immortal person

It was much later when Giovanni learned of this.He was in his small workshop by the garden, with a sketch of the fortifications of the Prato district laid out in front of him, marking with charcoal in his hand.A maid came in after knocking on the door, put down the milk in front of him, and said, "Guess what happened just now? The guest who came today looks exactly like you from a distance!" She said briskly, " So you have such noble relatives in Rome?"

He immediately understood what was happening.When he arrived, in front of the Persian tapestry with a lion in the living room, the Romans and the Florentines stood clearly on both sides, and the atmosphere was tense. Obviously, what happened just now was not a real "peace talk".Poliziano was glaring: "Our demand is very clear - our mission must be released immediately."

In this way, Niccolo has indeed fallen into the hands of the Pope.But this time, Giovanni could only care about looking at the monk in black not far away.Surrounded by a group of Roman envoys, his elder brother looked so unfamiliar that he could barely confirm it.Leonardo didn't seem to notice him, and said without hesitation: "Impossible."

"It seems," said Lorenzo, "that you have not come to make peace with us."

Leonardo was noncommittal.Poliziano stepped forward: "Then why does the Holy See think that we won't treat you in the same way?" He looked at the monk in front of him strangely, "Does he think..."

Leonardo glanced at Lorenzo, then at Giovanni behind him, and smiled: "I believe His Highness must know the reason."

The moment his eyes missed him, Giovanni felt as if a piece of ice had fallen into his heart.Lorenzo was unimpressed; he didn't even turn around, his eyes only paused for a moment on Leonardo's face, "Then he must have miscalculated," he even smiled, "whose protection do you think you can get?— -guard!"

The servants who had been guarding outside the door stepped forward immediately. "Who dares to step forward!" shouted Leonardo, snatching a stack of papers from the squire, and holding them above his head, "open your eyes and look!—from this moment on, everyone present is a sinner !Listen all—"

There are still a few servants waiting to be dispatched in the hall. "—Kleon," Lorenzo raised his hand to signal the guards beside him, "take the envoy down to rest."

The three guards rushed forward immediately, and slammed Leonardo's mouth shut.The monk struggled a few times, and Giovanni couldn't help taking a step forward, but Lorenzo's eyes fixed him in place.Leonardo knelt on the ground, staring straight at Giovanni, then looked up at Lorenzo coldly, as if trying to pierce him.Lorenzo turned a deaf ear to it, and quickly folded the papers: "My lord and members of the mission, please rest for a while." As his words fell, the remaining Roman entourages who had drawn out their weapons immediately Being pushed to the ground, the hall was full of noise.Lorenzo strode forward, followed by Poliziano.Giovanni didn't think about it, and immediately followed. Under the cover of the cloak, Lorenzo handed him the document—it was an excommunication order.

This is the signal for war.

Before Niccolo had time to take action, the Holy See took the initiative to detain the Florentine ambassador and sent an envoy to send an excommunication order.This is no different from a gauntlet.In this Latin edict promulgated by Sixtus IV, the Pope sentenced the Duke of Medici, Lorenzo de’ Medici, in the name of St. Peter’s crimes—the practice of prostitution, blasphemy, and indiscriminate killing of clergy , the Holy See ordered him to be expelled from the Catholic Church and become a sinner who would go to hell forever after death; and because he was the "chief citizen" elected by the citizens of Florence, and the people of Florence dared to choose to support him after the incident, The Pope ordered that all Florentines be excommunicated. From now on, all worship activities in Tuscany are prohibited, and everyone will be charged with the felony of "blasphemy" and "injustice".

Of course, the Pope wrote at the end, the Lord is merciful, and he will not always blame the sin of the one on the head of all.As long as the Florentines agree to surrender Lorenzo, he will withdraw the excommunication order against the whole city.

Once such an order is leaked, it will definitely cause a shock in the whole city, so Lorenzo immediately interrupted Leonardo and put all those who knew it into prison.Presumably after learning of Niccolo's disaster, he had already guessed what the Pope's "gift" was for him.Lorenzo apologized to him in a low voice, and Giovanni shook his head and said, "I'll go to see him."

And after coming to Leonardo, he quickly expected that this conversation would end in failure.

Leonardo was still the same as he remembered: black robes like crows, short hair like a dervish, a pair of gray eyes like glass balls set in this pale and thin face, and the usual Dominican friar It doesn't make any difference.Ten days ago, Leonardo came to the Medici Palace to look for him, and the two brothers who reunited after a long absence had a pleasant conversation in the tavern all afternoon.Leonardo was rarely talkative, but he only thought it was because he hadn't seen him for many years.And that very night, when Rialio suddenly fell ill, Orsini replaced him, and the indispensable link in Pazzi's conspiracy was fastened.

