Lateran Palace, Rome. The night is falling.

In the restaurant, the candlelight is bright. Liang Chongru, the Ming Empire's ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Europa, finally saw a well-decorated dining room with exquisite furniture and paintings on the walls -- it didn't look like a bandit's den at all.

On a long dining table with carved legs and painted surfaces. Liang Chongru also saw the silk tablecloth for the first time, and at first glance it was a high-end product produced in Lin'an, not bought from a stall in Quanzhou.

The various porcelain tableware placed on the dining table are also all bearded and have no defects. Of course, it is not a stall, but a fine product in spring porcelain. The food also looks much finer, with meat and vegetarian dishes, grilled and boiled. And there are spoons and knives, and finally there is no need to tear them with your hands like a bandit.

The host of the host who treats the east looks much more civilized than the kings and knights of Castile and Portugal. They were all cardinals in red robes, not all old men—this made Liang Chongru very strange to arrive, he originally thought that the cardinal archbishop must be highly respected, so only an old man could do it. But the cardinal sitting in the dining room today has a young man who is a little unspeakable, as if he is not yet twenty years old.

Can you be a cardinal archbishop under the age of twenty? Seems like it's possible!

There is no minimum age to be a cardinal, so there have been many young and promising archbishops and cardinals in the history of the Ecumenical Church. For example, the most powerful pope in the history of Christianity, Innocent III, became a cardinal archbishop in his twenties and became pope at the age of thirty-eight. In addition, the historical Pope Leo X was a precocious figure. He became an archbishop at the age of 8 and a cardinal at the age of 14. And the reason why this young bishop came to fruition so early. Mainly because he had a prominent surname, the Medici, and he was a member of the Medici family in the Florentine Republic. Later, he also became the patriarch of the family.

And now the Medici of Florence has not yet risen, and the young cardinal who accompanied Liang Chongru to dinner in the Lateran Palace came from Doria, Genoa. Doria's cousin, Giovanni. Doria. The relationship between the Doria family and the Holy See was relatively good, and the late Pope Clement IV, in order to contain the rising Venice, deliberately promoted a Doria to be a cardinal, and appointed him as a deputy justice.

At the banquet, Bishop Pontaléon told Liang Chongru in Chinese that the young cardinal represented the maritime power of Genoa. He will be one of the 18 cardinals who will stand for the papal election - 100 cardinals should theoretically be in the election, but in the process of implementation, there are often many people who are unable or unwilling to come for various reasons - and only 18 will be confirmed for the upcoming papal election council. Giovanni. Doria and Pontareón are both among the 18.

In addition, the influence of the young cardinal cannot be ignored. After all, the Doria family is the richest family in Europa today, and there is no one. ”

Because none of the Europa natives present here speak Chinese except for Pontaleon. Therefore, Pontaléon could freely discuss the bribery of the pope with Liang Chongru in Chinese.

"This young man will definitely come to visit His Excellency the Ambassador tonight." He gently turned the glass wine glass in his hand, as if he was introducing the wine to Liang Chongru. "And he's one of the few cardinals I can't buy."

Of course, a Genoese Doria can't be bought by a few small money, and he is the richest man in Europa.

"He's going to negotiate the price with the official?"

"Yes," Pontalion laughed, "though he won't sign a contract." But he will still keep his promise. ”

"What would he want?"

"Their family is the overlord of the Western Mediterranean, and transporting goods from the East to Gibraltar is their most important and stable source of income," Pontaléon said. If...... If you allow them to underwrite the Oriental goods destined for Macao, they will become staunch allies of the Ming Dynasty. ”

"You can give them a fifty percent share." Liang Chongru said. "Fifty percent of them belong to Venice!"

Pontalion shrugged and smiled and pointed at a man with white hair. The old fellow who seems to be blind in his eyes too, "He's Bobona. Ossini. The Orsini family was one of the most powerful families in Rome. Although he doesn't have a lot of money, he is an old fool, his uncle was the pope, and he wants to be a one. ”

"Oh." Liang Chongru looked at the old blind man and thought to himself, if this old man became the pope, Kublai Khan would probably come to Rome to be the Great Khan.

"He was stubborn, but he was a good father, and he had four illegitimate children, each of whom needed a piece of inheritance. His purpose in becoming pope was to arrange the future of his sons. If His Excellency the Ambassador can arrange one or two, he will support me as Pope. If I can get the support of him and the Doria family, plus my vote, there are six other cardinals who have already confirmed their support for me. I have nine votes, and if I make some proper deals, the Pope will be in my hands. ”

It turned out that he had already used the money from Alfonso X's slave trade to buy off six cardinal archbishops!

