Vol 3 Chapter 157: Competitors

Alfonso was in the middle of the night when he left the Jewish gathering area. Although the dark compartment of the carriage was filled with bags of gold coins again, his face was full of gloom.
The Masked Man did not follow Alfonso this time, so this time the negotiations with the Jews were entirely conducted by him. Because of this, Alfonso was even more disturbed by his worries.
The Jews are very savvy but not generous, but this time they did not make any excessive demands. After offering a loan of nearly 8,000 gold coins, Alfonso has owed a huge debt of almost 20,000 florins. Too.
"Am I going to be a debt bishop?" Alfonso asked himself, or if he was lucky, he might become a debt cardinal, and then he secretly mocked.
The Jews did not put forward any conditions, but this is what made Alfonso uncomfortable. He knew that the Jews should not just greedy the interest. It can be seen from their daring to accept the collateral of the triple crown. Like Li'an, obviously has extraordinary ambitions.
But their gold is really good. Alfonso reached out and touched the soft cushion. In the dark compartment under the cushion, 8,000 florins made him feel his heart beating violently. He believed that with such a large sum of money, it was enough for him A shock was launched on the cardinal throne.
Just thinking of his opponent, Alfonso couldn't help but feel a bit depressed.
Neither Caesar nor Giuliano can compete with him, especially when he heard that Giuliano actually recommended his younger brother to serve as the Archbishop of Genoa, he could not help Giuliano to be a cardinal at all costs. Feeling scared.
Can you compare with those two terrible opponents, until you return to the residence Alfonso is still thinking.
But when he walked into the door and saw the mask man standing in the room, Alfonso could not help but take a deep breath. He realized that whether he was sure or not, he had no way out.
"Become a cardinal, or make these people angry to kill because of the failure to use the value." Alfonso knew that he might face these two endings in the end.
Alfonso started his crazy attack on the throne of the cardinal.
In the Vatican, he met with everyone who thought he might help him. In the city of Rome, he attended banquets again and again. Whenever this time, he always acted generously and generously, and he was pleasing the dignitaries of those churches. At the same time, he will naturally not forget another very important person.
When he saw a rich farm deed given to him by Alfonso, even the arrogant Gonzalo was impressed by Alfonso's thoughtfulness.
He began to make frequent contact with the bishop from Sicily, and he also listened to the bishop's demands from time to time.
Finally at a party, Gonzalo showed interest in Alfonso's proposal to support him as a cardinal.
"There should be more people in the Vatican who can speak for two His Majesty. Sicily has not seen a cardinal for a long time. Not to mention Palermo, that is, the entire Sicilian kingdom seems to no longer be valued by the Holy See, and Sicily is If there is a cardinal on the front line against the pagans, this is of great significance to the Sicilian. "
Perhaps it was Alfonso ’s statement that finally moved Gonzalo, and Gonzalo also began to feel that it was indeed a good idea to support a host from Sicily as a cardinal.
Gonzalo ’s influence was obviously huge. When people heard that he publicly said that Sicily should have a cardinal, they discovered that outside of the two fiercely competitive giants Caesar and Giuliano, I do n’t know when. A new competitor emerged quietly.
Giuliano de la Rovere was somewhat surprised by the emergence of Alfonso.
In his view, his opponent is only one, that is Caesar.
According to the habits that have been formed over the years, the popes of all generations always hope that their family members will one day inherit the pope's throne. This is the case with Giuliano's uncle Sistus IV, and so is Alexander's uncle Gastos III.
Caesar is undoubtedly the greatest hope of the next generation of the Borgia family in the Holy See. After becoming a cardinal at the age of 18, many people know that Caesar is only one step away from becoming a cardinal.
It is impossible for the people of the Pogia family to give up such a good opportunity.
But the emergence of Alfonso made the original Archbishop of Genoa start to be surprised, and what made him even more unexpected was that with the public support expressed by Gonzalo, not only bishops in many places began to show interest in Alfonso, When he learned from the latest news he heard that even the Archbishop of Naples, who had clearly expressed his support before him, seemed to be shaken, Giuliano unexpectedly discovered that Alfonso was actually a rival that could not be ignored!
