Passing through the bronze gates and through the forecourt surrounded by a semicircular double cloister, you can enter the famous Golden Hall of the Doge's Palace in Venice.

Of course, the Golden Hall was not really built of pure gold, but this unique roundabout hall had a special place not only in the Doge's Palace, but in the whole of the Republic of Venice.

In the early years, the Venetians had elected some of the most respectable and high-ranking Venetian families, all of whom had both great wealth and illustrious family backgrounds, although some of these families had declined and some had even died out over the years, but as long as they had these surnames, they had natural privileges in Venice.

These surnames were written down in a large book, and only those members of the family who could write them in the book had the right to enter the Golden Hall, which represented the privileges of Venice, through the ornate staircase covered with gold leaf.

The Golden Hall is not very large, and even the door is not wide, so it is obviously unrealistic to gather 200 families of nobles here at a time, but because this room is located in a location that can get enough sunlight from the windows on the southeast side, the Golden Hall has become the warmest room in the entire Doge's Palace in winter.

However, in this early summer season, this room is not so popular, because although the cool breeze from the window can also blow on the river, the sun is really sufficient.

A middle-aged man stands in front of a window and watches the boats on the river, the light and slender "gondolas" weaving and weaving on the river, and the faint sound of selling can be heard, and from the direction of the antechamber of the governor's palace, you can hear people haggling for spring water.

The middle-aged man looked at the river in distraction, and the intricate lace collar around his neck hit his cheek lightly from time to time as the wind blew in, but this did not affect him, and he did not even notice when an official had already walked close to him.

"Secretary, the Count of Montina has arrived." The official whispered a reminder, and seeing that the middle-aged man seemed to be awakened from his contemplation, the official whispered again, "The female archduchess did not come." ”

"Oh, that's good."

The middle-aged man's somewhat incomprehensible words made the officials next to him slightly silent, speaking of which they did feel a little headache for the female archduchess, some of the unreasonable behavior of the young woman had made them feel embarrassed more than once, and what was worse was that the Count of Montina was obviously very doting on her, even if she did something very out of the ordinary, he would never stop or persuade her, so just 2 days ago, the Wallachian female archduke even made a terrible act of openly withdrawing from the party.

This was clearly a great insult to the Republic of Venice, and all the nobles present at the party were stunned by her utter disregard for Venice dignity, and even some of the generals were ready to threaten the rough woman with war in anger.

But what was surprising was that the Count of Montina obviously didn't care at all about the big trouble she had caused, and he even simply accompanied the Archduchess to leave the table, although he also expressed a little apology, but judging from his look at the time, he was more concerned about whether the woman who seemed to have drunk too much was going to vomit.

In the end, the matter was only revealed with the reassurance of the viceroy, but even so, the Venetian nobles had apparently seen the strange attitude of the grand duchess, who did not know anything about simple diplomatic etiquette, so that many Venetians could not help but breathe a sigh of relief when she did not appear to have shown up for the next two days because she was not feeling well.

However, the middle-aged man did not think that it was a good thing that she did not show up because of her arrogance or rudeness, but more because the meeting was so important that he did not want the Archduchess, who was obviously not interested in dominance and diplomacy at all, and only knew that pestering the Count all day, would disturb the rest of the meeting.

When Alexander walked into the Golden Hall, State Secretary Fation was already waiting not far from the door, and when he saw Alexander, the State Secretary took two steps forward and bowed slightly in respect.

"Please don't be so polite, Your Excellency the Secretary of State, we all know that time is running out."

Alexander waved his hand slightly, not arrogantly but indeed feeling the urgency of time.

He had received a great deal of information about the actions of the French from all quarters, especially with the news sent by the great network of intelligence that had gradually formed in various places where the Chamber of Commerce had been arranged, and it was far more rigorous in terms of timeliness and authenticity than in any country of this era.

The Carolingian Palace in the Vatican has now become the world's largest intelligence center in Europe, and may even be the world's largest intelligence distribution center, with countless people coming and going in and out of this palace every day, and most of them certainly don't know that a small piece of information they say casually can become important and crucial information, let alone that those who are chatting with them will always carefully record some of their anecdotes as jokes. And then it gets into the hands of people who don't know what they're doing, and as they sort it together, it's often the case that some really shocking insider information is inadvertently exposed to the world.

Of course, the vast majority of the information collected in this way is meaningless, but even the slightest possibility can lead to some really noteworthy clues, especially when it comes to certain sources that reveal a lot of secrets from casual gossip.

So although the few days of stay in Venice seem leisurely, and even in the eyes of many Venetians, Alexander is just lingering with Sophia, but in fact, during these days, Alexander is almost out of breath, because he is waiting for a very crucial news for many people!

Now, the news has finally arrived.

