Continental Warriors Yoo Ma

"You will understand this matter when the Marquis of Lamanche arrives in a while."

Giuseppe snorted coldly: "He is just a foreigner, what qualifications does he have to participate in the meeting that decides the future of the Republic. In my opinion, that Serisian should be kept out of the door, and then the meeting should be held."

His proposal has won the support of the two families.It's just that others are noncommittal.Beneditto also ignored Giuseppe.

"Hmph! When I become the governor of Genoa, I must take care of the Doria family. Their roots are in the army and in Corsica. Now Corsica has been ravaged by the undead. Those Doria families It will be difficult to produce any output in the next ten years. After falling into the predicament of greatly reduced income, I want to see how the Doria family can compete with me!" Giuseppe sneered.

Giuseppe is good at calculating and will do anything for power.His older brother, the former governor Tommaso, ended up being assassinated, and he played no small role in it.

If Giuseppe hadn't secretly dispersed the strength of the Campofregoso family, Genoa would not have been so passive in responding to the attack of the undead pirates.

Thinking about the bright future with great power in his mind, Giuseppe waited quietly for a while, and found a sudden noisy sound from the square outside.

"What's going on?" Giuseppe came to the window, looked down, and found that hundreds of carriages arrived at the square in front of the Doge's Palace, filling the entire street to the brim.

Other nobles also noticed this sudden situation, and quickly poked their heads out of the window to see what happened.

Only the two representatives of the Doria family and the Adorno family remained seated.

Ma Youfu stepped down from the first carriage painted with the coat of arms of the Marquis of Lamanche.Immediately afterwards, the people who came down from the other carriages were dressed in expensive clothes, but there were no coats of arms or decorations to show the status of nobility on the carriages, and their ostentation was not as good as that of the oligarchs.

Jupes immediately recognized that the fat man who ran to Ma Youfu as soon as he got off the carriage was the president of the Genoa Printing Guild.

In the crowd behind him, there were many characters that Jupesse recognized.For example, Vesore, the owner of the "Tripoli Firm", Silvestro, a maritime merchant who owns five Kirk ships, Carlo, the mercenary leader from Genoa, and others.

The common feature of these people is that they have certain wealth and social status in the republic, but because the family has not risen for a long time, it is difficult to enter the high-level republic monopolized by oligarchs.

They are also one of the most power-hungry groups in the Republic.

"What did Youfu Ma bring these people to the Governor's Palace? Could it be that he wants these upstarts to seize the power of the Nine Great Families?" Jupesai was puzzled.

He soon knew the answer.

Ma Youfu walked into the meeting room, sat down at the head of the long table generously, and said straight to the point: "Gentlemen, I think the Republic of Genoa has reached the most dangerous time, and the previous system must be changed. My proposal, who Yes, who is against?"

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After Ma Youfu spoke, none of the great nobles in Genoa responded.

Some people already knew about Lord Marquis' plan, while some people were caught by his aura and didn't even dare to look into each other's eyes.

At this time, those Genoese emerging classes who were one level lower than the oligarchs also entered the meeting hall one after another.

After Jupes recovered from the shock, he finally got a little anxious, and shouted at the uninvited guests: "This is the solemn meeting room of the Governor-General of the Republic. Except for the nine noble families, others are not eligible to participate in this meeting , everyone, please go out!"

It's a pity that instead of making the crowd obey, his words attracted a burst of boos.

Giuseppe had no choice but to look at Ma Youfu: "Marquis of Lamanche, what do you mean?"

"It means literally. I think the system of the Republic needs to be reformed. And the people of insight who came to the Duke's Palace with me today have the same idea."

"I don't think there's anything wrong with the system of the republic!" Jupes said angrily.

"There is nothing wrong? If there is nothing wrong, why did the once glorious Genoa gradually fall behind its old rival Venice? If there is nothing wrong, why did it behave like this when it was attacked in Corsica when it was attacked by undead pirates? Weak, dull, so that it caused irreparable damage?"

"That's just because the former Governor Tommaso was too incompetent..." Zhu Peisai had no choice but to take out his brother and flog the corpse.

"Then why does the Republic let such an incompetent person become the governor? Isn't this a problem with the system?"

Ma Youfu's questioning completely overwhelmed Zhu Peisai.

His lips squirmed for a long time, but he didn't say a word after all.

Ma Youfu took advantage of the heat and threw out his own reform plan for the republic system: "I suggest that the term of the governor of Genoa be changed from a lifelong term to a two-year term. And the system of the Senate and the Procuratorate will be abolished. The upper house will replace these two institutions. And the House of Commons. The House of Lords consists of 35 members, who must come from the [-] families with the longest history and the most distinguished status in Genoa. The number of members of the House of Commons is [-] in total, elected by all Genoese citizens.

Every time the Governor-General is elected, the Governor-General is nominated by the House of Lords and then elected by the House of Commons.

The policy of the government of the republic concerning military, foreign affairs, and religion is reviewed by the House of Lords.Policies related to taxation, civil affairs, commerce and trade are reviewed by the House of Commons.

