Vol 3 Chapter 119: Pawn!

On January 14, 1497, the very good weather became slightly cloudy at noon. When we had lunch at almost 2:00, a sudden heavy rain came unexpectedly, and the sky suddenly became a leak The sink was dropped.
The cold rain washed the entire city directly, and the sky became dark. Some wealthy people even had to light candles to eat.
People who are outside have to return to the house. The street is full of rainwater that has turned into a stream. Some people who ca n’t go home can only step on the foot of the rainwater. , Endure the icy cold from the wet feet and continue walking on the road.
Due to the uneven terrain of Rome, many places soon gathered up deep rain. Pedestrians and carriages had to go around the road. For a while, some places that were not spacious but still accessible became crowded.
A carriage was slowly moving among the crowd that was moving slowly. Although the guard in front of the vehicle had announced the identity of the adult on the car aloud, but because there were too many people on the road, there was no one to hear this. The name of the adult took the initiative to make way out, and perhaps because of the pride that the Romans were used to, no one was willing to take the initiative to make way for a bishop from Sicily.
The contempt for outsiders made Bishop Alfonso of Palermo deeply understand the arrogance of the Romans. Even the lowest-level Romans seemed to permeate this indelible arrogance in their bones, so that they disdain A Bishop of Palermo gave way.
Although Alfonso was a little annoyed, it made him admire the pope of the archbishop of Valencia.
As we all know, when Alexander VI came to Rome from Valencia to serve as the cardinal position that his uncle got for him, the foreigner with a strong Aragonese accent only received contempt and mistrust. At that time, no one thought that this person could do something earth-shattering in Rome, let alone think that this flowered church from Valencia would become the supreme ruler of the entire Christ world 20 years later.
However, Alexander VI did, he did a great job in the cardinal office, and then he finally took the pope throne by straightforward bold bribery and various conspiracy methods, and not long after he became the pope. , Using his identity as the supreme ruler of all Catholic believers to launch a series of dazzling diplomatic skills, the result is that with a ruling on the maritime affairs of Portugal and Spain that had a profound impact on all people at that time, He completed a major move to divide a papal meridian.
To this day, the pope from Valencia has become the real master of the Vatican. Even if he is openly seeking benefits for his illegitimate children, no one dares to stand up to resist. Although his mistress and illegitimate girl Many people despise it as "the bride of Christ" or "the princess of Rome", but this name is not the default and envy of Alexander VI's powerful authority.
Alfonso felt that Alexander VI was his role model. Although he disagreed with the man's vain private life, but also as a noble and bishop from Spain, he felt that he might not be the second Alexander VI.
The road ahead was finally cleared, and the carriage began to move forward slowly with the rapid flow of rain. Because the accumulated water was too deep, every time the body swayed, there was water pouring back into the gap near the door. Alfonso ’s shoes were fast. It was already soaked, because of the cold, he had to put his legs away. Just as he secretly cursed the ghost weather, a rapid horseshoe sound suddenly came from behind the carriage, and quickly rushed to the carriage.
"Give up! Give way to the messenger!" An Alfonso sounded a little familiar sound behind the carriage. He looked a bit strangely, but he didn't see the figure, just when he was about to ignore it, The anxious voice shouted again to the driver who gave him the wheel. "Give up, immediately give way to Lord Gonzalo's messenger!"
Alfonso thought of it all at once, and he knew why he thought the sound sounded familiar. That was because the accent of the speaker made him familiar, and it should be an Aragonese.
Gonzalo's messenger?
This suddenly drew Alfonso's attention.
Ever since he had hooked up with the French but gave the cunning French guy a pit once, Alfonso has not had any relationship with the French for a long time, but he has had to agree to become a cardinal. After Li An's suggestion, he could not help caring about the French.
It is said that the French had a bad time this winter. Although the French army surrounded in the suburbs of Piedmont had abruptly received a large amount of food as a supplement to spend the most difficult days, but the situation did not have to eat. How much better, the low morale made the French see no hope, and the French generals did not dare to make a decision arbitrarily because the king was not around, although many people already understood that withdrawal was the only way out, but because at least In the name Rome was still controlled by the French, so no French general dared to order the withdrawal of troops before the king agreed.
