The blue waves rippled, and the sea of Tirenian was now floating a little green light, and the huge hull of the ship rose and fell in the sea, like a huge cradle of intricate workmanship, which made the people on board feel a sense of drowsy fatigue.

Massimo sat in the corner of the cabin, and in front of him was a plank fixed to the wall that could be flipped down at any time, and he could lay it flat and write on it if he needed.

Brother Massimo, the keeper of the lighthouse, the lord of Agri, a close confidant of Combrai, Count of Montina, his personal priest and foreign minister, are all well known, and as for being an out-and-out informer, this is known very little.

Massimo has been doing well lately, although he has had nothing to do since Alexander left Naples, but what makes him proud is that his "talent" was soon discovered by the lord's sister, and Masha not only gave him no less trust than Alexander, but also became a close confidant of Count Cosenza as he traveled around for the 'free trade zone'.

This made the monk sigh more than once that "the light of gold can never be stopped", and he did not forget to pick up his pen and write one informant letter after another to his master.

Asseimo had a little privilege on the ship, he could occupy a small corner of the limited space by himself, and the moment he put down the plank and sat down, Massimo always had the illusion of being in the ornate office of the royal palace, but now he did not care to enjoy this beautiful fantasy, but wrote anxiously.

"My lord, your honorable ......" had already prepared the beginning, but looking at the limited two pieces of paper in his hand, Massimo decided to save a little, "My lord, Miss Countess is ordering a change of course to Rome, please be prepared." ”

After writing these sentences, Massimo carefully cut out the letter and put it away, and then began to write a report to Alexandria that had passed through the Shosha Mission.

Sitting on the boat with her body slightly tilted, her eyes fell on the port of Santa Lucia, which was already drifting away, the sea was a little cold this season, but it was not so cold, feeling the sea breeze with a hint of warmth, she raised her hand to hold the blonde hair that was flowing behind her head.

There was a steady footstep on the board, and Josha turned her head slightly to see Connie.

This woman has been with Josa since she left Taranto, and no one can say what her identity is, if it is to say that she is the female companion of Miss Count, Josa is obviously very indifferent to her, but if she is a maid, her identity is a little detached.

Connie didn't care about this awkward status, she soon became familiar with the people around Josa, and people found out that this woman was also very smart, she obviously knew very well what role she should play in Miss Count, so after a few months, Connie Ou seemed to be a member of Miss Cosenza's traveling party.

"Have you been to many places?" Josha didn't move, she leaned against the creaking cable behind her, still looking out at the fading harbor.

"Not a lot," Connie said, as if caught up in his memory for a moment, and then said casually, "My father used to take me on a trip in my early years, and he spent all his life savings on the cost of travel, and he even went to the Holy Land. ”

"Jerusalem?" It was a bit of a surprise that Jerusalem was too far away for people of this era, even more distant than the original Crusader era, especially with the rise of the Ottoman Empire and the gradual infiltration of the Ottomans into Egypt, there were fewer and fewer roads to get to the Holy Land, and there were more and more difficulties on the way.

But what really made Jerusalem distant was that the fervent passion for the faith was gone, and the shadow of the Ottoman Empire had long since deprived Europeans of wishful thinking of recovering the Holy Land.

"My father has been to many places," said Connie with some pride, who felt more admirable than the nobles, "He was an adventurous man, and had told me more than once that the Mediterranean was too small, and that he wanted to explore further afield." ”

Jisha nodded and didn't say anything more, she didn't really care about Connie's origin, the reason why she was willing to keep this woman by her side was just because she felt that she should still be useful.

It was Alexander who was more concerned about the idea of how to turn their 'free trade zone' into an alliance.

For nearly one year, what has been seen by others has not been seen for many years, although the free trade zone is still only based on the trade relationship between chambers of commerce, but it has vaguely seen the shadow of another Hanseatic League, or another alliance that is completely different from the Hanseatic League.

"Dear sister, we can build a world that belongs to us."

