The Count of Mordillo disappeared, still in the heavily guarded palace, although the vigilance of this palace later seemed to be not so reliable, but at least for the vast majority of people, it was still like an insurmountable barrier, but it was such a place, first the people of the Count of Montina mixed in, and used threats to force the Governor Flomenza to agree to negotiate, and then the Count of Mordiglo, who had been imprisoned, disappeared inexplicably, and the nameless corpse left behind was also confused, making it impossible to guess.

Flomenza felt that he had lost all his face, or that he didn't really care about it, and that what he was most concerned about now was what kind of deal was between Alexander and Gonzalo.

The result of threatening Sardinia and Corsica was that Flomenza began to worry about the future of Sicily, and he knew that Alexander was right about one thing, even if Flomenza imprisoned him, if it was really as he said, Naples and France jointly attacked Sardinia and Corsica, and Wallachia threatened Venice from land, then when the Ottomans followed, the meaning of using Alexander as a hostage would be completely worthless, and maybe Naples and Wallachia could be threatened. But the Ottomans would not have paid attention to this, and by then Sicily would have been out of luck.

"I've completely lost face, now do you want me to lose even the inside?" Looking at the several officers standing in front of him at a loss, Flomenza angrily asked, "Where is that Modillo, I want to know his whereabouts immediately, and who that person is, doesn't anyone know how there are suddenly more corpses in my palace?" ”

The Governor's questioning did not yield much answer, and the officers had apparently done their best, but they had no idea what was the matter with the corpse, but they had seen some clues through careful examination.

"My lord, we guess that the man was not here to save Count Mordillo, his sword was thrown aside, and we found two different blood stains on the window of the door, it is clear that this man and the people inside wanted to kill the place, but the people inside seemed to be luckier."

"Oh, you're saying that a man who went to great lengths to sneak into the palace just to kill the Earl, but he was killed himself, and he was swapped with the Earl, so where is Mordillo?"

"According to the cook, the vendor who delivered the goods ......"

"Guess, supposedly, don't you have one thing to be sure of?" Flomenza angrily interrupted his men, knowing that it would be difficult for him to figure out the truth so quickly, but he really couldn't wait.

"Maybe we can ask some of the locals, you know they're always well-informed." One of his men asked tentatively.

"Then go!" Flomenza angrily scolded, "Get everything figured out and report to me." ”

Watching his subordinates leave in a hurry, the governor glanced at Camus in the distance who had not yet left, he didn't know what the old man was going to do, but the old man seemed to be in better spirits than just now, and he was even whispering something to the palace minister who didn't know when he appeared.

What made Flomenza feel embarrassed was Alexander's seemingly complete disregard for him as a negotiating partner, as if he had only wanted to deal with Gonzalo from the beginning, which made Flomenza even more unhappy.

The guards who had kidnapped him were the Palermo City Guards, and Florencea felt that this gave him an excuse to take advantage of Bochum, but now was not the time, and he thought about tidying up the City Guards when the matter was over, or simply subsuming them into his Aragonese Guard.

Flomenza thought about it until he saw Alexander and Gonzalo reappear.

No one knew what the two men were talking about behind closed doors, and it was not obvious from their faces, and Gonzalo didn't seem to want to share it, so the mystery in Flomenza's heart was even stronger.

As soon as Gonzalo spoke, Flomenza was even more annoyed.

"The Count of Montina has come to visit Sicily peacefully, and at this time when both sides are sensitive, the Count has not hesitated to venture to Sicily in order to secure the final peace, and I hope that you will respond positively to the Count's sincerity."

Peaceful visits? Accessed with hijacking and muskets?

Flomenza wanted to refute it so directly, but seeing Gonzalo tell this funny lie so seriously, Flomenza realized that he probably shouldn't have a brainless confrontation with this man at this time, although the Aragon army he led would not follow him to do anything terrible, but if he deliberately delayed or even avoided fighting when Naples launched an attack on Sicily, then Flomenza would be unlucky.

Flormenza thought so, and squeezed out an ugly smile on his face, at this time he was more sure that the king sent Gonzalo to Italy for a deeper purpose, it was obvious that this person was a thorn in Ferdinand's side, and at this critical moment of eradicating dissent, Ferdinand definitely did not want him to become the backbone of those Castilian nobles.

"There must be sacrifices for the sake of peace," Alexander continued, again ignoring the sinister sin of Fromenza's glare, and said to the nobles and bishops who had apparently not yet turned a corner at this sudden turn of events, "even if it is dangerous, there is only a glimmer of hope, and we must work for it, and I am glad that this is also the wish of the honorable knight master." ”

"It's the wish of both of us, my friend."

The hall was very quiet, and looking at the two people who were blowing each other, people's eyes couldn't help but become a little strange.

