Vol 4 Chapter 122: Outfit

Alexander stood by the Tiber River and looked at the icy bank below. The icy water from time to time patted the thin layer of ice that stretched from the shore to the river. Sometimes the river covered the ice, sometimes Will flow under the ice.
A little hurried footsteps came from a distance, and a man wrapped in a thick leather robe walked towards him with a follower.
Seeing Kotschach spitting out white mist in his mouth, Alexander gestured to him with a cup on a side stone.
"Oh, drinking by the river doesn't seem to be a great enjoyment, especially at this time." Gong Xiang wrapped his robe. "But I'm willing to take the risk of getting sick to drink this glass of wine with you."
Alexander smiled. He took a small ice cube from the plate and put it in the glass, then pushed it to the front of the palace: "You may consider trying this, this is not an ordinary wine."
"It can be seen," Gong Xiang looked at the golden wine in the glass, and took a sip, followed by a "huo" in his mouth. "What kind of wine is this? This tastes a bit strange, but you are here." Do you drink like this in this weather? "
Alexander didn't open his mouth, but also drank the wine with ice cubes. He first poured ice cubes with stinging teeth in his mouth back and forth a few times, and then swallowed the wine with his mouth.
"Sir, don't you think we are doing the same thing as this wine now, ice cold and hot?"
Listening to this, Kotzach couldn't help raising his glass, glanced at the ice-drinking drink, and took a sip. Then he made a "huo" sound and swallowed it.
"I didn't expect you to do so fiercely in the Netherlands," Miyazaki played with a cup in his hand. "You probably don't think about what kind of vibrations happened when the Netherlands happened to Vienna."
"Then please tell me."
"I ’m not kidding, you have to know that Vienna has always been vigilant against the Ottomans. The emperor has to deal with all countries in order to resist the possible invasion. This requires a lot of money, and you are in Nieder What Lan did is likely to make Philip pay at least 20% of the taxes to Vienna by the end of the year. "
Alexander nodded, but he had to admit that Kotschach ’s news was very well informed this time. Because of the blockage of the waterway, the tax losses of the Netherlands caused by the inability to barter in advance have indeed reached an appalling number. Behind everything is the huge market of almost all German city-states, opening their arms unguarded to the ports of the Mediterranean.
The resistance of the Germans is very strong. Many cities tried to prevent the invasion of the Mediterranean Chamber of Commerce, but in a situation where the market was poor, the resistance only lasted for a few days. Those who had previously hurried together to prepare for their own benefit The German merchants who had fought were beaten with their helmets and disarmed.
The power of the Mediterranean's unfrozen ports was truly reflected at this time. When the ports along the North Sea and the inland waterways had to be closed one after another, a large number of goods were transported from the unique ports on the Italian peninsula to the continent coastline into the European continent.
Genoa, Venice, Pisa and Naples, from the Arno River to Lombardy, then from the tributary Po River Basin, and further north into the vast water network of the Danube and the Rhine, replacing the winter trade in the Netherlands. The large and complex new trade union is spreading and eroding towards the entire hinterland of Europe.
"I really didn't expect you to do this ..." Gong Xiang opened his arms and made a gesture like a hug. "It's incredible, you know, when I heard that the merchants of the German city-state were Do you know how happy I am when you have no fight back?
Alexander nodded in understanding, he knew that the palace was so excited, of course, because as a member of the Vienna court, the instincts against those princes, and more importantly, the excitement for wealth.
How much profit will this huge brewing long-term trade war bring?
Alexander felt that perhaps only one thing was needed to explain everything.
When I was determined to initiate a loan from the Fugel family with 10 times the credit, both Tiego and Groningen used to worry that even if everything went well, the money that could be made eventually might be enough to repay the rich. The principal of the Gore family and the frighteningly high interest and dividends.
The reason they think so is because when the people of the Fugel family clearly agreed to this risky investment, they had cunningly calculated an interest settlement point that made them angry.
This once caused two people to worry about the end purely for the work of the Fugel family.
But now, when the settlement after January is entered, all people, even those of the Fugger family, suddenly realize that they may have made great mistakes.
That was maybe the original investment was a bit conservative.
In December 1497 after the closure of the port, Kotschah received several letters from relatives in Frankfurt who were ecstatic and ecstatic.
These letters summed up in one sentence: "We are rich!"
And this kind of ecstatic performance in Rome was when Alexander made a carriage full of several barrels full of Floren rush to the Vatican square, people who knew what was in that carriage, His eyes glowed.