It was at this time that Alexander was invited again to the Rovere house.
In the spring of March, the already warm weather gave the garden a warmth in the cold. The large roses planted in the flower troughs on the wall made the whole villa look like a luxurious sky garden from the bottom of the mountain.
When Alexander walked into the villa, he happened to see Balendi.
Barendi was cutting a rose with a pair of scissors, and the sun shone on her face, reflecting a layer of light on her slightly light brown skin.
Seeing Alexander, Barendi handed the scissors to the maid next to her. She walked around the flower bed in the middle, stared at Alexander for a while, then nodded gently.
"Is my father asking you to come?"
"Yes." Alexander smiled. Alexander felt a little strange to this young lady of the Rowley family who was not his fiancee.
Although she only left because of her Sophia, Alexander did not hate Barendi, or he knew from the beginning that the young lady of the Lovere family had been stubbornly safeguarding the interests of her own family, whether it was his Fiancee, or their vague relationship nowadays, all for her own family.
Alexander sometimes even wanted to ask Barenti if she had never thought of doing something for herself?
The appearance of Giuliano broke the inexplicable and quiet atmosphere between the two. The former archbishop, dressed in a black coarse robe, casually beckoned to Alexander, and then took the lead through the corridor into a room.
"The marriage contract I previously agreed with the earl included the promise of the Archbishop of Naples," Giuliano made no disguise of his disappointment, his deep eyes were fixed on Alexander, and his slightly angular face showed anger. " But now he has to gossip. I mean the Archbishop of Naples, so I need the count to ensure that this will not happen. "
Alexander quietly nodded. He also heard that Alfonso has been very active recently. The special nickname is that he was supported by Gonzalo, which made Alexander feel a little unexpected.
"In June, I must win the cardinal election in June," Giuliano looked at Alexander. "Persuading the archbishop, you can marry Barenti. Not only can you get the generous dowry I promised her , And also get extra compensation. "
"Maybe you should write to the earl," Alexander said lightly, and hearing the mention of the marriage again, he couldn't help but look at Barendi who was trimming flowers and plants outside. "You should know the influence of Gonzalo in Naples, The king should also respect him, and the archbishop obviously dared not go against his will. "
"So in this case, maybe this thing can help him change his mind again." Giuliano said, picking up a rolled document from the side table and handing it to Alexander. When he saw Alexander's puzzled look, Giuliano gestured to him. Open that document.
A transfer document with many signatures appeared in front of Alexander.
"This is, a power to read?" Alexander whispered looking at the document. When he saw the location of the concession, his eyes narrowed slightly, and then he looked at Giuliano eccentrically. .
"Give Ferrara the ownership of the territory," Giuliano gave a slightly ridiculous chuckle. "I believe that the archbishop will be interested in that place, especially if I get Ferrara, Esther. The family territory can be completely connected. "
Looking at the bitter smile that Giuliano seemed to show because of some helplessness, Alexander couldn't help but glance at the transfer book again.
Ferrara, Alexander remembered very well. Ten years later, the former archbishop in front of him who had to sell his territories in order to become a cardinal, after becoming a famous "God of War", in order to let his son Become the Duke of Ferrara without hesitating to wage war, and his enemies at that time were the Esther family.
Give to get, recapture to get.
Alexander couldn't help looking at Barenti again in the garden. He didn't know if this future Pope Ares had arranged for Barendi's marriage.
"I have to be a cardinal," Giuliano said slightly impatiently to Alexander who was only looking at his daughter. When he saw Alexander looking back, Giuliano leaned forward slightly, with a slightly lowered voice Say "I must get a foothold in the Cardinals as soon as possible because we don't have much time."
Until leaving the villa, Alexander was pondering the meaning of Giuliano.
Obviously Giuliano already knew what.
Then, a few days later, on March 15th, a messenger sent by King Charles VIII arrived at the Vatican.
