The starry night sky is deep and cold.

The snow-like moonlight shines on the Gobi, casting shadows on rocks of all sizes.

Lady O'Coney was looking up at the sky at this time, imagining what the night would be like at home.

Lady O'Coney had almost forgotten what her home was like, she had been out for so long that she sometimes forgot where she came from.

In the distant basin, there was a faint neighing of warhorses, but the wrangler quickly quieted the animals.

Lady O'Coney took a few steps forward, looking at the small group of people who were slowly moving in the distance.

She was slightly excited, and the long-awaited anticipation made it difficult for her to calm down.

The men quickly approached, and a tall man on a horse in front of him grabbed the reins and squinted his eyes, carefully examining the woman standing on the Gobi with only one attendant.

Although it was not far from the barracks, it was a little too dangerous for her to be here alone, which made the man quickly determine that this woman should be the person she wanted to meet.

"Lady O'Conee?"

The man's accent was odd, and it took a great deal of effort for Mrs. O'Coney to hear it, and she nodded, then tilted her head to look at the line behind the man.

"We brought the people you wanted."

The man waved his hand behind him, and immediately a man on horseback came with a camel on which sat a tightly wrapped figure, and when it was brought to a halt in front of Lady O'Coney, the figure struggled a few times and made a muffled "whining" sound.

"It's your reward."

O'Connie also gestured to the attendant next to him, who immediately handed a heavy bag to the man.

The man stooped down and took it in his hand, and in the night he seemed to crack his mouth, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

The men came and went as fast as they could, and they threw down the man on the camel and roared away, as if they wanted to get out of the place as soon as possible.

O'Coney could understand why these people were in such a hurry, the place was not peaceful anymore, and a fierce war could break out at any moment.

From the very beginning of its existence, the Ottoman Empire maintained a very strange system, which was not much different from the feudal lordship of Europeans, but it was very different.

Tribes, large and small, make up this vast empire, and the tribal leaders are the true rulers of these tribes.

They would pledge allegiance to the Sultan, pay taxes and send troops to serve, but they also had privileges that the Sultan could not revoke.

These tribes were more like states in the true sense of the word than the feudal lords of Europe, which allowed the Ottoman sultans to have supreme power while having to try to co-opt the tribal leaders for fear that they would cause trouble for themselves.

Bayezid II was a more benevolent man than any of his ancestors, so many people miss the old sultan's rule, but with the death of Bayezid II and the two sons vying for the throne, the situation in the Ottoman Empire changed dramatically.

Ahmed is now actively preparing for war in Egypt, and he has suffered a lot from the previous series of conflicts with Selim, and even at sea he has not been able to rely on those Arab pirates to take advantage of any big advantage, and now he is preparing to send troops from Egypt again, this time he intends to fight Selim to the death.

Selim in Constantinople was not easy, he was now fighting on two sides, dealing with Mehmet from Egypt and dealing with the little kid who suddenly appeared from the east.

Selim had laughed at Mehamed for losing at the hands of that Ismaili, but now when he faced that nasty little fart himself, he realized that he was a tough opponent.

Selim was exhausted by the two-front battle, and the only thing he was glad about now was that Mehmet seemed to be frightened by him, and did not dare to act rashly for a while, so as to give him a brief respite.

Selim had also thought about making peace with the Safavid Shah before, but the other party had forcefully refused, and now he decided to teach the ignorant Ismaili a good lesson, and then go back and concentrate on eliminating Mehmad once and for all.

In addition to this, Sero also wanted to take the opportunity to clean up the disobedient eastern tribes, in his opinion, the past sultans were too merciful and tolerant of those tribal leaders, especially his father was simply conniving at those people.

All this should change, Selim thought, and while ordering the tribal leaders to send more troops to serve him, he sent his own officials to take over power in those places where there was no leader for the time being due to the war, and then declared that these areas would be the direct jurisdiction of the Sultan.

Selim knew that this would inevitably anger some people, but since the land was taken away by a minority, the risk was worth the risk.

The point is that the tribal leaders are scattered, and when they don't really offend their own interests, those people will not really stand up except for anger, not to mention that none of them have the prestige and status to bring them together.

Selim's idea was not wrong, and the plan went smoothly, although there was some resistance, most of the officials he sent achieved their goal, and most importantly, although the tribal leaders sent people to Constantinople to protest, but because they did not have a real leader, none of them dared to act rashly.