This is written in Alexander's letter to Josha, I don't know why, every time I see the phrase "dear sister" in the letter, Josa has a slight toothache, and it seems that there is always something inexplicable floating between the lines.

And she couldn't help but notice the phrase "our world" that made her heart palpitate, and she remembered that when she first saw Alexander say this in his letter, the tremor that welled up from the bottom of her heart kept her awake all night.

The establishment of a bank, an exchange that allows the trade of various commodities in advance, and a continuous and common market between various chambers of commerce, she felt that her brother had something strange in mind.

The world is too big, especially when I heard that the Castilians had discovered new shipping routes to the East and a large area of land that seemed to be the Oriental world, but the coastline seemed to be endless, which made those who had been there feel that Europe had suddenly become smaller.

Will that place become "our world"?

"I hear that my brother has declared sovereignty over Montina," Josha said to Conneo, who was sitting opposite, "so do you have any suggestions?" ”

Connie thought about it carefully, there was certainly a reason why she wanted to stay with Jisha.

Her previous defeat at Sonillo forced her to change a lot of plans, and for her, it didn't matter who the lords and kings fought to the death, all she cared about was how to complete her mission as quickly as possible.

"I think you can declare your support for your brother in your capacity as Count of Cosenza," Connie said with a smile and his voice quieter, "and let me say that it may not be appropriate to say that such support will not harm you at all, for neither Milan nor the Venetians can threaten Cosenza, unless they are at war with the Holy See and are enemies of Naples." ”

Josha understood what Conneo meant, and it was clear that the woman was implying that she could refrain from any actual action other than nominal support.

But she doesn't think so.

Massimo walked over, he took the letter to Alexander, which he had recorded when he was with him, and after reading it and nodding, Massimo took the badge that Ashisa had given him, returned to the cabin, dripped hot wax on the edge of the letter, and carefully printed the pattern of the badge on it.

But what no one noticed was that Massimo had tucked a small note into the letterhead.

Looking at the gradually cooling wax seal, the monk finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But soon a sudden order from Tsusha made Massimo suspicious again.

"I don't think I'm supposed to have one person going to Rome," said Shosha who suddenly found Massimo, "Priest, send someone to find a passing merchant ship and send a letter to my uncle, I want to mobilize the army of Cosenza." ”

The monk looked at him in a bit of a daze, he didn't know why the countess had suddenly mobilized Kosenza's army, but he immediately felt the need to report the news to the lord.

So while he was writing to the Count of Mordillo, he hurried back to his 'office' and began to write hastily the following note: "Your lord, your sister is mobilizing her army, and she seems to be about to ......" The monk paused for a moment before continuing to write in a bit of confusion "Marching into Rome." ”

While the friars were worried about the brother and sister, in the Tuylan Palace, Modillo, Count of Naples, was listening to the reports of his men.

"The Count had lunch with His Majesty in the palace, and then he invited the Princess to play in the garden for a while," read a dwarf attendant holding a piece of paper, "during which time the Count seemed to be very enthusiastic towards the Princess, but His Highness reacted with a little indifference. ”

The count was Caesar, and after abruptly renunciating his priesthood two months earlier, Caesar inherited the countdom of Sarato of Valencia, which was also led by Giovanni, and then he went to Naples to get his sister Lucrezia married to Alfonso, Duke of Billy Silly.

Surprisingly, Caesar seemed to suddenly fall into the whirlpool of love after meeting Princess Irina, the daughter of Frederick, King of Naples, and he began to pursue Irina desperately.

However, the father and daughter of the king of Naples were apparently not interested in Caesar Borgia, and the pope's son was unexpectedly coldly treated, and even the marriage of the two families, which was supposed to be quite smooth, was somewhat affected.

"The Count has made a formal request to the King concerning the marriage of the Duke of Billyselly to Lucrezia Borgia," continued his men, looking at the information gathered, "the King does not seem to be opposed to the marriage, at least not for the time being, but rather to the fact that many people think that it may be a rare opportunity." ”

"Opportunity?"

