October 26, 1199, according to the Christian calendar, is the anniversary of the martyrdom of the famous French saint Saint Bouchénige.

Hundreds of years ago, when the Gospel of Christ had not yet spread throughout Europe, especially in the vast northern lands, there were still many shadows of polytheistic paganism, this saint went alone to the far north to try to preach the gospel, but what awaited him was not a warm welcome from the locals, but a cruel looting and massacre, but this saint was trying to convert the ignorant until his death.

This move shocked his murderers, who believed that the gods of such a righteous man must be truly noble and holy, so that the murderers of a Christian believer, after taking the life of St. Bouchenige, instead knelt before his mutilated body, which had lost his soul.

All this is the legend of St. Bouchenier, and now the pagans who were converted to Christ by him have become a group of wealthy merchants, who no longer need to satisfy themselves by plundering the wealth of others, because they have learned to drain the pockets of others by more civilized means.

Although St. Bouchéniger is indeed a great martyr, and he is also one of the most influential saints in France, but in the past, the Vatican would only do a small commemorative Mass for this saint, after all, in the past ten centuries, there have been many ancestors who were canonized as Saint Bucciniger as martyred Christ, and some of them were canonized in batches because they happened in a major event.

This year, however, the Vatican unexpectedly held a grand ceremony to commemorate the saint.

The ceremony is carried out in accordance with the treatment of saints who have had a great influence in history, that is, a blessing mass is celebrated for this memorial one month before the anniversary.

It's a bit of a stretch, and the cost is not insignificant, but according to some people familiar with it, the pope, who has always been stingy, even paid out of his own pocket for the commemoration.

Everyone knew that Alexander VI did this purely to curry favor with Louis XII of France, who was already his in-law, and although the French king seemed to have suffered a little loss in northern Italy, the French showed their courage as a European power.

Louis XII, who had won the victory at Varese but had somehow lost Milan, was fortunate enough to escape the fate of being captured by the Austrian army, but his situation was not so rosy.

All the loot that the French had collected in Milan after presenting Italy became the Austrian army's pocket, and to make matters worse, a large number of supplies that were supposed to be transported to the French army also fell into the hands of the Austrians, and the situation in northern Italy changed for a while.

Alexander VI was of course not satisfied with this situation, he had already been forced to agree to Barentia's angry suggestion because the French had to turn north and could not support Caesar, and now the French seemed to have some signs that they might not be able to hold out, which made Alexander VI somewhat doubt whether the ally he was looking for could be trusted.

However, Louis XII was clearly not so easy to deal with, and while he was dealing with the Austrians, he quickly issued orders to the interior of France, and at the same time ordered the requisition of supplies intercepted by the Austrians, and ordered the redeployment of another army from France to support his operations in Italy.

Louis XII's move somewhat resisted some of the ministers, who tried to explain to the king that doing so might cause discontent among the nobles at home, and that many unexpected situations were likely to occur in the case of the king's expedition to a foreign country and domestic instability.

But Louis XII firmly rejected the exhortations of the ministers, and he ordered the herald to remind the nobles of the country that they must carry out his orders to the letter, otherwise when he returned to France, he would let them know what the anger of the French and the French king was.

Louis's threat apparently had a good effect, and by the end of September, the nobles of the French cities closest to Italy had already sent their troops before the others.

At this time, Louis was secretly relieved to know that he had gradually emerged from a crisis, and at the same time, although the Austrian army defeated in the Battle of Varese was under the command of Emperor Maximian himself, because of its heavy losses, it was unable to form a mutual response with the friendly forces on the Milanese side for a while, which gave Louis XI a rare opportunity.

He quickly retreated southwest with his army, and only finally stopped near Alexandria after he had escaped the threat of being flanked by the enemy from the north and south.

At this point, the Austrians regained control of Milan, while the French inflicted heavy losses on the Austrians at the Battle of Varese, and the first major battle between France and Austria was a narrow draw.

The situation in northern Italy, which was once again in a stalemate for the time being, also affected Rome.

Just two days after the French moved to Alexandria, Alexander VI suddenly announced a month-long commemoration ceremony for Saint-Buchenier, which made many people who had been speculating about the relationship between the pope and the French finally understand that the pope and Louis XII really had to wear the same pants this time.

On 29 September, just as the commemoration for San Buccinige entered its fourth day, two dusty messengers rode into the city of Rome.

The two men looked dirty, and as they passed by, they could smell the unpleasant smell of their bodies, which had apparently not been bathed in days, and the salty smell of the sea breeze that had apparently not completely disappeared from them.

