My Daming New Empire

In this sense, Leo III, by crowning Charlemagne, freed the Church of Rome (and its dominions) from its subservience to the Eastern Roman emperors.Since then, the Pope has become the highest religious leader in the Western Christian world.

It was through this alliance with the powerful that the Papal States broke away from the control of Constantinople and became a powerful party and a religious leader at the same time.

From the reign of Siqi III to John XII, several women in the nobles of Rome took control of the power of the Holy See by becoming the mistress of the Pope, and their sons, as well as the sons of their sons, were all established as Popes Qi III and his mistress Marcia's son John XI and grandson John XII).

This period of the tenth century is therefore known as the "political" period.During this period, the pope's decree can only be implemented in the surrounding area of ​​​​the city of Rome.Secondly, the Papal State continued the feudal system of the Lombard Kingdom. There were many feudal fiefs of counts and marquises in the Pope's territory, all of whom were almost independent lords.

One of the Holy Roman Empire and the Papal State controlled most of Europe, and the other controlled the Italian peninsula.

Over the next two centuries, the Papal States and the Holy Roman Empire continued to clash from time to time.

Whenever the Holy Roman Emperor wanted to extend his power to Italy, he would conflict with the Holy See and the Papal States.

After the struggle of the thirteenth century, the Hohenstaufen dynasty ceased, and the Holy Roman Emperor stopped intervening in the affairs of the Holy See at will, and the Papal States and the Holy Roman Empire entered a state of peace.By the beginning of the fourteenth century, the Papal States, like the other Italian states, had become fully independent states.

In the fourteenth century, especially during the reign of the two popes, Alexander III and Julius II, the territory of the Papal States was greatly expanded again and became one of the most important political forces in Italy.

However, the Pope's rule over most of his territories was still in name only, and the real masters of the various city-states in the Papal States were still local princes and nobles.

That is to say, the Papal State only has the right to rule in name, but not the actual right to rule.

However, successive popes used their mistresses and illegitimate children to expand their power.

This contradiction reached its peak 100 years ago. The Papal State was unpopular, and the Holy Roman Empire could not bear the papal state's debauchery and corruption, and moved the Holy See from Rome to Avignon, France.

From 1305 to 1378, the Holy See moved to Avignon in southwest France, and the Pope became a political vassal of the French king.

Nevertheless, the Papal State in Italy is still the territory under the name of the Pope, and the city of Avignon and its surrounding areas have also become part of the Papal State.

The Holy Roman Empire has always been not a country but a loose federation.Although the area they control is large, they do not have a centralized government, and they only rely on the charm of the leaders to control it.

When the emperor was wise, their power was greater, and when the emperor was stupid, the orders could not even leave the city.

Such a country does not even have a capital, and the emperor is elected by the seven emperors, which also leads to the complexity of the political situation.

After studying the history of Europe, Zhu Zhanji still cannot clearly see the complex context of these hundreds of years. There is a little confusion in the East during the decline of the Zhou Dynasty.

Decades ago, the Holy Roman Empire had no emperor for a long time, and with the spread of the Black Death, everyone in the Holy Roman Empire was in danger, so the Holy See took this opportunity to return to Rome.

Today's northern Italy, including Lombardy, and Genoa belong to the territory of the Holy Roman Empire, all the way to Florence.

The Papal State only occupied a narrow area from Rome to Bologna and San Marino. To the south of them, today's Naples and Sicily were occupied by the Kingdom of Aragon.

Although they have mastered theocratic power, they are not worth mentioning in terms of secular power.

The majesty of the Ming fleet is not something they can provoke, and they don't have the guts to provoke Ming.

But they will absolutely not tolerate the Ming Fleet wandering around the Mediterranean Sea as if it were their back garden.Daming despises theocracy, and even the theocracy is canonized by the king, which is tantamount to digging their foundations, and they will never tolerate this.

When hard power is not comparable, it is their tradition to play tricks and tricks.

