CHAPTER 10 #2
That very night, various managers from within and outside the organization began to undergo investigation and evaluation.
Lorenzo didn’t involve Hedy in this matter, but as long as it was something he personally handled, he made sure to do it to the utmost degree.
In recent years, his main work had been signing treaties and forming alliances, so he hadn’t really paid attention to the family business.
But a lord who could manage relationships with over ten city-states surely wouldn’t fail to manage the family’s old business, right?
As a result, dozens of underperforming managers, both large and small, were swept out, and many of the Medici family banks overseas were revamped, with much higher efficiency.
Although Lorenzo hadn’t asked for Hedy’s opinion, she still timely submitted a reference document.
It discussed performance evaluation systems, year-end reporting systems, and useful quarterly review systems.
With just a few strokes, she helped him build a stable framework that would allow him to manage the most affairs in the shortest amount of time.
The lord silently accepted the suggestion and then ordered his subordinates to draft a brand new set of records.
Florence was beginning to change.
It wasn’t until Christmas began that Leonardo finally reappeared.
He knocked on Hedy’s door with a square box in hand, his whole demeanor exuding a sense of triumph.
“I’ve made the air valve—and I’ve also figured out the piano you mentioned for recording.”
Hedy was surprised and stepped aside, allowing him to enter and place several items on the table.
Leonardo had originally planned to finish making the air valve before discussing it with her, but once he started, he became so engrossed in the process that he couldn’t help but continue completing the following steps.
When he finally came to his senses, he had already successfully made three versions of the paper rolls used for playing, and was sitting by the piano listening to the music.
Hedy helped him unravel the long paper tape and instinctively let out a gasp of admiration.
He truly was a genius.
These things wouldn’t come into being until after 1910, and many of them involved abstract designs.
Yet Leonardo had indeed produced clear mechanical blueprints and had craftsmen replicate them.
If her idea was that long train, then his existence was like the boiler and coal fire, letting all the ideas pass through and creating profound tracks out of thin air.
The first paper roll was completely blank, serving as a sample for comparison.
The second one was a recording roll, meant to be placed on the air pipes of a special recording piano.
When the performer pressed a key, the piano string would trigger the air valve, which would then activate a small hammer.
The long paper tape had small indentations of varying depths, left by the small hammer.
He had even created a puncher, and completing a piece of music only took twenty minutes to punch.
Hedy looked at the interlocking mechanism in the square box and vaguely began to understand something.
Her conceptual design draft, compared to Leonardo’s physical device, had a very different distinction.
Medieval pianos didn't have vertical cabinets, and it was impossible to place the automatic playing mechanism above the music sheet.
So, Leonardo directly created a striking device at the back of the piano body, along with a bellows.
"So... are you planning to have someone lie on top of the piano to press the bellows?" Hedy examined the intricate gears and air valves before turning to look at him. "Or do you have another idea?"
"Wind-up." Leonardo smiled. "I got the idea from Giotto’s clock tower and the clockmakers."
Hedy paused for a moment, then chuckled softly. "Good idea."
They went to a concert hall near the Ducal Palace to conduct an experiment beside the piano.
Just as she had expected, it worked exactly as planned—
The plucking mechanism above the strings fed the paper roll, while the piano keys were pressed as though by an invisible hand, moving smoothly up and down, and the music flowed beautifully.
Hedy could vaguely imagine the scene—
Leonardo had probably not slept in the past ten days, having worked on the air valve and music sheets, even spending an entire day beside the piano, constantly tinkering with it.
He had a pure heart and a relentless dedication to things.
It was just like how she was when she was young.
"I always feel that these songs are a bit too trivial," Leonardo said, taking the paper roll off and looking at her. "Mr. Medici has probably heard them many times already—do you know of any songs from the Holy Roman Empire?"
His energy had been completely drained recently, and instead of writing a new song on the spot, he just wanted to take a good nap.
Suddenly, Hedy had an idea and signaled him to place the recording paper roll in the designated spot.
Once Leonardo signaled that he was ready, she took a deep breath and began to play an old song.
This song was supposed to appear two hundred years later, hailed as the second national anthem of Austria.