Gonzalo, as the commander of the coalition forces, clearly saw the embarrassment of the French. Because of this, he strictly ordered the coalition forces stationed outside the city of Rome not to attack, and sometimes even avoided the appearance of being surrounded. They just need to be honest in the camp on their side, and the reason why Gonzalo did this was soon understood.
Obviously, the guy who was favored by the Queen of Castile completely saw the French, so he deliberately put the French into a dilemma. It seems that to get rid of Rome, just march to Rome. However, everyone knows that this is impossible, but no one dared to give orders to return to France, so the French spent the whole winter in this depressed frustration.
Now Gonzalo's messenger suddenly appeared in Rome. Does this mean that the war that lasted for nearly a winter, will have a result?
Alfonso couldn't help getting nervous. He didn't care about the destiny of the French, but he was a little worried about his future. After all, if the French were really miserable, he might lose a strong patron.
Alfonso ordered the driver to make way for the messenger while looking at the door. When he saw the two guards surrounded by a knight who was wrapped in a thick blanket of cold protection, he immediately said to the man loudly, "God bless you Child, are you the messenger of General Gonzalo? "
Perhaps it was the same Aragon accent that drew the man ’s attention. He originally shrunk his head and face in the blanket and headed out to look in the carriage. When he saw that a bishop was talking to him, the man immediately Bending over to salute, and answering aloud at the same time: "Thank God, yes, respected Bishop, I am the servant military officer around the count."
Alfonso nodded. He knew that this man said that the earl should be Gonzalo. In his early years, because of his outstanding performance in the recovery of the lost ground war, Queen Isabela was very generous with his favorite general Reward, and the Earl of Gonzalo was sealed by the Queen at that time.
"So what about the front line now, I heard it was in Piedmont, right? The French are there."
"No adult, that's already before," the attendant seemed excited because he saw the fellow, he slowed down the horse and moved forward with the carriage "Now the French have retreated from the suburbs of Piedmont, but they did not enter the city , That ’s because the Piedmontese refused to enter the city. This is so funny. This time they did n’t even dare to talk about their palace. Because the Piedmontese were afraid of being attacked by the coalition forces, they threatened their palace. If you dare to agree to the French entering the city, you will overthrow him. "
"Oh," Alfonso jumped in his heart, which was not good news, but he continued to ask, "Where did the French go, have you returned to France?"
"No," the attendant was obviously very excited. He probably felt that it was too rude to talk to a bishop in this way, so he simply lifted the blanket away from his body, revealing a delicate red coat inside. Seeing Alfonso Suo seemed to be attracted by his coat, and the attendant said with a flamboyant tone, "This was seized from a Frenchman. They rushed away like a frightened rabbit. When the French knight master was captured by me, even I did n’t even wear the armor, otherwise I would get a good set of French armor. "
Alfonso nodded absently. His mood was a bit bad. I didn't expect the French to be so easy to fight. Can't they insist on it, at least until he becomes a cardinal.
"The French are now retreating to Nice. It is said that the French king went there to prepare to reorganize his army, but even if he came, it would be useless. The army of Lord Gonzalo is invincible. I'm sorry. , I want to send this news to the Vatican. "The attendant shouted proudly, and then he saluted Alfonso, and then urged the horse to run forward with his men.
Looking at the messenger running all the way, Alfonso's original good mood was somewhat affected, even if it is indeed a very important day for him today, but this news made him a little inaccurate.
Alfonso's carriage left the crowd and went up a slightly upward slope. The streets here suddenly narrowed, and the buildings on both sides suddenly became messy.
This is the Jewish quarter.
Alfonso didn't care that he would be found. The city of Rome was too big and he wasn't an attractive person. Even if someone happened to see him passing by, he would only think he was wearing a short pass Just go to the Vatican, after all, many people go like this.
