Just as many inexplicable things always happen when we enter a new era in history, 1499 was an eventful year and a year full of strange things.

It was a year of both good and bad, at least for the Holy Roman Emperor, Grand Duke Maximian of Vienna.

It was thought that it would be a good thing that his old rival, Charles VIII of France, had his life because he had his head smashed into the door frame with his unlucky head, but before the emperor could calm down from the joy of the enemy's death, another opponent who seemed to be even less likely to deal with appeared.

For the original Duke of Orleans, now Louis XII, Maximian is no stranger, he knows very well what the heir of the Valois family looks like, and he also knows how difficult this person is, if Charles VIII is a fierce wolf, then Louis XII is a cunning fox, so the emperor has been carefully watching the movements of the French side.

But just as he was bent on taking on the French, the Ottoman invasion distracted him from dealing with the infidels, and the emperor had to endure the provocations from Paris again and again, until the unbearable news came from Switzerland.

As vassals of the Grand Duke of Vienna, some Swiss cities not only refused to obey the emperor's orders to declare autonomy, but also defeated and expelled the pro-Viennese Swabian aristocracy, and then formed a so-called federation that declared that the Grand Duke of Vienna would no longer be their monarch.

This was absolutely unbearable for the Emperor Maximian, who did not care about the hill barbarian towns of Switzerland, but could not allow this to happen, especially when the Emperor realized that the actions of the Swiss had somehow stimulated and inspired the nobles of the German city-states who had been on the verge of revolting, and the Emperor decided that the cruel punishment of the Swiss must be used to deter some people.

So Maximian decided to go to Switzerland to oversee the war, and he wanted to use a brutal and savage war of destruction to make all those who tried to oppose him reconsider their relations with Vienna carefully.

In addition, the reason why the Emperor attached so much importance to the war against Switzerland was because he had heard some disturbing news about the events in the Low Countries.

The Low Countries have been recognized by Europeans as the new land of wealth for more than a century, and because of their deep relationship with the Hanseatic League over the years, the Low Countries have become an important hub for the whole of northern Europe.

Of course, the emperor was extremely concerned about such a place, so he sent his son, the Prince of Vienna, known as the beautiful Philip, as the governor of the Low Countries, but I don't know if his son was not very competitive or the people of the Low Countries were more difficult to deal with than before, and the bad news kept coming one after another.

This also made the emperor determined to take the opportunity to solve the Swiss problem and take the opportunity to clean up the unruly merchants in the Netherlands, after all, he had been angry with those lowland merchants when he was young, and now it was his son's turn to be angry, which Emperor Maximian could not bear.

King Ladislas II of Bohemia did not know that the Emperor had already left Vienna to fight in Switzerland, but Barbaregg, as the governor of Venice, would not be unaware of the news, so when he heard Alexander say to him in such a positive tone that the Emperor would lose the war in Switzerland, the governor finally couldn't help but sit up straight.

If Maximian's war in Switzerland was lost, and even if the emperor appeared to be forced to recognize the independence of the Swiss Confederation, then what would happen next?

It was clear that at least then the Emperor would lose a way to directly influence the Low Countries, especially if the French took the opportunity to get involved in the disputes in the Low Countries, which would definitely be a problem for the Emperor.

The Doge's heart was suddenly moved, he had already thought of Alexander's intention to reveal this to him, and this news did make his heart move, but because he did not know whether it was reliable or not, Barbarig could not help but hesitate a little.

"If the Emperor loses the war at Swabia, do you think he will be able to accept such a loss, I mean, including the blow to the Fuggers, will he be in some kind of predicament as a result?"

Alexander thought about it, he was not pretentious, but he was indeed recalling the trajectory of Maximian's past experiences in his memory, and then he had to admit that the Habsburg ancestor who had built a great empire for his descendants by his in-laws was really not very good in this short period of time.

In the subsequent invasion of Louis XII, although Maximian was still very active, the war did not bring him any practical benefits, but his in-law Ferdinand of Aragon took the opportunity to deeply intervene in the internal affairs of Italy, and even replaced Maximian as the main force in the struggle with the French for Italian territory for a long time afterwards.

"Your Excellency, if you think you can't take the risk now, then you can wait a little longer, I think news will come soon, but Venice may not have so much benefit by then."

Barbarig nodded silently, he knew that Alexander was right, if everyone knew that the emperor was defeated, then there might be no oil and water to test, after all, there are not many smart people.

"And what are you going to get?" Barbarig knew that Alexander could not tell himself the news out of thin air, whether reliable or not, and that he was obviously going to use it in exchange for some benefit for Venice.

"I want to get the right to use my share of the dividends from the Fugger family first." Alexander said in a deep voice.

