Let me introduce you, this is my girlfriend, the Israeli boxing champion

Even more amazing is its amazing independence and political power. In 1204, the Venetian Doge Enrico Dandolo had the Crusaders of the Holy Land of Jerusalem working for him, destroying all the commercial and military rivals of his city-state at the time, something Alvin never wanted to talk about.

The dark and mysterious backwaters have become a symbol, as has the towering, candlelit Governor's Palace; the strange Italian accents on the streets, the long silences between conversations, and the gorgeous and gaudy clothes. There is no shortage of painters with outstanding skills, unique music, the custom of wearing masks to celebrate festivals, and their habit of showing off,

And, of course, their mastery of betrayal.

"All of this," Alvin concluded. "I read it all from books, and it contains some subjective assumptions, but I think that as a person who has experienced it, you should know what it is like here, Da Vinci."

"Venice is actually very dirty and crowded, just like everywhere else, I know that."

Leonardo was a dreamer. Dreamers have the right to dream.

But not Leonardo da Vinci.

In Venice, any news of disturbance would not escape the eyes of the Doge of Venice, let alone Alvin and his group who were heading towards him in a high-profile manner.

"Governor."

"Since it's from Byzantium, their purpose is clear. The events of 1174 are not settled yet."

He gave the order.

"Go, prepare a little gift for our 'VIP'."

The Doge's Palace in Venice has only one gallery-style main entrance - these are two huge bronze doors, which were built between 1438 and 1441. There are many decorative patterns on the door, which are decorated all the way to the edge of the door. The level of detail of the pattern production is comparable to that of jewelry. This dreamy mesh lace pattern shines with gold and sky blue light.

"Even though I've been here quite a few times, it's still very impressive... Alvin?"

He raised his head and looked inside, still wearing the monocle. When checking it yesterday, Da Vinci found that it was quite old and even the lens was cracked a lot. So she was even more puzzled as to why Alvin didn't change this pair of glasses.

"Well, Ophelia also has heterochromia, so don't mind it too much."

"No, Leonardo, it's more than that."

She really wanted to continue asking, but now was not the time. Seeing more and more people coming to watch the fun, Da Vinci grabbed his hand and walked inside.

"Let's go, leave everything to me."

Da Vinci held his hand, which was unexpectedly cold, as if it had been frozen in ice water, and the temperature was abnormally low.

"Your hand..."

"It's okay, Da Vinci, let's go."

He regained the initiative, but did not let go - not because he did not want to, but because he simply did not have the ability to do so.

In front of them, a two-story marble arcade surrounded the inner courtyard, with eight statues from the ancient Greek period, and two luxurious bronze water wells in the middle of the inner courtyard, which contained the best water in Venice. Every day, many vendors came to the Governor's Palace to draw water, and then took the sweet well water to sell everywhere, which was a huge profit.

Seeing the vendors queuing up to get water, he was a little envious and thought to himself, "Why don't I queue up too?" However, he was rebuked by Leonardo da Vinci:

"Wake up! They have ID!"

Leading from the inner courtyard to the palace is a giant staircase carved out of pure Carrara marble. On the platform above the stairs are placed huge marble statues of the god of war Mars and the god of the sea - the patron saints of the Venetians' military and the ocean.

The coronation ceremony of the Governor-General is held on the platform of the giant steps. At this time, the steps are a giant throne, and the oldest member of the Council of Ten puts a priceless green hat on the new head of state - a symbol of power.

The Ambassadors' Hall is meticulously decorated and extraordinarily luxurious. It seems that when the hall was built, the builders wanted to let foreigners feel the power and glory of Venice. Therefore, the grand scale of the Ambassadors' Hall, the luxury of the furniture and the expensive decorative materials can be compared with priceless works of art.

On the main wall above the throne is a great work by Veronese: "Allegorical Image of the Emperor of Veronese, Venice, Saints Giusta and Vera, with pilgrims looking at the Savior emerging from the light, surrounded by a group of saints, angels and archangels". The whole background is filled with clouds, as would be expected for such a miraculous scene. Only on the right side of the painting, behind the kneeling crowd, is Venice visible by the sea.

——If Alvin and his friends hadn’t come today, they would have seen these things, but what was placed in front of Alvin was

"I just saw at the door that they were making a big fuss about changing the contents of the Ambassadors' Hall."

Alvin sat in the soft chair and looked at the Greek-style tapestries, paintings, and decorations around him. He understood what the Doge of Venice meant without even having to think about it.

