Once again, the eyes of all of Europe were in the same place.

The last time this happened was when the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II besieged Bucharest, and the whole of Europe watched the city with bated breath, especially Emperor Maximian, who was more concerned than anyone else about the outcome of that war, because if Bucharest fell, it would be his Vienna who would be in danger next.

Fortunately, a miraculous victory completely shattered Bayezid II's dreams, and with the Sultan himself mortally wounded on the battlefield, Europe was at least certainly safe for some time.

As for the Ottoman army at sea, which was still poised to invade the Venetian islands, it seemed a bit far away for many Europeans and seemed to be left alone.

But at the end of August 1499, in Varese, in northern Italy, in the interior of Europe, the collision of two continental giants caught everyone's attention.

A French army of 42,000 men, led by King Louis XII of the Kingdom of France, and an Austrian army of about 35,000 men commanded by the Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke Maximian of Austria, met in the hills between Varese and Lake Como in the largest major war between European powers since the Hundred Years' War between England and France.

Maximian sent one of his court officials, and even at the last moment he hoped to resolve the seemingly inevitable battle by means of détente, which for the Emperor was more of a desperate option, except for the promise to Milan, whose interests in Italy, at least for now, had not been lost to the point of direct confrontation with Louis XII.

However, the reason why he chose to admit it for the time being is more because of his poor financial situation.

The Fugger family seemed to be unable to count on it, and the family was now preoccupied with their own affairs, and bad news continued to come about the Hungarian copper mines, which were said to have been publicly pledged by the Duke of Zagreb, who had just become King of Bosnia, to protect the copper mines in Hungary, and the beneficiaries of the mines seemed to be some previously unknown but now well-known Roman merchant.

In short, nothing is worry-free, and what makes Maximian most uneasy is his army.

The Austrian army that sent to Italy was made up of a part of the army led by Maximian himself to suppress the Swiss, and another army that had been stationed on the western border of the Archduchy of Austria.

The bankruptcy of the Fugger family put the emperor's finances in an embarrassing situation, although he did not have to hurry to repay the sum of money he had borrowed from the Fugger family, and in fact he never planned to repay the money, but suddenly without financial support, the emperor suddenly found that his army seemed to be a little too much.

The Austrian army can recruit about 48,000 to a maximum of more than 60,000 men when needed, which is already a bit unbearable for Maximian, but because of the support of Fugger, he didn't have to worry about too much military spending, but now he needs to think about what to pay his soldiers in a few months.

So Maximian did not want a full-scale war with the French, because it would be too much for him to bear.

Maximian hoped that Louis XII would respect his status, and as for Ludvico in Milan, Maximian would support him only because he feared that the French would be detrimental to him once they took root in Italy, and if the French king could guarantee that his interests would not be infringed upon, Maximian would not be too stubborn to side with Ludvico.

However, to the emperor's disappointment, Louis XII was as stubborn and domineering as his annoying predecessor, and the French king not only refused the emperor's euphemism of respecting the rights and interests of the Sforza family, but even openly demanded that Maximian withdraw from Italy.

"Because it's an internal matter for the rightful heirs of Milan."

In the face of this situation, the emperor knew that if he really obediently withdrew his troops, then he would simply rush into the court in Vienna and hide from people, and never think of mixing again, which was absolutely unacceptable to Maximian.

There is often only one result that cannot be negotiated, and what cannot be obtained at the negotiating table can only be obtained on the battlefield.

Although the Austrian army was showing signs of cutting off its retreat, Louis XII was not worried, knowing that he had more troops than the enemy and far outnumbered his opponents, which made Louis XII feel confident, but most importantly he had heard rumors that the emperor seemed to be in a financial crisis.

In this era, secrecy is often not very important, and some news that does not involve specific secrets can be discussed in front of people casually, not to mention that the news about the emperor's big patron is in trouble has already spread, and now looking at Maximian's impatience to take the initiative to solve the problem, Louis XII quickly guessed the predicament that the emperor is facing now.

After sternly rejecting Maximian's proposal, Louis XII was in no hurry to mobilize his army, he began to build field fortifications and semi-permanent camps, and at the same time he ordered an army to return to Milan.

Having declared himself the ruler of Milan, Louis XII was not in a hurry to loot the art treasures and the wealth he had accumulated over the years, and now he sent people back to collect the wealth for military spending.

Louis XII was ready for a long confrontation with the Emperor, until he finally brought down Maximian, who was now exhausted.

