There will always be people who will not be bought easily, it will be because of honor, or because of faith, or simply because the bid is not high enough.

However, Kotschach did not think that the Marquis of Baden was among them.

And the facts proved that he was not wrong.

Most of the Marquis of Baden's fortune was related to his business, and it was clear that the income from the original domain was no longer sufficient for his needs.

And not only him, but many Austrian nobles, like the marquis, had an inextricable relationship with the chambers of commerce of the trade alliance.

And, as the Marquis of Baden feared, the trading posts established by the French in the cities of the Atlantic coast did threaten the interests of the Austrian aristocracy far inland Europe.

Even Maximian himself does not know whether he has any entanglements with the pervasive chambers of commerce, and whether these chambers are closely related to the free trade alliance has become a mystery.

Kotschach met Maximian a few days later in the afternoon, and he didn't care that Maximian was deliberately snubbing, but knew that the more this happened, the more it actually showed that Maximian cared about the meeting.

It will be deliberately neglected, just because Maximian wants to get more out of the next bargain.

What Maximian didn't expect was that the palace minister who was dismissed by him not only did not look a little depressed and frustrated, on the contrary, his expression was better, and his waist was straighter, quite a bit proud, red and red.

Maximian watched silently as Kotschach saluted him as before, but then the former palace minister straightened up and looked at the emperor opposite.

"Gong Xiang, I have to say that I didn't expect to see you again like this," Maximian's face was gloomy, no matter what kind of idea the Fugol family had, now this former palace minister has become someone else's lobbyist, and with Kotschach's knowledge of him over the years of working by his side, Maximian can't help but think that this person is a very difficult negotiator to deal with, "So what did you bring me?" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty," Kotschach was unimpressed by Maximian's coldness, he had long expected that he would receive a cold reception, but the more this happened, the more he believed that the emperor was actually looking forward to this meeting in his heart, "I brought what you need." ”

"So you know what I need?" Maximian looked at Kotschach with disdain, "I have to remind you that you have disappointed me in all the years you have served me, and it is precisely because you did not do well enough that you finally lost your errand, so how can you think that I will believe you." ”

"Actually, you don't need to trust me, but you just have to trust your own judgment," Kotschach smiled at Maximian, "Your Majesty, you must have heard from the Marquis of Baden about the advice that the Jacob Fugol brothers have made to you?" ”

Seeing that Maximian nodded but did not speak, Kotschach continued: "Those are just to make sure that none of our business will be lost, after all, the French are now menacing, and they also want a piece of the pie in the European market. ”

"So you're a lobbyist for their business?"

"Of course not, in addition to business, I have a suggestion here from the Duke of Thessia of Rome, who thinks that this suggestion should be enough to prove his sincerity for peace."

"What is it?"

Maximian did not question the truth of Kotschakh's words, nor was he angry that his former palace minister was so close to the enemy.

Instead, he wanted to know what the other person had brought that would interest him.

In fact, the emperor was somewhat glad to have Kotschach as a not very conspicuous but certainly reliable intermediary at this time.

The situation on the east and west sides of Austria was not optimistic, with Bohemia and Wallachians in the east preparing to move, and the French in the west, although not yet showing signs of full-scale intervention, the French troops in Genoa were closing in on Milan.

No one can guarantee that the French will not take advantage of the chaos to take Milan.

At this time, Kotschach suddenly brought news of the Duke of Rome Thesia, which made Maximian feel a glimmer of hope.

He was hoping to solve the crisis in Milan and keep his family busy in Iberia, but now it seems that the first thing he needs to solve is the trouble he has encountered.

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Rome Thesia thinks that a meeting can be convened again on the question of the attribution of Milan."

"Meeting?

"Yes, the Duke agrees to reconsider his attitude on the Milan issue, but he wants you to show enough sincerity."

Maximian secretly wondered if he did not know that Alexander deliberately drew such a line in the south of Lombardy, dividing Italy into north and south halves, with the intention of leading him and Louis XII to constant conflict over Milan.

And he himself reaped the benefits from it.

This is evident from his support for his brother-in-law's claim to be Duke of Milan.

It's just that even if he knew, Maximian had no way to back down, he absolutely could not tolerate Milan falling into the hands of others, especially the French, who were their long-cherished enemies.