The Governor's cloudy eyes opened slightly again, he looked at Alexander carefully, and after making sure that he was indeed making this request, the Governor muttered and said: "Earl, I think you should understand that if you do this, it will obviously be somewhat lost, after all, we cannot swallow all the assets of the Fugger family at once, if you insist on recovering your share first, then even if you have more money, you will not have the right to make any more demands, do you still think you must insist on this condition?" ”

"Yes," Alexander nodded affirmatively, "I need this money to expand my army and protect my territory." ”

Hearing Alexander say this, Barbareg somewhat understood, and was still very clear about the young count's career governor, he knew that although the Count of Montina was now a well-known figure in all of Europe, he was indeed a woman who had reached his current status, and because of this, the count seemed to be somewhat insecure, so he had spared no effort to expand and develop his army.

How many Montina's troops had passed outside Venice these days, Barbarig felt that according to the information from his men, the number of that army should not be less than 8,000, or maybe even more.

The Balkans made up nearly half of the army, and the governor believed that it was a gift from the Grand Duchess to her lover, an army of thousands of fierce and brave Balkan soldiers, enough to make Montina a force to be reckoned with in the Italian city-states for a short time.

However, Barbareg also heard that according to the observation of his subordinates, they found that although the Balkans were very brave, perhaps because of the rapid expansion of the army, the equipment of the Montina army could not quickly keep up with the expansion of the scale, in addition to the original old troops, the weapons and equipment of the Balkans were obviously much behind, but this made Barbarig also understand why he would rather lose a part of the subsequent interest, and Alexander should also fight for the right to share the first dividend.

"Let me give you a word of advice from the experience of an old man," said the old governor in a rare tone of kindness before finally agreeing to this condition, "do not believe too much in the power of swords and guns, for in the end it is not the generals who can only be heroes on the battlefield, but those who have wise minds." As he spoke, the Governor tapped two fingers on his skull.

Alexander smiled softly, he did not tell Barbarig that he was shooting himself with his finger to his head, and he did not know what the promise to Alexander of today, which seemed to give them a great advantage, meant to the Doge himself and to Venice as a whole.

After all, Venice has not heard of a Portuguese named da Gama.

Alexander was very pleased with the meeting, and Barbarig was very happy, in Alexander's opinion, the sniping of the wealth of the Fugger family had achieved the purpose he needed, since then there was no need to dwell on it for a long time, his target was not just a "little Fugger family".

And for Barbaregg, the young earl is obviously still a little younger, and his eagerness to quit is not so much a lack of money as a timidity, after all, there are not many people who dare to completely offend the emperor, and now it seems that this does not include this lucky man who became an earl by sleeping with a woman.

And the Venetians naturally wanted to share as little as possible at this time, especially when they thought about the price to be paid by the Fuggers according to the terms of the agreement with the Fuggers, even the Governor felt a little salivating in his heart.

However, Barbarig was right, and Alexander did need to "renew" his army as soon as possible.

As the Archduchess of Wallachia, Alexander and Sophia had a serious negotiation in her boudoir at the castle of Bucharet, and the negotiation process was so difficult that it continued from the table to the large canopy bed in the bedroom.

In the end, Alexander finally got the stubborn Grand Duchess to sleep after repeated efforts using his skillful negotiation skills, and then made her sign a treaty that was not a humiliating but unequal treaty.

Under the treaty, Alexander had the right to recruit soldiers in Greece, including Wallachia, and the remuneration was to be paid through trade between the FTA and these countries.

That is, these countries will "sell" their armies in exchange for a large sum of gold in Alexander's hand.

The treaty drew some opposition, but when they learned how much money they could get from the Balkan peasants who were disobedient, the opposition immediately fell silent.

Then a large number of Balkan peasants were driven out of their homes, and under the command to "go to war for the sake of the landlord", these Balkans were forced to lay down their hoes and sickles and take up arms.

With the exception of some people in other places who had to quickly catch up with the Montina army, which was withdrawing from the Balkans, the peasants along the way were ordered to wait in their respective villages, and to join the Montina army as soon as it passed.

You don't even need to see what such an army would look like, so before coming to Venice, Alexander was ready to borrow Venice's powerful reserves to rearm his army.

Weapons, armor, boots, belts, internal and external clothing, pots and pans for personal or large marching camps, everything that could be obtained from Venice was to be replenished as soon as possible, and the cost of these things was deducted from Alexander's dividends.

Such a great deal had evidently made the Venetian merchants happy again, and when they heard the news, they were ready to do a great job, and it seemed to them that the Count of Montina was still an upstart after all, and they were eager to make a big deal of nonsense, so they were not welcome.

