671 [Marriage of Ning Potao and the Medici Family]
Pitti Palace, in the garden.
The 25-year-old Archduke Alessandro of Florence handed the auction list to Ning Botao: "Dear Chinese General, this is the breakdown of all luxury goods in this auction. There are fifty-six Chinese goods in total, and the total transaction price
1,467,750 gold coins (approximately 140,000 taels of gold), the Medici family will draw 14,677 gold coins in accordance with the agreement."
Even though he had expected it, Ning Botao was still speechless. He cupped his fists and said, "Thank you so much, Mr. Medici (Duke Medici)."
Alessandro said: "Some buyers take mortgages from the Medici family, and the money can be paid to the general immediately. Some buyers have to go back and transport the money, which can take as little as half a month, or two or three days."
Months, General, can you wait that long?"
Ning Botao asked: "Can you pay in advance?"
Alessandro said: "Yes, but there are two conditions. First, we will take 1% of the payment as commission; second, the Medici family does not have that much gold and needs to use silver coins and other things
replace."
Although the Medici family was very wealthy, they had lent out a lot of real money and would not be able to get it back for a while.
Ning Botao thought for a while and said: "I can give you 1% commission, or you can use other things instead. If the gold is not enough, use silver. If the silver is not enough, then use copper ingots to convert it."
"Okay, that's enough. I will immediately ask people to collect copper ingots and negotiate and calculate them according to the market price." Alessandro was very happy.
The 140,000 taels of gold obtained from the auction is only 6.85 tons. It's not much, but it's a lot less.
Portugal and Spain, during their colonial plunders in various places, robbed gold in tons. For example, Portugal conquered the Royal City of Malacca, and also plundered trade in Southeast Asia, transporting 60 tons of gold at a time. Unexpectedly, they encountered a big storm when they went out.
That gold is still lying on the seabed near Sumatra.
However, no matter how much gold and silver is plundered, it cannot withstand the nobles' squandering. The Portuguese royal family has already experienced a financial crisis, but Spain still maintains its wealth.
As for the nobles of other countries, all of them are heavily in debt and are all moonlighters who spend money in advance. This auction will make many people tighten their belts.
What is even more troublesome for Europeans is that because Spain and Portugal brought a large amount of gold and silver into Europe, inflation was common in various countries. In addition, prices in France have more than tripled in the past thirty years, and nobles and businessmen generally encountered economic crises.
The Medici family was also in a miserable situation. The interest rates on the loans they had previously given out could barely keep up with the depreciation of gold and silver, and sometimes they even had to repay it themselves - damn Portugal and Spain!
That night, Alessandro entertained Ning Botao at his family dinner and introduced his wife and a pair of illegitimate children to him. His wife was an aristocratic woman. Although she was quite beautiful, she had been unable to have children for many years, so she could only acquiesce to her husband.
Take the illegitimate child home to raise.
The next day, Alessandro took Ning Botao to visit the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.
This church was funded by the Medici family and was built continuously for 175 years. St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican was designed by Michelangelo after imitating it. He also lamented: "It can be built bigger than it, but it is impossible.
More beautiful than that."
Each of them went out with a team of attendants. The Medici family often encountered assassinations, and Ning Botao did not want to have any accidents in a foreign country.
After getting off the carriage at the door of the church, Alessandro smiled and said: "Dear General, this is it. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Flowers can be called the Great Baoen Temple in Europe. It is equally beautiful and magnificent, and it is also rare in the world.
An architectural masterpiece.”
Although he despised the Western barbarians in his heart, Ning Botao had to admit that this church was indeed magnificent.
When they learned that the Archduke of Florence had arrived, priests immediately came out to greet them and escorted the two of them inside, leaving each other's bodyguards at the door of the church.
Just as he entered the church door, a priest squeezed over and said, "Your Highness, the clothes on your chest are dirty."
Alessandro subconsciously lowered his head to check, and everyone also looked at his chest.
The priest suddenly took out his dagger and stabbed him in the kidney unexpectedly. No one noticed in his haste.
Ning Botao was not interested in the Duke's dirty clothes. He was scanning the church hall. He saw a dagger stabbing out of the corner of his eye. He subconsciously drew the knife with his backhand and raised it. Because the force and angle were wrong, he did not cut off the man's wrist, but
Or cut it and bleed.
