第824章 Cuttlefish in black

"Do you think that dam will work, son?"

On the boat that went up and down with the waves, Alessandro's father Fernando looked at the mouth of the "Moses Project" under construction not far away and said.

"I don't know, the scientists say yes." Alessandro narrowed his eyes and said as scripted.

"The floods are coming more and more often," said Fernando. "Did you see that tree?"

Alessandro looked in that direction, and he could see the canopy of a dead tree on the island, with a bull egret resting on a branch.

"When I was your age, my father brought me here, when it was still in full bloom." Fernando said, "Now the sea has soaked its roots, and the sea level is higher than it was 20 years ago. gone."

"So what?" asked Alessandro.

"A scholar said that the hydrological data of Moses were from the 1980s. According to the plan at that time, the dam would not be opened more than 20 times a year. In the future, the sea level will be higher. It will be opened 35 times a year, and the lagoon will be open for more than 180 days. Closed, then Moses will be a permanent barrier to Venice and the Adriatic Sea, the crazy algae will choke the fish and shellfish, we will have no fish to hunt, and those migratory birds will not come without food."

"I thought the flamingos were eating algae," Alessandro said. "That's what the books say."

Fernando threw him a bottle of mineral water.

"Silly boy, we'll be like squids soaked in their own ink."

"Why don't you let me go to college?" Alessandro asked. "I'll get smarter if I go to college."

"Do you know how much college graduates earn now? You can row boats like me. Not only can you earn more than them, but you are also closer to home. Rich people come to Venice, and smart people know how to choose." Fernando Said, then unscrewed the bottle cap and gulped down the water.

Alessandro frowned, as if he felt that what his father said was wrong.

Everyone says that one can change one's destiny by going to university, but as my father said, college graduates earn less than their father, and engineers only earn 2,000 Euros. Even if you don't work hard, you can easily earn a month. With an income of 6,000 euros, unlike Aunt Alicia who needs to work two jobs.

Why go to university?

He looked at the fishing nets in the sea, his father was teaching him to fish, and he sold the seafood, and he could give the money he earned to his father as his living expenses at home until he found a suitable woman to marry and move out.

So it is the right choice not to go to school and go to university, and smart people know how to choose.

He smiled and unscrewed the mineral water bottle, drank water like his father, and then sang a Venetian ditty.

A long time ago, there was also a boatman who wanted to have a home. There was a good well in the yard. The water drawn from the well was sweet, just like the mineral water he was drinking now.

=====================

"A good university lies not in the number of buildings in the school but in the teachers in it." When Monica and the two wizards from England left, Alessandro and Gianluca drank local beer and said watching The dam in the distance said, "They taught me not to be superstitious or credulous, whether it is an academic authority or a father."

"If you don't believe me, what do they believe?" asked Alessandro.

"I don't know either," Gianluca said. "That's why I want to know."

"Do you think reading books can solve this problem?"

"It's better to figure it out by yourself than someone else to tell you. I don't want to be someone who follows others." Gianluca looked at the stars in the sky. "Want to go to the observatory to see it? I have a telescope."

"Me too!" Alessandro said excitedly, "Halley's Comet came the year I was born, and my dad bought an astronomical telescope for it."

"You don't need a telescope to observe Halley's Comet," Gianluca said strangely.

"Let's go, let's go to the observatory!" Alessandro stopped Gianluca's shoulder and said for the first time that he and the real rich have something in common. =====================

The Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Mark's Basilica is connected to the Doge's Palace in Venice. Every Venetian knows that the Bishop of Venice during the Republic period was not appointed by the Holy See, but elected by the Diocese of Venice itself.

You are a Venetian and then a believer.

The current Bishop of Venice is appointed by the Pope. Since 1807, St. Mark's Church has been the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Venice. Before that, St. Mark's had been the private chapel of the Governor, and there was even a banquet for the Governor on the left wing of the church. hall.

St. Mark’s remains were hidden under pork and smuggled to Venice. In fact, the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church have many things that cannot be eaten, such as eel, but grilled eel is a common dish for nobles. Fishermen can earn a lot of eels when they catch them. money.