It is difficult to say whether the news was deliberately circulated by the Governor, but in any case, when Alexander had just left the Golden Hall, and before he had time to say goodbye to the Secretary of State, with whom he had spoken at length for a while, more than one Venetian merchant had come up with various excuses to come up and get close to him.

It's a big business for the supply of thousands of troops, and it is said that it is still guaranteed by the Venetian government, so I am not afraid that this transaction will not be able to recover the money.

In the eyes of many Venetians, Alexander has gone from being a legendary hero to a fat sheep.

But what no one expected was that while a large group of Venetian merchants were waiting for the Count's reply, a news that surprised everyone completely shattered the Venetians' dream of making a fortune.

A negotiating group of three Jews who appeared at Alexander's residence at an unknown time actually engaged in a secret negotiation with the Count, and then the Jews actually made an unbelievable offer to the Earl, they would provide the Count's army with an interest-free long-term loan, the exact amount of which was unknown, but they did inquire about the repayment period: anytime in the next 16 years.

When they heard the news, the Venetian merchants were furious!

This is malicious competition, this is breaking the rules of the market, and this is to make everyone unable to play!

The merchants rang the bell in front of the Doge's palace in anger, and they decided to take the shameless Jews who burrowed like rats to court.

Only this time it didn't give those Jews a chance to stand in the courtroom and shout "If you hurt us, we will cry too; If you poke us with a knife, we will also bleed, aren't we the same as you? Such a famous sentence, but the Count of Montina sent a statement to the court.

In this statement, Alexander paid tribute to the Venetian merchants' dedication to money, and expressed sufficient confidence that the court would deal with the dispute openly and fairly, before emphasizing in the statement that the money he had received from the Jews would soon be purchased in Venice, and that his appetite would expand because of the abundance of funds.

"In addition to the equipment that the soldiers need, I will buy more artillery, vehicles, and horses, and if I can get permission from the Venetian government, I will also consider buying a certain number of warships, because I need to make sure that my army can protect my interests in the Mediterranean."

As soon as this statement was made, the Venetian merchants instantly changed from anger to laughter, and they praised the count's generosity, and secretly rejoiced that the Jews knew of the advance, and the Venetian government seemed to be very pleased with the result, so that all parties were satisfied, and the lawsuit was settled.

In one street, three Jews walked unhurriedly, an old man with squinted eyes and a man, whose ears were as sharp as Gothic towers, sighed from time to time, and the Jews, who walked with a thick code in his hand and did not forget to recite the terms, kept his lips moving.

"Joseph, do you really think it's worth it?" The pointed-headed Jew finally couldn't help but speak, and he had tried to hold back since he had been allowed to leave Alexander's dwelling, but now he asked, "The risk we have to take is too great, even for the sake of the triple crown is not worth it." ”

"Of course it's not worth it for the triple crown," Joseph Buccini smiled as he closed his book, "and we offered our allegiance to the Archduchess Alexandra, which amounted to preparing a back garden for us in Wallachia, and offering money to the Count in the hope of being rewarded for him, but it was not enough. ”

"It's not enough, do you want us to take all the pants to help that playboy, who doesn't know that his current trouble is not actually outside but his own home, I now have some suspicions that he has been spending time in Venice because he doesn't dare to go back to Rome."

"Then we'll help him get back to Rome." Joseph Buccini said to the old man, who had been just listening to their arguments, "Daddy, I want to go to Naples." ”

"Oh, why?" The old Jewish man asked, but he didn't look surprised.

"I have studied the history of the Count of Montina, and I have found that everything about him started in Naples, including the free trade zone that now seems to be pervasive, so I wanted to go to Naples and see what was going on there, and maybe we could get unexpected surprises from there."

The old man thought for a moment, ignored the pointed top of his head that seemed to be about to show his objection, but nodded silently, and then walked slowly forward alone.

"Joseph, you might kill us all," Pointed Crown sighed helplessly, and then asked in a low voice, "but what do you think Naples will have?" ”

"I don't know yet, but where it all started, and I think maybe something will be discovered."

"Good luck with that, but you're right, the triple crown is really not worth the price we have to pay, and in that case, we can't let our investment go for nothing." Pointed head looked at the night and said.

Alexander, who had sent the Jews away, did not know what decision the three men had made after leaving, and he stayed by Sophia's side all night.

Because of the imminent separation, and because of the sudden pregnancy, Sophia, who was already grumpy, became even more irritable, especially when she heard that a woman came to visit her door suddenly at night, her first action was to look back at the short crossbow placed on the dresser next to the bed.

Alexander stopped Sophia's atrocity in time, and it took a while of comfort for him to escape.

But even he was very curious, so when he went into the side hall and saw the woman standing in front of the window looking out at the twilight outside, Alexander groaned a little before he asked, "I didn't expect to meet you in Venice, Lady Connieo." ”