Alessandro was still stabbed, but because Ning Botao came to the rescue, the wound was just a broken skin. He reacted after suffering the pain and hit the assassin's nose with a punch. Ning Botao next to him added a kick and killed Alessandro.
The assassin was kicked to the ground.
The priests nearby also rushed forward and pinned the assassin to the ground.
Alessandro was furious and shouted: "Why are there assassins in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Flowers?"
When the guards came to hear the news, the cardinal also came to inquire, and told the Duke with a pale face that he did not know anything about it.
"Go back to Pitti Palace!"
Alessandro covered his wound and said that he had no interest in visiting the cathedral anymore.
Ning Botao silently returned to the carriage, feeling that what happened today was interesting. What kind of chaos would have happened in Europe before someone would pretend to be a monk to assassinate the Duke in broad daylight, and it was possible that he was a real monk.
Alessandro quickly calmed down from his anger and thought about which faction the assassin came from.
The first suspect is the King of France!
King Charles V of Spain is now both leader of the Habsburgs and Holy Roman Emperor.
The Habsburgs have occupied Two Sicilies and almost eaten the entire southern Italy. Last year, the Archduke of Milan died without any children. Charles V and the King of France both claimed to be the heirs of the Duchy of Milan. Spain and Holy Rome are brewing with France
war, and the Medici family supported Spain.
Although the Medici family is rich in French queens, these two generations of Medici patriarchs are mortal enemies of the French royal family!
In the past forty years, the Medici family was expelled and exiled twice, all due to the fault of the French king. On one of these occasions, the French army went directly to Florence and exiled all the heads of the Medici family.
Alessandro was able to return to Florence and be promoted to Duke thanks to the support of Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor.
Now, the King of France wants to compete with Charles V for Milan. If he wants to resort to any extra measures, the first thing he should do is to kill the Archduke of Florence.
In addition to the French king, there were also countless people in Florence who disliked the Medici family, including a bunch of nobles and businessmen in the principality.
Perhaps, these people are involved!
Historically, Alessandro will be assassinated next year, and it stands to reason that his four-year-old illegitimate son should inherit the duke. However, a group of nobles and businessmen in Florence formed a 48-member government committee and placed the orphans and widows under house arrest.
For the Pitti Palace, a branch of the Medici family was brought from the countryside to be the grand duke.
The little-known country boy who was only seventeen years old was probably considered easy to manipulate.
Turns out to be a ruthless character!
Just a few days after the boy became a duke, the rebels had already entered the principality. It only took the boy a few hours to suppress the rebels and beheaded all the rebel leaders. With the authority of victory in the war, the boy carried him to death.
The government committee refused to cooperate with those people. At the same time, they sent envoys to Spain to obtain the approval of Emperor Charles V on the condition that they help Spain fight against France.
Under the rule of this young man, the Medici family entered its heyday, and was promoted from the Grand Duke of Florence to the Grand Duke of Tuscany (the territory was completely larger, and Florence was only its capital).
Now, because Ning Botao came to the rescue and Alessandro survived the assassination, it is estimated that it will be difficult for the country boy to stand out again.
Back at the Pitti Palace, Alessandro briefly bandaged up and then said to Ning Botao: "Ning, thank you for your help. The Medici family owes you a favor. I will pay for the handling fee of this auction."
No, I will give them all to you. At the same time, I want to send an envoy to China to meet your emperor, hoping to leave a few young people to study in China."
"Hahahaha, of course." Ning Botao was very happy and picked up more than a thousand taels of gold for nothing.
Alessandro added: "The friendship between the Medici family and China, and the friendship with you, will last forever. I wonder how old your descendants are?"
Ning Botao said: "I have a seven-year-old son."
Alessandro said: "My daughter Julia is six years old this year, and I hope to marry you."
Ning Botao thought for a while and smiled: "It's a great honor."
It's just a concubine to have a son, so marrying a barbarian daughter-in-law doesn't matter. Ning Botao mainly wanted to see the Medici family being rich and dukes.
Alessandro, on the other hand, wanted to have a relationship with the Ming Dynasty. This time he was so angry that he almost went to see God. He was determined to cleanse the principality, form an alliance with Spain, violently attack France, and further control the entire Tuscany.
.
Europe is about to start a war again. Spain has made so much money, and the king has become the emperor of the Shinra. If there is nothing to do, it will turn to France.