My Daming New Empire

Then he was arranged in the cabin near the door, five or six meters away from Zhu Zhanji, and there were five or six people in between.

Cosimo couldn't bear his curiosity, and while he was seated, he secretly looked up at Zhu Zhanji who was sitting on the innermost platform, which was half a meter higher than everyone else.

I didn't see clearly in a hurry, but the only one who could see the other party was tall, with exceptionally sharp eyes.

Seeing Cosimo sitting on the grand master's chair, Liu Wan curled his lips secretly. He is really a barbarian who doesn't know etiquette and humility at all, and dares to sit down in front of His Highness.

Zhu Zhanji didn't care about this, and looked at Cosimo who was still a little nervous and said: "Florence, as the dividing line between the Papal State and the Holy Roman Empire, has always been facing double pressure. Can the Medici family survive under this pressure?" To become a leader in Florence obviously has something that others cannot compare to. In your personal opinion, what is the main reason why your Medici family can rise?"

After listening to Tong Shi's translation, Cosimo couldn't figure out Zhu Zhanji's mentality for a while. After pondering for a while, he could only answer in the official language: "Your Highness, the Medici family can rise from the turbulent Florence. It was my father's extraordinary ability and our family's integrity-based approach."

Zhu Zhanji smiled and said: "As far as I know, there is a tall tower in Pisa. It has been tilted several degrees since the beginning of construction, but it has not fallen because of the tilt, and it has become a big landscape instead."

Cosimo was very unaccustomed to such unrestrained conversations, but facing the honorable Zhu Zhanji, he didn't dare to show any dissatisfaction, nodded and said: "Yes, Your Highness. If Your Highness wants to take a look, I will help His Highness arrange the itinerary tomorrow .”

Zhu Zhanji did not directly answer whether he would go or not, but said: "Today, the Italian peninsula has the largest number of architects, artists, navigators, and various skilled sailors in Europe. I have always been interested in various technical talents. Pay special attention to it, and want to establish a technical exchange channel from the Italian peninsula to my Ming Dynasty, I wonder if the Medici family would like to become my agent of Ming Dynasty?"

After listening to Tong Shi's translation again, Cosimo didn't understand what Zhu Zhanji wanted to say at all.He said three sentences, but the three sentences were completely out of line, making Cosimo feel that many of his brain cells had died.

He also didn't doubt that his comprehension was wrong, or Tongshi's translation was wrong, because he could understand what he said, and he answered directly every time, but as the grandson of the emperor, he always used Daming dialect That's all.

If Tong Shi's translation is wrong, he will know immediately.

Facing this young man who was nearly ten years younger than himself, Cosimo felt tremendous pressure.He quickly replied, "Your Highness, this is the honor of the Medici family."

As soon as the powerful and wealthy Ming Dynasty appeared in Europe, it caused a huge sensation.This fleet that suddenly appeared not only possessed powerful force, but also carried hundreds of ships of valuable cargo, which let the whole of Europe know that Ming was richer than all the countries in Europe combined.

Although the Medici family is the richest man in Florence, if they want to buy goods from Daming, they can only buy goods from ten ships at most, which makes Cosimo feel a huge gap.

Such a powerful country produces goods that the whole of Europe is crazy about. Although it is a luxury, it can also be regarded as a necessity.

Whether it is silk, tea, spices, or porcelain, no one does not want these things.

If Daming is willing to sell the gun production technology, Cosimo believes that the Wushu family will be like him, willing to lose everything to buy it.

If he can become Daming's agent, Cosimo believes that the Medici family will definitely become one of the most powerful families in Europe.

However, he couldn't believe that such a good thing would happen to the Medici family. Although the Medici family could still be counted as the number one figure in Florence, it was not worth mentioning in the whole of Europe.

He really wanted to ask why it was the Medici family, but thinking of the warnings from those vicious guards, he absolutely didn't dare to ask.

Zhu Zhanji didn't know much about Europeans in this era, except for the royal families, he had only heard of the Medici family.

Especially this family has just risen now, if they are turned into Daming's lackeys, which will directly affect the European Renaissance, Zhu Zhanji will be happy just thinking about it.

A capable family has become the lackeys of Ming Dynasty. There is no need to worry about their abilities, which will directly weaken their influence on the Renaissance.

It will be a great sense of accomplishment if they can be turned into the overlords of the Italian peninsula and directly affect the history of Europe.

Zhu Zhanji smiled and said: "For the Holy Roman Empire and the Papal State, although I can know their general sphere of influence, I can't figure out their relationship with each other, although we don't care about their relationship. personnel disputes, but the more you know, the better it will be for me to act, what do you think?"

Cosimo felt very tired. The original excitement of seeing the grandson of the Ming Dynasty turned into a huge pressure.

He didn't talk about business or interests, and with an attitude that couldn't be rejected, he directly showed that Daming could do whatever he wanted.

It made Cosimo wonder if he was wrong to post it so aggressively.