Satisfied with his decision, Salim was already planning to send someone to directly take over some very important cities, such as Genchi, which had previously been captured by the Safavid army and now became an empty city because the original leader had not returned.

While it might have angered the tribal leaders completely, it was worth the risk, and Selim wanted to see how well they could tolerate it.

And if this time is successful, it means that he can continue to carry out more daring provocations, until finally he gradually eats away at the tribal territories in the east that are like independent kingdoms.

Selim proceeded with his plan with confidence, until one day an accident occurred that he had not expected at all.

The head of the official he had sent to the city of Gench was returned, which certainly made Selim angry, but what really surprised him was that the person who sent the letter reported that the city of Gench was now occupied by the son of Jem, the younger brother of his father, Bayezet II.

The man is said to have a European name and appearance, but he claims that Jem was living with a local woman when he was trapped in Europe, and to Selim's surprise, this man actually has the support of the Ismaili.

Selim was surprised at first, then furious, he didn't know if the mongrel who had popped up was Jem's son, but it was clear that this person was a puppet pushed by Ismaili, and worse, he was keenly aware of the conspiracy of the Safavid kid.

He could imagine how the tribal leaders who had dared to be angry would react when they heard that such a person had appeared, just like him, those people didn't care if the guy who suddenly appeared was real or not, they would just never let go of this opportunity.

In fact, what worries Selim soon happened.

Some of the tribal leaders were eager to announce that the young man named Caderon was recognized as Jem's son, and they offered him tents, carpets, cattle, horses, sheep, and sabers.

This would be much, if not overtly supportive, for the man as a sultan, and other tribal leaders were much more cautious, though they also said they would not be enemies of the man.

This meant that they would not fight the Safavids who had declared their support for the Kadron either, and Salim found himself in a difficult position.

He realized that he had underestimated that Ismaili before, and he had not imagined that he still had such a terrible trump card in his hand, and now that little kid he had thought was just a troublesome thing had turned into a sharp knife that had cut a terrible wound in his back, and if he didn't want the wound to worsen and fester, and eventually die, he had to eliminate this opponent as soon as possible.

Selim began to mobilize all the troops at his disposal, even sending back troops from Bulgaria and Greece in Europe, and he actively expressed goodwill to Moldova in the hope that they would be able to keep an eye on the hated Poland in the north for a while.

These actions of Constantinople were sent to Europe from various sources, whether in Krakow, Prague, Bucharest or Vienna, and there was an ecstatic cheer when they heard of the changes within the Ottomans.

The fear brought to Europe by the great threat of the Ultraman Empire was too great, and the whole of eastern Europe seemed to be shrouded in the overwhelming shadow of the Ottoman Empire, and every invasion launched by this eastern empire would make the whole of Europe tremble, and now they could at least breathe a sigh of relief.

In the royal palace in Bucharest, Sophia dotingly looked at a pair of children lying side by side in a swinging crib, now that they were asleep, perhaps feeling a little cold, the two children hugged each other tightly, two tender little faces pressed together, and her lips made a soft "poof" sound.

Sophia lowered her head and kissed each of their little cheeks, then gestured to the nurse standing next to them to take care of the prince and princess, and then walked out of the bedroom in a few steps.

Walk through the hallway to a room where the main row of butter lamps on the wall is completely lit at no cost, where a group of Wallachian officers are already waiting for her.

Sophia, who walked in, didn't wait for anyone to finish saluting, and waved impatiently to an officer that he was ready to start, and then she sat down and began to listen.

The officer wore a costume that was very different from the style of the other Wallachian generals, and those familiar with Alexander's Balkan huntsmen would recognize it as a replica of the huntsmen, except for a few floral ornaments, and even the iconic bearded throat guards.

The officers neatly began to tell the Grand Duchess about their plans, and the Wallachian army was ready to advance from southern Hungary to the north to recover all of Hungary together with the Kingdom of Bohemia.

After determining that the Ottomans had to bring back a large number of troops from southern Bosnia because of the changes in their own country, so that the threat to southwestern Wallachia would be greatly reduced, the Wallachian officers immediately decided to move most of the troops remaining in the southwest to the western frontier in order to strengthen the defense against northern Bosnia.

