Pope Augustus

After obtaining the flintlock gun, Augustus spent almost every waking hour researching it, apart from attending necessary ceremonial events. He even consulted many related texts for this purpose.

One day, as Augustus was examining the flintlock gun, a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in."

"Augustus, still researching the flintlock gun?" The person who entered was Faol.

"Yes, Faol, don't you think adding rifling to the flintlock gun is too cost-ineffective?" As soon as the question left his mouth, Augustus regretted it. He was desperate and asking the wrong person; how could Faol possibly understand this?

"I really don't understand this," Faol showed an awkward but polite smile. "But are you referring to a rifle when you say 'adding rifling'? If you want to introduce rifles, you need to be more cautious. The Catholic has always strictly forbidden the production and use of rifles."

Reminded by Faol, Augustus realized he had overlooked a very important matter earlier.

In 1510, the Austrian Korner invented the rifle. It had a longer range and higher accuracy than the smoothbore guns, which were considered the most advanced at the time, and quickly gained widespread fame. After becoming famous, it quickly drew the hostility of the Catholic forces.

In 1522, a wizard named Hermann Moritz from Bavaria spread rumors that rifle bullets could hit targets more accurately because the devil might control rotating objects. This rumor, which seems absurd in later generations, was believed by many at the time.

In 1547, Archbishop Mainz ordered a competition between rifles and smoothbore guns to see which was more accurate. As soon as the news was released, it attracted a large crowd of onlookers. To ensure the smoothbore gun's victory, Mainz secretly sabotaged the rifle, but things did not go as planned, and the smoothbore gun ungraciously burst its barrel.

The enraged Catholic personnel immediately cursed the rifle as "the devil" and ordered its destruction. Anyone found manufacturing or using a rifle would be tied to a stake and burned to death. From then on, the development of the rifle stagnated for a period.

From Augustus's perspective, this was not necessarily a bad idea. If everyone developed rifles together, with the Papal States' industrial foundation, they would be left far behind. Since that was the case, it was better if everyone refrained from using them.

Although the Catholic's binding force was limited to Catholic countries, without further research from these countries, and given the current rifle's truly unsatisfactory cost-effectiveness, it was absolutely impossible for rifles to be widely used on the battlefield in the short term.

Historically, rifles became dominant on the battlefield only after a hundred years of numerous improvements. And the appearance of the Minié ball and smokeless powder, which were crucial for rifles, were both 19th-century developments.

"Are you planning to lift the ban on rifles?" Faol asked tentatively.

"No, don't, just leave it as it is, it's fine." Augustus waved his hand. Having understood this issue, Augustus felt relieved. In this era, let rifles go to hell.

"By the way, what did you come to see me about?"

"It's like this, the handover of the Rome Newspaper has been completed. After this blow, although the Borgia Family is now more unified than before, its strength has been severely damaged, and its threat is much smaller.

In addition, most of the funds we invested earlier now exist as industries and in other forms. Many of these industries have great development prospects. If we continue to operate them, there will be a continuous income.

If needed, we can also liquidate these assets, but liquidating them quickly in the short term would significantly reduce the profits. In that case, a conservative estimate is that we would only recover around 420,000 ducats. What is your choice?"

"420,000? And 'only'? How many ducats did you take from me?" Augustus was startled.

"It was 267,400 ducats."

"Did you raid the Borgia Family? Where did you get so much money?"

"I didn't! I used conventional business competition methods. Although Gaspard used some unconventional means during our cooperation, that had nothing to do with me. Those matters were entirely planned by him." Faol showed no pride at all, as if he had only done a trivial matter, and explained with an innocent expression.

"No, you misunderstood. When I said 'raided,' it was just an exaggeration. I didn't actually think you raided them. I was just surprised how so much money suddenly appeared."

Augustus had completely refrained from asking about this matter. Firstly, he knew very little about this area, so asking would be futile and a waste of time. Secondly, it was also to show his trust in Faol.

The money given out was like spilled water; he didn't expect to recover much. Now, not only had the cost been recovered, but a large profit had also been made. Earning so much in less than three short months made Augustus wonder what Faol had done.

...

After much effort, Faol explained the whole story. Because he tried to be comprehensive, the amount of information was too large, and Faol spoke until his throat was dry, drinking four cups of water in the process.

After listening to Faol's full explanation, Augustus nodded slightly. Although Augustus did not fully understand everything Faol said, he could always extract the key information, which was enough.

"Faol, you are truly amazing! Such a strong business mind, it would be a waste not to go into business!" Augustus praised him sincerely.

"But I believe that using my abilities merely for business would be the real waste," Faol unconsciously raised his head and said with no small amount of pride.

"Good! I promise you, with me, your abilities will be fully utilized." Capable, proud, and ambitious, Augustus admired Faol even more.

"Thank you for your high regard, Your Holiness."

"Call me Augustus."

"Yes, Your Holiness."

"Uh... By the way. Regarding those assets, do you have any suggestions on whether to liquidate them as soon as possible or retain them for now?"

"I believe that retaining those assets for now would indeed yield higher returns. However, not everyone can maintain the same level of vigilance for a long time, and there's no guarantee that someone from the Borgia Family won't dwell on this matter and then trace it back to me through clues.

Personally, I don't mind, but I'm afraid you might be implicated and your reputation damaged. Therefore, my suggestion is that we should extricate ourselves from this matter as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary trouble," Faol analyzed seriously.

"Hmm, you're right, let's do that. Afterwards, return my capital, and you take half of the profit, is that okay?"

"How can I! That's too much! How can I take so much money alone." Faol waved his hands repeatedly.

"Why not? You deserve all of this. You can also give some to the friends who helped with this matter; this money can be considered for all of you. Of course, that's up to you."

"Then I will respectfully accept. I heard that there was an earthquake in Trapani a few days ago, and tens of thousands of victims were displaced. Can I take a portion of the remaining money to help with disaster relief there?"

"That is your right. Kindness is a virtue, but never let this virtue become a burden to yourself."

"Thank you for your reminder, I understand it all. I just want to do something for them," Faol said sincerely.

"I was overthinking it." Come to think of it, Faol's experience was much richer than his own, so telling him this was truly superfluous.