An unassuming carriage had long been waiting. When Alfonso got off, someone came over to greet him. After getting in the car, the carriage started to walk through the rugged alleys until it finally stopped at the door of a shop. .
The elderly Jews in the house had been waiting for a long time, and they saw that Alfonso was a little secretly relaxed, but then they became curious again because they could n’t understand how the bishop There will be something that makes them dumbfounded.
At the invitation of the other party, Alfonso sat down. He did n’t actually want to meet these Jews. If it was n’t Clariant who said it was part of the agreement before he left, he did n’t want to see these guys who made money by loan sharks. The reputation is too stinky.
And now he didn't want to talk much, so he waved to the driver who was silent beside him.
Several Jews had already paid attention to the driver with a pair of masks, but they all thought that this man might be a follower, and they also noticed a very strict wooden box in his hand.
That should be the "collateral" inside, and the Jewish eyes could not help shining.
Seeing the box on the table, Alfonso glanced curiously. When Clian told him to use this thing as a mortgage for this loan, Alfonso was really curious about what it was worth. A large sum of money, and now seeing this person arranged by Clean put the box house on the table, he couldn't help but look a few more times.
"This gentleman, please forgive me for not calling your honorary title directly, because I think it is good for both of us," said an elderly Jew who finished seeing the nod of Alfonso ’s approval and took out a few pieces of paper After closing the contract, he first looked at the candle to confirm the content, and then he began to remember the terms in it ... According to the above terms, the lender will provide a total of 12,000 gold florins, the interest is 4 dividends per month, according to the agreement will be repaid within the 6-month period, it is expected to add 1 additional dividend, guaranteed by the collateral provided by the borrower, but the collateral can not be used as a deadlock, the borrower has the right to Can pay back the collateral after repaying all principal and interest ... "
Although the old man's voice was ambiguous and he read it slowly, he still read it one by one. After finally reading all the contents, he slowly pushed the contract to Alfonso.
"Adult, you can look at these terms now, we can wait without worrying."
Alfonso frowned. He did n’t even know what to think of these terms. He did n’t even know what deal Klein had with these Jews. When he heard that the interest was actually 4 cents a month, and expected When he wants to add more, he even wants to stand up and turn around immediately, knowing that even if Alexander VI had to pay the bankruptcy of the entire Cardinal Council in order to become a pope, he almost went bankrupt, and he did not rely on usury.
But the strange masked man secretly held his shoulder, and the guy's strength was strong, which made Alfonso suddenly realize that the person who borrowed the money didn't seem to be himself.
The mask man slowly picked up the contract on the table. He looked at it under the unexpected gaze of several Jews, and then took the pen on the table and quickly signed a name in the space below.
The Jews were surprised. They did n’t know how the entourage would blend in. But soon they were attracted by the mask man ’s hand on the wooden box, and everyone ’s eyes became hot. Alfonso could not help turning his head curiously to the mysterious box.
"This thing will temporarily be there for you," the mask man said for the first time. His voice was low and indifferent. It was completely different from Krian's tone with the slick and uninteresting tone of a businessman. It ’s a priceless treasure. "
"Of course ~ EbookFREE.me ~ We will do our best to protect it." The Jewish man named Isaac who was connected to Krian before said nervously, he clenched his fist hard, although he knew that this thing was not It may belong to them, but always having the immense meaning behind this thing, Isaac feels that he has done a good deed for all Jews.
The lock of the wooden box was removed, and the lid was gently opened while everyone was watching.
Several lights flashed under the candlelight, and when seeing what was inside, all the Jews couldn't help but breathe and blush, and Alfonso was completely stunned by the accident and shock!
It was a crown inlaid with many gems, and the huge ruby ​​in the center of the crown exudes a magnificent and splendid glory, and the cross on the crown is embellished by a few brilliant gems. .
But these precious stones are not the most important although they are precious.
What really makes everyone dumbfounded is the unique shape of this crown because it has three different levels.
This is a triple crown!