One of the two emissaries went straight to the new home of the metropolitan, and the other to the Vatican.

When he heard the news from the servant that there was a messenger from Naples, Alexander VI immediately felt a wave of uneasiness, for he did not remember that Alexander had ever sent official messengers, and that it was the first time that letters had been sent between them in private, as was now done in the name of the Pope.

Especially after seeing the conspicuous coat of arms of the Kingdom of Naples on the envelope, the pope realized that something big might be happening.

Sure enough, this letter, written in the name of the Queen Regent of Naples, began with a harsh rebuke of the Kingdom of Sicily.

After enumerating the encroachments of the Kingdom of Sicily against the Kingdom of Naples in the past, Josa denounced the Sicilian crime of interning Modillo, Count of Naples without cause, and at the end of the letter, Josa resolutely wrote:

"All this is not sufficient to justify the sins committed by the Sicilians against my Kingdom of Sicily, and for this reason I personally consider that for the sake of the dignity of my Kingdom of Sicily, and for the sake of the well-being and safety of the nobles and commoners of my Kingdom, I am compelled to make the following difficult decision at this time, to declare a formal declaration of war on the Kingdom of Sicily against the Kingdom of Sicily, with the authority conferred on me by the Regent of the Kingdom of Sicily in Naples, in order to appeal to the Supreme Bishop of the Vatican, the Bishop of Rome, the Acting of God and the Walking of the World, His Majesty the Pope bestows upon me the blessing of victory. ”

Alexander VI looked at the letter silently, and after a moment he exhaled.

It was only then that he seemed to really understand what was happening.

"Two Sicilies, fighting?"

Alexander VI spoke to the cardinals standing by in a slightly skeptical tone, but his tone was more or less inquiring.

Watching the Pope's record secretaries hurriedly transcribe the letter, Nomerlo, who was standing in the corner of the chamber, thought for a moment's doubt.

For Alexander's sister, Nomelo was more impressed by beauty, although he knew that the purpose of her intimacy with Lucrezia may not be so simple, but Nomelo never imagined that the new queen and regent would have such courage.

Or rather, stupidity.

Nomelo didn't think that Jossa was a stupid woman, not so much because he knew something about her, but because of Alexander.

Nomelo vaguely knew that Alexander had entrusted a lot of important business to his sister, whom he trusted so much, which made him naturally think that the young aristocratic girl would not be so simple.

"But what is this for, does he think that he can be the enemy of two powerful nations at the same time?" Alexander VI, however, was not so optimistic about the decision of the siblings: "He even instigated his sister to write me such a letter, just after he had just instigated his wife to shamelessly take Ferrara and Bologna from me. ”

"Your Majesty, Ferrara and Bologna are still under your rule," reminded Nomelo softly, looking at the copy of the letter that had been copied by the secretaries, "and among those you are talking about being instigated is your daughter. ”

"That's what makes me angrier," said Alexander VI, glancing at his personal secretary, "and I think sometimes that fellow is standing across from me and laughing at me, and believe me it feels so strong that even now I seem to hear his laughter." ”

"It is clear that the Count wants you to support him in this matter," Nomelo analyzed softly as he read the letter, "but it is a little strange, the Count should have known that you could not have publicly expressed your support for him in waging war at such a time, but he reported it to you in such a formal way. ”

"Of course I will not support him, although I hate that Gonzalo to the core, but I also know that it is my duty at such times, and the only thing I can do is to regret and condemn this war between Christians and brotherly nations."

Saying that, Alexander VI sat down slowly, he no longer had the first puzzled and then angry look when he first saw the letter, and a pair of eyes that were a little muddy and still showed sharp eyes from time to time looked at Nomelo who was holding the letter and pondering it carefully.

"So why do you think he did it?"

Hearing the Pope's inquiry, the secretary spread his hands a little confusedly, and then said very cautiously: "I think the Count wants you not to interfere in this matter." ”

"I don't want to interfere with him," Alexander VI waved his hand in annoyance, waving his hand in disdain, "I think he seems to want me to be involved in his unfortunate affair, but what do you think he has a chance of winning, considering that the French have driven the Neapolitans to Biliselli, and that Geoffrey's wife has cried to me more than once about her brother's misfortune, and I am now a little glad that I didn't marry Lucrezia to that Alfonso, Now it seems that the Duke of Billy Shelly has absolutely no ability or luck to match his status, am I right? ”

Nomelo shook his head secretly, he didn't know if the Pope was sarcastic or a compliment to Alexander, but he knew that he shouldn't have interrupted the Pope at this time.

