An old man in a dirty robe stood on the slightly steep bank of the river, and he leaned forward with great difficulty, watching as the two servants in front of him carefully inserted a wooden stick with many numerals into the river, and then made a mark on the top of the soaked place.

The stick was raised, and looking at the marks on it, the old man wrote down the numbers on the corresponding scale in a notebook with a thick wooden scalp cover.

Then he staggered up the riverbank, supported by his servants, and walked up to the men who were waiting there.

"Your Majesty, the water level of the Ebro River is lower this year than ever, and it is not yet April, so if this continues, there may be a big drought this year."

The old man said worriedly to Ferdinand, who was frowning and listening to all this, and when he saw the king's brows that had been tightly twisted, the old man let out a helpless sigh.

A pair of slightly slender eyebrows moved, Ferdinand took the record of the hydrological situation of the past dynasties from the old man's hand, and looked at the records on it that were already blurred because of their age, and his heart gradually became heavy.

The Ebro River is the largest river in the Kingdom of Aragon, and the capital Zaragoza is located at the confluence of the Ebro River and the Huelva River, another large river in Aragon.

Zaragoza has a very long history, and according to some ancient legends, it can even be traced back to almost the 4th century BC.

Because of this, Zaragoza has developed a unique capital with many styles after the different eras of the Roman, Gothic, Moorish and later the Aragonese dynasty.

Said to be the first city in Aragon to convert to God, Zaragoza is proud of its cathedral and the pride of its people in the fact that it preserves the ornaments worn by the first statue of Our Lady in the Iberian Peninsula.

This makes Zaragoza the most sacred place in the hearts of the Aragonese people, after the Holy Land of Jerusalem and the Holy See and the Vatican.

Every October, the anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin Mary in Zaragoza becomes the most important anniversary in Aragon after Christmas, and it is also a good day for the kings of Aragon to show their royal prestige to the people.

But it was also a day that became a nightmare for the people of Zaragoza.

Zaragoza is a strange place, with an abundance of water and one of the worst semi-deserts in the Iberian Peninsula, and this semi-desertification has evolved over time, so much so that by the time Ferdinand II succeeded to the throne, large areas on the north bank of the Ebro River had been transformed from verdant fields to yellow.

To make matters worse, the Ebro River suffers a long period of depletion from October onwards, when the river is at its shallowest and can even be crossed without boats.

What is worrying is that the duration of this period of exhaustion has also become longer and longer, from the earliest recorded ten days a year, to almost the entire month of October, and every year on the anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin, watching the procession of the monument to Maria Augustine, who came from the other side to resist the Moorish posterity, wading through the water with torches, and lamenting the feat of crossing the Ebro River on foot like Moses splitting the sea, the monarchs of Aragon were also taking away a large area of fertile land for it, The desert, which is becoming increasingly difficult to contain, is worried.

Compared to his previous kings, Ferdinand had a much longer vision, and saw a better way to prevent this misfortune when the kings of Aragon had always prayed for God's grace.

It's just that this king, who has a slightly feminine appearance and looks even more majestic than his wife, although he is called "Ferdinand the Catholic", has nothing to do with his faith.

In the rooms of the royal palace, Ferdinand had what is said to be the most detailed map of Iberia, which not only marked the key locations of many cities, docks, castles, and fortresses, but also marked the topography and hydrology of Castile and Aragon in as clear and detailed detail as possible.

On this map, the Castilian plateau, centered on Valladode, overlooks the whole of Aragon to the west, and the names of the rivers on the plateau are marked by several rugged lines of varying thicknesses and sizes.

Several of the rivers in the eastern part of the plateau have been painted in a conspicuous shade of red, making them look a little unobtrusive on the map.

"These rivers can be the key to saving Zaragoza and even Aragon."

Ferdinand said this to his ministers more than once, and his plan was to use the excavation of the Connecting Canal to connect the Ebro River and then bring the abundant water from the Caslitian Plateau to the territory of Aragon, so as to ensure that the northern part of Aragon, with Zaragoza as the center, would be able to stop the increasing desertification.

This is a huge project, and it is a huge project that is difficult for many people to achieve, and some people even think that Ferdinand is crazy after hearing this crazy idea, because to realize his idea, it will take money, manpower and time, which the current Aragon court simply cannot afford.

"I don't expect to see it all done while I'm alive," Ferdinand once said to those close to him he trusted, "but I have to be ready to make this plan come true, and that requires a strong kingdom, a country united with Castile, otherwise it will be meaningless." ”

Because of this, Ferdinand showed no mercy to anyone who tried to thwart his eventual unification of the two kingdoms, whether it was Castile or Aragon, and he smashed plots to destroy the unity of the two kingdoms with determination and determination, even to his own son-in-law.

Ferdinand was very active about marrying Maximian, but what he never expected was that just two years ago, his son Juan would suddenly fall ill and die.

Ferdinand, who had lost his heir, was surprised to find that Philip, who had married his daughter Juana, had unexpectedly become the last beneficiary, which gave him a huge sense of crisis in an instant.

Even from far away in Zaragoza, Ferdinand was quick to know a lot about Vallados, and Ferdinand thought that Juana's obsessive and almost insane obsession with Philip was nothing more than a trick by Philip to control Juana, which made him even more of his worst enemy.

Standing in front of the map again, Ferdinand looked at everything on the map carefully, he knew that his plan was big and crazy, but he had to do everything for the future of Aragorn, and praying to God might be necessary, but he firmly believed that this plan was also an inspiration from God.

It's just that he still has a lot of hurdles to clear before he can move forward with this huge plan.

A letter from Isabella was placed on the table not far in front of him, and Ferdinand couldn't help but fall into deep thought at the sight of the eye-catching royal coat of arms of Castile on the envelope.