That's how the Pope was chosen! Liang Chongru and Wen Tianxiang both shook their heads in their hearts, and at the same time thought of the emergence of the chief Heavenly Daoist envoy of the Heavenly Daoist Sect -- now that the "Christ" of the Heavenly Daoist Sect is still in the world, the chief Heavenly Daoist envoy will naturally be decided by Chen Dexing. But what about the future? Is it also necessary to elect a chief celestial envoy by a dozen or dozens of Heavenly Daoists using behind-the-scenes trading to bribe the Pope, just like the indigenous people of Europa elected the Pope?

After returning to Daming, you must talk to the sage about it...... Thinking of this, Liang Chongru frowned and asked Attaleon, "Bishop, how does this official arrange for the sons of this old bishop?" This official is just an envoy, do you want this official to recommend his son to the Ming sage? ”

"No, no, no, we can arrange for one of them to be the monarch of the Crusader states."

"How?"

"A marriage, marry a princess of the Duchy of Antioch, and then reclaim Antioch."

Antioch was the small Crusader state that was conquered by Baibers last year, and it was located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea near the peninsula of Asia Minor, with excellent ports. It was close to the border of the Ilkhanate of the Mongols.

Liang Chongru frowned deeply, is this a matter...... It's really not easy. Is it going to start a war? Sending the Swiss and Black Forest natives to fight on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean?

"You don't need to fight." Pontalion smiled at Liang Chongru, "It can be resolved through diplomatic means." ”

"Diplomacy?"

"Antioch is nothing but an empty city, and Baibers will not hold on...... If the Ming wanted a stronghold from which to attack the Ilkhanate, he was willing to sign a secret peace treaty with him. He would be willing to give up Antioch. ”

Can it be like this!?

Liang Chongru was stunned and stunned. He can be regarded as a first-class diplomat in the East, but when he meets the natives here in Europa, who are used to playing together, they are not as good as the Warring States (they are in the troubled times of the Warring States, of course, diplomatic skills are important, and they must be stronger than Huaxia, which has been unified for more than a thousand years), and he is really ashamed of himself!

The diplomacy of these Europa natives can really be said to be aimed at achieving the goal, unscrupulous to the extreme, and on the surface, it does not lose its benevolence. You have to learn from others......

……

The dinner was eaten for a long time, and the atmosphere was very dull, and it was not over until Liang Chongru almost fell asleep. By this time it was already dark, and the members of the Ming mission were kept in the Lateran Palace by the enthusiastic bishops, supposedly because the night road was not safe.

At this time, the population of Rome was only about 100,000, and the large cities that once had a population of one million (after BC) were now very empty, and there were many thieves, and it was not safe to walk at night - would it be safe to have a battalion of Swiss mercenaries to protect them? Could it be that all the thieves of Rome were gladiators?

However, Liang Chongru didn't care about this little thing, and happily stayed in a very luxuriously furnished room.

Big night, I don't know how to sleep, but with Niccolò, who has just arrived from the Embassy in Venice. Polo whispered something as he drank the wine offered by the Holy See.

"Venice and Genoa have apparently reconciled, and today I met a Doria in the Venetian embassy."

"Venice and Genoa are very interested in the continent of Mingzhou and the new shipping route to the East, and it is estimated that they will start building multi-masted galleons for ocean-going exploration."

"Venice and Genoa may ask for each other's ambassadors, and the funds for sending ambassadors to the Ming are nothing to them."

"These two countries are very welcome to the future big war and are expected to become active participants......

"What?" Liang Chongru listened to Niccolò's report, heard that Genoa and Venice wanted to explore the ocean, but raised his eyebrows slightly, and heard that these two countries welcomed the war, but suddenly interrupted and asked, "What do they welcome?" ”

"Of course, war is welcome...... The Christian union of the Ming Dynasty to go to war with the Mongols was something they welcomed! ”

"Why?"

"Of course it's for money, war means that there is war money to be made!"

"Welcome war in order to get rich!?" Rao is Liang Chongru, a heartless pseudo-Confucian, who was also shocked by the greed of Venice and Genoa.

"Uh......" Niccolò quickly changed his unbearable expression, "Ambassador, this is indeed a bit too mercenary. But...... With the support of Venice and Genoa, it was always beneficial for the Christian nations to be more motivated to go to war. ”

At this moment, there was a sudden knock at the door, followed by the Italian spoken in Genoa: "Mr. Ambassador, I am Cardinal Giovanni. Doria, can I come in? (To be continued......)