Episode 854: Their Ambition (5)


    Cis.


    This port and the surrounding area, located in northern France, were a ce that must be recaptured by France.


    Cis has been an English territory since it was upied by Ennd at the beginning of the Hundred Years’ War.


    Cis was also an important area for Ennd.


    It was Ennd’s only gateway to maind Europe and the famous export port for Ennd’s wool.


    By order of Edward III, those who wanted to import or export wool from Ennd could only do so at Cis.


    Therefore, in addition to the problem of territorial recovery, France had to take Cis in order to tighten the economic stranglehold on Ennd.


    On the other hand, Ennd had to protect Cis for the opposite reason.


    And the Medici did not want either Ennd or France to gain the upper hand.


    * * *


    Cosimo continued, looking at Lorenzo and Giovanni.


    “As Giovanni said, if France starts a war to take Cis, we will have to spend an unexpected amount of money. That’s more than we can do. And you won’t even be able to receive the principal properly, let alone receive the interest. “This is absolutely not what we want to do.”


    Giovanni and Lorenzo nodded at Cosimo’s words.


    “That’s right.”


    When the Medici Bank lent money to the king and nobles, the repayment period was at least 10 years. And I thought there was little chance of getting the principal back within the repayment period.


    What the Medici wanted were their rights and interest as creditors.


    Of course, the interest was also an invisible interest, not a visible gold or silver coin.


    The best examples of this were the alum mines of Volterra and the loans of Edward IV.


    * * *


    Alum was an essential ore for the key industries of Italy at the time: ss making, leather processing, and textiles.


    And at that time, this album was imported from the Ottomans. However, the Ottomans controlled exports and Genoa exercised a monopoly.


    But things changed when an alum mine was discovered in Volterra. The Vatican promoted the project first, but the Medici Bank subsequently decided to invest.


    It was a natural decision for Medici.


    Volterra’s location was important right away. Volterra, about 50 km southeast of Florence, was a subsidiary city controlled by Florence. Therefore, it was necessary to prevent the Pope’s influence from reaching the area.


    Secondly, it was possible to give a shit to Genoa, which exercised monopoly rights.


    In the process of taking Suez, Cosimo joined hands with Mehmed II. By joining hands with the Ottomans, Cosimo requested that Genoa’s monopoly be abolished. However, Mehmet II expressed reluctance.


    “It is a policy that has been handed down since our ancestors, so I cannot change it arbitrarily.”


    However, both Cosimo and Mehmet II knew well that this was an excuse. Nevertheless, Cosimo had no choice but to retreat. This was because the Ottomans were a strong opponent that Cosimo could not help with his strength alone, and Suez was at stake.


    To properly deal with the Ottomans, at least a crusade had to be organized, and if that happened, Cosimo would have had to give up his interests in Suez.


    However, with the discovery of the alum mine in Volterra, it became possible to give the Genoese a big deal and the Ottomans a little bit.


    In order to obtain the Volterra mine, the Medici bank bribed the Pope and the Vatican and made additional loans.


    Finally, the Pope, who epted the condition of providing alum produced at the Volterra mine with a fee, banned the import of alum from the Ottomans by papal decree.


    * * *


    Cosimo continued talking to Lorenzo and Giovanni.


    “It might sound like an old man’s nagging, but I have no choice but to keep talking. “It’s for the survival and glory of our family.”


    Cosimo gave teachings to Giovanni and Lorenzo based on his own experience.


    -Never lend money to only one party. If we do it wrong, that money cane back as a knife aimed at our heart.


    To prevent that, the borrower must also lend money to the borrower’spetitors. Even if you cannot lend the same amount, you should lend enough to maintain a good rtionship.


    If we do that, they will be a shield to protect us.


    -Do not stop borrowers from being extravagant. The more extravagant they are, the more we can have.


    Cosimo, who continued to give various other pieces of advice, took a sip of the wine he had left next to him and finished the conversation.


    “…As for the extravagance of the borrowers, this would be a reason to lend to not only the king but also the nobles. “This is well demonstrated by the example of Edward III of Ennd.”


    In order to establish Ennd’s woolen industry, Edward III adopted several policies, one of which was to ban the import of woolen fabrics produced in maind Europe into Ennd.


    However, discrimination existed in this policy as well.


    Woolen fabrics intended formoners werepletely banned, but the import of high-quality woolen fabrics used by nobles was permitted to some extent.


    This was an unavoidable decision by Edward III, who was concerned about opposition from the nobles. This was because if the nobles rose up immediately, their power would be unstable.


    This was the same for Edward IV and Louis XI, who were actively seeking to strengthen the royal power. Even those who were evaluated as having overwhelmingly strong royal authoritypared to previous kings sometimes made concessions to nobles in some areas.


    “Lorenzo.”


    “yes.”


    As soon as he was nominated, Lorenzo straightened his posture and looked at Cosimo.