The dungeon exuded the smell of moss and sewage, and there were mottled black blood stains on the bricks and stones. The young monk sat in the corner, even though his hands were tied with hemp rope, he was still calm like a saint in the cave.

"You're here." He nodded, "He would agree with you to come to see me. It's unbelievable."

"You were never from Girolamo," said Giovanni.

"Obviously," said Leonardo. "Yes. The Holy See transferred me to his seminary. I have been in the service of Rome."

"why?"

"Why are you against the Medici? Of course it is because of the guidance of the Heavenly Father. This family is greedy and evil, and has defiled the authority of the Holy Lord, why not?" Leonardo said calmly, "I am asking the Holy See for this. a mission. Of course, it’s also partly because of you.”

Giovanni said nothing.

"Look at yourself, my brother," Leonardo sighed, with a look almost pitiful, "on the day of my father's funeral, you told me you would stay at the Medici Palace. You think I don't know what this place is A devil's lair; what kind of man is the duke? A heretic, a rich man, and a rascal! I knew then that I must save you. This is my mission and duty."

In Leonardo's view, he is probably no different from Ganymedes who was taken captive by Zeus. [1] Giovanni was speechless, and he continued with sermon-like zeal: "Then I learned that you had gone to Rome to make a consecration to God. Fleeing from this hell. But—after a few years, you returned to Florence and connected with this devil again. You gave yourself up, and I couldn't let you go. You are my brother after all."

Giovanni found it all ridiculous: "You're using me."

"I'm helping you," Leonardo's tone was as gentle as coaxing, "In your heart, you know clearly: this sin must be paid for. How long has it been since you heard the words of the Lord? If the Holy See achieves Please, this will be your blessing and will cleanse your sins. Since you are unwilling to take the initiative, then I will help you."

The gray eyes that are almost the same as his suddenly burst into a fiery fire, "The Holy See has instructed me that after the death of Medici, I will be in charge of the great cleansing of Florence - we will cleanse this beautiful city Clean as ever, enough to worship before the Lord. These people you follow will soon turn into mud at the bottom of the Arno River. Even so, do you want to rot with them?"

"What do you want to say."

"It's not too late, Joe," Leonardo looked at him eagerly, "just need... a little dedication. You have been around Medici for so long, you must have something to share with me."

Giovanni looked at him, realizing that the conversation would end there, maybe forever.Neither of them could convince the other.For Leonardo, divine madness is also divine; for him, divine madness is just madness.There is no doubt that he will always stay in the Medici Palace, while Leonardo chose to follow the Pope who was more jackal than shepherd.Who knows whether Peter's key will open the gate of heaven or hell? [2] Now, as he looked at Leonardo, he could hardly find the shadow of his childhood brother from the monk in black in front of him.The older brother, though taciturn, was friendly and humble; sitting before him now is a believer, and only a believer.

"This is not the only way to eternity," he whispered. "I have chosen my way."

"Really?" Leonardo didn't seem surprised, "Even if the next step is to fall into Hell?"

He stared at Leonardo.After a moment of silence, he said, "Goodbye, brother."

"Goodbye, Joe."

The gates of the city are still sealed to cut off the communication between Florence and the outside of the city, and to block the news of the excommunication order.Apart from the Medici Palace, it is like an island.But this is by no means a long-term solution.It concerns the entire Tuscany region, including Pisa, Lucca and other small states. The secret will be revealed sooner or later, and all they can do is to end this necessary battle as soon as possible.The severe cold was followed by cold rain. Finally, on the second day after Leonardo arrived, an urgent report came from Rome, from the branch manager of the Medici Bank in Rome.The managers had been a more trusted source of intelligence for Lorenzo over the years than the ambassadors identified by the Fiorentina Continent.The day before Leonardo's departure, the Holy See had publicly read the book of war against Florence. Most people in Rome knew the news of the upcoming war, and they were filled with righteous indignation and believed that this was indeed a holy war to defeat the tyrant and save the people. .The Holy See showed the letters of Salviati and Pazzi, in which they told the Pope that the people of Florence were already full of hatred for Lorenzo, and that as long as he was slightly touched, the Medici family would collapse completely—this Of course not.In order to force the Florentines to act as soon as possible, Sixtus IV announced that he would confiscate all the property of the Florentines in Rome, and at the same time prohibit Florentine merchants from trading in Rome until the Consulate surrendered Lorenzo.

Lorenzo was sitting at the long table and had just picked up his knife when the news came.He didn't back away, but just wiped his hands with a warm wet towel: "Has the action started?"

"The managers are sheltering the businessmen and their properties are safe for the time being."

"I think he's just bluffing, trying to arouse people's anger," Poliziano murmured, "such an announcement is simply not feasible-who will dare to do business with the Vatican in the future? What they want... never Only the property of the Medici."