The arrival of this messenger made many people secretly guess Charlie's intentions. Although he had long heard that he had brought a letter from the king, many people suspected that Charlie did not seem to be peaceful.
Sure enough, Charlie did not reveal any intention to try to reconcile with the Anti-French League in his letter to Alexander VI. On the contrary, he once again asked Alexander VI to publicly acknowledge his ownership of the Naples throne, while he prevented him from the Anti-French League. The act of "acquiring legal power" shows a tough attitude that will never compromise.
This move is undoubtedly meaningless to many people. After all, the failure of the French army in the battle of Piedmont made Charlie lose the possibility of continuing to march to Italy. The king had already returned to France early because of the frustration of the battle. It's sad to go alone.
So in the eyes of ordinary people, Charlie's letter is just a strong gesture for his own face, and he doesn't need to be too serious.
At least in the vast majority of ideas, this war is over.
Only a few people realize that the war triggered by the succession of the Naples throne may have just begun.
And in the eyes of some people, Charlie's letter came at an untimely time, at least Alexander VI thought so.
This was because he was having a headache for Gonzalo's coalition plan.
At the beginning of entering Rome, Gonzalo swept the city in a stormy style, whether it was to treat the pope, to get along with other coalition generals, or in the catharsis of night and night carnival, this The nobles from Castile influenced everyone around them with an almost excessively unrestrained personality. People felt that he had upset the entire seemingly chaotic, but rather boring life in Rome alone. The waves, large and small, let not only the nobles but also the civilians of Rome feel a completely different style from those people and things they were familiar with before.
Gonzalo ’s unassuming duties The military discipline of the vast majority of the coalition army is loose, and the morale is low. He even said publicly at a party that if there is no own army, the French can send the army with an old lady and a dog Beating the water.
This of course caused dissatisfaction among others, but they could not help but admit that in the battle with the French, Gonzalo ’s army did play a key role. As for morale and discipline, looking at Gonzalo ’s branch The army that once showed its talents in the movement to regain the lost ground, people can only assume that what he said is not wrong.
In this way, Gonzalo again presented his coalition plan without losing the opportunity.
According to Gonzalo's idea, in order to prevent the French from invading again, the coalition army should not only retain an army of not less than 40,000 people in preparation for combating the French army at any time, but also arrange this army in advance in the French. The place of invasion.
To this end, Gonzalo even put forward a proposal that many people find unacceptable, that is, to prevent the French from invading again ~ EbookFREE.me ~ and also to punish Piedmont ’s original support for France, he not only asked Pi The Principality of Ermont allowed the coalition forces to pass through the entire territory unconditionally, and proposed that Piedmont surrender at least three castles adjacent to France to the coalition forces as a guarantee.
Gonzalo's proposal caused a lot of controversy in Rome in an instant. While debating whether this proposal was reasonable, many people began to feel afraid of the general.
Obviously, Gonzalo ’s proposal has exceeded the authority of a front-line commander, and the request to Piedmont is more like a diplomatic than military strategy, which makes many people have to start worrying about whether this is Gonzalo's personal thoughts were still the intentions of the two kings behind him.
Alexander VI was obviously very sensitive to the conditions proposed by Gonzalo. He vaguely felt some kind of unpleasantness. He thought that Gonzalo insisted on letting the coalition forces, or wrongly said that the Aragon army was stationed for a long time. Alexander VI It started to feel that things became a little difficult.
And he is now concerned about another thing, that is how to deal with the anger of the Sforza family from Milan.
Giovanni Sforza ’s death surprised many people. When I heard the news, people realized that a huge change might happen, and indeed Sforza ’s family soon became aware of it. In response.
And this reaction was so strong that even Gonzalo, who was screaming everywhere in Rome, was a little surprised.
The Milan army near Piedmont suddenly mobilized, crossing the right bank of the Po river tributary and heading east.
Obviously, the direction of the Milan army is Rome!
Everyone was surprised because of this sudden change. No one expected that a new war seemed to come when everyone thought that the war was at least temporarily over, and until the blood stains on the sword dried up.