The French king's plan did not hide Maximian, or Louis did not intend to hide his plan from the beginning, watching the team of workers summoned by the French camp start to work in full swing, Maximian is in a dilemma.

He couldn't do without money, and he didn't have much left in his purse.

As the weather gradually cooled, the barracks were bound to increase the equipment for the autumn period, which made the emperor realize that he could not delay it any longer.

Maximian made up his mind.

On 4 September, Austrian troops launched the first attack.

A Bohemian light cavalry hired by the Austrians took advantage of the early morning mist to raid a French position near the southwest bay of Lake Como.

It was the far right flank of the French army, and the Austrians chose it mainly because their Bohemian light cavalry on the other side of Lake Como was familiar with the area.

For the surprise attack of the Austrians, the French army began to panic a little.

This was due to the fact that Louis XII himself and the ordinary soldiers below were somewhat underestimated, and they thought that the Austrians, who were inferior in strength, would not take the initiative to provoke trouble, and perhaps the Austrians would be happy to thank God when they saw the French army on the defensive.

This time, however, the French were clearly mistaken, and soon after the news of the Austrian attack reached Louis XII, the bad news came that the position at Lake Como had been lost.

Louis XII was completely enraged, although he knew that Maximian's eagerness to engage and that he should implement the correct tactics of delaying, but as the first real battle after his accession to the throne, Louis XII also had reasons why he could not accept the challenge.

The King of France summoned his generals, and after some debate, on 5 September the French army began to advance on Varese, which had been occupied by Austrian troops.

Louis XII had already decided, just as Maximian was going to cut off his retreat back to France from the direction of Turin, so he was to cut off the Emperor's retreat to Austria, and it was up to him to decide who would abandon his original plan to find the other side for a decisive battle.

His Holiness proved to be more prudent and decisive.

When it was learned that the French army was advancing towards Varese instead of Turin, where his main force was located, Maximian, who had just arrived in Varese, had to order the Austrian army, which had planned to advance southeast from Turin, and directly threaten the rear of the French army, to quickly move closer to Varese.

The war between the two European powers broke out, and at this time only one person in the whole of Europe knew that it would be a long war that lasted for almost three generations for 60 years.

It's just that although he knows about this major event in history, this person is now having a little trouble of his own, so he doesn't care about the war between France and Austria for the time being.

Compared to the direct collision of two European powers, the battle in Romagna is insignificant, although not for the parties involved, but even in the Vatican, people talk more about the war between the two countries.

Caesar had returned to Rome, but had been carried back.

He was not wounded in the battle, either by luck or because the bullets and arrows of the Montina were avoiding him, and Caesar left Ferrara intact.

Perhaps because of his pride, Caesar finally fell ill from the tension of these days, hesitation, and the merciless blows of defeat after seeing Gompati send someone to return the captured military flag.

Because the weather suddenly cooled down and it rained, Caesar had a high fever and sometimes talked nonsense, so when he returned to Rome, the young Duke Valentino looked really bad.

Alexander VI, overjoyed at the safe return of his son, and indescribably angry at what had happened to Caesar, wrote Caesar's tragic appearance to Lucrezia in detail, and at the end of the letter the Pope could not help but write: "Now that your lover has been victorious, I suggest that you should begin to think calmly about what to do next. Otherwise you are so mean to your own family, I even doubt that you are my daughter"

Frightened by her father's harsh rebuke, Lucrezia hurriedly ordered her to pack for her and rush back to Rome to visit her ailing brother, but before her party could depart, a letter from Montina pressed her back to the regency of Pisa.

Barendi's letter was still written coldly and without much enthusiasm, and in fact there was really nothing to say between her and Lucrezia.

This has been the case since they were both in Rome, under the wings of their respective fathers, Lucrezia was always like the brightest sun in the eye, and Barendi was the most inconspicuous star, and sometimes when I think about it, Barentia thinks that even if she and the bohemian girl may still find something to talk about, as for Lucrezia, she can't talk about it.

"The French will not come for a while, Tuscany and Romagna, who do you think should rule at this time, or do you think it will be a repeat of this farce in the near future?" Barondi's letter unceremoniously mocked the Pope's father and son: "So in order to prevent this from happening again, I suggest that you reiterate our previous proposal to the Pope as soon as possible, and this time I don't think there will be much more difficulty." Remember, this is a rare opportunity to lay the final nail in Alexander's reign in Romagna and Tuscany. ”

Lucrezia, who received the letter, gradually calmed down, and knew that Barentia's suggestion was to reintroduce Mahimo to take over Ferrara, so that the city would at least nominally belong to the Papal Domain, but in essence Ferrara would be under Montina's rule.