14000 Florin, this is the dividend that Alexander promised to the Holy See and Alexander VI, respectively.
When he saw the money, the pope never thought of it, and he couldn't think of himself so quickly that he got a return that was not even a decimal for him.
And it has always been that this may only be the return of the entire profit of 10% that Alexander said before. The pope even began to regret a little too readily.
Could it be that the exchange earned a full 70,000 florins in a month? !
Alexander VI felt that this should be impossible, because not long ago he happened to have just seen the Vatican ’s financial record for one year.
The Pope clearly remembered that the balance after all the expenditures of the Holy See in 1497 was 383,000 florins.
This seems like a huge and dizzying fortune, but if you think about the tithe levied by the Vatican on the entire Christian world, you will know how insignificant such a balance is supported by the huge church tax. .
But now, in just one month, the exchange has paid a full 7000 florins to the church!
Alexander remembered that the Pope ’s eyes looking at the big barrels full of gold coins were greedy and fanatical. The kind of fanaticism was like looking at a beauty who had long been fond of for a long time. What it looks like after a table full of dishes.
At that time, Alexander even believed that if he was given a devil's contract that needed to be signed with blood, Alexander VI would not hesitate to sign on it.
"Miyazaki, I think you know the agreement between me and Fogel's family. I will help them get the copper mines in Hungary, but they also have to provide me with a sufficient amount of support."
"You want to use that money to support those Genoese people, don't you?"
Alexander glanced at Kotschach. He was not surprised how Kotschach knew the agreement between him and the Rovere family. There was no secret in Rome.
"Yes, they used to agree to support me in building an army." Alexander nodded and said to Kotzach, "I think you know, lord, if I can have an army like this, it's all for us. People are beneficial, and I can use this army to protect the interests of all of us. "
Kotzach was not busy with this time. He stared at the slightly drooping eyes of the river and shook his head before looking back at Alexander: "Count, I heard that you are planning to open a new port in the Netherlands. ?"
"Yes, it ’s called Rotterdam," Alexander did n’t deny, "Of course, these are still too early. You know that although Groningen has already begun preparations there, it may take an unimaginable time to build a port. It ’s that long. "
Kotzach looked at Alexander silently, as if wondering how much he said was true.
Then he seemed to make up his mind and asked: "There is a question I must know. If Philip opposed your establishment of this port, would you resort to force?"
Alexander ’s eyes flickered, and he knew why Kotzach seemed to be having a lot of trouble today.
"Has the Dutch administration discovered your role in this?"
"It doesn't need to be deliberately discovered," Kotzach said annoyed. "My relatives in Frankfurt have almost made everyone aware that they made a fortune. At this time, just think about who can be in this kind of time. With such luck, it is not difficult to guess the relationship. "
Alexander had to admit to Mr. Gong's statement. He had already guessed at this time that probably with the transaction on the side of Frankfurt, perhaps the beautiful Philippe or even the Vienna court had already noticed that the Kotschah family was in this big Plays an important role in business.
"Palace, Rotterdam is south of the Netherlands," Alexander said carefully. "It is not so close to Amsterdam, it is better to say that if you continue south, it is not far from France, and I have reason to worry that the French will cause there. Threatened, so if necessary, I might let my army enter the southern part of the Netherlands to defend against the French invasion. "
Kotschach's face was gratified. He knew that Alexander's so-called protection against the French invasion was actually just a pretext, but this was obviously enough for him.
He could not let the emperor in Vienna think that he was cooperating with someone who was enemies with his son, but if he was cooperating with rival friends with the French, it would be completely different.
"I think I really should have a drink to know you," Gong Xiang raised his glass. Although this kind of wine tastes strange, he didn't fit his taste, but he drank the wine in the glass in one go. Jing Guang "Tell me what this is, and it tastes strange."
"A kind of distilled sweet wine," Alexander also drank the wine at a sip. "But Miyazaki believes in me, you won't want to know how it was brewed."
After hearing Alexander's words, Kotschach laughed.
When Alexander returned to the Marino Palace, he was a little surprised to see Constantine was waiting for him. Since the last dissatisfaction, Constantine seems to have been sent to Rome by Old Rovere. After that, nearly one more During the month, although there were several visits to Rovere ’s house, most of the stress hills had never seen this uncle.
Constantine's attitude did not seem to change much, and even when he met Alexander, his cold attitude seemed a little surprised to a companion who came with him.
And Alexander soon knew that the man wearing the two popular robes was his future Genoese army commander.