Sure enough, Alexander VI went on to himself: "I don't know what he thinks about fighting Sicily with the strength of Billy Silly now, and there is a French thing in it, but I know how stupid it is. ”

"Maybe it's not a bad thing for you that the Count is in trouble now." Nomelo said casually.

"How can you say that," Alexander VI looked at Nomelo with a little annoyance, "You don't know how important what he has now to us, and look at the location of Montina, which is the key place between Romagna and Tuscany, and has almost become a hub that directly affects the whole of Upper and Lower Rome." I hate to admit it, but I have to say that that place is really important in this situation. ”

Nomelo didn't mind that the Pope seemed to be angry with him because of his displeasure, he just nodded his head wordlessly, looking like he was convinced by the Pope's teachings.

"But because of this, I am very angry that he wrote this letter." The Pope looked at Nomelo and saw that the secretary was understanding, and Alexander VI sat down slowly again and said helplessly, "He caught my weakness, he knew what I wanted, so he put the bait into the water like a fisherman, but when the fish was about to bite the hook, he pulled it up again, and the fish would become agitated because they couldn't eat the bait, and finally jump up desperately." ”

Speaking of this, the pope, who paused, made a gesture that he didn't know what it meant, and then looked at Nomerlo: "Do you know what I'm talking about?" ”

Nomelo bowed slightly to the Pope to show that he had understood, and then he spoke: "The Count seems to be interested in the war in the north, and this time he has decided to support the Emperor, which is somewhat surprising. ”

"He knew that though I wanted to make an alliance with the French, he would also not want the French to rule all of Rome if he had the opportunity, and it was because he understood this that he dared to be so unscrupulous in wanting more from me."

Nooreo did not notice that the Pope seemed to be complaining again because of the disobedience of his cheap son-in-law, and after thinking about it, he suddenly asked: "Do you need me to go to Naples?" ”

Alexander VI, who was chattering, paused for a moment, looked at Nomelo for a while, picked up his glass and moistened his throat, which was a little dry.

"Go tell him my attitude." The Papal Chamber lowered its voice and said, "Tell him how important Caesar is to me, and I think he will know how angry I am at his army's intervention in Ferrara, so the next time Caesar seeks his own interests, I want him to promise that it will not happen again." ”

Nomelo nodded, but he knew the Pope had other orders.

"And you have to ask him how long you think this war will last," the Pope shook his hand as if he felt a little inappropriate, but then paused and continued, "I know that he financed the money that the Emperor was able to mobilize the army, so I want to know what he thinks, and it is not his style to sponsor a war that has no interests." ”

Nomelo took down the Pope's instructions very carefully, and he knew that this was the real reason why the Pope had agreed to let him go to Alexander.

As Alexander VI said, he now wondered a little why his cheap son-in-law would pay for Maximian.

Speaking of which, the reputation of the Grand Duke of Vienna is actually not very good, and his bad deeds of breaking contracts again and again have put his credit in jeopardy, and spending money to fund such a person seems a little unintelligent,

It's just that what Alexander thinks, this can probably only be known after meeting him.

While the Pope was telling Nomerlo, another messenger had already met Ulliu, who was temporarily staying at the home of the Metropolitan.

During this time, Ullius began to wander around the city of Rome again, but as Massimo had said, he realized that he was no longer the humble Moorish man he had been.

At this time, Ulius was already a slightly famous figure in Rome, and even because he was a Moor, as the court governor of Pisa and the courtier of Montina, he could no longer go into the back kitchen of other people's houses at will, laughing with the maids and asking for all kinds of news.

Ulliu, who received the letter, was slightly surprised by what Alexander had instructed him, but he set out at once.

His destination was the Gilpitz Palace, home of the Pope's son Giovanni Borgia.

Maria de Luna was ready to leave Rome, and with Giovanni's death, returning to her hometown in Aragon to raise her children, and then letting her children inherit Giovanni's title in Gandino as soon as possible seemed to be the only thing she could do for the rest of her life.

So Maria de Luna was surprised by Ulliu's sudden visit.

And, perhaps because of her background and the education she received from an aristocratic family in Aragon, Maria de Luna had a natural aversion to the Moors.

However, Ulius did not care about the hostility from the Duchess, as the news he brought was enough to change the lady's attitude towards him drastically.

"Madame, I have brought you a piece of news, which I think you must be very interested in," said Ulliu, after bowing, respectfully, "about the real murderer of the Duke of Gandino." ”