Is Zhu Zhanji afraid?

Of course he will not be afraid, he believes that without relying on the navy, just his Habayashi guard and young army can push the whole of Rome.

However, he was very conflicted in his heart.

On the one hand, he hopes to establish the lofty status of Ming Dynasty in Europe.But on the other hand, he hopes that Europe will continue to be ignorant, and does not want to suppress the power of the Holy See.

However, the arrival of Daming has awakened them. At this time, it is unrealistic to hope that they will continue to be ignorant.

He hasn't decided how to deal with the Papal State yet, but if they really dare to provoke him, he doesn't mind giving them a slap in the face.

Looking at Cosimo who was a little panicked in front of him, he smiled and said: "Since you know that someone is trying to deal with me behind the scenes, obviously, you should also know who it is. Now, it's time for you to show your friendship." It's..."

Cosimo froze for a moment, secretly crying inwardly.

He wanted to bring disaster to the east, but now the grandson of the emperor insisted on pulling him in.If he had acted as an internal response and helped Daming, he would be on the opposite side of most of the local forces, and he could only go to the dark side.

He regretted endlessly in his heart, and felt that it was a big mistake for him to take the initiative to come forward hastily.

However, he didn't have the courage to refuse.

He could only sneer, wanting to delay entering the city and let his father deal with this seemingly young but wily grandson of the emperor.

Pisa has been an important seaport on the west coast of the peninsula for nearly a hundred years. Although the merchants here are not as powerful as those in Venice, they still have a strong commercial atmosphere.

Before entering the city, you can see that on the north bank of the Arno River, there is a large warehouse, and there is a huge market on the periphery of the warehouse.

Most of the upper-class figures in the entire city came to this market to welcome Zhu Zhanji and his party, but at this time, they were all blocked by heavily armed Ming soldiers.

After Zhu Zhanji disembarked, some of the authorized representatives came to visit him one by one in trepidation, and then watched him board his huge carriage.

When Zhu Zhanji was meeting other businessmen, Qiao Fanne heard his son describe his contact with Zhu Zhanji in detail.

The richest man in Florence looked at Zhu Zhanji's tall figure, and the boiling in his heart turned cold.

Is it time to make a choice?Is Daming really worth relying on?

Florence was originally in the middle of the Holy Roman Empire and the Papal State, and because of the tacit understanding between the two sides, this buffer zone was left behind.

If they seek refuge with Daming, it means that they have to directly face the anger of both sides!

At this time, Giovanni also regretted it.If I knew this earlier, I shouldn't have actively posted it.

He just wanted to get closer and cooperate in business, but now he has to make a choice politically.

The welcome dinner that night was very lively, and the business representatives of Daming also expressed their strong interest in the trade cooperation with Florence, which made many businessmen very excited.

Only Qiao Fanne showed nervous gaffes from time to time in this joyful atmosphere, which made him, the master, look very out of standard.

Seeing this scene, Zhu Zhanji, who was in the position of the great devil, felt very happy. He really enjoyed the pleasure of manipulating the fate of others.

He knew very well that although Giovanne was in pain and struggling, he didn't have much choice.

The next morning, Zhu Zhanji came to the Leaning Tower of Pisa in the north of the city, surrounded by stars and moons.

This treasure in the history of architecture is not of much interest to Zhu Zhanji. His purpose is to climb to the highest floor and look down on all living beings from the highest place.

Along the narrow stairs, Zhu Zhanji went up to the 50-meter height of the highest floor, and then looked at the surrounding fields.

Behind him, apart from a few servants and guards, only Giovanni and his son were allowed to keep up.

On this sunny autumn day, Giovanni and his son were out of breath and sweating profusely because of climbing the tower and being nervous.

But seeing Zhu Zhanji who didn't even breathe out, their hearts quickly cooled down.

In their eyes, the young man in front of them is not much different from the devil. Now they can only face the temptation of the devil and abandon God.