"Are you sure, sir?" Although he felt that it was rude to ask such an inquiry, the secretary of state couldn't help but ask, after all, this matter is too important, and if it fails, it may cause great trouble in any way, and even Venice cannot bear the huge losses that may be caused in the future.

"To be sure, the Fugols have bought all the copper ore they can buy in Hungary." Alexander wanted to take his tone at ease, but when he said it, he realized that he was far from being as calm as he thought.

After all, this time it was too big, just think that they were trying to seize the wealth of the richest family in Europe at the moment, and that the Holy Roman Empire was involved, Alexander had to worry secretly because of excitement and nervousness.

The face of the state secretary who heard his words had simply turned a little pale, the corners of his mouth moved slightly, and then while accompanying Alexander through the Golden Hall, he lowered his voice and couldn't help but ask about the process of the matter, and at the same time he said worriedly: "Your Excellency, as you know, although there are great differences between us and the emperor, and even more than one war, we have never fundamentally harmed or offended the emperor's dignity and interests, so once this matter is leaked out, it will be very serious. ”

"Of course I know, so I've even given up on rushing back to the territory to see my fiancée and my children these days." Alexander said lightly that he knew that the Venetians were actually somewhat troubled at this time, after all, what they had done this time had completely gone beyond the previous hostile actions with Emperor Maximian, but was to completely offend the Supreme of the Holy Roman Empire.

So the Venetians showed their desire to be offended at a critical moment, but Alexander didn't want to let them go so easily.

"The agreement between me and the Jews has come into effect, and they will provide us with a loan for the next four months that will cause an earthquake to strike the entire European copper market," Alexander smiled at the secretary of state. ”

The state secretary licked his lips lightly, he knew that the critical time had finally come, just a few months earlier, when Montina's army passed through Venice, Alexander made them a proposal that was completely impractical for the Venetians at that time - to monopolize the Hungarian copper mines!

But what seemed to be a completely whimsical idea had now become a reality, and what happened next made the Venetians both excited and worried, because they found out that the Count of Montina had actually hit the Fugol family and the Emperor Maximian.

It is well known that the Fugar family was the emperor's money bag, and they gave generously to the emperor in every war, and the rewards they received were also eye-catching.

With the war in the Balkans, the Fugols frantically bought copper ore from a man named Prato, while others went to great lengths to buy copper ore at the same high price, which forced the Fugols to borrow from the Jews in order to control the copper market as soon as possible, which is the largest loan in the history of Europe!

Many people speculate about the size of this money, but it is only known that in order to raise this loan, the Jewish merchants of Venice went around raising money like crazy, and they mortgaged the gold shops they had worked so hard to build for many years, and they would sell the goods to others at a low price before their merchant ships returned.

Even some well-known loan sharks did not hesitate to endure the pain in order to recover the money as soon as possible, and agreed to write off the debts as long as the debtor paid a small interest.

In short, the Jews of Venice went completely insane in order to be able to scrape together this almost astronomical loan.

But even then, the Jews couldn't come up with that much money, or even a country couldn't come up with that much money at once, because it was a huge seven-figure sum!

It was the Venetian government that provided the Jews with this money, or rather, the Venetian government provided them with a guarantee that the Jews could raise money from numerous chambers of commerce, large and small.

The Venetians were willing to take such a big risk to get involved because there was a reason big enough to impress them.

Alexander mortgaged the trade rights of the free trade zone to them!

When this suggestion was made, even the Venetians were not unmoved.

Crete, Naples, Sicily, Taranto, Pisa, Genoa, Florence, and even Rotterdam, a port in the lowlands, and inland cities formed a vast trade circle that encompassed almost all of Europe's wealthiest regions.

The temptation was so great that the Venetians could no longer look at it with all their composure.

Again, it was thanks to a steady stream of huge sums of money from these cities that Alexander dared to carry out such a bold and even crazy plan as he had.

The Venetians were tempted by Alexander's suggestion because for them, whatever the outcome of the plan, they were undoubtedly the ones who could make a profit, either by getting the right to run the free trade zone or by joining others in devouring the mouth-watering prey of Fugore.

Countless pairs of eyes were staring at the Fugar family, and in the eyes of those hunters who showed greedy eyes, the Fugur family had already revealed its soft belly, and it was only necessary to wait for the fatal blow, and then a crazy feast followed.

Now, Alexander had brought the Venetians definite news that the Fugol family had fallen into a trap.

The secretary of state's breath was slightly short, although there had been many twists and turns, even ups and downs, in the past, but this time was completely different.

Because this time they are not just dealing with the Fugol family, the whole plan is not simply to plunder the wealth, their real target is the Holy Roman Emperor Maximian.

For the Venetians, the Emperor's aggressiveness was already unbearable for the Venetians, especially in the matter of openly supporting the Sforza family, who were their enemies, and Maximian's actions undoubtedly seriously violated the interests of the Venetians in the Lombardy.

