In this era, France was still remote in the eyes of the Italian city-state, and Paris, the capital of France, was just a city slightly larger than other places. Compared with the many famous Italian historical cities that brewed the Renaissance, France really had nothing to be proud of. As for the Louvre, which was regarded by the French as the pearl of French civilization, it had no shadow yet, so the new castle in Montina did not have the reputation of "the Little Louvre in Italy".

But this did not make Alexander forget the shock of seeing the priceless art treasures in this castle, and the stunning of seeing the magnificent castle.

If you have to say that there is something special about this castle, you can only say that Montina Castle is a strange building that can be called an alien to this era.

The emergence of firearms has caused some changes on the battlefield that have not happened for thousands of years. Whether in the era of pure infantry, chariots, or in the years when cavalry was rampant, although the situation of war has undergone various changes, it has always been a contest of cold weapons. Although the situation of war has undergone major changes due to the emergence of some powerful weapons, the most fundamental things have not changed from beginning to end.

The most obvious one is the technique of defending the city.

Whether it is the Europeans' heavy armored cavalry, the erratic and terrifying Mongolian light cavalry, or the earlier invincible Roman legions, they often become helpless in the face of the huge problem of siege.

Countless powerful armies returned in disgrace in front of the solid city walls, including the victorious commander like Hannibal and the natural genius like Belisarius. Often, the famous generals would rather face more enemies than themselves in the wild than confront a few enemy troops relying on the solid city walls.

This is because in front of the strong and tall city walls, no matter how brilliant military art is, it often becomes useless, and there is no other way to conquer even a small fortress except for repeated hard battles.

But the appearance of firearms changed all this.

Opposite the Mediterranean, when the Ottomans bombarded the walls of Constantinople with Urban cannons, amid the earth-shaking rumbling cannons, not only the walls of Constantinople and the subsequent demise of Eastern Roman Empire, but also the concept of war that had lasted for thousands of years for countless people.

The solid city wall is no longer a universal magic weapon that can stop everything. The emergence of firearms finally threatens the unshakable status of the castle that has lasted for 2,000 years.

Because of this, in recent decades, the construction of castles has been increasingly moving towards the goal of how to defend against artillery with increasingly powerful power. In these same short decades, the emergence of various siege firearms has also made the requirements for castle defense higher and higher.

When people were still stunned by the power of Urban cannons, they soon discovered that a wind of building giant cannons had begun to sweep across Europe from some of the most important times. In Prague, in Vienna, in Aragon and Castilla, which had just driven away the Moors, people spared no effort to create large artillery with great caliber and amazing power. In some colonies far away in the Mediterranean, in order to defend against the possible attacks by the Ottomans, the wealthy Venetians were working hard to build a defensive fortress that could withstand the bombardment of heavy artillery, and also quickly created various types of artillery that hoped to sink invade enemy ships in an instant.

The Montina New Fort was built in such an era when military technology and military defense architectural styles were undergoing huge and profound changes.

One of the most controversial statements Alexander remembers about the New Castle of Montina is whether this castle is the first modern defensive building in Europe in the true sense.

In Alexander's memory, this debate once attracted the attention of many people, and even in the professional academic circles, the construction of the Montina New Castle has extraordinary significance, because according to the view of some architectural historians, the Montina New Castle can be said to be a real alien.

The solid city walls and a brand new defensive building system undoubtedly give this castle a major military responsibility. In fact, just think about the era of building this castle, you can understand that this is the Italian Peninsula that is in chaos and the most turbulent era known as the "Small World War" is taking place.

But contradicting the severe situation, the castle itself has certain architectural styles that are completely different from those of the fortress and are full of romantic elements that are incompatible with this era. If we must say that there is a building that can be compared with it, then only the world-famous Bavarian Swan Castle can be compared with it.

In the architectural history world, there is another saying that has always been hotly discussed, that is, the Cygnus Castle has borrowed the style and characteristics of Montina New Castle in many places.

It is such a castle that will soon become the territory of Barenti de la Rovere and her residence. However, if Miss Rovere wants to live peacefully in this dreamy castle of her own, someone will need to fight a battle for her first.

This errand fell on Alexander now.

Alexander actually wanted to say something that could not be said, but in the end, Rovery's remarks made everyone feel that if he refused to serve Barenti, it would be a disrespect to Miss Rovery. At least Rovery's family stared at Alexander with a very serious look at him, and his solemn appearance seemed to be a mass or a funeral.

"That is Barenti's territory and her castle. Think about it, in addition to the art treasures, there are the rooms in which she lives, and this is the most important thing. Can you bear the dirty and vulgar Milanese mercenaries and the fishy Venetians who enter the room that only you have the right to enter, or even occupy her clean and holy bed?"

"Absolutely not possible, I can't tolerate this kind of thing happening!"

Alexander replied indignantly at that time. His answer obviously made Old Rovery very happy. This could be seen from the fact that he excitedly crushed several nuts and ate them all the time.

As the Milanese gradually increased their troops to the city of Realo, various rumors appeared to be more common. The Romans had already felt the atmosphere of war, and at the same time, a noteworthy news was also circulating among the upper class and merchants of Rome.

There is a woman who can get food through various means, and she can also get a lot of supplies in the market that are currently in short supply because the road is intercepted.

What interested many people is that although this woman named Orgala has such an opportunity, she doesn't seem to have much money, so she is looking for partners who can cooperate with her everywhere.

This made many people skeptical about the news, but when they heard that the woman had close contacts with Cotschach and even Gonzalo, people couldn't help but seriously consider whether the news was reliable.

More and more people began to enter and exit the small apartment in Orgala. For a time, many people in the city of Rome gradually learned that there was such an amazing beauty.

