After Anna was frightened by Giulio Medici, Ladislaus and his party decided to end the day's trip at noon.

After arriving at the nearest town along the road, we immediately checked into a small hotel in the town.

Once here, Ladislas finally found an opportunity to ask Cardinal Colonna about the matter just now regarding the Pope's restoration of his surname and the return of the land donated to the Dark Sun Church by the Tyrolean branch.

Cardinal Colonna was quite surprised that Ladislaus could endure until now, and he even slightly improved his evaluation of him because of this.

This really cannot be blamed on Ladislaus's lack of determination. You must know that what his father spent his whole life pursuing was to officially own the Habsburg surname again.

The title of Duke of Tyrol is just a self-proclaimed title. As for taking back the land in the past, even just a few manors, I dare not even think about it.

But now, all this seems to be close at hand.

It simply seems unbelievable, but there are very dark and reasonable reasons.

Although Ladislaus's father was not a man of outstanding talent, he had been pursuing it tirelessly for decades, but he had never seen any light. Not only did he not get the support of any big shots, he was even rejected by the elders of the previous generation.

The emperor's vigilance and precautions.

His bloodline is not wealth, but a burden.

Today, Ladislaus's bloodline is even more distant, but he can always get the protection and actual acquiescence of the contemporary emperor.

This matter is not only due to the great development of the Habsburg family in the past twenty years and the acquisition of two territories in the Netherlands and Spain.

More importantly, the Tyrolean branch has actually faded out of the center of power for too long now, and has no ability to challenge the Styrian branch. In the past eighty years, although the Tyrol branch has only passed down

After three generations, the title of Archduke of Austria, the starting point of the prosperity of the Habsburg family, is no longer threatening.

Spain and the Netherlands, the two current sources of wealth and force for the magician royal family, are entirely the result of the Styrian branch's own painstaking efforts. No one would think that Ladislaus was qualified or had any ambitions.

In fact, now Ladislaus's bloodline finally no longer worries his distant cousins.

It was for this tacit reason that Ladislaus had no doubt that Emperor Charles V would not refuse to let the world see his magnanimity and generosity after His Majesty's proposal to elect the Pope.

After all, the sorcerer royal family now has a river of golden sand, and they just have to share it with Ladislaus.

According to Cardinal Colonna's explanation, the land returned was actually two monasteries in Tyrol and one in Bohemia, a total of three monasteries the size of ordinary manors. They were ordinary and had no specialties.

The income is about 1,500 thalers. After all, as an outsider, the contemporary elected Pope himself is also struggling within the Roman Church State, and he cannot make too big a deal.

This thing was really disdainful to the wealthy Emperor Charles V.

Of course, this is a drop in the ocean compared to the two crowns of Hungary and Bohemia plus most of Austria when the Tyrol branch was in its heyday, but it is a real feudal territory after all, and Ladislaus is

local lords rather than landowners.

Although he is a religious lord, it is really a leap for Ladislaus.

The two devout religious men carefully studied and discussed the issue of dividing the religious property for a whole afternoon, and after eating a dinner that the small hotel tried its best to provide.

In this small town that doesn't even have a church, a local gentry invited Cardinal Colonna, who was wearing a fakir's robe, to go to the local Dark Sun Altar to hold a sermon that had not been seen for a long time.

Although Cardinal Colonna is a complete playboy and politician, he can still perform his duties faithfully to expand the influence of His Majesty Dark Sun Siric's faith without hindering his own interests.

After dinner, he took his two entourages to the altar to preach. This was a rare event for this small town. Half of the town was mobilized. Of course, if they knew that a cardinal was coming to preach,

That would certainly clear out every room, but Cardinal Colonna decided to keep a low profile and did not reveal his identity.

Ladislaus's belief in the Dark Sun was even worse. Ladislaus, who could only be regarded as a pan-believer at best, refused the offer to go with him because he had not yet been formally ordained a priest, and instead took

With the chickens purchased from the villagers, Sirica, the boss of the hotel, cooked something delicious for Anna.

, Yes, Boss Sirica, who has been in the Black Continent for many years, is quite good at cooking, at least better than the hotel proprietress. The noodles she made made Ladislaus, who was not picky, determined to bear it himself.

That's enough. We must not give such food to the pampered and extremely tired Anna.

When Anna woke up in the evening, as soon as she opened her eyes, she was accompanied by the boss lady who served her lemon chicken steak made by Sirica. Unfortunately, it is not that simple to please Anna. The eldest lady, for this is far above average.

It was a standard dish, but I just thought it was pretty good. I didn’t ask Ladislaus for any extra favors, so I just continued to sleep with my head covered after eating.

This can’t be blamed on Boss Sirika. The local ingredients are so scarce that you can’t even find good salt. He really tried his best.

Ladislaus and Machiavelli discussed the road south together.

With Machiavelli's help, there was nothing Ladislaus didn't understand about the political ecology of the city-states on the Apennine Peninsula.

From the Republic of Florence to the south, the Apennine Mountains gradually become gentler.

Therefore, it is feasible to cross the mountain road and go directly from Florence to Rome.

But this is only possible in a relative sense. Trekking on mountain roads is still a painful thing. If you take the route closer to the coast, the journey can be much easier and the time can be shortened.

But this is bound to pass through the Republic of Siena, a small country located on the coastal plain, which is weaker than the Papal State of Cyric and the Republic of Florence.

This small country has been bullied by powerful neighbors time and time again, just as its powerful territorial states have been bullied by more powerful enemies time and time again.

After the latest war with the Republic of Florence, after a ten-month siege, the Republic of Siena once again ceded a small piece of land and lost tens of thousands of talers. It was only because the Papal State and the Republic of Florence were restraining each other that they could barely survive.

Come down.

Machiavelli could not find any trace of regret when he mentioned the siege in which he participated.

"The Church of Rome threatened to directly enter the war and issued a bull declaring bank interest illegal. We had no choice but to work in vain. It was this siege that cost a lot of money and exhausted financial resources that made the Republic

After being sent to the citizens, their reputation was lost, and the Medici family took the opportunity to regain power. Although I could still control thousands of soldiers at the time, the Medici family was also very powerful in the Church of the Dark Sun. If I chose civil war, I would inevitably

Being attacked from both sides only meant that those children died in vain.

As a besieged country, the Republic of Siena is of course even more painful. Once a city of 40,000 people, it lost one-third of its population and has not yet fully recovered.

This time they were determined to find a better way of life.

They offered their ports to French royal merchants free of charge. If the French Mediterranean fleet visited, they would always get a lot of supplies and materials. Even several parliamentary seats in the Republic of Siena were reserved for the French king.

These locations are indeed a good choice for the king's personal arrangements.

The contemporary King of France, Francois I, can be said to be very unrealistic, but he can also be said to be generous, heroic, trustworthy and righteous. After receiving benefits, he made several contributions to the Republic of Siena. It is best not to do so.

adventure."

Therefore, today's Republic of Siena is not a place where the Archbishop of Liguria, who has just restored the Habsburg surname, can be welcomed.

All things considered, although it was unlikely that the Republic of Siena would go to war for France, Machiavelli still suggested that Ladislaus would rather trek through the mountain trails to avoid any unnecessary accidents.

However, Ladislaus, who tried his best to avoid accidents, didn't know that an accident had already happened to Cardinal Colonna.
Chapter completed!