"Your Highness, if it is possible that we can strengthen our ties with Archduke Karl of Caraño, then we can threaten Northern Bosnia from both the east and the west, and I believe that at that time the king of Herva will not dare to act rashly, and then we can march from the southern mining areas already occupied by us to the Danube Castle as planned, and finally ...... with the Bohemians in Budapest"

The officers confidently explained their intentions to Sophia, but they soon discovered that the Grand Duchess's attention did not seem to be on the map of Hungary in front of her.

Sophia's eyes were firmly fixed on Northern Bosnia in the west, and her burning eyes made the officers next to her suspect that the Grand Duchess was not looking at a map, but a naked duke.

Then everyone saw Sophia suddenly clench her fists and slam hard at the position in North Posdia!

That "Boom! The muffled sound and the familiar action seemed to smash into everyone's hearts, and before people could react, Sophia had already smashed the wine bottles on the table with another punch that seemed to shake.

The generals looked at the Grand Duchess dumbfounded, they already understood what Sophia wanted to do, but the idea was too bold and even reckless, which made the generals a little embarrassed.

"But Your Highness, it will be too difficult for us to attack North Bosnia and Hungary at the same time, we don't have that many troops, and it is likely to lead to the intervention of South Bosnia," the officer tried to dispel Sophia's almost crazy idea, but looking at Sophia's stubborn expression, he really didn't have confidence, "Your Highness, unless we can get more support, we can't succeed." ”

The officer's words lit up Sophia's eyes, and her fist opened slightly, turning into a finger poking at Northern Bosnia, and then this index finger stretched all the way west, past Caniola, then over Venice, and finally landed on the table, which had already exceeded the edge of the map.

Then she clenched her fists again, slamming them lightly on the empty table.

The officer had a thoughtful look on his face, and then he looked at the people next to him, and seeing that they were still a little dazed, the officer had to speak: "Do you think the duke, I mean the duchess will send troops?" ”

Sophia tilted her head habitually, and then shook it firmly.

Seeing the officer's stunned look, she let out a laugh that only she could understand.

Sofia, apparently not wanting to dwell on the matter, motioned for the generals to continue reporting on the impending reconquest of Hungary, but the atmosphere in the conference room was much more solemn than before.

Because the generals who have gradually understood the temper of the female archduke know that the previous seemingly nonsensical actions have not actually been revealed with the female archduke as if nothing happened.

On the contrary, no one knows what whimsical plans she has at this time.

From East to West, from the shores of the Black Sea to the shores of the Atlantic, 1502 was seen by many as a tumultuous year, no different from centuries of war.

But Alexander was well aware that many of the events of the year were destined to have an incalculable impact on the future.

In 1502, Selim was supposed to have wiped out his brother Mehmad and then invaded to bring out the Mamluks, but now he had to face enemies from all sides.

It was also in this year that the Ottoman Empire was supposed to eliminate the last resistance in northern Bosnia, and then completely annexed the whole of Bosnia, except for a place in the north, almost completely cut off Bucharest from Europe from three sides, and thus prepared the way for the complete conquest of Bucharest more than a decade later.

In the east, frequent Ottoman invasions of Poland would continue until the time of the Polish hussars.

But all that has changed dramatically, with the Ottomans having to withdraw their troops from the Balkans and Eastern Europe, and at home Selim facing a civil war that will tear the Ottoman Empire apart.

On the other side of the Atlantic, it wasn't until 50 years later that it was discovered, and the mysterious land that would not officially enter the eyes of Europeans nearly a hundred years later had gradually unveiled its mystery.

In addition to the Pope's letter, Ulius brought Alexander a strange piece of wood sent by Joysa from Barriadotus.

According to the visitor, this strange piece of heavy, hard wood with a dark red hue was brought back from the new colonies by James Columbus, and according to him, it was a local wood that was abundant and that trees like this rosewood were very valuable in Europe.

Alexander certainly knew what it was, and knew how fervently this precious wood would be in the future, but he didn't really care about it, and what really focused Alexander was that James had apparently reached the most valuable place in the world.

At this time, of course, Alexander did not know that James had given him another living gift, but that the hapless commander of the fleet had no one to trust, and as soon as he left the palace, he had the young woman sent to one of her houses in the city

It was for the upcoming Bellery, and she had already figured out that her brother was missing a woman here, and that she could solve a problem.

Alexander didn't know that he had rubbed shoulders with an exotic beauty, and he was now waiting for Ferdinand.

The year 1502 is destined to be a year that will affect the future!