Augustus and the curious crowd ascended to the forecastle deck, and the water city of Venice became increasingly clear before their eyes.
It must be said, Venice is a beautiful city. Winding waterways and flowing clear currents permeate all of Venice, with 118 small islands scattered across 177 crisscrossing canals, connected by hundreds of bridges. Many well-preserved historical sites are distributed throughout: St. Mark's Basilica, Rialto Bridge, St. Mark's Square, Ca' d'Oro, and the Bridge of Sighs, which was just completed three years ago…
However, Augustus's focus was not here.
Looking down from the high deck, it was clear that the entire periphery of Venice had no city walls, which was completely consistent with Augustus's memory that Venice's city walls had long been demolished, and with the information he had obtained. Along the long coastline, only dozens of coastal cannons were sparsely distributed.
This does not mean Venice was unprepared; rather, Venice's defense relied heavily on a powerful navy and had sufficient confidence in its naval strength.
As long as Venice's navy was strong enough, it could completely repel enemies thousands of miles away at sea, and on the other side, Venice was defended by Treviso's impregnable castle fortress, ensuring the capital's safety.
Just as he was thinking this, hundreds of large and small warships moored by the shore in the distance came into view, which was the source of Venice's confidence. And Augustus knew that Venice's naval power was far from limited to this; this was just the tip of the iceberg.
In addition, the natural defense system formed by the lagoon also gave Venice stronger defensive capabilities.
There are few outlets to the sea around the lagoon; once an enemy attacks, the entrance can be blocked with iron chains and sailboats, and small warships can retreat into the lagoon to continue fighting. Because the lagoon itself is like a maze, its complex underwater terrain makes it easy for ships to run aground, and the Venetians, relying on their familiarity with the lagoon's terrain, could protect themselves well and launch surprise attacks on enemy forces.
Augustus gasped, immediately feeling that the difficulty of this trip was unusually great. He himself knew the importance of the navy to Venice; the Venetians themselves, of course, knew this even more deeply. But this was a step that had to be taken, otherwise, casualties would be completely uncontrollable, and the time would be infinitely extended. How could he move them…
As Augustus pondered, the ship slowly docked. Once the ship was secured, everyone on board disembarked in an orderly fashion according to the pre-rehearsed queue, Augustus included.
On shore, the reception from Venice was truly grand. The Governor of Venice himself was present, and representatives from all levels of government agencies were there, totaling over a hundred people. In addition, there were over a thousand fully armed soldiers guarding them. The surrounding crowd was shoulder to shoulder.
Augustus knew that this was by no means merely pure etiquette; if it were just etiquette, there would be no need for such a grand display. This was actually more of a show of force.
However, Augustus truly did not take Venice's small land army seriously. Their military equipment could be considered complete and advanced, but their military bearing was not strict.
This was partly because Augustus had seen many grand spectacles in later generations. On the other hand, after he provided some guiding opinions, the Papal States' land army had already far surpassed the entire era in this regard.
Everyone understood in their hearts that they were already at odds the moment they met; before either side had even spoken, tensions were already high. Yet, their etiquette was impeccable.
This was a relatively good situation, at least indicating that both sides had something to discuss, and it was unlikely they would openly make things difficult for him. But it also indicated that Venice might demand a very high price and be quite firm in its stance, unwilling to make any concessions, and that there would inevitably be many covert maneuvers.
The Venetian side also hoped to use this papal visit to force the Pope to acknowledge some established facts in their eyes and to obtain as much as they wanted. The people who had been arguing fiercely just days before now seemed united.
"Your Holiness, it is truly our honor to have you come to Venice! Venice welcomes your arrival," Donato, the Governor of Venice, respectfully stated, a hint of greed flickering in his eyes.
"Venice is a beautiful city, and I am delighted to be here," Augustus praised genuinely, then changed the subject, "But besides admiring Venice's beauty, we have more important matters for this visit.
In recent years, the relationship between Venice and the Holy See has continuously deteriorated, which grieves me deeply. I hope that through this visit, we can reach an agreement with Venice on some controversial issues and restore friendly neighborly relations with Venice. Furthermore…"
"Your Holiness," Donato touched his nose, interrupting somewhat awkwardly, "You and everyone from the Papal States have had a long and tiring journey. Let us first settle everyone in and allow you to rest. Once you are well-rested, we can slowly discuss these matters.
As the newly appointed Governor of Venice, I am also eager to improve relations between Venice and the Holy See. I believe that as long as Your Holiness sincerely wishes to improve relations with Venice, with our joint efforts, the relationship between the Papal States and Venice will surely improve."
Augustus then realized that he had indeed been a bit too hasty. Why was he so eager to blurt out everything at once? Perhaps he was truly seasick, and still a bit groggy from just waking up. He should indeed rest for a while…
But even so, Donato shouldn't have interrupted him like that. However, this was, after all, their territory, and he couldn't just overstep his bounds and reprimand him directly. Forget it, he would endure it.
Abruptly interrupting him was, after all, somewhat impolite, and it didn't seem like Donato did it deliberately. Donato seemed unwilling to discuss important state affairs with him alone in informal settings.
If Donato was only willing to talk to him in formal settings where he was fully prepared and outnumbered, that would not be good for him; it was always harder to fool a group of people than to fool one person.
"Your Excellency Donato, isn't it a bit rude to interrupt His Holiness?" a young diplomat beside Augustus said with dissatisfaction.
"His Holiness is speaking with His Excellency the Governor; is it polite for you to interrupt?" The spark ignited instantly, and a nobleman beside Donato immediately responded aggressively.
The crowds on both sides quickly grew restless. Dracula's hand had already quietly moved to the hilt of his sword, and the Venetians surged forward.
Donato raised his hand to stop them, saying, "My apologies, Your Holiness, I was rude. I apologize to you."
"It's alright. I know you meant well, didn't you?"
Augustus was very pleased; the Holy See still had loyal subjects! If he had said that himself, it would have seemed petty, but not saying it would have seemed cowardly. Having someone beside him say it, and then smoothing things over himself, was just right.
Seeing that nothing happened, everyone calmed down.
Upon entering the city of Venice, the main mode of transportation remained boats, but the large ships were moored outside. Augustus and others were assigned to many small boats that had been arranged beforehand.
"What is your name?" Augustus asked the young man who had just spoken.
"My name is Facio, Your Holiness," the young man replied in a clear voice.