For this goal, the pope has paid an unexpected price. In order not to give up halfway, he now increases the bargaining chip and uses war to seize what the conspiracy and tricks cannot win.The "Successor of Peter" far away in the Vatican never cared about the Holy Spirit but the gold of the Holy Curry, greedy like a worm in an apple.Everyone was silent for a moment, and Lorenzo said: "Let us reveal the answer first. Who responded to the Holy See first?"

Who killed Riario? —Where the dead body is, there the eagles will gather.Without the explicit support of other forces, even Sixtus IV would not have dared to declare war on Florence and the Medici family rashly. "Genoa," said the herald, "according to our envoys in Genoa, their army is ready to march, and may cross the Ronto in five days..."

Just like a jackal looking for the leftover meat of a lion to feed its hunger, it finally wants to join other beasts to hunt the lion.Lorenzo is not surprised, this is the result of his guess: "Where is the Vatican's army?"

"It is expected to arrive in Perugia in three days."

Rumors grow like weeds in spring.In the city of Florence, keen people quickly discovered that as if they had received instructions, the priest's sermons in the church began to vaguely imply something: "You also have to hear about wars and wars, and don't panic; because these things must happen, It's just that the end has not yet come..."[3] Even though the gates of the city are still closed, the envoys sent by Florence have begun to move around, explaining Pazzi's conspiracy all over Italy, and exposing how the Pope blasphemed the name of St. Peter and how injustice : It was they who first desecrated the sanctity of the church, and made the Lord's people lose the awe of sanctuary.After all, the secret of excommunication could not be hidden for too long. The Pope once again publicly stated that among all the Florentines, only Lorenzo Medici was the villain he wanted to fight; desire.Perhaps Lorenzo's previous painstaking efforts paid off, and the residents did not fully believe in this set of rhetoric; Under the circumstances, the priests in Tuscany were extremely dissatisfied with the pope's brutal deprivation. The bishops of the city-states in the joint area held a meeting and decided to continue exercising the church's power, forcing the priests to hold the sacraments as usual.And they fought back: Unless the Pope backs down, the Vatican will stop receiving the region's sacred tax revenue.This undoubtedly cut off a piece of Rome.The pope underestimated Lorenzo's influence and overestimated the piety of the people. "Look at what era this is, does he think he can make the emperor kneel down and beg for mercy?" Poliziano shook his head when he received the reply from the bishops, "For most people - where is the belief? Worth gold?"

Replies from allies came pouring in on the third day.It was bad news at first: Venice refused to help, on the grounds that the Turkish barbarians had once again invaded their territorial waters and had no spare troops; Milan had already integrated its army, and when the reply arrived, the aid cavalry was already on its way to the Tronto River ; perhaps within seven days, there will be a war on the banks of the river.After quick and orderly integration, the militias in all districts of Florence have assembled and are about to join the ranks of mercenaries outside the city.The Duke of Ferrara will fight alongside Lorenzo as the mercenary commander.

In May 65 of the Holy Calendar, Lorenzo gathered all influential citizens in the Municipal Palace and gave his last speech before going out.Weapons from the Ordnance Guild in the city and the Milan Arsenal have been distributed to the soldiers, and the duties of the officials left behind in the city have also been assigned.After the end, Lorenzo and Poliziano walked out of the meeting room together, and Giovanni came behind them with the blueprint just confirmed, and the scholar left immediately with interest; in the current war, no one can deprive a lover of time.

The crimson sunset hung majestically over the city gates, and the evening was grand, glorious, and brilliant, pouring a brilliant orange over the fields that no one would have thought heralded an end.They were strolling along the long streets of Florence, and the sound of soldiers practicing firearms could be heard in the distance, as if smoke and dust were about to roll in.Cannon barrels from France are arrayed above the city wall. This bronze weapon called "cannon" uses iron bullets instead of stone bullets, but it is lighter and more maneuverable than the firecrackers that used to be carried by bullock carts.The so-called "art of evil" has been developed for more than 100 years, and now it is no longer regarded as the enemy of virtue, but has a more grandiose name: "Guardian of Civilization".With it came a whole new kind of war, one far more brutal than the bloodless battles that had preceded it.Everything is iterating, everything is on the cusp of waves, maybe one thought will overturn, and one thought will lead to glory...

There was no one around, and they naturally clasped their hands. "If, I mean if," Lorenzo looked at Giovanni, "I wish my tomb was built by you."

"Don't say such things." Giovanni squeezed his hand dissatisfied.

But his voice was solemn and gentle: "I will build you a triumphal arch."

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[1] In Greek mythology, a beautiful boy who was captured by Zeus to serve wine for the gods because of his beauty. (also lover of Zeus)

[2] St. Peter, the legendary saint who holds the key to the gate of heaven

[3] Matthew 24:6