When he heard that Normezi had visited again, Alexander was not in the least surprised that the Count of Giulip had visited the house so frequently.

He first asked one of his guests to wait, and then went to the room where the count was waiting.

Normezi was looking at a painting on the wall of Alfonso I placing two identical crowns on the heads of his two sons when he divided the two Sicilies equally.

The two Sicilian kings kneeling on the ground were humble and submissive, while the crowd watching from a distance clasped their hands together and looked reverently at the two angels with holy light flying above Alfonso I's head.

"My grandfather was among them." Seeing Alexander, Normezi pointed to the obscured spectators in the painting, "He was an attendant to King Alfonso at the time, and it seems that my grandfather could have returned to Aragon with Alfonso I, but he stayed behind. ”

"Perhaps that would be better," said Alexander, who also stood in front of the painting, and looked at it, "and what is the purpose of your visit, Earl?" ”

Normezi did not speak immediately, he seemed to be pondering what to say, and after a while he said in a slightly cautious tone: "Yes, although the French occupy Naples, because of the need for our cooperation, both the port and the ships are always under the command of a committee of the locals, and you know that the French will agree to do so only to facilitate their rule, but then I think it will be of some benefit to you or to Her Majesty." ”

Alexander nodded slightly to indicate that he had heard, but instead of answering, he made a gesture asking the Count to continue.

"Well, here's the thing," Normezi finally continued reluctantly, "we think we can provide some convenience for the Queen's army, such as ships and some corresponding supplies, but of course these are only the decisions of the shipowners and the chambers of commerce, you know that the merchants are always mercenary. ”

"That's right, businessmen are indeed mercenary," Alexander replied very cheerfully, seeing that Normezi also looked taken for granted, Alexander couldn't help but smile lightly before asking, "So Charlon has decided to help us?" ”

"He did offer it," Normezi said with a sigh of relief, "probably in his opinion this is a rare opportunity to contain Aragorn, and I can feel that he seems to be very defensive against the Aragonese. ”

Alexander nodded silently and whispered, "Yes, he should be very careful, especially the Aragonese who came this time. ”

Seeing Normezi's puzzled look, Alexander didn't explain it to him.

Covert support from the French had been expected by Alexander, and Normezi was not wrong about Charlon's cautious attitude towards the Aragonese.

It is clear that Charlon's fear of Gonzalo de Córdoba has reached the point of indelible fear, but it is no wonder that few of the French generals who had participated in the expedition of Charles VIII a few years earlier dared to ignore the aristocratic general of Castile.

And Alexander himself will not forget the founder of this Spanish phalanx.

Probably Gonzalo's large phalanx has begun to bear fruit now, Alexander couldn't help but think so, he won't forget the scene when he discussed the prototype of the phalanx with him at Gonzalo's home in Rome, speaking of which Gonzalo probably wouldn't have thought of it at that time, but Alexander already knew that one day the two of them would meet again on the battlefield.

Normezi's mission was not over, and in addition to the secret pact with Alexander, he also had an important mission to ensure that the expedition could be completed with complete peace of mind on the part of Billyselly.

That was the non-aggression pact with Kosenza, proposed by Sharlon.

In order to prove his sincerity, Charron used the fact that Cosenza was historically an independent county rather than a dependency of the Kingdom of Naples, and announced that he was willing to sign an armistice with the Count of Cosenza instead of the Queen of Naples.

This reason may seem far-fetched, and it is purely an excuse for Billy Shelly to be able to mobilize the Kosenza army to the fullest, but Alexander can see in it a different kind of Sharlon's thoughts.

Having reached an agreement with Billy Shelly and laying the groundwork for the future remnants of Naples, Sharlon seems to be comfortable with this trick of selling others and digging holes at the same time.

However, a key premise for this kind of trick is that if Tsusha remarries, then Cosenza will most likely merge with other countries as she becomes a dowry......

Alexander shook his head amusefully at the thought of this, and then watched Normezi's figure disappear into the corner of the corridor leading to Josha's room in the distance.

Then he turned and walked to his room, where a guest was waiting for him.

Joseph Buccini, who was walking around the room a little anxiously, stopped at once when he saw Alexander come in.

"What, are you already in a hurry?" Seeing that the Jews did not seem to hide their anxiety, Alexander asked rather interestingly.

