The series of wars that took place near the Aegean Sea earlier in 1500 was somewhat distant for the Iberian Peninsula.

In contrast to those events in the eastern Mediterranean, the Iberian Peninsula was undergoing a series of drastic changes in the wake of the Reconquista, the most obvious of which was the purification of the faith after the final expulsion of the infidels.

After the enemy is destroyed, it is the turn to destroy the enemy inside, which seems to be an inevitable process that countless countries will go through for thousands of years, and the intensity of this process will not gradually disappear with the development and change of civilization, but will become more and more intense.

The Iberians were not as sympathetic to the threat from the Ottomans as Venice or Hungary, so even though the Venetians repeatedly appealed to Aragon for help through the Sicilian governor, Ferdinand II was more focused on Naples than on the Ottomans.

Therefore, Ferdinand II was very angry about Gonzalo's unauthorized change of destination and went to Crete to work for the Venetians.

It's just that Gonzalo's identity is a little special, so no one can take him for a while.

As Queen Isabella's favorite general, when she was still illiterate, Isabella took a fancy to Gonzalo from many soldiers like him, she selected him from those people to start training, and then gave him honor, status and power, and Gonzalo did not disappoint the queen, he became the most effective general in Castile after the Reconquista, especially after he successfully defeated Charles VIII in Italy, Then after entering Rome as a triumphant or even conqueror, the prestige of Gonzalo throughout Iberia had reached a point of concern.

It was for this reason that Maria became very interested in Alexander's dealings with Juana, since the duke had come on the behest of Cardinal Mahimo, who had heard about Juana from Gonzalo's army.

This may sound far-fetched, after all, it is really not enough to prove that Gonzalo himself has any connection with Juana, but Maria cannot ignore this seemingly unrelated possibility, because it is really the people involved in this matter that make her uneasy to think about it.

Juana naturally didn't need to mention it, Maria sometimes quietly cursed her to die early when she prayed, even if it was not to hell but to heaven, as long as she didn't live on earth.

As for Gonzalo, although her mother was very fond of the general, Maria could not trust him as completely as Isabella, and in this respect she inherited her mother's suspicions, but not her unwavering self-confidence.

So when she heard the news of Gonzalo's peace with the Ottomans, Maria at first refused to believe it, but then, like most people who hear about it, gradually asked in her heart, "What if this is true?" ”

And when a little seed of doubt is planted, no matter how solid the soil of trust is, it is destined to break through the ground one day.

Alexander was not in a hurry to see the outcome of his game, because he knew that it was almost impossible to make Isabella suspect Gonzalo, at least it would be very difficult, because the queen not only had the ability to discern heroes, but also had a heart that was more determined and confident than that of men, which made her often able to see the truth of the matter through the fog, and she also had a strong confidence in herself, believing that she was completely capable of mastering and influencing her courtiers, even if they were as unruly as Gonzalo. Even the Pope dares to reprimand him to his face.

"What a tough woman to deal with." Alexander sighed inwardly, feeling a headache for the formidable opponent he was facing.

He was in his own residence in Lisbon at this time, and although he could guess that Maria should be hesitant to report Gonzalo to her parents at this time, and even if she did, Queen Isabella's personality would not change her attitude towards Gonzalo, but Alexander was not in a hurry, because he knew that the key to changing all this was not Isabella, but Ferdinand II.

Ferdinand II did not have a favorable opinion of the Castilian nobles, or rather considered the powerful lords and nobles to be his enemies, and many of them objected when Isabella chose him as her husband, although some of them had been eliminated by them either in the war or subsequently gradually stripped of their power in the court, but in the face of the obviously much more powerful Castilian nobles, Ferdinand always considered himself an enemy.

So Ferdinand was a good ally for Alexander, and whatever their intentions, their purpose seemed to be more or less the same.

As a result of Manuel's third summons to da Gama, many of the Lisbon businessmen finally couldn't sit still, and they began to try to squeeze into the small office of the West India Company in various ways, and after bribing the guys, some of them were lucky enough to meet Fernando, but to their disappointment, the reply they received from Fernando was that "there is no need for investment for the time being".

This puzzled those merchants, after all, they had never heard of anyone who would be disgusted with money, and as for doing business, the more abundant the funds, the better, although opening up new routes is indeed very risky, whether it is the unpredictable weather at sea, the rough sea conditions of the reef or the murderous pirates that may appear at any time may make people lose their money, but as long as they succeed, then all the efforts are worth it, because it will be unimaginable rewards.

And more investment also makes the risk allocation smaller, isn't there, what could be more cost-effective?

The merchants were puzzled by the fact that they could not figure this out, and they asked Fernando what he wanted, but the answer was that the old man stubbornly refused money from anyone but them, which made people a little incomprehensible.

Fernando didn't really want to refuse the money, it can be said that looking at the backs of the disappointed businessmen who walked out of the door, he was more disappointed than those people, but a suggestion from Alexander couldn't help but make him make such a decision.

Waiting for the king to make up his mind is hard, and even harder if it is waiting for him to pay for it.

Manuel I was not a stingy man, but he was by no means generous, and he was very careful to guard his purse, even when he decided to pay for it, he would be careful rather than generous immediately.

Alexander advised Fernando not to be so anxious to accept another investment, because it was the king's money that really decided the distribution of the West India Company's shares.