The Earl's fingers, which had been tapping on the armrest, paused slightly, and he looked up at his subordinates with an inquiring look.

"Yes, my lord, everyone thinks that marrying the Vatican will give us a better chance of getting rid of the influence of the King of Aragon."

Looking at the cautious appearance of his subordinates, Count Mordilo made a short "hum" sound from his nose.

"Everyone, so you think so too?" The Count asked, looking at the cronies in front of him.

Noticing the slightly strange attitude in the earl's tone, the cronies couldn't help but show a little surprise on their faces.

For those who are not familiar with Count Mordiglo, many people are very incomprehensible and even angry at his cooperation with the French.

But the people around the Count did not see it that way, in their opinion, the Count did it precisely to save Naples, and it was the Count's efforts that made the Neapolitans a little better off during the period of occupation by the French.

There were many people around the Count who thought so, and they preferred to believe that the Count was burdened with humiliation for the sake of the whole kingdom, and Modillo himself never admitted it, and was often regarded by these people as the humility and bravery of a true knight.

So now it seems that the Count seems to be unimpressed by the alliance with the Vatican in order to get rid of the influence from Aragon, which makes the cronies feel a little surprised.

"My lord, do you think this is impossible?" The cronies asked cautiously.

"An alliance with the Vatican?" The Count asked rhetorically, then shook his head, "If I have to give my opinion, then I can only say that this is really a stupid decision, you must know that both Aragon and Sicily are descendants of the royal family of Trastamara, since this alliance with the Vatican is not a betrayal of the ancestors?" ”

The Count sneered, snorting again, and then he stood up and began to walk up and down the room.

"This marriage will not do us any good," the Count whispered to himself, but his voice was just right to be heard by the people next to him, "I know that many people want the Aragonese to leave our country as soon as possible, but now is not the time, have they all forgotten that there is a powerful enemy watching us?" ”

"Sir, do you mean French?"

The cronies asked tentatively, and when they saw the earl nodding slightly, there was a trace of doubt on the faces of his subordinates.

"Do you think the French will come back so soon, my lord?"

"That's not what I think," Mordillo paused and looked at his men, "it's true, I know Charlie, he's a real careerist and a true gambler, he won't get off the table without losing his last coin, I bet Charlie must be preparing for his new invasion plan at this time, and if I'm not mistaken, maybe we'll hear about him again soon." ”

The Count's words made the faces of the subordinates next to him turn pale, as a person close to Mordillo, he did not doubt at all that the Count's seemingly casual words were nonsense, on the contrary, at this time, his subordinates' foreheads were already soaked with sweat because of the Count's words.

"Do you think the French will return soon, my lord?"

"Yes, soon, and the trouble may be even bigger this time, and it may even be more than many people think."

With that, Count Mordillo paused and sat down around the table.

"Well, go and tell our friends what I mean, and tell them that I do not think that a marriage can bring more help to Naples, knowing that we need the Aragonese now, not against them."

Hearing the Earl's words, although full of doubts, the cronies still bowed away, looking at the closed door, Modillo reached out and pressed the mechanism on the table, and a secret grid popped out of the table.

Two opened letters were taken out of the dark compartment, and the Count read them carefully once more.

“…… Dear uncle, I believe you must be very clear that with the character of the king of France, it can almost be concluded that it is only a matter of time before another invasion is made, so at this time Milan and Venice are actually not a big threat to Romagna, once the French invade again, unless they are willing to become Charles's prisoners, they will have to stop the war with the Vatican, so whether they can really become the master of Montina before the French invasion has become the most important thing for me at the moment, so here I hope to get your help, now it seems, Preventing a marriage is obviously a matter of urgency, because only then will the Pope of the House of Borgia be compelled to choose our side because of his lack of help. ”

Looking at the contents of the letter, Count Mordillo's fingers tapped lightly again.

"You're right," the Count whispered to himself, "but do you really want to be the Count of Montina, or is it just the beginning of your ambitions?" ”