If the Republic wants to establish new laws, it needs to be passed by both the House of Representatives and the House of Representatives.

One-third of the House of Lords is elected every four years.The House of Commons is elected every two years..."

The new system designed by Ma Youfu for Genoa refers to various parliamentary countries in later generations, as well as the system that Genoa itself will implement in the future after the abolition of the lifetime governor system.

Mature, if not flawless.

After the reorganization, the position of governor, which was almost monopolized by the two families of Adorno and Campofregoso, has a great chance for other nobles to get their hands on it.For these nobles, it is good news.It's just that they have basically monopolized the power of the Senate and the Procuratorate, but now they want to share it with the "upstarts", which is a bad news.

Therefore, in order to reduce the voice of opposition, Ma Youfu expanded the power of the House of Lords a lot, allowing the great nobles of Genoa to agree to the system reform of the Republic after weighing the pros and cons.

According to the plan proposed by Ma Youfu, the biggest losses are naturally the Adorno family and the Campofregoso family.

It's just that the head of the Adorno family is dead, and the current leader, Rinaldo, has been manipulated to death because he has a secret in the hands of Ma Youfu, and he dare not resist.

The other oligarchic families lost their monopoly on the power of the Republic, but they had the opportunity to defeat the two major families and reach the pinnacle of power.

And those emerging classes who had not had the opportunity to enter the core of power in Genoa benefited a lot.

This is also the reason why, under the matchmaking of the Doria family, Ma Youfu was able to quickly win over this group of emerging classes.

As for the biggest winner, it is naturally Ma Youfu himself.

After the reform of the system, Ma Youfu will receive the lifelong title of "Honorable Republic Rebuilder".

This is not just an honorary title, but also comes with a lot of actual power.

Mayouf will get five permanent seats in the House of Lords.And can designate 20 people to serve as members of the House of Commons without election.At the same time, he gained the right to make unlimited investments in the republic's assets - including the world's oldest bank, St. George's Bank.

This bank is not only responsible for managing the republic's finances and directing investments, but even directly manages many overseas territories, including the islands in the Aegean Sea and Gazaria on the Crimean Peninsula.

If Ma Youfu can control the St. George Bank, not only can he obtain the most mature and advanced financial institution by the standards of this era, but he can also penetrate the entire republic.Let it better serve its own interests.

As the biggest loser of Ma Youfu's reform proposal, Jupesse shouted fiercely: "No, I firmly oppose this so-called reform! Everyone, Spinola, Grimaldi, Durazzo..."

Giuseppe named the oligarch families one by one, and then said: "We are a family with a long history that was born almost at the same time as the Republic. We created this country, how can we allow foreigners and a group of nouveau riche to usurp power? Request Think carefully, everyone, don't be fooled by that cunning Siris!"

Unfortunately, Jupesai's earnest persuasion did not have any effect.

"Bishop, you'd better go back to the church and read the scriptures! The monopoly of power by a small number of nobles can only lead to endless corruption and damage the interests of the Republic! It's time for the people to share power. No one is more powerful than the Marquis of La Manche Understand the republic!" A voice came from the crowd of the emerging class.

A burst of ridicule and abuse suddenly hit Jupesai.

Although these merchants, ship owners, mercenary leaders, guild leaders, famous scholars and artists, etc., have always been in a state of disunity in the past, unable to knead their forces together to seek political power.But today, under the guidance of Ma Youfu, they have demonstrated their formidable potential.

Among the other oligarchic families, Doria, Adorno, Spinola, and Giovanni were the first to agree.

They had long turned to the Marquis of La Manche, and they had been promised that after the victory of the Crusaders in the future, they could obtain the real title of nobility.

"This world is so big, you don't need to keep your eyes on little Genoa forever."

The persuasion effect of Ma Youfu's words was excellent, and the four families changed their minds in an instant.

As for the other families in the chamber, except for the Campofregoso family represented by Giuseppe, no one expressed any objection.

Giuseppe couldn't support himself, so he could only slump down on the chair and agreed to Ma Youfu's proposal.

Amidst the cheers of the emerging class, this meeting, which had not officially started, was over.

It's just that it will take a long time for the reforms to be implemented.Moreover, in the plan proposed by Ma Youfu, there are many clauses that need to be further discussed and revised.

The only thing that is certain is that even if the upper and lower chambers are formed and a new governor is elected, Ma Youfu is still the most powerful person in Genoa.

Moreover, his operation this time is much better than that of Charles VI before.

Ma Youfu did not directly send troops into Genoa, nor did he directly parachute officials into the Genoa government to interfere in its internal affairs.In the future, all of Ma Youfu's actions will also be carried out within the scope of the rules.It's just that the rule itself was formulated by Ma Youfu.

On the surface, after breaking the monopoly of power by oligarchs and emerging classes on the stage, Genoa's political vitality will be enhanced, government efficiency will be further enhanced, and the republic will become stronger and stronger.However, when the power of the governor and the great nobles is weakened, Genoa's ability to resist the infiltration and interference of powerful foreign forces will also be greatly weakened.