Barentia's ambitions seem to be more than that: she proposed that Massimo be in charge of Ferrara, but also that Busaco withdraw from Bologna, that is, that Bologna be returned to the diocese of Ferrara, and that Montina would compensate the Holy See with a generous indemnity for the losses that Bologna might suffer during the occupation.

"Barentia della Rovere." Looking at this letter, Lucrezia was a little timid, and she thought that if she returned to Rome with such conditions, perhaps Alexander VI would really deny her daughter out of anger.

But as the letter says, Lucrezia was well aware that this was a rare opportunity, important to Alexander, to her, and to their daughter Estelles.

However, Lucrezia did not exactly follow Barentia's instructions, and while she sent Barentia's conditions to Ulliu and Massimo in Rome, she wrote all this as a secret letter to send someone to Naples by ship, and she was going to complain to Alexandria.

Lucrezia felt that Barentia's request was excessive, and after hearing about this request, Alexander's mind came to mind an oriental idiom "Delong Wangshu".

Busaco's reckless actions brought a crisis to Montina, but what everyone didn't expect was that Barentia took advantage of this crisis to seek greater benefits for Montina, and the most eye-catching thing in the whole process was her unhesitating approach to Tony della Roverre, which not only made many people afraid of Barentina, but also made them see the power of this young woman who has not yet been officially married, but has been recognized as the Countess of Montina.

Of course, Alexander did not think that Barendi's conditions were unreasonable, and after reading in detail the letters sent by the two women almost in equal order, as well as the numerous pieces of information sent by Ullius from Rome, Alexander finally had a detailed impression of the situation.

The French and Austrians were stumbling in northern Italy, which was to be expected, but when Alexander heard the news, he happily spun around with a hoop in his arms, which frightened Schell, who was guarding outside, and quickly separated a few of his servants.

What the attrition between Louis XII's France and Maximian's Austria, the two European powers, would bring, many people did not know at this time, but Alexander knew very well.

While those two countries are vying for European supremacy, the two countries of the Iberian Peninsula in the southwestern corner of Europe will rise rapidly, and at a time when most people's eyes are still stuck in the old world, Spain and Portugal have set their sights on new routes and new worlds on the vast oceans.

The future belongs to the sea, to the new world, Alexander told him again and again, so that whenever he saw him looking out the window in Naples, he would have the illusion that he would sail away at any moment.

"My brother, will you leave me?" Tsusha asked after allowing Pressure Mountain to kiss her on the lips.

"Then you'll have to let me kiss you again before I answer you." Alexander said a little tricky, and it was not until he got his wish that he said to him seriously, "Don't worry, I will not leave you, and I have promised you a completely different world, and I have never forgotten this." ”

"But your trouble now is Romagna, do you think the Pope will promise your wife this ......" Zhosa picked up Barendi's letter and looked at it, and after thinking about it again, she found a more suitable word, "blackmail?" ”

"Ha, this is a blackmail," Alexander smiled a little presumptuously, he sat down and gently brushed the smooth arm of the quill with the silky feathers of the quill, and after the chuckle of the itch, he picked up the letter and read it again, "Barendi's idea is indeed good, but as you said, this is a blackmail, and with what I know of the Pope, he will not easily agree to this condition." ”

"Then what are you going to do, Alexander, I must remind you, if the Aragonese really come soon, then the next thing you have to do is to think about how to deal with Ferdinand, at this time you don't have the extra strength to juggle Naples and Romagna at the same time."

Looking at the increasingly serious expression on his face, Alexander nodded slowly.

Evidently he had spoken of the source of the troubles he was now facing, and with the French invading, it was believed that the arrival of the Aragonese army would not be far off, and perhaps they were already on their way now.

"So this impasse must be resolved as soon as possible, otherwise it will ......"

"Otherwise, even your letters of women accusing each other may bury you." Josha glanced at the jumble of letters on the table, which had been sent from Montina and Pisa these days, mostly one a day, sometimes two or three a day.

Alexander smiled at the rare jealousy of Josha, knowing that she had only done it on purpose.

After much consideration, Alexander began to write back letters to Ulliu, who was in Rome.

In the letter, Alexander wrote: "Find a suitable time for you to meet the cardinals. ”