"For the Romans, these hateful Latins, especially the Venetians and Genoese, repeatedly took advantage of the crisis of the empire to invade the empire's limited territory and commercial rights, which made them subconsciously disgusted in their hearts."

"And that's exactly what we're here for, Alvin."

After the accidental glasses falling off incident, Da Vinci developed a strong interest in this magician from the Promised Land of the Clock Tower. If she was just stinging him in Chaldea before, now she was really curious.

It was like the curiosity of the eldest daughter of the Yukinoshita family in a light novel when she first discovered the Great Teacher.

"That guy is coming."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door was opened from the outside.

"Oh, welcome, Mr. Alvin. What brings you to the Governor's Mansion today?"

PS1: Tomorrow is expected to be the day when JD.com will have the highest support rate.

You can't be too cheerful in life.

PS2: Take a break, driving practice is really killing me

Chapter 043 The one who saw through the truth was a person who seemed...

"Oh, welcome, Mr. Alvin. Your arrival brings honor to the Governor's Mansion. I wonder what brings you here today?"

"I've heard that the Doge's Palace in Venice is world-famous. Today, I see that it is indeed extraordinary." Having said this, Alvin stopped and looked at the Byzantine-style decorations that filled the entire room.

"May I ask, sir, why do you say that?"

"It's just a little strange. Is the interior decoration style of the Ambassador's Hall, which is used for Venice's external reception, so varied?"

"As the saying goes, 'you sing the song that suits you'. We have divided many rooms to accommodate different guests. How do you feel about that?"

"Very good, but everything here must be replaced with our Byzantine things."

?

What does this mean?

what did he say?

Why don't I understand at all?

However, he did not have much time to think about this question, because Alvin directly explained his purpose to him.

"To be honest, Mr. Governor, we came here to ask for help from your Venice. Constantinople is now in danger. I believe that everyone in the West knows what will happen if those people capture Constantinople."

Although Alvin's attitude was the best among the diplomats in her opinion, Giovanni Mocenigo usually did not see much change in the results.

"Sir, I understand your feelings about your country, but you must be aware of the results of the last Crusade."

The governor was talking about what happened in Walsa between King Władysław III of Poland and János Hunyadi, the son of a Hungarian Transylvanian knight. Ultimately, the blame lies with the king, but it is undeniable that the battle had a great and far-reaching impact.

"No, Mr. Governor, if Constantinople is really in the hands of the Turks, you know better than me who will benefit the most."

He was silenced by Alvin.

The reason why the Age of Exploration began was closely related to this incident. When the Silk Road was cut off, people who wanted to trade with the East had to sail.

After the Ottomans monopolized the Silk Road, all merchants traveling along the route had to pay heavy taxes to the Turks. The profits of countries along the Mediterranean coast plummeted every year, while the profits of the Turks continued to rise. As a result, the Iberian Peninsulars, who had long been spoiled by the lucrative profits of the Silk Road, began to be keen on finding maritime trade routes and looking for new routes to bypass the Turks.

When they succeeded, in this era without canals, the Italians inevitably fell into decline.

But this is a matter of the future. What is in sight is that Venice’s own financial industry is also in trouble. As the source of loans for a large number of private maritime merchants, several major bankers have suffered heavy losses due to the conflict between France and the Holy Roman Empire. Ordinary citizens also ran to the banks for runs because of their pessimistic outlook, which caused greater difficulties in repayment. Maritime trade, which relies heavily on loans, was inevitably affected.

The result was that, except for a few chaebol families, all the ten-member council, including himself, became the target of public hatred and criticism.

"And taking a step back, do you think they won't move further into the Mediterranean? If their navy fights with Venice's, Venice may not necessarily win."

Although the navy that actually belongs to the Ottomans may not be very good, they have money to hire troops!

In fact, after 1453, the Turks who captured Constantinople had inevitably expanded from land to sea, and the naval battle 50 years later was the transfer of power between them.

"Oh, yes, I remember now. France, it's because of the French, the things between them and the Holy Roman Empire, and those Turkish cavalry who occasionally entered the Adriatic coast to plunder. I'm sure you guys are not feeling well."

The summer insects also remained silent for me, and silence was the Doge of Venice, but this was not the end. Alvin had no intention of letting them go, and he decided to add the last fatal straw.

"Oh, by the way, I suddenly remembered that the two countries on the Iberian Peninsula are said to have plans to open up new shipping routes..."