In addition to the richness of the Lombardy region, there is another important reason that he must not ignore, that is, Lombardy is too close to Rome.

The Habsburgs have been Holy Roman Emperors for several generations, and although there have been brief transpositions in them, the title of Emperor has been revolving around the Habsburgs for almost a century.

So they have gradually regarded the title of emperor as their own private property.

But if the French occupy Milan and then rule the whole of Lombardy, then the influence of the French on the Vatican will inevitably expand a lot, and then any French king can easily march into Rome and then pass the election of the Holy See Emperor.

This was an unacceptable result for Maximian, so even if he knew that the Duke of Rome Thessia was not at ease, he had to insist on seizing the reign of Milan under the watchful eye of such Frenchmen.

Now the unexpected news brought by Kotschach makes Maximian faintly have a glimmer of anticipation.

However, on his face, the emperor still looked gloomy, and at the same time said to Kotschach with a little dissatisfaction: "What, just negotiating? ”

"Your Majesty, you know that the Duke is supporting his brother-in-law, Constantin de la Rovere of Ferrara to become Duke of Milan," Kotschach was unmoved by the Emperor's obvious displeasure "I also know to you that the Duke is very concerned about his family," the palace minister pondered the wording, "Well, I care." ”

Maximian looked at Kotschach with a heavy face, of course he said that he cared about his family, but he thought that this should be the condition of the Duke of Rome Thesia.

"If so, I can consider compensating that Constantine, but if they really want to negotiate, they must first explicitly renounce the so-called rights to the title of Duke of Milan."

Kotschach nodded silently, he also knew that this was actually Maximian hinting at his request, but Kotschach did not intend to negotiate with the emperor immediately.

In the days that followed, Kotschach became more active.

Although many people already knew that he had returned to Vienna, he only interacted semi-openly with the nobles he knew, and after meeting Maximian, he became completely unconcerned about the nobles of Vienna.

During this time, news about Italy came from time to time.

To the surprise of the Austrians, the Roman army of Romantesia quickly advanced north after crossing the demarcation line, and when their western corps finally stopped after the capture of Pavia, they did not rest in place, but after leaving a small army to monitor the Austrian defenders in the direction of Milan, the western corps suddenly turned eastward and approached the Venetian army that had entered Lombardy.

At this time, whether it was Maximian, who was far away in Vienna, or Louis XII, who also received this information soon after, they finally realized that the target of the Roman Thesians was actually the Venetians!

Since the Venetian general Pitigilino inflicted heavy losses on the French army led by Charles VIII at the Battle of Fornovo a few years ago, which led to the demoralization of the French invading Italy, and finally had to retreat in disarray, although the Venetians have participated in several wars since then, they have not had the glory of Pittigliano at the beginning.

And Venice's luck in recent years has obviously been quite unlucky, the successive failures at sea have made them lose their last overseas colonies, the cringe of trade, the loss of territory, so that Venice has been from the previous wealth and domineering, gradually seems to be a little stumbling and struggling.

At the same time, internally, the power of the old and new satraps is at odds with each other, and Venice, with its factional hierarchy, is constantly wasting the wealth and opportunities that their ancestors have given them for centuries.

The Venetians' dilemma of getting out of the Adriatic Sea now displeased the aristocracy, the merchants, and the ordinary Venetians.

They desperately need a chance to vent all these grievances, and at the same time they need to show that Venice is still not to be underestimated as soon as possible.

It is clear that there is no more war than meets the requirements of all this.

It just so happened that the Roman-Thesians broke the treaty they themselves proposed, invaded Lombardy.

It was in this atmosphere and mood that everyone in Venice needed a war in Venice and Leonardo Rowette who dared to propose Lombardy.

It was proposed that Leonardo Rollette be supported by an almost unanimous vote in support of this venture, and in order to show its support for this expedition, the House of Lords decided to award Leonardo Rollette the title of "Great General".

However, of course, the governor who was already in his late teens did not need to go to the battlefield in person, and the one who invaded Lombardy was a general named Rondoba Barbarig.

This man was the nephew of the deceased Barbareg Sr., who is now seen in the Barbareg family as a hope to restore the family's status.