Because the piano strings were struck through the paper, there wasn't much sound, just a muffled, dull noise.
Hedy played slowly but with a gentle and nostalgic expression.
She was playing "The Blue Danube," from her homeland.
You are sentimental, young, beautiful, gentle, and kind-hearted, shining like gold in the mines.
True feelings awaken there, by the Danube River, the beautiful blue Danube.
At that time, the Austrian Empire had suffered a crushing defeat in the Austro-Prussian War, and the people of Vienna were repressed and gloomy.
But this piece, like a gentle and warm spring breeze, was capable of awakening many long-dormant emotions.
By a hundred years later, it had become a staple on New Year's Eve.
As midnight passed, the Golden Hall in Vienna would echo with the waltz.
It was so joyful and gentle, as though it could melt away the snow in everyone’s hearts.
Hedy reflected on many memories and suddenly recalled this marvelous coincidence.
Once midnight had passed, it would be the first day of the new year.
And that also happened to be Mr. Lorenzo de Medici’s birthday.
—This time gap had crossed a century, yet it felt so perfectly fitting.
When she finished playing, Leonardo took down the paper roll and began punching it in real-time.
Hedy returned to the Doge’s Palace, bringing him some cheese and fruit, as well as a glass of wine.
Leonardo packed the paper roll, which resembled a coded scroll, back into place, wound up the mechanism, and raised his glass to her from a distance.
The next moment, a beautiful and soothing melody began to flow.
Hedy leaned against the piano, listening, almost lost in the sound.
She hadn’t expected that, after living through many long years, she would have such a rebirth.
Medicine, chemistry, fine arts, and music.
She wandered through the bustling, ancient city of Florence, bringing new and unfamiliar medicines to the people, while listening to the melodies of a future, two hundred years ahead, alongside a guiding star from history.
This, too, was the Renaissance of her aging soul.
The word "Renaissance" means "revival."
Such a term, used by historians in later generations to summarize this era, has been given a deeply fitting connotation.
Revive, in such a decayed and dark world.
The year 1480 finally arrived.
The lord of Florence celebrated his thirty-first birthday, and the court held a grand ball and celebration.
Not only did the local nobles and artists attend on time, but many prominent figures from foreign lands also came in carriages, offering him lavish gifts.
Hedy and Leonardo presented the automatic playing device, bowing neatly in unison.
When the guests saw the strange iron contraption they brought, some of them sneered in disdain.
But the servants, following Leonardo’s instructions, moved the heavy, odd device onto the piano and carefully set it up.
The wind-up mechanism was tightened, and the piano bench was empty.
The next moment, the black-and-white keys began to press down and play, with the paper roll behind it continuously unrolling.
The guests finally showed expressions of astonishment.
Some were surprised because they had never heard such a piece of music, while others were amazed that such a machine could play music without a performer.
This wasn’t the work of a ghost, nor was there a witch casting a spell before the crowd.
The long paper roll continuously fed through, and mechanical fingers struck the strings, the melody so beautiful that the entire hall fell silent, occasionally interrupted by the awed exclamations of a few young people.
Lorenzo, who had just recovered from yet another gout attack, still felt slight pain in his knee and toes.
When he heard the flowing melody, like a winding stream, he looked up at the young woman in the greenish-blue gown.
Her long hair cascaded down her shoulders, her brows like two crescent moons, and her light blue eyes held a smile, making her look almost unreal in her beauty.
The song he had vaguely heard in his sleep that day seemed to stir once again in his mind.
Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler.
Lorenzo looked away and reached for the glass of wine beside him.
In that moment, he really wanted to ask her some questions.
With such a thoughtful gift, what kind of reward were you hoping for?
Why had you said before that you wanted to leave Florence?
It seemed like he recalled some advice, and his hand suddenly faltered, then stopped, retracting.
Perhaps it was better not to drink.
This public performance had certainly created quite a buzz.
On one hand, the piece was truly magnificent. Not only had the Florentine nobility never heard such a melody, but even the foreign guests who had come to celebrate looked on in fresh surprise.
On the other hand, the entire mechanical set-up was astonishing.