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When Henry VII arrived at the port of Pisa, the reception was grand and luxurious. The emperor and empress personally arrived to offer him warm and sincere greetings.
Together, they returned to Florence, where they received countless welcomes and entourages from the nobility.
Although the young king was a bit surprised, he maintained his composure and demeanor, speaking gracefully and with confidence at the banquet.
Once the extravagant praises and the ball came to an end, the nobles and senators gradually left, leaving the monarchs with time for themselves.
He was accompanied by few officials, and his words were careful and conservative.
Hedy listened to their speeches and demands for half an hour, sipping her tea, before finally raising her hand to signal for a pause.
She didn't have much patience for formalities.
"Let's be more direct," the queen said as she looked at him, lifting her gaze and smiling. "Niccolo Machiavelli, bring over the cooperation agreement."
The four printed copies of the agreement were handed to the Englishman, with clear and straightforward terms outlining the obligations and rights, as well as the specifics of the cooperation.
People exchanged astonished and admiring glances, and the entire conference hall fell into silence.
"I will delegate Mr. Machiavelli to explain and elaborate on the agreement," she said as she stood calmly. "I hope you can review it and provide a list of amendments within five days, after which we can proceed to the next phase of discussions."
The remarkable yet unacknowledged strength of modern people lies in their ability to "quantify."
Compared to the strange allure of groundbreaking technology, many unique aspects of thought can also have a remarkably intimidating effect.
Quantification refers to the direct and clear breakdown and summary of a task's steps, expected outcomes, risk management, cost estimates, and other related factors.
This way of thinking can save a tremendous amount of time while broadening and clarifying many aspects of understanding.
Hedy left the tedious and complex work to the upper and lower houses, reserving the careful middle-level decisions for her closest advisors. Over the past two years, she had been gradually establishing a straightforward approach to meetings and execution procedures.
Once the queen and her entourage had left, the officials around Henry VII could no longer suppress their whispering.
"Your Majesty—she wants to engage in academic cooperation with us! And we can send students to Italy now!"
"The queen actually wants to exchange more ports? She wants to discuss trade matters with you?!"
"My God, Your Majesty, look at page seventeen!"
Henry VII had initially thought that this visit would involve a lot of probing and verbal sparring, and that he would inevitably spend much time maneuvering with diplomats.
But he never imagined that from the first day they arrived in Florence until the fifth day, all their time would be spent reading! Documents!
And five days were truly not enough. He had to visit the queen again and managed to get an additional five days.
A group of officials examined the meticulously worded agreements over and over. No amount of tea could alleviate their dizziness.
This was absolutely insane!
Who on earth could write so many pages of material in such detail?!
Machiavelli, the head of the writing team, calmly sat with them, drinking tea and reviewing the documents, his expression still relaxed and composed.
Nearly a thousand detailed requests were clearly outlined, and he could recite them all from memory.
At first, the officials were too embarrassed to ask him directly, but soon they lined up to verify and confirm, even trying to knock on his door in the middle of the night to get clearer answers.
The scope of the cooperation was vast, and there was no room for any loopholes.