However, although it is true that he relies somewhat on his uncle's shadow, Rondoba Barbareg is not useless.

He took part in Pittigliino's victory over the Frenchman at Fornovo, where he was the captain of one of Pittiliuno's four battle brigades, and his performance in battle was quite impressive.

What Jean Rondoba Barbarig did most about the Battle of Fornovo was not the process of the battle and how to achieve victory.

On the contrary, what he will never forget is the fate of Pitiliino by the House of Royalty after his return to Venice.

Despite the victory, the Venetian casualties in the battle annoyed the House of Lords, and when they heard that the Venetians had lost as many as 2,000 men, including those who had escaped, Pitiglino was severely reprimanded by the House of Lords.

Rondoba Barbareg once privately asked his uncle to complain about his commander, but Barbareg told him very harshly: "Venice can no longer afford such a big loss".

At that time, Rondoba Barbarig did not understand the meaning of his uncle's words, and it was only a few years later, when he became a general of the Venetian army, that he finally understood the meaning of his uncle's words.

When an army of less than 6,000 men was in his hands, he remembered the strange look at many of the members of the House of Lords when they decided to accept Leonardo Rollette's suggestion to appoint him commander-in-chief of the Venetian front.

6,000 men, this was all the Venetian Doge and the House of Lords could give him, and he needed to use this army not only to deal with the invading Roman Thescian army, but also to establish an effective defense in the lower reaches of the Po River.

Rondoba Barbarig felt that his current situation was too far from that of the original Pittiliuno, who was approaching the French army, which was far inferior in terms of morale, and he had to deal with an army that had defeated the Ottomans and was still in its prime.

So while deciding to divide the army into two groups and send 3,000 men to march to Lombardy, Londoba Barbarig left the other half of his troops near the lower Po River in spite of the opposition of his generals, in case of a possible invasion by the Roman Thescian army.

However, this decision was not only opposed by many of his subordinates, but when they heard the news, the Venetian House of Lords sent people to the front line to express to Rondoca Barbarig that the House of Lords was strongly dissatisfied with his move.

"We have not many troops at our disposal, and the Venetian government cannot send more troops while restoring the navy in full force, and your move to divide your forces will undoubtedly weaken the effectiveness of this invasion of Lombardy......"

Looking at the harshly worded letter from Governor Leonardo Rollette brought by the emissary, Rondoba Barbarig couldn't help frowning, and he now somewhat understood why Pitiglino insisted on retiring in the first place.

"General, your decision to leave your army in the lower reaches of the Bo River to guard against an enemy who is impossible at all is obviously wrong, there is no indication that the Romantesians will take the initiative to attack the Veneto region, all their main forces are in Lombardy, so while there is still time, redeploy the army as soon as possible, we must deal a heavy blow to the Romantesians in Lombardy, not Veneto."

Looking at this letter, Rondoba Barbaregg's heart, which should have been angry, became inexplicably nervous at this time.

Reading between the lines, he saw that no one except himself seemed to think that the Romantesians would take the initiative to cross the Po River and attack, and when he thought about the attitude of his generals when he proposed this idea, Londoba Barbareg suddenly felt a strong uneasiness.

If everyone thinks it's impossible, then who else but him really guards against a possible invasion?

At this time, isn't Venice like a completely defenseless beauty, standing in front of a gangster full of evil thoughts?

If the Roman Thesian commander on the other side happened to be an adversary with a bold and adventurous spirit......

Rondolba Barbareg couldn't imagine it anymore.

While writing back to Leonardo Rollette to explain his suspicions, and at the same time reminding Venice to be more vigilant, he ordered the troops stationed on the north bank of the Po River to be more vigilant.

But the day after he gave the order, on a rainy afternoon, a panicked soldier who burst into his room at the headquarters in Ostia brought him news that Rondoba Barbarig was shocked.

The eastern Roman-Thecian legion of the Ofleiil suddenly crossed the lower reaches of the Po River at noon on 17 April, and then the Roman-Thecian army was advanced along the road to Padua.

Their goal, is Venice!

Unbeknownst to Rondoba Barbarig, the Battle of Seville-Rio broke out in Andalusia, just a week after the Eastern Army had forced its way across the Po River.

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