Chapter 462 Ambassador
In Florence at this time, Maso Obici, the flag bearer of justice, was waiting for the arrival of the Roman ambassador.
Since he became the standard-bearer of justice, Florence's situation has deteriorated day by day, and the main reason is Rome. The textiles they produced impacted the local industry, and their attacks on Venice and Rome caused many people to flock here. In recent years, the economic situation in Florence has deteriorated, and the citizens who were still able to maintain their food and clothing were directly affected. Bankruptcy, and Rome didn't give him any chance.
Now, while the ambassador is coming, he is ready to establish a good relationship with the ambassador so that he can obtain preferential treatment.
The Roman Empire's carriage stopped in front of the door, and Obici was ready to receive him. Unexpectedly, when he opened the door, a familiar face appeared in front of him.
"Long time no see. I wonder if you still remember me."
John Mason had a proud expression on his face. This time he returned here in the name of the Roman ambassador to Florence. He must give the other party a little shock.
"You, why are you here?"
"Why can't I be here? I am an ambassador personally appointed by His Majesty the Emperor."
As soon as these words came out, Obiqi was immediately shocked. He never expected that a person who was once marginalized would now become the ambassador of another country.
"How could you do this? You went to Rome and became an official. Have you forgotten that this is your hometown?"
The furious Obichi tried to use his hometown to attack the opponent, but John was already immune to this attack.
"Of course I remember my hometown. I still remember that I tried my best to protect Florence, and then some people crossed the river and burned the bridge and forced me to leave. What is there to cherish about my hometown like this?"
Seeing that the other party refused to accept this trick, Obiqi could only say good things, hoping that the other party could fight for some rights and interests for Florence.
"I am here just for the sake of relations between the two countries. If it is legitimate, I will naturally approve it, but if you are careful, don't blame me."
John smiled at Obichi and walked directly into the ambassador's residence, completely ignoring the justice standard-bearer. And Obici also rode back to his governor's palace to discuss things. The situation in Florence was about to change.
Not only Obichi, but other Florence families also knew that the Mason family was back. They were all discussing how to build a relationship. After all, none of them spoke for him at the beginning. Now it is naturally difficult to build a relationship.
They have regretted it since Andrew Mason successfully explored the East a few years ago. The East, how much wealth is there, why didn't they seize it. And John's return as an ambassador means that the empire may control Florence. In addition, Andrew has been appointed as a high-ranking official in Dalmatia, so he will have to be careful in the future.
As a second act of revenge, John came to the Great Council of Florence after a day's rest. All the MPs are here. There have never been so many people since the establishment of the Parliament.
John walked to the podium and began his speech: "This envoy has been ordered by the Roman Emperor to establish good relations with Florence. If anyone dares to maliciously undermine it, I will immediately ask the emperor to sever diplomatic relations between the two countries."
Such remarks made the congressmen feel embarrassed to speak. They seemed to be selfless, but in fact they were just avenging private vengeance.
"I say John, if you want to take revenge on Florence, just say so directly. There is no need to appear so righteous."
Giovanni Medici said angrily, he had always been displeased with the other party, but now he was even more displeased with him.
When John saw that he was an old friend, he came down and walked in front of him. "Who did I think it was, Giovanni? I heard that your bank has had no money coming in for a while, and you even sold one of your woolen mills."
"Didn't you say you wanted to become a noble? After so many years, you are still like this, and I am already a noble conferred by the emperor himself. This is the gap."
Speaking of nobility, it was impossible for Giovanni not to be jealous. But the opponent's burst of ridicule made him want to hit him, but his son Cosimo stopped him.
"I know you want to hit me, but can you bear the bad relationship between the two countries? If you can bear it, I will let you hit me."
It was obvious that this was impossible and Giovanni had to give up. John walked out happily. He breathed a sigh of relief today and felt very happy.
But Giovanni was not happy. His business had not been going well recently, and he was still angry with him. How could he be happy? Now, the only hope is Cosimo's marriage.
It has recently been agreed that Cosimo will marry the daughter of a declining nobleman. With the title of nobleman, he can complete the class leap. It is naturally better for business.
The news of the return of the Mason family quickly spread throughout Florence, and everyone said that John was back for revenge, and that behind him was Rome, whom they could not afford to offend.
At this time, Florence's economy was in decline after experiencing Roman extortion and Romagna's capture of Pisa. They can only seek other markets to survive, but other countries in Italy are equally poor. Aragon and France have become his main markets. Now that the Mediterranean is almost Roman, they still have to compete with Friesland for the remaining This is the first time in such a frustrating situation in a small market.
I have to admit that John has completely frightened the Florentine nobles. You must know that the army in Rome will arrive here soon, and in order to save money, Florence's army only has 1,200 people left, and there is no time even for temporary recruitment. At this time, some people were extremely regretful. Why couldn't they say good things for John in the first place? Maybe the situation is different now, but it's too late to say anything now.
As for John's son Andrew, he was working diligently in the province of Dalmatia. The local situation was quickly stabilized, and large-scale land reclamation was carried out to connect the city of Venice to the mainland. And continue to develop the Po River Plain, encourage agricultural production, and forcefully transform industrial and commercial cities into agricultural cities.
In addition to his high-ranking official job, Mason also cared about his overseas fiefdoms. The immigration activities carried out by my father and brother have moved 900 people to Andrei City. Many houses have been built there, as well as town halls, warehouses, mills, hospitals, ports have been improved, logging camps have been built, and many Going deep into the interior, many black people were captured as slaves.
As the island's fog gradually lifted, the local land was developed. A large number of plantations sprang up, and the export of these commodities became an important source of income for Mason.
As the first barbarian earl in the empire, Mason attaches great importance to his fief. Of course, he knew that the premise of everything was to be loyal to the emperor, otherwise his land would be taken back in minutes even if it was far overseas.