In mid-August, Phil·Di Maggio took a boat trip to Sicily Island, planning to buy a new piece of real estate.
Sicily has sufficient light, suitable for cotton growth. As cotton prices soared, many Italy textile merchants flocked to the island and spent money to invest in cotton cultivation.
In the afternoon, the ship docked at Palermo. The permanent population here is close to 30,000. It is the local administrative center of Aragon. Business and trade are prosperous, gathering ships from all over Mediterranean Sea.
Palermo has experienced the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire, Arab, Norman and other forces, and the architectural styles in the city are diverse.
Phil raised his head and observed the castle standing in front of him. Its walls were thick, its windows were narrow, and its towers were square in shape. It was a typical Norman style.
Eastern Roman Empire lost Sicily Island for nearly six centuries, and its remaining influence is getting less and less. The number of buildings using the Eastern Roman Empire style is far less than that of Norman buildings.
After walking along the street for more than ten minutes, Phil came to the mansion of the Specale family. A water garden and fountain were introduced here, and the ceiling and walls were decorated with geometric patterns and plant patterns, which obviously imitated the aesthetics of the Arabs.
Specale is a local nobleman of Sicily Island who rose to prominence during the Norman period.
These nobles have a long history and own hereditary titles and land. Although King Aragon appointed Governor, Governor's power is limited, and many matters must obtain the consent of the local nobles.
Here, Phil was warmly welcomed by his old friend Fei Specale.
"You want to buy another piece of land near the original property? Let me see, those plots are not in our family's hands. The best plot belongs to a squire, and another piece of land belongs to the local church. You need to go and negotiate in person."
Fei thought for half a minute and continued, "If what you need is cotton, you can sign an agreement with the squire and invest a sum of money in him to obtain the right to purchase cotton in the future.
I heard that this is the plan of some Venice merchants. You'd better hurry up, the longer you delay, the cotton will be booked by others."
Early the next morning, Phil and his party left Palermo and headed for their home Olive Grove along the country path.
The road was narrow, with wild fennel growing waist-high on both sides, and the hot wind blew past with dust. Phil subconsciously covered his mouth and nose.
After walking for some distance, rows of olive trees were planted on the hillside ahead, with silver-gray leaves swaying gently in the sun. In the distance, a herdsman drove his sheep towards him. He did not recognize Phil as the owner of Olive Grove, and whistled as he passed by the outsiders.
The economic value of this piece of real estate is low. Twenty years ago, a Livorno businessman could not afford to pay Di Maggio Bank's debt, so he mortgaged the real estate to Di Maggio.
At first, Giulio's idea was to sell it, but he couldn't find a suitable buyer. Over time, he simply kept the manor as one of the family's refuges.
"This place has no rivers or springs. It is only suitable for growing olives, so it cannot be sold."
Phil walked towards the mansion not far away, opened the door, and saw the manor housekeeper drunk under the eaves, with a loyal brown hound next to him. It walked around its owner and touched the housekeeper's body with its nose from time to time.
Seeing the arrival of strangers, the hound turned towards the door, arched its back slightly, and barked with all its strength to drive away these suspicious outsiders.
"Um, Bruce, stop making trouble."
The first thing the butler did when he opened his eyes was to find a wine bottle, take a sip of wine, then rub his eyes and look towards the door. "Master Phil, why are you here?"
"Textile Mill is short of cotton at home, I came over to discuss business."
Phil packed up his luggage, had a hasty lunch, and visited the nearby area under the leadership of the butler.
The crop rotation model of Sicily is different from that of Florence. Generally speaking, the land is still divided into three pieces to ensure that one piece of land is left fallow every year.
Under the guidance of the housekeeper, Phil came to the nearest manor, where cotton, wheat, and beans were rotated. The area near the river bank was covered with white, as if a thin snow had fallen in the sky.
Phil was riding a horse on a narrow dirt road. The cotton just brushed against the stirrups, and the blue-gray leaves curled slightly under the scorching sun. He leaned down and touched a newly bloomed cotton flower with his fingers, which was soft and warm.
The housekeeper shouted to the farmer who was cleaning the canal not far away, "Where is your master? Let's talk business with him."
The farmer pointed to the small town in the southeast and continued to bend down and work.
The terrain of the town is higher, the roof tiles are light red, and the layers are stacked together. The tallest building is the church and the bell tower next to it.
