Page 176 of DATE
He looked away, offering a quiet, indifferent hum.
No need for further words.
——
It is said that after Sforza returned to Milan with his new bride, he held a grand parade. Even months after the event, people are still enthusiastically discussing it.
The lord truly dotes on his wife, sending pearls and jewels in abundance, and has even commissioned artists from all over to create numerous portraits of her.
It was at this point that news of a rebellion in the Kingdom of Naples suddenly arrived from afar. The country was now in complete chaos.
This news was hardly surprising. Over the past few centuries, all of Europe had been embroiled in constant wars, with division and reorganization occurring at such a rapid pace that it was hard to keep track of history.
But the issue this time was that the Pope had intervened in the rebellion.
Moreover, he openly supported the rebels — a decision that was undoubtedly a foolish one.
Hedy had already heard of many infamous events during her first year in Florence.
It was Pope Sixtus II who had once threatened the entire city of Florence, demanding that the citizens hand over Lorenzo de' Medici. Last year, it was said that he died in the middle of the night, but whether it was due to illness or assassination remains unknown.
This pope had accumulated a great deal of wealth in Rome and beyond by selling sacred relics, selling various church offices, and inventing ways to increase taxes under various pretenses.
He was arrogant and reckless, openly threatening the Medici family and even encouraging Venice to wage war on Ferrara. His many foul actions over the past few decades had severely tarnished the reputation of the papacy, causing people's reverence to steadily decline.
After this pope's sudden death, another man, Pope Innocent VIII, ascended to power through bribery, ushering in an even more morally bankrupt path of wealth accumulation — indulgences.
These indulgences first appeared four hundred years ago and have since transformed from being rewards for war to an absurd luxury.
One time, when Hedy went to church for mass, she happened to encounter a priest imitating the tone of those in Rome, tirelessly peddling indulgences to everyone.
"Man is born sinful—you must atone for your sins before you can go to heaven!"
The priest droned on: "As soon as the gold coin hits the collection box, the soul of the dead will be taken from hell by the Archangel!"
At first, Hedy thought she had misheard, so she stepped closer to listen more attentively.
The priest, eager to get the wealthy to part with their money, vividly described the situation in Rome—how someone had ‘accidentally’ killed his wife, and another had killed his brother out of jealousy. All these sins could be absolved for just eight gold coins, and the person could still enter heaven after death.
"Why?"
The priest looked up and saw a young woman with a delicate appearance frowning at him, and he adopted an even slicker tone. "That’s because the Church controls the 'Treasury of Merit'! It holds Christ's infinite grace—once you buy an indulgence, your sins can be canceled out!"
This spiel didn't have much effect in Florence, where law and morality still held some sway.
But in the papacy, everything was rapidly descending into corruption.
Pope Innocent VIII's son was addicted to gambling. When he lost money, he would simply accuse the other party of fraud.
The papacy relied on selling ecclesiastical offices and taxes from brothels, with corruption spreading throughout the entire institution.
It was unclear whether they had truly lost all sense of shame or if they were simply greedy for even more.
This time, when the Kingdom of Naples experienced a rebellion, Pope Innocent VIII openly supported the rebels, causing a stir among the various city-states.
Hedy and everyone in the consulate council sided with the offended party. The lord quickly approved the deployment of the army, and within three months, a great victory was achieved.
Various firearms and crossbows designed by Da Vinci were thoroughly tested for their strength and power during the battle. Aside from a few instances of misfires and barrel explosions, some of the weapons even performed exceptionally well in rainy conditions.
