When Alexander said the word Fugger, Kotschach couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then exclaimed, "So that's the case."

Fugger, a legendary family of this era.

The wealth and fame of this family in a central German city in a short period of time is unimaginable for most people in a lifetime, and all this is only part of the most brilliant career of their lives.

Less than half a century ago, many people didn't know what the surname Fugger meant, but it has become a symbol of good luck and wealth since a dye merchant named Hans Fugger made a fortune and then became an influential wealthy man in the German interior.

Unlike the Medici who once ruled Florence, the Fuggers did not take the initiative to become the ones who held power, preferring to hide behind the scenes and use the never-ending gold in their hands to decide the fate of those seemingly glamorous big people.

While the French arrived, the Fryant Men who had been driven out of the Medici family in Florence because of their weak surrender were frustrated and asked for help, while the brothers of the Fugger family were discussing how to expand their already thriving family business.

Fugger never blindly mixed into any faction of politics, they only looked for those who were eager to perform on stage, and once chosen, they would not hesitate to throw a staggering amount of money at this person, and then let the agent they chose to become a little minion who stood in the foreground and cheered for them.

That's right, the monarchs and kings, who are extremely noble to the common people, are nothing more than a bunch of plays that can be performed for money in the eyes of the Fugger family.

Kotschach knew the details of the Fugger family because, as the lords of Salzburg, the Kotschach family themselves were the creations of Fugger's money magic.

As early as a few years ago, when the Archbishop of Salzburg willfully added two turnips to the family coat of arms, he was fiercely opposed by another ancient family that also held this family symbol, and when the archbishop could not withstand the pressure of the other party and the hints from the Vienna court, and was ready to remove the two turnips with grievances, it was the Fugger family who helped them through the difficulties.

To this day, Kotschach does not know how much money Fugger spent on this matter, but since then the Kotschach family has become one of the Fuggers' staunchest allies.

And another reason why the Kotschach family completely fell to Fugger was that when there was a vacancy in the Vienna court around the emperor, the Fugger family immediately bought this position for them, and because of this, the palace minister who is now standing opposite Alexander was born.

In return, the Kotschach family fully supported Fugger in Vienna to become the Archduke of Austria, the royal merchant of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximian, and when the emperor was overwhelmed several times due to his poor financial situation, it was the timely support of the Fugger family that allowed him to get through the difficulties.

And all this huge investment in exchange for all kinds of enviable business opportunities that the Fugger family has been given, and many preferential benefits and privileges that many others cannot obtain.

But even so, the Fugger family has always maintained a kind of distance from power that makes others look at it and wonder, at least in Kotschach's opinion, if the Fugger family wants to obtain a prominent status and status, even if this status may make many people look sideways and despise, but with the terrifying wealth of the family, it is completely possible to get a title from the emperor.

But the Fuggers never made such a request, and to the constant surprise of those who knew them well, even among the merchants, the family seemed to be much more low-key than the others.

So when Alexander said the surname Fugger, Kotschach was first surprised, and then had the idea that this was the only way to explain what Alexander meant by what he was showing them.

What Alexander Hill showed to the Kotschach couple was his "Free Trade Zone Unification Plan".

When this plan first appeared, Alexander knew that the biggest problem he would end up with was "funding".

Huge sums of money, almost hopelessly astronomical, this is not a problem that the current Alexander can solve.

That would be a figure that would have stunned anyone who listened to it, and even the cost of building the Château de Montina was nothing more than a comparison of a splendid palace and a thatched house.

And if it really does, the Château de Montina may not even be a thatched house.

Where does such a sum of money come from?

Alexander does not think that his fledgling free trade zone can provide such funding, because it involves not simply the use of a terminal in a coastal city, or the leasing of warehouses or sites in a few ports, but the trade quota of the entire port.

Such a thing could not be solved by Alexander, not even if Zhisa joined in as Count of Cosenza.

Huge amounts of money, huge power, and a channel through which the money can be used and circulated smoothly are all indispensable conditions for this plan to be realized.