"Earl, if anyone with such a heavy responsibility as I do, and have to wait for your return in the middle of the way, will be anxious." Buccini did not hide his obvious dissatisfaction, he walked to the table and sat down, carefully opened the document that had been sealed with wax in front of the two people before Alexander left, then picked up the pen and dipped it in ink, ready to continue writing, "You can go on." ”

"That's right, we have all done a very important job together, and that is to drive the Fugger family, which has always supported Emperor Maximian financially, into the abyss," Alexander smiled and continued when he saw Buccini nodding approvingly, "Then I think it is necessary for us to take Fugger's place, and perhaps at this time we can gain greater benefits by showing support to the Emperor." ”

"My lord, that's why you suddenly decided to help Austria?" Buccini looked at Alexander in disbelief, "It's all just to replace the Fugger family, you know, if that's the case, the price is too high, but the most important thing is that I really don't see how much profit can be made from this." ”

"My friend, it is certainly unlikely that much benefit will be gained by supporting the Emperor, as we can see from our fellow Fuggers, but if I tell you that this will allow Austria to succeed in keeping the French at bay, how long do you think it will take Austria's strength to bring France into a financial crisis as a result of its involvement in this war?"

Buccini was stunned, he really hadn't thought about this.

In Buccini's imagination, Alexandria should be more hoping to quietly encroach on Italy and even the rest of Europe through the pervasive behemoth of the free trade union.

It's just that even so, he shouldn't rashly attack France's idea, but now it seems that Buccini is a little unsure of his judgment.

"Think about it, friend," Alexander showed a slight hint of dissatisfaction, and he lightly pointed to the letter in front of Buccini, "We may not really fight the French idea, but you must know that when you bring the news that your Council of Elders has agreed to your proposal to cooperate with me, the interests of all of us are really combined, and this time I will tell you that you will not only face Europe, but also a whole new world waiting for you." ”

Several men in tattered robes swayed past the ramp not far in front of the palace, because they stood at a high position, and the guards at the palace gate could clearly see Leño pinned to the hat on their heads.

This thing called Leño is a kind of dagger, this kind of small knife, whether it is a handle or a scabbard, because it is a very strong wood, hence the name of the small murder weapon, in the eyes of the locals, whether it is troublemaking or extortion, it is a very good handy.

The locals liked to hide Leño in a non-threatening-looking turban or boot, and if there was an emergency, he would simply hold it in his hand, the bulging hilt and equally swollen scabbard looked like a small wooden stick with a small section of stubby from the outside, but once the thing was pulled out, the slightly curved blade was sharp enough to inflict fatal damage.

The guards ignored the men who looked like they were going to find trouble somewhere, in Palermo there were people everywhere, many families became hard-spoken and domineering because of the large family population, these people were connected by blood because they had the same ancestry, and the strong family concept of the Sicilians contributed to this momentum of the same race and roots.

In the eyes of these families, the laws of the kingdom cannot be compared with their family rules, or if anyone bullies one of them, it is really tantamount to offending their family, and the family will call friends to come to the door, and they will not give up if they don't find the scene.

Such people later became the famous "Black Claws" because of their gangs and because they were born in Sicily.

But now they're just a bunch of little people roaming around with Leño in their arms.

The guard withdrew his gaze, turned his head to look into the open gate of the palace, and saw a beautiful woman figure flashing through the courtyard, and the guard couldn't help but sigh and secretly shake his head.

That woman was the daughter of the previous palace minister, and the unlucky Gomez palace minister had long since turned into a dry bone, and because it was said that the death was not so honorable, there was not much honor he could get after his death.

His family returned to Aragon shortly after the Bloody Night, or rather expelled from Sicily by the Council of Nobles at the time, but now the daughter of the former court minister has returned, only now as the wife of Flomenza, the governor of Sicily.

The guard's eyes were drawn to the Governor's wife, so he didn't notice that the men who had passed by the ramp below were staring closely in the direction of the palace.

Shortly after bypassing the palace gates, the men entered an inconspicuous alley, and followed the sloping alleyway until they reached the T-shaped fork at the end of the alley, facing the door of a house from which they came.

After a few hard knocks, there was a knock on the door and several people walked in.

An old man with gray hair was staring at the door, and when he saw a few people coming in, he first waved his hand to signal them to sit down, and then his eyes swept over the faces of several people one by one.

"Tell me what you've seen."