It was the hottest time of the day, and there were few passers-by in the town. Phil's horse hooves stepped on the stone slabs, making a rhythmic ticking sound.
The stone walls of the lane are mottled, and there are many Thymes drying in the open space in front of the house on the right. There are also two bunches of garlic hanging on the right side of the door, exuding a strong smell.
Arriving at the town square, the shadow of the clock tower was cast in the center of the square, and a few pigeons were looking for food in the shadow. An old man sat under the eaves not far away, looking at the group of outsiders indifferently, Phil greeted him, but there was no response.
The steward looked at Mr. Phil and said that the people were full of resentment towards foreign regimes, especially the "Sicily Vespers" uprising in 1282, which aggravated the people's alienation and rejection of outsiders.
The Arab rulers were of a foreign race and religion, and the public had the worst impression of them.
People Normans and Aragon are of different races and are equally excluded.
Eastern Roman Empire is based on Greece culture and believes in Eastern Orthodox Church, which is different from Catholic Church beliefs of Sicily Island.
Vitus has outstanding military exploits, but in the minds of the people, there are many foreign monarchs who are good at conquering and fighting, Charlemagne, Lionheart, "Redbeard"Barbarossa, "Lightning" Bayezid, "Cripple" Timur... Times are changing, and monarchs are passing by like meteors, and he is not missing.
Therefore, Vitus's local appeal is almost nonexistent. Sicily people do not regard him as a monarch, nor do they recognize Greece people as one of their own.
Even Florence traders like Phil are treated as outsiders.
Although they both belong to the Italy culture, the dialects of Florence and Sicily are quite different. In the hearts of the people, Phil is just a wealthy, arrogant and superior foreign stranger who comes to buy property with arrogance, and it is impossible to welcome him.
"In the first half of the year, I bought a property in Naples, and the locals were more enthusiastic than here."
Phil sighed, holding the reins and wandering around, trying to find the Cotton Field country squire.
After passing the door of the church, he took a good look inside. The facilities inside were old, the murals were faded, and the faces of the characters in the paintings were blurred. Phil asked the priest using Latin, and finally found the squire.
"Do you want to book all the cotton output of my manor in the next five years? Do you want me to convert the remaining wheat into cotton?" The squire thought thoughtfully and then replied:
"You are late. This year's cotton has been ordered by Venice people. As for the next few years, no one knows whether the price of cotton will rise or fall. At what price are you going to buy it?
As for the remaining fields in the manor, I can only allocate half of them to cotton, and the food in the remaining land is just enough for the manor's expenses. I am used to eating what I grow at home, and I don't want to spend money to buy food outside. You foreigners..."
After talking for a long time, the two parties reached a preliminary intention and agreed to go to the city on September 1st to find a notary to sign the agreement and pay the deposit.
The next day, Phil went to the next town and purchased cotton from a manor as he wished. He also agreed to sign the agreement on September 1st.
In the next few days, Phil ran back and forth in the countryside of Sicily, looking for those white flowers in full bloom.
Time came to September, and Phil returned to Palermo's residence to wait for the squire, but half of them did not show up. It is said that they were persuaded by other traders to accept the new offer.
The guard reminded him, "Sir, why don't you ask Fei Specale for help? It's more convenient this way and you don't need to waste time in the countryside."
"Most of the real estate in Specale is Vineyard and Olive Grove. They can't grow cotton, so they can only buy it instead. Textile Mill has little profit. I prefer to buy cotton directly from the manor instead of letting middlemen take away a profit."
Phil carefully reviewed the agreement just signed and decided to go to Syracuse (Syracuse) in the southeast of the island in a few days to see the situation.
At the beginning of the year, he handled cotton-related matters in Calabria and Apulia (both places are in the south of Naples). If the work in Sicily goes well this time, the family's textile business should be able to survive.
However, an urgent letter interrupted his plan. The core content was: Pauli has been assassinated, please come back soon!
Suddenly, Phil was forced to find Fay Specale and asked them to purchase cotton on his behalf, and then returned to Florence by boat.
On September 8, the merchant ship anchored at Livorno Port. Phil noticed that the atmosphere at the dock was very strange. Citizens gathered in twos and threes, and could vaguely hear the surnames Di Maggio, Medici and others.
"Who did this?"