The letter had been delivered two days earlier, and it was accompanied by an envoy sent by Isabella.

The envoy told Ferdinand in detail about the Queen's intentions, and looking at Isabella's repeated emphasis in the letter, Ferdinand had understood her intentions.

Making peace with the French in Italy in exchange for Louis XII's renunciation of his intervention in the war in the Iberian Peninsula was apparently the result of Isabella's deliberations.

And the news from Andalusia is indeed not optimistic, the Andalusian nobles led by Don Bavi are contacting the lords everywhere, and from Isabella's letter, Ferdinand knows that the old Castilian forces left behind in the old capital of Toledo seem to be waiting for an opportunity to put pressure on Isabella.

All this sounded like a sign that the situation was so grave that Isabella had to make a request that Ferdinand stop the war in Italy.

However, although Castile's envoys had been asking for a meeting for two days, Ferdinand did not summon them for any reason.

Looking at the letter now, Ferdinand was wondering how to use it and get more out of it.

As husband and wife, Ferdinand and Isabella were married to each other, and as kings, they had a more intimate relationship than any other monarch, which meant that the two of them were more intricate than anyone else.

In the letter, Isabella once again urged Ferdinand to return to Valladot to join her in order to deal with this dangerous situation.

Ferdinand, however, knew that Isabella was actually suggesting that he would reconsider his decision to involve Juana in government.

When they left Valladod before, the couple had a heated argument over whether to allow Juana to help them with government affairs, and Isabella insisted that Juana learn how to handle government affairs as soon as possible, because she felt that if this continued, Juana might have the possibility of relying on Philip for everything in the future, which made Isabella determined that Juana would learn all the conditions and experience of a monarch as soon as possible.

Ferdinand, on the other hand, did not think so, and he found various reasons to try to stop Isabella from doing so, which eventually led Isabella to directly accuse Ferdinand of wanting nothing more than to monopolize power for herself.

Although Isabella was right, it still caused Ferdinand to be extremely angry.

He reprimanded Isabella for being so pampered with Juana that she was completely unprepared to become a proper monarch, so that if she were to be given power like this, the only result would be to make her a puppet manipulated by careerists.

Then the quarrel ended unhappily, but no one expected such a situation at the time.

"I must make it clear to the Castilians that I am also their sovereign, so my will must be considered before making any decision," Ferdinand said to an elderly minister standing aside, his chief minister, and seeing the silent nod, he walked over and picked up the letter on the table, "So do you think you should make peace with Louis XII?" ”

"Your Majesty, this concerns the Kingdom of Sicily," seeing a hint of anger on Ferdinand's face when he heard this, the Chief Minister shook his head helplessly, "We really didn't expect that Gonzalo to disobey the order, although fighting the Ottomans also did protect Sicily, but now that Naples is in the hands of that Alfred's widow, it is indeed Gonzalo's responsibility." ”

Ferdinand listened with a gloomy face, and Gonzalo was angry that he had fled to the Aegean Sea to fight the Ottomans instead of following his orders, and although Gonzalo had later reported that this was done to avoid conflict with the Duke of Rometesia, it was also true that the Aragonese army had not been able to intervene in Naples in time to take advantage of the French invasion.

Ferdinand was so angry at Gonzalo's audacity that he even scolded the arrogant and conceited one in front of Isabella, but Isabeth was obviously very fond of Gonzalo, and she kept defending him, even describing Gonzalo's battle with the Ottomans as a crusade.

"Your Majesty, since Her Majesty has ordered Gonzalo to return as soon as possible, even if we want to continue fighting the French, we will have to do so only after we have a new commander of the expeditionary force, so at least there is no need for us to continue this war for the rest of this time, and this is also an opportunity to put the Emperor in more trouble, isn't it?"

Ferdinand's heart was stirred by the Chief Chancellor's words, and he knew that the Chief Chancellor was right, once the Aragon army was pulled out of the Italian war, then the only main force fighting the French head-on would become the Austrians, which was not something to be happy for Maximian.

"Maybe it's not necessarily that bad," Ferdinand suddenly became a little excited, he had already heard that with the bankruptcy of the Fogel family, Maximian's life was difficult, and he could not even raise a sufficient army for a while, so if he decided to make peace with the French at this time, perhaps the only way out for the ill-fated emperor was to compromise with himself.

Let Maximian summon Philip back, as soon as this idea came out, it could no longer be dispelled, Ferdinand quickly pondered in his heart as a prerequisite for re-entering the war, whether Maximian could accept this condition, when the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this idea was really wonderful, another idea suddenly popped up.

"Is that Duke of Rometesia in Lisbon now?" Ferdinand asked, knowing all the information he had made clear to his spies in Valladode.

"No, Your Majesty, it is said that the Duke has gone to Valladod." A retinue reported to Ferdinand.

"Oh, then I missed him," said Ferdinand, who seemed to regret it, but his expression was completely different: "If we withdraw from the war, maybe the French will suddenly become interested in his Duchy of Rome and Tuscany, if that"

Speaking of this, Ferdinand looked at the Chief Chancellor.

"In that case, Your Majesty, we can propose to the duke through the Vatican, and if we want to keep his principality, then we must make it conditional on the surrender of Naples."

Listening to the Chief Minister's words, Ferdinand nodded: "Yes, it is true, then send someone to order our expeditionary force to stop fighting with the French, and then let Gonzalo return to Castile, remember to make sure that the French understand that our army no longer poses any threat to them even if it remains there." ”

Speaking of this, Ferdinand raised the letter in his hand and looked at it, and then a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "Now I can't wait to see for myself what kind of expression the duke has on his face when he hears this condition." ”