The news of the sudden visit of Sicily, now the Count of Montina, the keeper of the Sicilian lighthouse, spread overnight in Palermo, and some people still remember the young man who had participated in the bloody night, while others did not know who he was.

However, none of this mattered, and when they heard that the Count of Montina had personally promised to negotiate with the various port chambers, including Naples, to lift the commercial blockade of Sicily, the Sicilian merchants could not help but take to the streets to celebrate.

In less than a month, the markets in Sicily were in shambles, prices skyrocketing, goods were in short supply, and most people didn't know how it could have been, and many people in the know were angry at Flomenza's stupidity.

The most powerful alliance of chambers of commerce has always been, at least to date, more powerful than when the Hanseatic League overthrew the once-formidable Danish King Alfred II with an army that had been formed by the Hanseatic League, and that was the first time that merchants showed the world the power of money.

But even the Hanseatic League, which decided the ownership of a crown, was more likely to influence the direction of a country through the power of money, but this time the free trade alliance was not only like this, although the Neapolitans were also preparing to start a war, but their army was never seen, and the trade alliance had already dealt a huge blow to the Sicilian market.

According to some speculation, in less than a month, Sicily's losses due to the stagnation of shipping and the shrinking market have reached hundreds of thousands of florins, and worse still, in order to make up for these losses, Sicily must invest more money to recover this sudden decline.

This means that the Free Trade Association has cost Sicily hundreds of thousands of florins in the simplest of ways.

The real butcher's knife of the capital, for the first time cut a bloody wound in Sicily.

The merchants were most impressed by this change, many of whom were holding on to the gold coins in their hands and refused to spend them, but the result was that the decline of the market would not be alleviated, even if Alexander had promised to negotiate with those ports to lift the blockade, but the cautious wait-and-see attitude of the merchants had doomed the economy of Sicily to be irretrievable in the short term.

Flomenza didn't know much about these money-making tricks, and seeing that what Alexander had promised was only cheers from the merchants instead of active cooperation, Flomenza finally began to panic a little.

Sicily was undoubtedly Ferdinand's most important purse, and it was precisely because of the largest island on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean that the Aragon court was able to spend so generously, and until not so long ago, everything was normal in Sicily, and during the two years that Florencea was governor, he was even rewarded by Ferdinand for his tougher taxation than his predecessors.

But suddenly the Sicilian market seemed to collapse, which no one could have imagined, and although a month was not a long time, it is really difficult to say what the situation would become if it continued like this.

It was at this time that Alexander unexpectedly extended a warm hand of friendship to Flomenza.

Alexander, who had stayed behind in the name of waiting for the Count's whereabouts, openly moved into his room on the second floor of the Osborne tailor's shop, while his men rented several houses near the tailor's shop.

The Sicilians began to be cautious about Alexander's public appearance, as Flomensa's cruel rule had made them taboo, but the wait-and-see was gradually broken as some of the nobles who had business dealings with Naples had to venture to visit because they could not bear the loss.

People began to frequent, of course, to make clothes, which made Osborne very profitable.

As more and more people visited, Osborne's tailor shop became Montina's embassy in Sicily.

However, this did not change the fact that Sicily's economy was still in decline, and Alexander's urging for the whereabouts of the Count of Mordillo made Flomenza even more annoyed, and on several occasions he even had the urge to have soldiers rush into the tailor's shop and arrest Alexander, but in the end he suppressed this unrealistic idea.

It's just that Florencea didn't expect that just when he was anxious about the current situation in Sicily, the Gombre who caused all this trouble took the initiative to lend a hand.

The invitation from the tailor's shop made Flomenza hesitate for a moment, but from some of his men who inquired about it, he heard that the merchants had received some kind of promise from Alexander.

This can be seen from the fact that they began to move with confidence as if they had been beaten with blood.

This was a good thing, but soon Flomenza was angry and found that the merchants seemed to be confident that it was the market in Cambrai and not in Sicily, so a succession of Flomenza's officials began to report to him that many of the merchants seemed to be selling off their hoarded goods or some unused properties, and then these people showed signs of packing up their donations and running away.

This made Flomenza unable to sit still, and the invitation to the tailor's shop arrived at this time, making Flomenza even more suspicious after secretly relieving himself.

The ensuing meeting was not very pleasant, and as soon as Flomenza entered the room on the second floor of the tailor's shop under the pretext of informing Alexander of the search for the Count of Mordiglo, Alexander gave him a slap in the face:

"The present situation can be salvaged with a sufficient amount of money, and we all know that time is running out, and we believe that the court of Aragon should already be looking forward to easing their financial troubles with the taxes of the second half of 1499."

Alexander's directness disgusted the Flomensha, but he couldn't help but admit that his words hit him to the point.