"Daddy, the palace is very tight," said one of the younger of the men, picking up a bone from the plate in front of him that seemed to have been half-eaten, and muttering on it, "but why do we have to save the earl, how much can he give us?" ”

The old man saw that the man didn't say anything, and his eyes fell on the face of a middle-aged man who was obviously the leader, "Tell me, don't you think it's easy to do it too?" ”

"It's not good to say, we haven't been in the palace for a long time, and you know that we have been very honest since the bloody night, after all, many people died at that time, and my two brothers died that night, and now their widows are still worried about how to survive the rest of the day."

The old man nodded silently, he didn't blame these people for being a little timid and retreating, after all, the turmoil that broke out in Palermo a few years ago frightened too many people, but more importantly, the current governor of Sicily was completely different from the agents of the kings in the past.

Until the time of the palace of Gomez, the agents sent by the king of Aragon to Sicily were friendly and benevolent to the land, although some of them had been rich in expropriation, but in general the Sicilians got along well with the rulers of Aragon.

Both nobles and commoners saw the Sicilian court as a symbol, and most of the rulers who were sent here had the greater desire to leave the area and return to Aragon as soon as their terms of office expired.

But it all ended with the death of Prime Minister Gomez.

Flomenza was a cruel and terrible ruler that many people did not realize when he first arrived in Sicily, but less than a month later, the Sicilians knew about his ruthlessness and ruthlessness.

The Council of Nobles was forcibly disbanded, many of whom faced trial for treason, and for those who had participated in the Bloody Night, Florencea had an attitude of preferring to kill the wrong and resorted to a near-bloody manhunt and sentence throughout Palermo.

Fearing the governor, many chose to flee Palermo, after all, although Aragon had maintained its rule over Sicily for so many years, it was the big cities that they really controlled, and some remote places were still safe.

However, many apparently underestimated Flomenza's determination to bring Sicily back under the rule of the King of Aragon, and he sent his army to hunt down all the nobles and commoners who had fled far away, and some of the nobles and commoners who had simply taken refuge in the countryside farms on the outskirts of Palermo were brutally captured.

There was no shortage of gallows for hanging people, and the execution racks that were quickly erected here and there were creepy ones, and for a time Flomensa was quite ready to recreate the style of the Inquisition in Sicily.

There is no one who is not afraid at such times, even for the Sicilians, and the ruthless rule of Florencea has indeed frightened them.

"We must find a way to sneak into the palace," said the old man to a few men, "and it will be dangerous for the Count to stay in it too long." ”

"But why do we have to save that nobleman, Dad, our own life is hard enough." One of them said with a little dissatisfaction, and his words obviously spoke to the hearts of the others, except for the other people who were in the lead, and the young man who was gnawing on the flesh and bones kept nodding.

"Why?" The old man asked and looked at a few people, he seemed to think about how to answer first, and then suddenly grabbed Leño, who was placed on the table by one of them, and pulled it out and stabbed it down!

A muffled "bang" sound was accompanied by a miserable scream, and the left hand of the person who asked why was randomly placed on the table was nailed to the table by Leño!

"You ask why, and that's my answer to you." The old man stared at a few people who seemed to be frightened, "Listen, I know you are scared now, in fact, I am not much better than you, but the matter of rescuing the Earl is not negotiable." ”

Although there were many people, no one dared to stand up against the old man, looking at the companion who was moaning in pain, several people couldn't help but secretly lick their lips and look at each other.

The old man looked at the people and shook his head a little disappointed, and with a hard pull of his hand, accompanied by another terrible scream, Leño's short knife drew an arc in the air with a string of blood beads.

The old man opened his mouth, and just as he was about to speak, there was a knock on the door from outside.

"There's someone out there." One of the men guarding the door immediately instinctively grasped the Leño knife at his waist, and when he got the old man, he carefully opened the door a crack.

Then he looked at a man with an ordinary face standing outside the door, who looked like a vendor everywhere on the street, and asked, "Who are you looking for?" ”

"Is Daddy Bushdat staying here?" The man standing outside the door smiled at the inquirer, "I brought a message from his relatives in the country. ”

The person at the door looked at this person suspiciously, everyone knew that Daddy Bushidat was indeed not from Palermo, he was born in the countryside, and he came to Palermo alone to break into the world, so this person's words are not impossible.

Thinking about it, the man couldn't help but turn around and greet the house: "Daddy, there is someone outside who said that he brought a message for your relatives in the countryside." ”

The old man frowned slightly, he felt a little strange, but he still nodded and motioned for the man to open the door and let the man outside into the house.

It was only when he saw the man who looked like a peddler that the old man, known as Daddy Bushdart, suddenly stood up from his chair and let out an irrepressible cry of surprise: "Krion! ”