Alexander de Scolati, a soldier with the same name as Alexander.
"He is the best soldier," Constantine doesn't seem to skimp on this man. "He had fought two wars against the Venetian before. At the beginning, he was only a captain of the shield, but he waited until the war ended. He was already the captain, and later he became the best infantry captain in Genoa. "
Alexander looked at this man a bit surprised. He knew that Constantine said that the two wars with Venice should refer to what happened more than ten years ago, but he was reminded that this man actually became a captain of the shield halberd. In addition to the infantry team leader, this had to arouse his interest.
Genoa Shield Halberds are a very unique army.
Perhaps because of the long-term relationship with Milan and the less conservative atmosphere, the Genoese have always maintained the military tradition of the medieval era and the attachment to the knighthood.
This can be seen from Constantine's fanatical and stubborn adherence to all the laws of knights.
The knights of Genoa were more keen on wearing Milanese armor all over their bodies, holding battle swords or tomahawks and heading against each other. It seems that the kind of clumsy knocking on each other can reflect their bravery and noble identity.
However, after all, this kind of noble master-style knight is a minority, and the infantry of civilian origin is the Genoa army with the largest number and the most common soldier.
The shield halberd and the sword shield are undoubtedly the elite of the Genoa army.
These civilian-born soldiers, who are more or less family-owned, can purchase enough equipment for themselves because of their relatively wealthy families. At the same time, because they can get more training, they are more familiar with using their own weapons than other ordinary infantry. Follow the command of the officer on the battlefield.
But even so, Genoa ’s nobles generally do not let their children become a shield halberd officer, because for them, even the best shield halberd soldiers cannot be compared with knights.
Just like the Calgino that Alexander knew, he might value how to use sword shields or shield halberds, but he would never condemn such an army personally, let alone start with an ordinary captain. .
Alexander looked at the man named Alexander de Scolati with great interest. He noticed that this small man had unusually thick thighs and arms, which is a trace of training in some way all the year round.
In particular, although his hands were short and thick, but always accustomed to slightly rickety fingers, Alexander realized that this should be the hands that often hold the weapon.
"I'm Alexander Juliant Gumbre," Alexander greeted Scolati slightly. "I think you should understand that the army you are going to command will be fully obeyed by me, right, team leader?"
"Yes, I know exactly what I should do," Scolati bowed. "But I must declare in advance that if you want to fight Genoa in the future, I will have to withdraw from your army, of course. The army is not on the list, but I hope you will allow those soldiers to choose where they want to stay. "
"It is of course that I will not force anyone to wage war against his hometown," Alexander nodded and smiled. "Actually, according to the current situation, I may have more conflicts with the Venetians."
"If that's the case, you can call me," Constantine said a little excitedly. "I think the Venetians have forgotten the lessons they learned from the last war."
He didn't care much about the excitement of Uncle, but Alexander was a little surprised by Scolati's seemingly calm expression.
As far as Alexander knows ~ EbookFREE.me ~ Genoa and Venice's feud made the two sides conflicted even after a few centuries, but now it seems that Scolati is quite cold.
"In fact, Earl I am more interested in your command in the war between Romagna and Livorno not long ago," Scolati said suddenly. "I noticed that you seem to focus more on infantry rather than cavalry."
"Oh, that's completely wrong," Constantine waved a little unpleasantly. "Know that infantry will always be passively beaten because of their clumsy action. Don't you notice, whether in Romagna or Livorno, Earl They all had to take defense, and Caesar ’s army in Livorno reportedly nearly broke through his defense. "
Constantine said that he glanced at Alexander, seeing that Alexander seemed to have no meaning to justify. He turned back to Scolati and continued, "Never forget, the cavalry's brave charge and terrible speed are the keys to winning. Imagine if you encountered enemy cavalry in a completely wilderness, how would you face the irresistible impact of cavalry? "
"I think this is why the Earl wanted to recruit us," Scolati glanced at Alexander. "The Duke, as you said, almost broke the Earl's defense line in Livorno Caesar, but it was the last person who was kicked out of the battlefield. Pope ’s army, I think it ’s enough to explain everything.

Constantine's face was slightly gloomy. He seemed to be dissatisfied with Scolati's words, but when he wanted to continue to argue, Uliu suddenly hurriedly entered the hall from the outside.
Alexander was keenly aware of the urgency between Uliu's expressions, and he greeted Constantine and went to Uliu.
"What happened?"
"Sir, it's a letter sent by Lord Count Modillo," Uliu whispered nervously, "Caesar, he was rescued!"