Phil was suspicious and led his guards to his warehouse. A steward was counting the porcelain from the Eastern Roman Empire. The goods were warm in color and were called Black Sea porcelain by the people. Although Vitus never admitted it, the West guessed that these porcelains came from the Eastern Roman Empire, not distant East Asia.
Phil asked the steward the two most critical questions:
1. Is Pauli alive?
2. What is the reaction of Florence Signoria?
The steward replied, "I don't know the current situation of Mr. Pauli. He was assassinated on the way to a banquet at night. He has been living in a mansion in the city these days and has not appeared in public.
Signoria recently implemented a curfew and promised to find the murderer as soon as possible, but did not give a specific date for solving the case."
Since his brother was still alive, Phil relieved some of his worries. He asked the steward to arrange the carriage and return to Florence tomorrow.
The next morning, amid the whispers of Livorno citizens, three carriages left the city from East Gate, bumping all the way east.
After walking for a while, Phil took advantage of the fact that there were no idle people around, so he temporarily changed his clothes, took two guards and changed the route, and took a detour north to return to Florence.
Entering the city, the atmosphere here became even more solemn, the streets were depressed, and many citizens went to the countryside to live temporarily to escape this foggy storm.
"No matter how the situation ends, it will cause a group of traders to move to the Eastern Roman Empire, and the business environment of Florence will further deteriorate."
Finally, Phil returned to his mansion and immediately came to the bedroom where his brother was recovering from illness.
The room had thick curtains drawn, whale oil candles burned on the walls, and the air exuded a strong scent of herbs. Pauli was half lying on the bed reading the newspaper when he saw his younger brother pushing the door open and coming in. He invited him to sit by the bed.
"Don't look like that. My injuries are minor. I just deliberately stayed in the bedroom and refused to go out. I didn't see any visitors."
The advantage of doing this is to confuse the enemy, but the disadvantage is that you will not be able to attend public meetings and preside over guild affairs. Fortunately, you are back. During this time, you can handle affairs on my behalf."
(Note: As mentioned earlier, Florence has seven major guilds and fourteen minor guilds. The seven major guilds hold most of the power.)
Phil agreed with his brother's arrangement.
There are certain dangers in going out to do things, but it must be done. If Di Maggio family is absent from public meetings for a long time, his influence will gradually decline, and power will naturally be transferred to others, which is equivalent to slow death.
However, he didn't understand why his brother didn't ask for help from the Eastern Roman Empire.
Pauli stroked his chest and coughed. After he recovered, he explained:
"Asking for help from Vitus, the result was that he sent his fleet and Field Legion over to wipe out everything with force and destroy our goodwill in the hearts of the people.
Eastern Roman Empire openly sending troops will lead to opposition from Holy See and other local forces. When the time comes, France will definitely join the war, and Austria, Castile, and Aragon will most likely end up.
The war has done too much damage to an area. Hussite Wars Twenty years have passed and Bohemia has not been able to recover. I really don't want Florence to become a battlefield and destroy hundreds of years of accumulation in a short period of time. What's the point of ruling a ruins?
My father didn't make up his mind back then, which is exactly the same as what I think now. I already know who the murderer is. As long as I operate correctly, I can not only eliminate the enemy, but also suppress the remaining competitors..."
Phil I listened to my brother talk for a long time, but never heard him say the name of the murderer.
In this regard, Pauli's explanation is. "A few days later, Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore will hold a ceremony. The upper echelons of Florence will gather in the church, and the murderer who planned the assassination will also attend.
You have a straightforward and impulsive personality. If you know the identity of the murderer in advance, you will definitely not be able to hide your emotions during the conversation. Now is not the best time, and taking action hastily will ruin my overall plan.
That day, your task is not to identify the murderer, but to talk to the following people. The first is Cosimo from Medici's family. When you talk to him, the focus is..."
After talking for a long time, Phil went to the restaurant to have dinner.
The candlelight flickered on the dining table, and the variety of dishes was smaller than usual. From time to time, the figures of guards flashed outside the window. Suddenly, a hound outside the house barked at a certain place, frightening the young children and making them uneasy. The female family members turned pale, as if they were enjoying their last dinner.
Phil ignored the sobs at the dinner table and forced himself to eat the bread calmly.
"Fortunately, I sent my second son to Constantinople. No matter what happens in the future, the inheritance of the Di Maggio family will not be cut off."