What's it like to eat grilled eel in a cathedral?

Alessandro looked at the golden mosaic above his head. After entering from the central main entrance, there were the dome of the Holy Spirit and the dome of the prophets, and finally the golden screen for the sarcophagus of St. Mark.

In fact, he didn't come here very often. Although this place is a must-see for tourists, he felt inexplicably nervous this time.

The one who walked in the front was the wizard from England. Alessandro looked at his back and felt that he looked like a crowned emperor, except that the emperor's cloak was very gorgeous, while his was black.

He always felt that the word oppressive was written for fun, but at the moment he felt that suffocating feeling.

Gianluca looked very ordinary, but he followed the wizard.

The man named Edgar Smith shouldn't be here. There must be Protestants here, but they are just tourists, and they have forgotten the entanglement between Protestantism and Catholicism. Italy and the United Kingdom are members of the European Union, aren't they?

"Oh, it's crazy." Alessandro whispered in Italian, and Fernando said that punting doesn't require a high degree, and he can try a different life.

Now he felt dizzy, confused, and bewildered.

But there was an indescribable pleasure. He wished he could have a sword on his waist, so that he would be more like a knight.

He wasn't a smart guy to begin with, and it looked pretty cool watching the wizard fight the shadow that day.

If he can learn to use one-to-many skills, he won't have to go to school with a gun like Zodiac II. Although no one bullied him at school, it would be like making a movie.

When he saw the priest in white sacrificial robe appearing, an indescribable excitement rose in his heart.

Did he realize that the man standing in front of him was a wizard, what would he say?

"Is there anything I can help you with?" said the priest in white to Edgar in black.

"May I speak to Bishop Francisco?" said the wizard.

"May I ask what you need?" the priest asked, "I can convey it for you."

"I don't think you are qualified to know." The wizard said carelessly, "Where is he?"

The priest froze for a moment, then said humbly, "Please follow me."

Then take the lead to lead the way and walk in front, towards the area that is not open to the public.

Tourists watch the gorgeous Greek cross part, and there are some auxiliary facilities in the church. After the golden mosaic cover is removed, the ancient stone supporting the temple is exposed. After all, even if it was rebuilt in the 11th century, it has a history of 1,000 years. .

The new and old administrative mansion buildings are also on St. Mark's Square. The two buildings are connected by the Napoleon Wing. Secularism and faith are clearly separated, just like the saying after the Reformation that "God's belongs to God, and Caesar's belongs to Caesar". Even if it is a little smaller as a cathedral, it will not occupy a secular place.

"How easy? Did he use magic?" Alessandro whispered to Gianluca.

"He didn't use a wand, I didn't know," Gianluca whispered. "The priest took him to the Bishop without even asking who he was?"

Alessandro suddenly panicked. Even priests have nothing to do with wizards. What should ordinary people like them do?

It didn't take long before they came to the office area, which was no different from an ordinary missionary school.

The priest stopped before a room.

"The bishop is not in the diocese, but the secretary-general is. If there is anything to say to him, it is the same."

"You can go." The wizard said, and then the monk really left, and then he knocked on the door symbolically, and pushed the door directly to enter.

Behind the door was a middle-aged man in a black robe of a student. He had chestnut-colored hair, a long face, and a pair of glasses. The bell ornament rang, making a "jingle jingle" sound.

The wizard took out his wand and waved it forward, the bell immediately fell apart and stopped making any sound, and then the door behind him also slammed shut automatically.

"Who are you?" The Secretary-General asked calmly.

"We need to talk." The wizard sat down opposite the secretary-general.

"I have nothing to say to you, heretic." The Secretary-General said with a determined look, "Please leave, the guards will be here soon."

"I'm not a little wizard or a witch. Do you think the numbers are a threat to me?" The wizard smiled strangely. "The reason why the witch hunt is considered a persecution against women is because you mainly deal with women."

