On December 2, 1523, Venetian workers were taking down a series of coats of arms and ribbons that had been decorated just a few days ago. In addition to these expensive noble ornaments, countless flowers and paints were also wasted.

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More than 20,000 thalers were spent on the decoration and grand reception ceremony of the Palazzo della Congress in Venice to prepare for the reception of His Majesty Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, His Highness Cardinal Ladislaus, Acting Archbishop of Austria, and the King of Hungary and Bohemian

His Majesty Louis II, Elector of Asia.

This was supposed to be a grand event.

"How much glory this could have brought to the city of Venice." Consul Goriti was very angry that several monarchs had canceled this meeting, but he was not angry at the above mentioned ones.

"Damn the Knights Hospitaller, cowards, rubbish, may they all remain paupers for generations to come." The Venetian senators cursed the cowards in their hearts in the manner of followers of the goddess Woking.

After a long siege, the Knights Hospitallers reached a peace agreement with the Ottoman Empire. The Knights Hospitallers abandoned Rhodes but retained their weapons and property.

The Ottoman Empire won a real, albeit not glamorous, victory.

These accusers completely forgot that their delay and hesitation made the Knights Hospitaller's fight worthless.

"But that's fine, lest the Spaniards think they have a few big ships and the world's oceans are their ponds."

There were also several MPs who felt fortunate that the Kingdom of Spain had been prevented from penetrating into the Eastern Mediterranean.

"It also saves a lot of military expenses, which is good. However, in addition to road loans, Austria also wants us to sponsor a thousand orc slaves." The timing of Ladislaus's request was very clever. Venice had just dug a

There is a canal.

After the new canal was repaired, there was not much room left for municipal projects on Venice Island.

"Then we can't give him these slaves who have dug the foundation for so long for nothing."

"Why is it a free gift? They said they would give us the largest stone lion in the world." A Venetian councilor pronounced the word "stone" with an accent.

"That Shylock is so pitiful. He actually wants to work for such a poor master. I don't know which of them is poorer?" A businessman who took over a lot of Shylock's business added insult to injury. A few days ago, Shylock ignored his past grudges and begged for help.

Ask him to show some kindness at his door.

"By the way, did he come to your house to beg? I begged him for three hundred broken clay pots." Shylock has been a joke in Venice recently.

"No. The master in Vienna wants everything. I happen to have hundreds of bags of moldy wheat in the warehouse, so let Sherlock transport them away, which will save me from dumping them into the sea."

"It's not easy for me. I have a huge debt. It would be nice if I could give you some rocks. Of course I don't need it." A congressman who was famous for using gold drowning tools "justified" Ladislaus. This

The senator is a wealthy man who controls two-thirds of the Venetian silver mirror trade.

Shang, his family's treasury is richer than the Austrian treasury. "But I respect His Royal Highness the Red Archbishop very much. What rubbish you all gave me, I worked hard to give away a beautiful drow elf and ten orcs."

Went to Vienna to serve the Archbishop."

"Did you give it to me or did your wife give it to you?"

"So what if my wife gave me a gift? I'm not that poor Ladislaus. If you give me one as a gift, I'll buy ten more!"

"Haha, hahaha." The congressmen burst into laughter.

The Republic of Venice did not even like the silver lion, and the stone lion in Ladislaus was not in line with Woking's aesthetic taste.

However, they were still willing to accept this kind of gift. The noble warlock royal family was considered poor in front of them. This hint made these rich people full of a sense of superiority.

"Okay, please be quiet." Consul Goriti silenced the congressmen who were filled with a sense of superiority. "You, that's you, must not be disrespectful to His Royal Highness the Cardinal Archbishop of Habsburg, Ladislaus

Is that also your name?" Consul Goriti also severely reprimanded him for his disrespect towards the main supporter of his faction.

Although the loss of the Friuli region in the past few months made the MPs very hostile to Ladislaus.

However, as Ladislaus abandoned the port, abolished his navy, and reached an economic agreement that was extremely beneficial to Venice. The parliamentarians began to believe that the capture of Friuli was a plan of Charles V and His Majesty Ferdinand.

It's just a bargain.

"If the master of Vienna wants to give us the Lion of Woking, it's all in his heart. Is it true that he is short of money?" Consul Goriti once again stretched out his hand to signal everyone to be silent. "As for the orc slaves, just give them to him.

Half of it, we also need to repair the roads so that the giant stone lions can pass through, and there are still many bridges that need to be reinforced."

"But the funds for the reorganization of the army will be insufficient, and the progress will be greatly slowed down." A member of parliament raised an objection. Although the Republic of Venice is very wealthy, public resources are still limited.

"Now that Austria and we have formed such a close cooperative relationship, it will be enough for the army to return to its original level within ten years. What's more, spending so much money did not stop others from spending only one-tenth of our troops." Brother.

Archon Liti's statement is of course an exaggeration, but the weapons merchant and armor merchant represented by that congressman are Goriti.

For the enemies of his faction, suppressing each other is the first priority of Consul Goriti, not to mention that Ladislaus obviously has no ambitions. "Now France and Spain are in a hurry to compete for hegemony, and Austria will go bankrupt at any time, so what else?

It’s so worrying, I’m only worried that the Habsburg Cardinal is unable to organize road maintenance in his country.”

"The next topic is whether to take back the property of several Orders of the Knights Hospitaller in our country." This topic made all the congressmen's eyes shine. Although they are very rich, the property of the Knights Hospitaller is not a small amount.

When Shylock returned to Vienna, he was treated as a hero.

"Well done, you will be the first new nobleman to be granted the title of life baron after I took office." Ladislaus was very satisfied with Shylock's performance. From now on, he will be Shylock's baron for life, and he will also be the one who will be granted the title of life baron.

The subordinates are the best at completing the task of raising funds.

Although Sirica Boss and John Senior were more senior, they only received two knighthoods. Of course, their titles were hereditary titles. In fact, the two positions had their own merits.

However, in order to encourage nobles to join the army, Ladislaus made it clear that it was almost impossible to obtain a title that could be passed on to future generations for merit other than military merit.

Ladislaus's request was finally met, and the Republic of Venice gave him five hundred orc slaves to build the city wall. At the same time, he would seriously repair the road connecting Austria and the Republic of Venice.

Not according to the standards of contemporary commercial roads, but the standards of military roads in the Roman Empire era so that the treasure could be successfully delivered to the Republic of Venice.

They are all gravel roads of the highest standard instead of mud roads, which can withstand the use of huge stone lions or tens of thousands of people without being damaged.

These roads were once the main routes through which the ancient Roman Empire commanded the world. No matter who the enemy was, the army starting from the capital could repel the enemy who crossed the Danube or the Rhine within thirty days. London and Aleppo only needed to hold on for six

Reinforcements will arrive in ten days.

Although the various supplies obtained from Venetian merchants were not valuable, they were still a small supplement. No matter how moldy the food was, they could be given to the orcs.

It's just that Ladislaus wanted to reduce his own reputation, but it wasn't for this purpose. This task of "weakening the Venetians' wariness" cost him nearly 1,000 yuan of prestige, and now he only has a little over 10,000 yuan.

He wants far more than that.
Chapter completed!