Duke Alves stood by the window, holding a wine glass in his hand with a smile on his lips.
While admiring the scenery outside the window, Lai Gouer, dressed in local clothes, walked into the house as the waiter announced.
He got straight to the point: "Why did the Duke call me here today?"
Duke Alves turned around and raised his wine glass: "Master Lai, please sit down. I have a big event coming to you today."
"Oh?" Lai Gou'er sat directly opposite him, with wine glasses already placed on the table.
The Duke of Alves sat down, put down his wine glass, pushed a document on the table to Lai Gou'er's eyes, and said with a smile: "Over there in the Holy City, the Archbishop's letter of appointment has been issued. From now on, the cooperation between you and me will be smooth. Incomparably, at least within Feka, the power of the Holy See will no longer be an obstacle."
Lai Gou'er picked up the letter of appointment and said in surprise: "The archbishop's status is not low. Father Solje comes from a low-level background, and he has successfully operated in a few months?"
Duke Alves shook his head and said: "Of course it's not that simple. It took me a lot of connections to solve it. In addition, the cost of opening up the connections..."
"This is easy to talk about, but naturally it cannot be borne by the Duke alone. Didn't my Dajing's fleet just arrive in the morning? This new batch of goods is naturally easy to negotiate." Lai Gou'er said.
"Lord Lai is so refreshing!" Duke Alves slapped the table, and then sighed, "It's good luck to be able to do so smoothly. You know that there are many people in Feka who want to compete for the position of archbishop. Solje is basically Weakness is really uncompetitive.”
"Who would have thought that all my competitors were assassinated by the Brotherhood, which really saved me a lot of effort. Oops... If I hadn't seen you coming from the east with my own eyes, I would have doubted that the Brotherhood was yours, haha. "
"Time is destiny!" Lai Gou'er laughed and immediately asked, "This archbishop can work, but I don't know the titles of cardinal and chief justice..."
Duke Alves did not mince words and whispered: "Under the Pope, as long as the price paid is high enough, you can buy it! But it is not necessary for the time being. When the business starts in the future, it will not be too late to bribe a higher-level person."
Lai Gouer raised his eyebrows: "The church has become so corrupt?"
"It's quite corrupt." A hint of contempt flashed across Duke Alves' face inadvertently, "I dare say that even the most devout believers will have doubts after seeing the corruption of the Holy City."
"But this is also a good thing. As long as the top is taken care of, the road below will be smooth, which can save a lot of trouble."
Lai Gouer nodded.
Duke Alves asked: "I haven't seen you for a long time. What is Mr. Lai busy with?"
"I'm not busy at all. The fleet will be managed by the people below. I can read a book and translate some things in my spare time. I can also send them back to Dajing in the future."
"Oh...it's a pity that I don't understand Dajing's language. Mr. Lai has a noble status and is still eager to learn. His family must be famous in Dajing, right?"
Lai Gouer shook his head: "Family? I was born as a beggar and was raised by a beggar. I have no father or mother."
"Uh... Fatherless and motherless?" Duke Alves' mind was a little confused, "A beggar?"
Lai Gouer often interacted with him, and his speech and behavior seemed to be profound.
After living there for a while, even the local slang and allusions came to me readily.
During this time together, we have established some friendship through business. I thought that the other party was also from a noble family.
Unexpectedly...such a person turned out to be a beggar?
"He's just a beggar." Lai Gou'er said with a half-smile, "Duke, you won't look down on me just because I'm a beggar, will you?"
Duke Alves came back to his senses and said in awe: "Absolutely impossible! Mr. Lai comes from a humble background and can achieve such achievements today, which only makes people admire him more. How can I look down on him?"
"Only those little nobles with shallow foundations will look down on people like you. But I'm curious about how you got to where you are today?"
Lai Gou'er recalled: "It's luck, it's all thanks to Mr. Fang Zhengfang's guidance that we are here today. Yesterday I received a letter from Da Jing. He has now been named Marquis of Jianye by the imperial court."
"It can be said that Dajing's seagoing fleet and the trade between the East and the West were all facilitated by him."
"In this way, Mr. Fang is a unique and remarkable person. I wonder if I will have the opportunity to meet him in the future."
"I'm afraid we won't have this opportunity." Lai Gou'er said, "He is in a high position now and it's too far to go to sea." If there is a chance, the Duke can visit my great scenery. "
After he finished speaking, he then asked: "I heard the Duke mention some time ago that some Easterners declared war on the Holy See. I wonder if there has been any result on this matter now?"
Duke Alves smiled: "You asked in time, I just received the news. The Pope brought people there, but within a month the two sides had decided to negotiate peace, and now things have returned to normal. The man who was killed was Two cardinals were sentenced and excommunicated by the chancellor himself.”
"It can be seen that this person has great supernatural powers and unfathomable abilities. I remember you asked me before if I have ever seen an Easterner, but I am sure it is not this person. If it is the person you are looking for, it is impossible for him to have such a foundation."
"By the way, who is the person you are looking for?"
Lai Gou'er said calmly: "Just a casual question. He is an old friend of Mr. Fang. It's not very important. I will just do it casually if I can find the best one."
"Okay, now that the letter of appointment has arrived, I'll go to Father Solje. I haven't seen him for a while, so I just want to congratulate him in person."
After Lai Gouer finished speaking, he stood up and prepared to leave.
Duke Alves said: "Wait a minute, there is one more thing. Within one year after receiving the commission, he needs to go to the Holy City to meet the Pope in person. This is a rule and inevitable. I think if you are interested, you can also You can take this opportunity to meet the Pope together."
"Is there such a thing?" Lai Gou'er thought, "Okay, when he is ready, I will go there with him. I would like to see what this holy city looks like."
Duke Alves smiled: "No problem, I will help you arrange for someone to see you off."
"It's time to eat now. I ordered someone to prepare it. Why don't we leave after eating?"
Lai Gouer stopped, nodded and said with a smile, "Okay, then we'll go after eating."
Duke Alves smiled and raised his glass: "I wish us a happy cooperation."
“A pleasure to work with.”
...