"We have also dealt with men." The secretary-general said, "especially wizards, it is difficult for you to be burned alive, but you also get drunk, and after you fall asleep, a dagger can kill you. "

"You guys never disappoint when it comes to killing. How does it feel to be at the start of the Fourth Crusade? I remember you were played hard by the Venetians once, and only the Franks went to retake the Holy Land alone."

"Don't try to provoke me." The Secretary-General gritted his teeth and smiled, "What on earth are you trying to do? Wizard."

"We have common enemies with you, monks. Unlike your other enemies, I understand and sympathize with your plight. In popular literature and journals, millions of people died at the stake in the Middle Ages, But that is just a speculative figure. Scholars calculate it in a ridiculous way, just like you use God's Judgment to deal with 'wizards'. They wrongly blame you. It is not Italy that hunts witches most rampantly, but Lorraine The duke and the candidate for emperor of Cologne, the former is because the family members are mentally ill, and the latter is because of adultery, the Habsburg family uses the Inquisition as a tool to deal with dissidents, the 'wizard' you just mentioned refers to It’s them.” The wizard said glibly, “When the temperature turns cold, the farmers can’t continue farming on the original land, so they leave their land and go to other warm or cities. Compared with Central Europe, the land is sparsely populated. There are far fewer witch hunts in Northern Europe. Most of the criminals in Iceland are men. The wealthy citizens, priests, nobles, and members of the royal family in the German bishopric are all elite ruling groups. Famine comes first, and then there is plague. , Many more people died because of the chaos of law and order than you burned to death, and most of the village committees judged the abuse of lynching, let me think about it? How do those young people call themselves? 'Little Prophet', I know a young Man, he accuses my godson of being the mastermind and murderer of an attempted murder, he has no evidence, just with a necklace, he says the murderer is my godson, like he is a 'prophet', knowing everything in the world, he judges It's all about how you feel."

"Then is he right?" the Secretary-General asked. "Is the 'minor prophet' right?"

The wizard didn't answer.

"The Lion's Mouth of the Republic of Venice also received a lot of reports accusing witchcraft." The wizard said, "The Council of Ten arrested people based on evidence, but the Inquisition used the 'evidence' of the Witch Commissioner to arrest people. I remember that there was a Dominican monk who published in the internal journals of the church that he should treat suspects kindly, carefully use circumstantial evidence and use criminal proceedings, but ordinary people in Europe at that time did not know your efforts and thought that Germany, You started the wizarding scare in Birkendy, Switzerland, France, and Cardinal Francesco Obici tried to stem the spread of the panic, but no one listened."

"The anti-witch hunting movement is a sign of the progress of European civilization, but some people can't put all the responsibility on us, and then treat us like Buddhists." The secretary-general said, "How did you get access to the internal materials of the church? Witches .”

"I like to read," said the wizard. "Besides, Giulio Montelenchi is famous. No wizard wants to be caught by that 'detective.'"

"Who is that?" Alessandro asked Gianluca in a low voice.

"Specialist in witchcraft cases," Gianluca said.

"He didn't write that internal article," said the secretary general. "It was written by Magistrate Desiderio Sceglia."

"Like I said, I know your situation, have you caught those neo-pagans who practiced satanic worship? There was no burning in Venice, but I think these people need to be punished."

"That was a problem during World War II." The Secretary-General said, "Hitler and Mussolini finally studied black magic, and a spy used extreme methods to turn the tide of the war."

"He killed Linda and dumped her body in the lagoon?" Alessandro asked.

"Who is this kid?" the secretary asked.

"Nobody," said the wizard. "He's going soon."

Immediately afterwards, Alessandro felt his mind go blank, and then he felt extremely happy.

Then a voice told him to leave the room, which he did with a smirk.

"You have been blackened by the ink." Before leaving, he heard the wizard say, "Why didn't you refute?"

"You really know how to hide." The Secretary-General said angrily, "It's even worse to be soiled with your own vomited ink!"

Like a squid soaking in its own ink.

He thought foolishly and closed the door.

At the same time, he was extremely regretful, if he hadn't asked that question just now, maybe he wouldn't have been kicked out.