"You want help from the Fugger family?" Kotschach quietly pushed the information back to Alexander, "I don't know how you think you can get their attention, you know that this plan you have come up with is not only whimsical and even full of danger, but as far as I know, the Fuggers never take that unnecessary risk. ”

Alexander nodded, he knew that Kotschach was right, that Fugger was much more cautious than the Medici, who were also the richest family of our time.

"All I need is for you to help me hand over this plan to the people of the Fugger family," Alexander smiled, "I know it may be a bit presumptuous, but I'm sure they'll be interested in my plan, and they've only done it because they haven't had the opportunity to take that much risk." ”

Gong Xiang hesitated slightly, and then slowly took the documents back.

Although he didn't quite understand how much benefit this plan would bring, just looking at the names of the cities, he already realized that Alexander's plan seemed to be different from any business he knew of before.

In other words, this is no longer a simple business transaction, and the palace minister looked at Alexander thoughtfully.

Kotschach suddenly realized that this young man was no longer the same as the young knight who had ventured to lead the army into the coalition camp and capture them all.

"So what are you going to do with that girl?"

Gonzalo, who had been listening to Fugger all along, suddenly spoke, looking at Alexander with a smile on his face.

"Now that the whole of Rome knows that you have kidnapped Lucrezia Borgia, and interestingly, it was when she returned to the messenger of the Duke of Billyselli, I do not know what the Duke would have been like when he heard the news, but I assure you that if it were me, I would have immediately mounted and rushed from Billice to Rome, and then duel with you."

"Then I should thank God that I didn't meet you," Alexander smiled, and then he glanced at the shadow that seemed to flicker at the top of the staircase, "but I'm also ready for a storm," he said and looked at the two men in front of him seriously, "I'm going to take Lucrezia out of Rome." ”

"Oh~"

Gonzalo let out an exaggerated coax, but Kotschach shook his head slightly in disapproval.

"You may not understand that she is a Borgia and not some country girl or the mistress of some nobleman whom you fancied," Kotschach pointed upstairs, "Her father is one of the most powerful men in the world, and believe me, if you take her away like this, he will send men after you to kill you without mercy." ”

You don't need to say this, the Borgia family never hesitated to kill their son-in-law.

Alexander was tempted to reply, but before he could speak, there was a sudden sound of horses' hooves coming from far and near, and then, with the noise outside, an Agri led by Gonzalo's guards entered the house.

"My lord," said the soldier Agri, who walked briskly up to Alexander, handing him a tightly sealed envelope, "is news from Montina, the messenger is now in Marino Palace, and has fainted from exhaustion. ”

Alexander nodded, he knew that this soldier was explaining the importance of this letter, looking at this letter, Alexander secretly thought in his heart, maybe the thing he had been waiting for for a long time should finally come.

Just looking back at the slightly swaying figure at the staircase, Alexander suddenly felt a little stunned at this moment.

As if sensing his distraction, Gonzalo stood up, hugged Alexander very violently, and then whispered in his ear: "Remember your promise, whether it is perfume or the great business you spoke of, I will take a foot in whatever it is." ”

"Don't worry, I said I could help you solve your money problem," Alexander lowered his voice, "but I'll definitely need your help then." ”

Gonzalo let out a slightly rough laugh, took off his hat to Kotschach, and then turned neatly and left the small but ambiguous and beautiful house of Orgara.

"I don't know exactly what you want to do, but I admit that if this does work, maybe Solomon will envy the person who has this wealth, so I still hope to succeed," Kotschach patted the thick document in his hand with his hand, and then lowered his voice as he exchanged greetings with Alexander, "But because of this, I think you are whimsical, unless you ......"

At this point, Kotschach's face froze slightly, and then he looked at Alexander with a very strange gaze.

Unless what?

Unless this plan would not be threatened by the Ottomans.

But is it possible?

Kotschach looked at Alexander strangely, only this was clearly not the time and place to talk about these things.

Looking at the two teams that were moving away, Alexander sighed softly.

Gonzalo and Kotschach, neither of them were as easy to deal with as they seemed.

Kotzchach wasn't just a mediocre old man, but was Gonzalo a reckless warrior?