Alexander was summoned to his villa by Juliano de la Rovere again, and it was two days later.

This time, Lao Luoweire did not even let Alexander meet his daughter, but instead called him directly to his study.

There, Laford and Constantine had been waiting for a long time.

Old Rovery made plans for Alexander very seriously, starting from proposing to join his army until he thought that Alexander should take the initiative to ask Milan and Venetians to stop marching towards Montina for the sake of his fiancée's reputation.

"The Milanese must be stopped. If they continue to march towards Rome, it is not good for us," Juliano told his family. "We must admit that Alexander said it well. The alliance between the Milanese and the Venetians has left Bogia with no way. He will ask for help from Aragon, and that Alfonso will probably become a cardinal, especially now that Caesar has voluntarily given up his priesthood. For Bogia, whoever becomes a cardinal has nothing to do with him. If so, why don't he choose someone who is good for him."

"This is an unexpected result," Laford de la Rovere's expression was low. The newly-promoted Archbishop of Genoa frowned at this time, with a pair of cool-eyed brothers, but slightly soft eyes swept across Alexander's face not far away. "So what should we do?"

As if he noticed Laford's gaze, Alexander's eyes met. This was the first time he was invited to attend the meeting of the Rovere family. According to Old Rovere, this was to prove his relationship with Barenti.

"Are Milan and Venice enemies?" Alexander suddenly asked, seeing Constantine beside him cast strange eyes, he continued, "of course they are enemies, otherwise Ludvico would not have brought Charlie into Milan, but they are allies now. Since they can become allies, why can't Rovere and Pogia?"

Constantine's face showed surprise at first, then anger appeared. His eyes were staring at Alexander angrily, and the questioning that burst out from anger was about to burst out.

"Go to find that Borgia," Juliano said suddenly, his eyes falling on Raford. "Raford, this matter is left to you. Borgia has a good relationship with you. Maybe he is willing to see you make this suggestion to him."

"What advice do you really want to form an alliance with Bogia?" Constantine asked in surprise. "They are our enemies. Rodrigue Bogia even wants to kill you, and his uncle has tried to hurt you more than once. Do you still want to form an alliance with their family?"

Looking at his son's excitement, Juliano pondered slightly, and then he shook his head gently.

Constantine showed a look of relief, but before he could speak, Old Rovere said: "Of course I can't forget it. Whether he is Rodriguez Borgia or Pope Alexander VI, the hostility between the Borgia family and Rovere cannot disappear, just as I can't forget that I once proposed to your daughter Lucrezia but was humiliated by them."

When Constantine heard his father mentioning the rejection of his proposal, he became even more angry. He even looked at Alexander next to him with some anger.

For Constantine, the rejection of proposal to Lucrezia was one of the greatest shames in his life. He didn't want anyone to mention it, nor did he want more people to know about it. But his father said this in front of Alexander, which made Constantine even feel inexplicably hatred for Alexander who knew about it.

"That is an insult to our family," Juliano didn't care about his son's emotions. He looked at the people around him. "But I am not an alliance with Borgia, but an alliance with the Vatican. The Milanese have received the support of the German king, and the Venetians want to take the opportunity to enter Romagna, which is unacceptable to the Vatican and that our Rovere family must never allow. Do you understand?"

Laford nodded slightly. As the representative of the Lovere family in Rome, even when Juliano had to flee to France because of persecution by Alexander VI, he always stayed in Rome to run for the family. Relying on his shrewd skills, he was not only very popular among the Roman nobles, but even Alexander VI did not treat him differently because of his surname Lovere.

"We're going to organize an army, yes, an army," Juliano stared at Constantine. "Remember my son, your battle is not for Borgia, but for our family, for Genoa, so you should understand how to do it."

Constantine was silent for a while, and finally nodded with a gloomy expression.

"That's right," Juliano smiled, looking at Constantine with anticipation. "As a knight, you must be like a lion, and as a leader, you must want a fox, only such a person can become the hope of a family."

Old Rovery said, looking at Alexander again.

"As for you, all you have to do is prove your love for Barenti with your actions," Rovere said lightly. "You must let everyone know what your purpose is, because in this way we have the name of joining this war."

"Yes, I know what to do."

Alexander's voice was calm, but his eyes were firm, which made Juliano feel slightly better.

"But my army needs more support," said Alexander. "Although the Agris are brave, they are too small. If they want to guard the Castle of Montina, there must be more soldiers."

"You can get a thousand people, which is enough for you to defend the castle. The next thing you have to do is wait for the support of the Vatican and Genoa army." Juliano conceived for a while. "But before that, I suggest you better not to fight with the Milanese people. You should know that they have recruited a lot of mountain mercenaries. I think you have seen them here. You should know that it is very troublesome to encounter these mountain mercenaries on the battlefield."

Alexander nodded. Of course he knew that the Swiss mercenaries were not easy to mess with. Even if Juliano promised to give him an army of 1,000, he did not want to fight with the Swiss who were so dedicated that they could only be described as paranoid and madness.

Montina Castle?

After a long time after coming out of Rovere's villa and looking back at the beautiful house on the hills like a garden in the sky, Alexander suddenly smiled softly.

"Pagasus, we are going to go to war again," Alexander lowered his head slightly and stroked the smooth back hair of the war horse. "You must be good this time."

On April 7, 1497, Alexander suddenly issued a claim to the Monti Castle and the entire Montique in the Rome City Hall as his fiance in Barenti de la Rovere. At the same time, he declared that Milan and the Venetians were not welcomed by Monti Castle.

Everyone knows that this means that the Genoese, who have been watching coldly, have officially intervened in the dispute in Romagna!
Chapter completed!