Sicily needed to recover its economy quickly, and even more so to make up for its losses in the short time that followed, and the amount of money needed was so large that Flomenza despaired.

"We can lend Sicily, and of course the interest may be a little higher, but it is absolutely reasonable, and do you think that at this time you can get such help from Venice or elsewhere?"

The last sentence stabbed Flomenza.

The Venetian envoy had already left, and the day after Alexander's public appearance, before leaving, the envoy went to the tailor's shop and talked with Alexander for several hours, and after leaving the tailor's shop, he got on the ship and left Sicily.

It was clear that Flomenza's indifference caused a strong resentment among the Venetians, and Alexander's threat made the Venetians feel that perhaps it might be better to deal with someone more useful.

He didn't feel much about the departure of the Venetian envoys, and he had little interest in aiding Venice, but it was only when the merchants were holding their money bags tightly and refusing to take out the money that he realized that he had driven away a god of wealth with his own hands.

Just borrow money from this Cambrai?

This made Flomenza immediately wary.

"Is the interest rate high?"

"A little higher, you know everybody has to make money, but when you compare it to reviving the market in Sicily, it's totally worth the price."

"Are there any strings attached?"

"If I have to say that there is one, it is not Florin and Ducat, but Ladia, I believe you should have seen it, a sufficient and reputable currency."

"That sounds good, but Count I want to know your true purpose," Florencea couldn't figure out what was going on, so he decided to simply point out "We both know you wouldn't be so kind, and we were enemies just a few days ago, so I don't trust you, Count, unless you can give me a reason that makes sense." ”

Looking at Fromenza's skeptical eyes from the beginning, Alexander thought for a moment and nodded in agreement: "You're right, Governor, I'm doing this more for myself, I offer you Radia for greater benefit, probably you can't imagine what my business in the Low Countries is like, and it has been a non-negligible part of all my industries so far, so I lend you Radia, because this currency has become one of the most trusted currencies there." ”

"You're going to make a lot of money in it," Florencea looked at Alexander with a disgruntled face, "you're making money with Sicily, and I don't know what will happen to you in the future." ”

Alexander looked at the still skeptical governor and shook his head slightly.

Flomenza was a man of great suspicion, and his experience made him untrustworthy and hilarious, something Alexander never overlooked.

"Governor, I remember the Moorish saying, gold is gold, please don't forget that it's the most important thing to you, don't you, what do you have to worry about, worry that I can also make more money? But," Alexander paused, looking at Flomensa's uncertain face, and said slowly, "what does this have to do with you, I can indeed make some money in it, but don't forget that for you, Sicily's current troubles are the key, so would you rather give up a rare opportunity because of your suspicions, or should you," Alexander stretched out his hand and made a gesture to grab something, "and everything was settled." ”

Flomenza's face was cloudy, he was obviously tempted, but he feared that it might be a conspiracy, since they were enemies at least nominally.

Alexander was not in a hurry about Flomenza's caution and vigilance, and when he knew that this man appeared in Sicily as a cool official, he knew that it was a guarantee that this man would not be fooled easily, but he was also suspicious and might one day become his fatal wound.

"Viceroy, perhaps General Gonzalo can prove my word," Alexander did not rush Flomenza to speak, he gave a clue that Flomenza was very concerned about, "or don't you wonder what those Sicilian merchants are going to do, they must be going to do a big thing to raise a large amount of money, so you don't want to know why?" ”

Flomenza's face was even more ugly, of course he wanted to know, he had sent someone to inquire just in case he found out that the merchants seemed to be running away, but to his surprise, the answer was: "To raise military funds for General Gonzalo's army." ”

Flomenza certainly didn't believe this, but all the merchants who were questioned gave the same answer, and the reason they did so was that Alexander promised to give them at least thirty percent in return in the near future.

The Sicilian merchants went crazy, they seemed to see an opportunity to make a fortune, and Gonzalo's strength gave them the illusion that "this wave will definitely not lose".

"Go ask Gonzalo and you'll know what you're missing." Alexander glanced at Schell, who appeared at the door, and vaguely showed the meaning of sending off the guest.

Flomenza walked away with a heavy heart, and although he was also full of suspicion of Gonzalo, Flomenza still wanted to ask him something, but he felt very uncertain about how much of what he heard was true.

"What's the matter?" Waiting for Flomenza to leave, Alexander asked Schell.

"My lord, someone sent this." Schell brought a small object held in a cloth to Alexander, and as an attendant at Alexander's side, he naturally had already determined in advance that this thing was not in danger.

It's just the look on his face that makes Alexander realize that something might not be good.

Sure enough, the bloody breath in the cloth bag proved his speculation, and when he saw a short finger wearing a precious ring inside, Alexander couldn't help but blurt out a swear word that no one would use at this time: "Fa ~ gram!" ”