Well, this powerful foreign force refers to Ma Youfu.

Now in the eyes of the Genoese, he is a "re-builder of the republic" rather than a "greedy invader" and has a very good reputation.In the future, all kinds of methods of division, disintegration and wooing will be used, and sooner or later the citizens of the republic will willingly merge into his country.

However, too high a reputation does not seem to be all a good thing.

Ma Youfu stayed in Genoa for a week, and when he was further improving the reform plan, he kept receiving petitions from the citizens of Genoa, hoping that he could defeat the undead pirates as soon as possible, recover Corsica, and save the soldiers and civilians who were still fighting on the island.

Ma Youfu could only politely refuse with "I am not a citizen of the republic, this kind of matter can only be decided after the new governor takes office".

It's just that on the night when Genoa began to hold elections for the House of Commons, Ma Youfu received two messages in succession, which made him release the news the next day: the battle to recover Corsica is about to begin!

This news made the people of Genoa very excited, and the entire republic began intensive preparations for war.

As for Ma Youfu, he appointed Rinaldo as the interim governor and put him in charge of war preparations, while he hurried back to Provence.

Of the two messages he received, the first was from the Wisdom School.Gaucher told him that a rocket with a range of 35 kilometers has been successfully developed.Three attempts were made, none failed.

Ma Youfu named it Dongfeng Rocket.

The second news was brought by Valentina.

After being beaten up by the newly formed Normandy fleet, the Son of Salt Spray, who had been silent for a while, sent a secret report.The vampire lord has left Corsica with a huge fleet and is heading towards Naples.

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Ischia Island is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea, across the sea from Cape Miseno on the Apennine Peninsula.The strait between the two is the only way for ships departing from the north and west coasts of the Mediterranean Sea to Naples, the capital of the Kingdom of Naples.

On a protruding rocky mountain to the east of Ischia Island, a small castle was built to guard the waterway.Because of the undead pirates that have ravaged the Western Mediterranean in recent months, the Queen of Naples specially added troops to the castle, even dispatched a court mage, and set up a communication circle in the castle.

In case the undead pirates come to attack Naples, the capital of Naples, the queen can also receive an early warning and take countermeasures as soon as possible.

This morning, the weather was particularly bad, the sky was gloomy, and there was a depressing feeling that the mountains and rain were about to come and the wind was overwhelming.

Two soldiers were standing guard on the tower of the castle. The sea breeze in early spring was still icy cold, making people shivering uncontrollably.

One of the soldiers with a big beard finally couldn't help it, took out a cowhide water bag from his arms, gulped down a few mouthfuls of low-quality ale, and let out a long breath of relief.

Another young soldier couldn't help but said: "Are you crazy? His Excellency the mage has long ordered that drinking alcohol while on guard is strictly prohibited. Are you afraid of being punished by him?"

The bearded soldier looked disdainful: "The mage's order is as useless as goblin feces. I am not afraid at all. At worst, I will be expelled from the army. Anyway, most of the queen's gold is used to raise her lover. We are lucky Fortunately, I worked hard and couldn't make much money. Why don't you join the Crusaders and take risks on the other side of the sea. Maybe you can make great achievements, be canonized as a knight, and get a piece of land. From then on, you can live a noble life life……"

The young soldier looked disbelieving: "Do you have the money to be a crusader? Don't forget, the broken spear we have is the Queen's property. You and I don't have much salary every month. It also went into the pockets of tavern owners and brothel bawds. We couldn't even pay for the boat to North Africa. Besides, even if a kind captain was willing to send us to Tunisia, then what? Without weapons and armor, how can we fight the vicious aliens? Do believers fight with their teeth?"

The bearded soldier despised his companion with a look of "you are so ignorant", and then said mysteriously: "The difficulties you mentioned are all easy to solve. Now, the banks in Venice, Genoa, Florence, and Bologna are all In issue of 'Jihad Loans'.

As long as you are a man in good health who can take up arms and fight, and is devout and willing to fight the heretics in order to spread the glory of the seven saints, you can apply for a loan from the bank to purchase the weapons and equipment needed to participate in the Crusades. supplies.The loan interest is very low, and the repayment time limit is also very generous, but the spoils obtained in the jihad must be paid one-fifth to the bank in return..."

The bearded soldier had no education, but after listening to the bank staff's endless promotion of "Jihad loans", he also knew what this financial product was all about.

Hearing what his companion said clearly and logically, the young soldier was also tempted.

The current life is useless and boring, and I will never see the future, so I might as well go to North Africa to fight for wealth.

The two were talking about the "jihadi loan" that is now becoming more and more popular all over Italy, and a man in a velvet mage robe suddenly stepped up the tower.

He looked at the two soldiers who were not standing, smelled the faint smell of alcohol in the air, and suddenly became furious: "Undead pirates are still raging at sea, Naples is under threat at any time, you two stupid people are still in the mood to drink and be lazy Get out, and start cleaning the corners of the city walls from today! Half of the military salary will be deducted this month!"

The two soldiers were immediately dissatisfied, but they dared not speak out in front of the mage's superior.