Moreover, the emperor's more than one attempt to confront Venice by supporting the Ferrarans, who were close to Venice, had already made the Venetians unbearable.

For the Venetians, they must not allow anyone to build a new power around them, and it was in this matter that Alexander made a choice that the Venetians were very happy with.

Unbeknownst to the Ferrara emissaries who had visited Montina, Alexandria had cleverly revealed the news of their visit to the Venetians as soon as they had left, in exchange for the security of Montina's northeastern frontier during his expedition.

Everything was so cleverly arranged, but even so, in the days before the news finally came, many people couldn't help but be nervous.

The vast wealth that the Fugol family had accumulated over the years was already in sight, and everyone seemed to have heard the sad but helpless groans of pain before the prey died.

On the first Sunday of June, the bells of St. Mark's Basilica ringed over the city, and the road to the cathedral was filled with well-dressed commoners and aristocrats dressed in carts and horses.

Because the Archbishop of Venice will hold a blessing ceremony on this day, even the Venetian Doge Barbaregg, who has not often left his official residence due to his advanced age, visits St. Mark's Basilica.

In order to demonstrate the prosperity of Venice and the grandeur of its ceremonies, Venice extended invitations to all foreign envoys and guests stationed in Venice, and Archduchess Alessandra I of Wallachia, who had visited Venice the other day, and Count Montina were among them.

However, what caught the attention of many people was that when people looked among the well-dressed people, they did not see the two guests who attracted the most attention during this time.

This apparently unexpected situation immediately attracted the attention of the foreign envoys and the Venetians, who were talking about Alexander and Sophia's move, and some of the young and vigorous Venetian nobles could not hold back their anger, and some of them began to shout for the Doge to declare the two men persona non grata, while the more nobles secretly wondered what the accident meant.

From time to time, the shouts of some people outside the cathedral were heard in the church, and people looked at the Doge in the hope of seeing the Doge's attitude towards the matter, which would also largely determine Venice's relations with Montina and Wallachia.

Some were even thinking that with the Ottomans withdrawing, the threat from the Ottomans would inevitably be reduced, so that they would no longer even have to pay the Bohemians that amount of money a year for protection.

As if sensing the gaze from all around, the Governor slowly rose from his chair.

As an old man who was almost 80 years old, Barbarig had a sharper mind than many young people, so although he did not often leave the Doge's residence, no one dared to ignore the ruler of Venice.

With some difficulty, the governor turned to face the people in the church, and when his gaze swept over the crowd, the already noisy church fell silent.

"I regret that Her Highness Alexandra was not able to attend our prayers, but we should know that both her faith and St. Mark's Basilica make it difficult for Her Highness to accept our invitation easily," said the Governor, looking up at the dome of the church with some difficulty, and then said in a slightly regretful tone, "I believe that if it were us, we would not be willing to come here, because it is not very comfortable for anyone to see that the roof of someone else's house is decorated with their own treasures, As for the Count of Montina, I think that for the Count, in the presence of His Royal Highness the Grand Duke, he only needs to know how to pronounce the word 'obedience'. ”

The Governor's words stunned the people in the church for a moment, and then someone first understood, and then burst into laughter.

The laughter was contagious, and soon spread from the cathedral to the outside, causing a tidal wave of laughter in the square.

By this time everyone had understood the meaning of Barbarig's slightly mischievous words, and the Doge, while suggesting that Sophia was not far from the prayer because of the presence of the art treasures that the Crusaders had plundered from Constantinople in St. Mark's Basilica was located, he simply made a mockery of the now famous Count of Montina.

Barbarig's move was a great relief to many Venetians, and some artists were even beginning to wonder if they might use the Governor's words to make up an opera and take the opportunity to mock the two domineering guests.

But the crowd, still immersed in laughter, did not notice that the Governor, who had just told the joke, had already cast his gaze on the sky outside the cathedral, although he had the same smile on his face.

"How's it going?" The Governor whispered to himself in a voice that only a few people around him could hear, and there was an unconcealed anxiety in his tone.

While Barbarig was teasingly explaining why the two guests had not attended the prayer service, Alexander was in Bellini's studio.

Opposite him, a Jew who was also allowed to attend the ritual because of his faith was standing in front of him discreetly.

For the Jews, the only thing that could bring them to their knees was wealth, and the man in front of them was undoubtedly King Solomon, who they thought would bring them endless wealth.

"The Fugar family has used that money to buy all the copper ore to sell." The Jews couldn't hide their excitement.

Alexander nodded slightly, he picked up the brush and dipped it in some bright red dye, and then made a heavy stroke on the white canvas: "It's okay, tell Prato and all the people, cooperate with his 'New World' company, and everyone will sell all the copper ore in our hands from now on!" ”