No matter how powerful the Ming Dynasty is, it is impossible to stay here forever. They are located in the far east. If they get too close to them and anger the Holy Roman Empire in the north and the Papal State in the south, the loss outweighs the gain!

But at this time, he was not allowed to refuse. He doubted that if he refused and angered the grandson of the emperor, would the other party directly hang himself to death.

For a moment, he was a little confused. For his own safety, he could only divert the water to the south and said, "His Royal Highness, the Medici family is very willing to establish a closer relationship with Daming, but..."

He raised his head and took a bold look at Zhu Zhanji, who was sitting not far away, and then he saw Zhu Zhanji's appearance clearly. The other party was imposing, with pressure that he had never faced before.

He was ruthless and said: "But...the Pope's country is full of people, and it seems that many people want to prevent His Highness from going to the Pope's country!"

His Royal Highness remained calm, but the others were extremely shocked when they heard Tong Shi's translation. Seeing them asking for details in shock, Cosimo felt that his choice was right.

Anyway, now there is no need to directly answer the other party, whether you are willing to be used by the other party.

"The Pope..." Zhu Zhanji laughed meaningfully.

(I have something to do today, only [-] words, and [-] words to make up for it tomorrow.)

Thank you for seeing people with lights, I spit on you, and the reward of bamboo sticks, thank you for your support

Chapter 59 Agents

As long as you know a little bit of European history, you can know that in the history of Europe, no country can have the same influence as the Pope.

From the fifth century AD, the Western Roman Empire was destroyed by the Ostrogoths, and the center of the church moved to Constantinople.In the sixth century, the Eastern Roman Empire made a comeback and destroyed the Ostrogothic Empire. Since then, the Papal State has had considerable secular power.

In the eighth century, the Lombard Empire wiped out the last vestiges of power of the Eastern Roman Empire in the Italian Peninsula. With the help of Lombardy, the Pope finally broke away from the Eastern Roman Empire, that is, the rule of Byzantium, and became independent.

Although independent from the Lombards, the Papal States are not satisfied with royal power to rule theocracy.

In 751 AD, Byzantium's territory in Italy was finally lost to the Lombards.The Roman region (which had developed into the Roman Principality at this time) completely cut off its connection with the Byzantine Empire.Pope Stephen II relieved the Lombard threat by courting the Frankish leader Pepin "The Short".

Pepin led an army into Italy twice, forced the Lombard king Estov to surrender, and handed over the former Ravenna governorate seized from Byzantium to the Pope and his successors to rule.Thus came the Papal States.

For quite a long time, the Papal State was still a vassal of the Frankish Kingdom.In order to change this trend, several generations of popes have made great efforts.

In order to improve the prestige of the Papal State, and to dispel the possibility that Pepin's heirs will use this act of donating soil to control the Holy See in the future.Between 750 and 850, the Holy See boldly forged a document known as the "Constantine's offering".

This document attempts to declare that the lands owned by the Papal States were consecrated by the Roman Emperor Constantine I to the Bishop of Rome, Sylvester II, in the 4th century AD.

After the death of Pepin's son Charlemagne, the Frankish Empire split into three parts in the 9th century.

Although in the following centuries, the successive French kings who claimed to be the direct heirs of the Frankish kings often declared themselves the secular protectors of the Holy See, and even moved the Holy See and the Pope from Rome to Avignon, but there is no such thing in Europe anymore. An emperor or king could claim suzerainty over the Papal States as the sole heir to the Frankish Empire.

The cooperation between the Roman Church and the Franks reached its peak in the ninth century AD.

Prior to this, like the Church of Constantinople in the East, the position of the Pope and the Roman Church was (at least nominally) subordinate to the sole heir to the Roman Empire, the Emperor of the East.

The Pope and the Archbishop of Constantinople are considered to be God's representatives in religious affairs on earth, while the Roman (Eastern Roman) emperors are God's representatives in secular affairs on earth.Both the Christian church and the people believed that there was only one emperor in the world, the Roman emperor.

Constantine VI was abolished in 797, and his mother, Empress Dowager Irina, established herself as the Empress of Rome (reigned from 797 to 802), which gave the Roman Church reason to refuse to recognize the supreme authority of the ruler of Constantinople .

The Roman Church declared that the name of the Roman Emperor no longer existed among the Greeks (that is, the Byzantines), so the Pope, all the bishops, the Frankish Senator and all the elders of the city of Rome decided to crown the Frankish King as Emperor after deliberation. Keep the Roman Empire alive forever.

In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as "His Majesty Augustus, the great emperor entrusted by God to rule the Roman Empire", and the Charlemagne Empire was born.

In 936, Otto I was crowned King of Germany. In 962, Otto was coronated for the second time.Pope John XII crowned him in Rome and awarded him the title of "Emperor", thus creating the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire.

However, because the imperial line of the Eastern Roman Empire was not interrupted, two parallel supreme rulers appeared in the Christian world, one in Constantinople and the other in Rome.

They did not stand side by side peacefully like the Eastern and Western emperors of the past, but they accused each other of being usurpers and declared themselves the only true and legitimate leaders of the Christian church and people.