    “What I have said so far is limited to Europe. No, broadly speaking, it extends to the Ottomans. However, be sure to keep in mind that this does not work with the countries of the East, the Empire, and Ming and Japan. In particr, the Empire and Ming are countries that can epass all of Europe with just one country. If we use foolish tactics for no reason, our family will be exploited. Keep this in mind.”


    “yes.”


    He answered, but Lorenzo’s expression was not good. Cosimo, seeing that expression, turned to Giovanni.


    “Giovanni, you know because you’ve been through it, right?”


    “Yes, these are the people you should never let down your guard against. “Even the Japanese merchants, who are the weakest among them, are people who can never be underestimated.”


    Giovanni shook his head slightly as he answered, probably recalling bad memories. This was because none of the transactions made between the Empire and the Ming and Japan were easy.


    Among the Empire and Ming Japan, the one that suffered the most was by far the Empire. In other countries, all you had to do was deal with merchants. As long as the officials took a little extra care, everything went smoothly.


    But the empire was of a different level. The merchants were so cunning that even the Jews cried. And the imperial officials were ying on the merchants’ heads. Bribery didn’t work there either.


    It was because of that damn ‘recorder’.


    Cosimo, who was looking at Giovanni, looked at Lorenzo again.


    “I’ve been hearing that you’ve been hanging out with delusional peopletely.”


    “They are patriots, not delusions.”


    Cosimo snorted at Lorenzo’s answer.


    “joy! Isn’t the ‘unification of Italy and the revival of Rome’ a delusion? If that’s not a delusion, what is a delusion? People flying in the sky? ah! This is not a delusion. “Because the empire has already put people in the sky.”


    Despite Cosimo’s criticism, Lorenzo expressed his opinion.


    “Italy must be one. Otherwise, you will just be food for other countries! “Survival is impossible with the current city-state system!”


    Cosimo responded to Lorenzo’s protest with a serious expression.


    “Your perception of the situation is not wrong. Certainly, looking at the current situation in Europe, it is difficult to survive as a city-state.”


    “That’s right! Therefore, unification must be achieved!”


    “Whoa~.”


    When Lorenzo raised his voice, Cosimo sighed and muttered.


    “I heard that the emperor who founded the empire clicked his tongue whenever he saw his ministers during his reign. I understand how he felt. Tsk!”


    Cosimo clicked his tongue and began barraging Lorenzo with questions.


    “Not long after I went to study abroad in the ‘Land of Flowers,’ there were people among the professors at the University of Florence shouting nonsense like you. There was something I asked at that time. Please answer too. First, how many Italians today are aware that they are Italian? Everyone starts by naming the city where they were born, such as ‘I’m from Florence’ or ‘I’m from Genoa.’ Do you think there will be unification in this situation?”


    “First, we need to unify and then educate.”


    “With education?”


    “Yes, the first thing is to make people aware that they are Italian. “Hominges next.”


    “Do you think it is possible?”


    “If we look at the example of Japan, I think it is possible.”


    “Hmm…”


    After hearing Lorenzo’s answer, Cosimo stroked his chin and was lost in thought.


    After the passage to the East was opened, much information from the East came into Europe to the Medici. For other European monarchs, it was only a satisfaction of curiosity, but for Medici and Cosimo, it was the most important information.


    In particr, stories and information rted to the war that broke out again between the Ming and Joseon empires after the war between the Ming and Joseon Dynasties stimted the young people of the Medici family and young intellectuals in Florence.


    “A weak country gradually strengthened its power and overcame the great power that was oppressing it?”


    “That was possible?”


    The young people of the Medici family and the young intellectuals of Florence simultaneously thought of the same topic when they realized that what they thought was impossible was not impossible at all.


    “then?”


    Young people began to consider the possibilities of Florence as an empire. But soon the young people became frustrated.


    “The situation is so different. Although the ‘Land of Flowers’ is a small country, it is several timesrger than Florence. “I can’t ignore this part.”


    Even if youbine the poption of Florence and the areas subordinated to Florence, including Pisa, the poption was much smaller than when the empire was in its heyday.


    Intellectuals who dreamed of unification could not help but be frustrated in a reality where everything was so small except for financial power.


    However, it was Japan that brought these frustrated people back to their feet.


    To be more precise, it was Ouchi’s unification of Japan.


    “The monarch who unified Japan and his family started out as one family?”


    Those who were stimted by Ouchi’s unification of Japan began to look closely at Ouchi’s process of unifying Japan.


    “This is the answer!”


    Those who were researching and analyzing like crazy cheered as if they had seen a ray of light in the darkness.


    Convinced that the answer they wanted was found in Japan’s unification process, they dug deeper and more passionately.


    And those who dug in like that ced their hands on their foreheads.


    “Is it the ‘Land of Flowers’ and its emperors again?”