The king must have the lion's share, followed by the others, among whom the Vasco da Gama family would become the majority shareholders of the company, and James Columbus, who played a key role in this voyage, could not have suffered a loss, so the distribution of the West India Company's shares would be much clearer, but perhaps the opening up of the new colonies would gradually fall into the hands of the king like the new routes in India.

So in this case, Alexander recommended to Ferdinando something that he had heard of, but was not very familiar with—the Exchange.

"The advantage of having the merchants put their money on the exchange instead of giving it directly to the West India Company, and then we put that money into the expedition through the exchange, is that the investment in the exchange is completely under our control, and whatever changes the power of the West India Company may have, it is provided that the interests of the investors are not infringed."

When Alexander explained the whole process to Fernando, Eriodor Don Antonio happened to be there, and the chief of Portuguese navigation listened to Alexander's words thoughtfully.

Fernando understood better, and although he didn't know the difference between an investment exchange and a direct investment company, he guessed that it was his previous visit to Alexandria that played a role.

So on a gloomy morning with biting cold winds and dark clouds, an exchange called "Atlantic Investment" opened in a small storefront room next door to the West India Company, and then the guys of the West India Company had an extra errand, and whenever a wealthy tycoon came in and waved the gold coin bag in his hand and shouted to invest money, those guys would first tell the other party with an apologetic face that "we no longer accept investment", and then after the other party just showed a disappointed expression, he pointed out very kindly" But you can go out and turn left, there's an exchange there, and it's really the same thing."

The people of Lisbon started to get agitated, they walked into this strangely named exchange for the first time, and then they learned from all kinds of explanations that it was a place dedicated to overseas trade and investment, and people could give their money here, and then the exchange would look for them to find those overseas businesses that were worth paying attention to and the next cost, and in the end they could get more or less returns, it all depended on the results of their investment.

It sounds complicated, but when they learn that the only person they do business with the Atlantic investment is the West India Company next door, the businessmen immediately get excited.

"This is done so that one day in the future, when our life is not very good, or as you said, we can still participate in the development of the new colonies through this exchange, instead of giving everything to others in vain, after all, there is a purely commercial relationship between the exchange and the West India Company, even the king cannot just confiscate and close the exchange, because it is tantamount to embezzling everyone's money, I believe that King Manuel has not reached the point where it will provoke the anger of the public."

That's what Alexander explained to Fernando, and this is indeed what Fernando is most worried about at the moment, but he didn't say the real reason.

In November, the exact news finally came.

Gonzalo's army, under the cover of the Venetian navy, began to withdraw from the Aegean Sea, and strangely enough, the Ottoman navy, which had almost complete control of the waters near the Aegean Sea, did not react at this time.

Maria believed that the news should have reached her mother, but Queen Isabella might not have thought too much about it, and Maria felt that she would not have thought much if she hadn't heard about Gonzalo's peace with the Ottomans, but now she felt that there seemed to be something worth considering behind the news.

Maria still doesn't trust Alexander, which has a lot to do with Juana and her personality.

And Maria felt that it was because of the navigator that this man had brought with her that Manuel I suddenly became interested in the new colony, which annoyed her even more.

However, as a devout believer, Maria considered herself unable to tolerate anything that would happen in collusion with the infidels, and Gonzalo was sick to the possibility that she would secretly make peace with the Ottomans because of the unfavorable war.

So although she finally decided to send someone to ask for the duke, even when her attendants reported to her that Alexander had arrived at the door, she was still hesitant whether she had made the right decision.

Then Alexander met the queen with a visibly scrutinizing and suspicious look on her face.

"I must say that today's meeting is not what I wanted," said Maria in a tone of strong hostility at the beginning, as if to prove that she was not moved by Alexander's letter, "General Gonzalo is a respectable general, he has shown great courage in the war to regain the lost land, I believe in his piety, so everything said in that letter is too bad, I hope you can explain it to me, because I have just received the news that General Gonzalo has indeed withdrawn his troops from the Aegean Sea, I don't want to mislead him into making any deal with the Ottomans, so I'm here to clear up any misunderstandings. ”

Alexander looked at Maria, who seemed to conceal her doubts by deliberately emphasizing her trust in Gonzalo, and he knew that the seeds planted before had begun to sprout, and they might still be very young, but as time passed, the germs of doubt would grow rapidly, and Isabella might not pay attention to them, but Ferdinand was not so easy to say.

In addition to Gonzalo's setback in the Aegean and the opening of an exchange in Lisbon, there is another event in the Iberian Peninsula that has also attracted a lot of attention.

The verdict against Christopher Columbus has finally come down.

To the surprise of many, Queen Isabella, after hearing many testimonies, finally decided to plead against Columbus, which was not unscrupulous, and the decision to dismiss him as governor of the new colony was not unserious, but the punishment for him was nothing more.

Then Columbus and his brother Giovanni were announced to be released.

Leaving the prison in Seville, Christopher Columbus got into the carriage he had been waiting for, but he stopped the coachman at an intersection not long after leaving the city.

There are three directions to this intersection.

The middle one leads to his home on the shores of Lake Macek, which is a place with a great view.

The one on the left leads to Valladod.

The one on the right leads to Malaga.

The carriage stopped at the intersection, and Columbus thought quietly.

"Where are we going, Christopher?" His younger brother Giovanni Columbus asked impatiently.

Columbus took a crumpled ball of paper from his pocket and opened it with an address on it.

Columbus put the ball of paper in his pocket again and said to the coachman, "Go to the right, let's go to Malaga." ”