master, you said before that he fell into the river and died, tell me where it all came from?" ”

"Actually, my master is not dead, although he did fall into the water, but it was in the Mediterranean, not in the river." Uliu smiled slightly, "Master, don't worry, you'll know the answer soon." ”

Da Vinci was about to continue to ask, but before he could open his mouth, a sudden cry came from the bow of the ship: "Oh no, the ship is leaking!" ”

The passengers were startled by the shout, and da Vinci and Brother Pacioli looked back at the bow at the same time, but then they saw a scene that stunned them.

The sailors who shouted that the ship was leaking not only did not rush to repair it immediately, but on the contrary, they were smashing the things on the ship with all their might, and the merchant and owner who shouted the most fiercely was actually personally directing several sailors to desperately chisel the ship's plank.

"What are they doing, what are they doing?!" Zorro Astro hurriedly staggered over, he instinctively protected his two friends, and then looked at Uliu with a stunned expression, "Do you know what they are doing here?" ”

"They're scuttling the ship," Uliuu said with a smile, and when he saw the vigilant look on Zoro Astro's face, he waved his hand, "Don't worry, they have no ill will towards you, but our itinerary may have to be changed slightly, you know, if we go ashore near the Mdogne, we may be found to be preparing to flee to Bologna, maybe the duke won't be too careful, but that Gio Comte may not speak ill of us, if the duke sends someone to catch up with us, we will be in trouble." So I changed my plan a bit, and here we disguised ourselves as shipwrecked and sunk, and then left Milan by land. ”

Da Vinci looked at the look on Ulliu's face, then at the merchant who didn't feel sorry at all when he chiseled up his ship, and then looked at the few sailors around him who were staring at them, especially the sailors of Zorro Astro, the master suddenly exhaled softly: "Okay, let's follow the route you said, if I'm not mistaken, you probably even have the carriage ready." ”

The smile on the face of Ulliu, who had been smiling, slowly faded, and the young and clever Moorish still looked respectful and humble, but in the eyes of da Vinci and several people, there was a faint aura on Ulliu at this time that was different from before: "Please forgive our rude master, but I promise you will not regret this trip, as for the tool you are very interested in is called the logarithmic ruler, I think you will soon be able to meet the true owner of this ruler." ”

Ullius bowed respectfully to Leonardo da Vinci and Brother Pacioli, and then he suddenly remembered something and said to Zorro Astro, "By the way, you'd better keep your hammer on board, so that the man on the dock can testify that he saw you on board, and by the time they find that they can't find a single body at all, we've reached our true destination." ”

Looking at the harmless and friendly smile on Ulliu's face, Zorro Astro suddenly felt that his other eye seemed to be blind as well.