"Why are you a Byzantine diplomat, sir?" Giovanni Mocenigo smiled bitterly. His carefully planned plans seemed as fragile as a piece of white paper in front of Alvin.

What he didn't know was that he had already lost from the very beginning.

"But even if I have this intention, it's still difficult to deal with the Council of Ten. You know, before becoming members of the Council, they were all representatives of the oligarchic group. If they just decide to support Constantinople, then for them, this is more of a political show than support."

The governor's concerns were not without reason. In the naval battle 50 years later, most Venetians were opposed to assembling a large force for battle. In their view, this was a member of the oligarchic group who wanted to gain enough political capital in the war. As a result, almost all captains joined the fleet, but were passive about any combat plan.

"No, don't worry, it's nothing, uh, that's not right, I mean it's not something you should worry about."

Alvin already has a solution to this problem in mind, and in order to achieve it, he has to go out for a walk in the middle of the night these days.

Naturally, Leonardo da Vinci did not believe this statement.

"Believe me, Mr. Governor, deciding to support Constantinople will be the best thing you have ever done in your career as Governor."

"Okay, I'll talk to my deputy Francisco when I get back today."

No, he would definitely be very unhappy and protest. Alvin thought of the short, thin, bald man he met in the chapel that day. If he knew about this, he would probably be disgusted.

"Oh, by the way, Mr. Alvin, I have something I must tell you and your wife." He suddenly remembered something and said while sitting in a chair.

"The carnival is about to begin."

After confirming that he and Leonardo da Vinci would participate in the carnival, Alvin and Leonardo da Vinci left the Governor's Palace contentedly.

"Even if you're the only one here, I'm sure you can solve the problem perfectly."

"No, there is still a big difference between two people and one person, Da Vinci."

When he said her name, he paused, as if hesitating.

"what happened?"

"Will you come with me to the Mardi Gras celebration?"

Chapter 044 Da Vinci: GHS is the primary productive force

As night fell, more and more men and women in strange costumes and masks appeared on the streets and canals.

"This golden mask is really troublesome to wear."

Alvin looked in the mirror and wondered how to put on a monocle and a mask at the same time. It would be a very technical job if it wasn't modified.

But he had Leonardo da Vinci.

"Each mask is an invitation and is numbered, but that doesn't really help."

Da Vinci was standing behind Alvin. She never expected that the magician of the Clock Tower couldn't even tie this kind of belt... Wait, this seems quite normal.

"What do you mean?"

"They're having some special carnival contests tonight, open to everyone. There are four events, and the winner gets a golden mask and becomes the guest of honor at the party."

"On that boat in the canal?"

"Although we are sure we can do it, but won't you join us, Alvin?"

"No, wait." He adjusted the mask and looked towards the window. He tilted his head and pointed to the masked nuns on the street.

"Can I ask you a question, Da Vinci?"

"Ask as you like, but I promise I won't answer."

"What's up with those nuns?"

"What's up with the nuns? Aren't they married to God?"

"Is every nun the Virgin Mary?" Alvin asked. At this time, Da Vinci looked in the direction he pointed. There were several nuns with big bellies, but they did not look that old. Instead, they looked like they were in their prime. In this way, the word "graceful and wealthy" was more appropriate.

"This is too contradictory. Is there a carpenter living next to the church?"

As for Alvin, whose mind was already spinning wildly, Da Vinci remained noncommittal and even smiled.

"I don't see any contradiction in that. What they believe in and what they do with their bodies is their choice and they are free to do so."

"Like many young women, they were initially attracted to the church, but gradually, when they saw through the so-called 'believers' in the city, they only regarded God as a concept in their heads, and there was never a place for God in their hearts and bodies."

"If men want to be saved, they must learn how to love, and some girls will teach them what love is. Of course, no church denomination will agree with this idea, and it may seem unconventional, but practice has proved that it is indeed effective, and men's hearts are strengthened by the care of great human hearts."

"Where did you learn this knowledge? The person who said this is too free."

"A nun named Theodora, who was really a liberal person."

She thought about it and decided that if she used modern words to describe it, it would be what those naive little girls most hope to become.

To be more precise, she is a female student in a science class.

"Not every priest is a priest, of course, the nun TAG itself is a very good TAG... Wait, what's that look in Alvin's eyes?"

When the usually calm Da Vinci met Alvin's eyes at that moment, she became a little flustered, and in her panic there were many indescribable emotions.