Alexander never thought that a man who could be called "the Great Gonzalo" by later generations would be a martial artist who only knew how to play with swords and guns.

This can only be seen from the fierce contradictions that occurred many years later before Ferdinand, and even gradually evolved into a close frontal conflict between the monarch and the courtiers, so that after Ferdinand instructed someone to list more than a dozen major crimes, and then completely took away power and dismissed his position, this person can still enjoy the rest of his life unharmed.

There was the sound of soft footsteps behind him, and Alexander turned to see Lucrezia standing in the hallway accompanied by Olgala.

Alexander walked over, he didn't pay attention to the others, but took Lucrezia into his arms and kissed her lips gently, feeling the body trembling slightly in his arms, he asked softly in Lucrezia's ear: "What are you worried about, are you afraid that I will send you back?" ”

"No, I'm just worried that Caesar won't let us go," Lucrezia said worriedly, "You don't know, there are many things you don't know......"

"No, I know, but don't worry, I know what to do." Alexander gently cupped Lucrezia's cheek and kissed it.

I don't know, Giovanni Sforza, Perotto Cadron, and Billy Silly's Alfon, just look at these names and you will know that the Borgia family is born with a grudge against their son-in-law.

The father and son didn't seem to want to see their daughter live a stable life, so at least so far, all the men who have been involved with Lucrezia seem to have nothing good to come of.

Now, Alexander's name has been added to the list, which is not too long but not short.

"Let's go now." Alexander said suddenly.

"Leaving Rome?" Lucrezia asked with a little excitement.

"Yes, leaving Rome, my men should be ready, believe me if Caesar really wants to catch up, he will find that he is facing a nightmare."

There was a sharp flash in Alexander's eyes as he said this, which made the two women not doubt at all that he was serious.

In fact, Alexander was indeed prepared, and he did not mind that if Caesar really did not relentlessly catch up, he would take the opportunity to teach this brother-in-law a good lesson.

"It's not going to work!" Lucrezia was obviously frightened by Alexander's look, she grabbed him by the shoulder and shook her head, "I don't want to see you fight, let alone see any of you get hurt, promise me Alexander, let's leave Rome quickly, don't let Caesar catch up." ”

Looking at the panicked Lucrezia, Alexander pecked her lip slightly dotingly.

"That's right, we're not going to let them catch up, so we'll leave Rome now and go back to Montina, and I'll lock you up in the basement deep in my castle, and maybe put a pair of chains on you."

Alexander said jokingly, but looking at Lucrezia's slightly nervous and slightly joyful look, he suddenly felt that it was a good idea.

Orgala stood silently watching the two men until Alexander headed towards her.

"I suppose all my efforts in Rome have been ruined by you," said Orgala, with some annoyance, "and perhaps to-morrow morning I will be driven out of Rome, don't you want to make amends to me?" ”

"You ought to thank me, ma'am, for by tomorrow morning you will be the hottest man in the city, and I'm sure many will be willing to see for themselves what this place where a legendary love affair has been laid is like." To Orgala's complaints, Alexander was unmoved.

"And as for Master Groganin, are you not prepared to compensate him, knowing that he has great hopes for me," Orgala said lightly, smiling softly, "and he has great expectations for you. ”

Alexander looked at Lady Olgala's charming face for a moment, and then nodded slightly: "Madam, you can tell your master that if it is convenient for me to meet him at any time, I think we still have a lot of places to talk." ”

If memory serves, that Gragenin came from the Low Countries, and the ruler of those places was none other than the son of Emperor Maximian, Philip the Beautiful.

And his wife was none other than Giorgio Mordillo's titular cousin of Alexandria, Juana of Castile.

Lady Olgara had a look of joy on her face, and she knew that Grogenen had been hoping to meet this Cambrai again since the changes brought about by the discovery of the free trade zone in those ports.

Watching Alexander, riding on the back of Pagasos, and Lucrezia, who was walking side by side, disappear into the far street, Orgara took a deep breath.

She knew that Alexander and Groganin's reunion would certainly be very different from the last time.

And on the street, Alexander, urging his horse forward, was giving an order to the soldiers delivering the letter: "Go to the docks." ”