Early in the morning, before the sun came out and it was still dark, Queen Isabella had already gotten up to work.

The large and empty palace was cold, and even if a large stove was lit, as long as you stood a little farther away, you would be shivering from the cold.

Isabella didn't care about the cold, and sometimes she would walk to the fire for a short time because her hands were too cold to warm up, and then she would go back to her desk and continue working.

Many people wonder why the queen doesn't let the stove be kept close to her, so that at least she doesn't have to walk around to keep warm.

And this reason is clear only to some people around the Queen.

"Don't be too warm, it will make me relax because of the warmth, and then I will feel that maybe a little sleep is nothing, and then the precious time is wasted, so it is better to be cold, at least it can make people concentrate."

That's why, an Isabellan self-restraint, and that's how the Queen of Castile spent more or less every winter.

There was some trouble at work today, and something that didn't seem like a big deal caught Isabella's attention.

Far northwest of Castile, a town called Carsrela, rioted.

This is an event that seems simple at first, but then no one knows how to make a big fuss.

A tax collector of an old local nobleman named Dudarin was attacked while escorting the tax convoy in kind back to the castle of the lords, the tax collector and the guards were killed, and the tax cart was ransacked.

This seems to be a very ordinary robbery, although the bandit seems to be bolder, after all, he robbed the nobles and killed the tax collector, but in terms of the matter itself, it was not a big deal, maybe as long as the big lords sent someone to investigate, it would not be difficult to find those robbers, and then it would be purged and executed.

But it was such a small incident that caused a storm.

The people of the town of Kasrela soon found the missing tax truck, the goods on which were long gone, and the bandits were nowhere to be found, but coincidentally, someone found an important clue not far from the truck that was intercepted.

It was a small piece of clothing that seemed to have been torn by a branch from leaving in a hurry, and the coat of arms of another nobleman's family, who was also lord of the town of Kasrela, was clearly visible.

It was this evidence that sparked the disputes and contradictions between the old and new nobles in the town of Casrera, which was already delicate, from the beginning of the mutual accusation and attack to the subsequent big fight, the whole process was too fast for everyone to stop, as if there was an invisible hand controlling everything, and the riot quickly turned from a skirmish between two servants to a war between two fiefdoms in the entire town.

The entire town of Kasrela, and beyond, was in trouble, and although some people came forward to mediate, the Dudarin family began to contact the nobles with whom they had a good relationship, and at the same time openly claimed revenge on "the bastard who stole the territory and taxes from him", and the other party, accused of robbery, was not to be outdone, and immediately called on friends to prepare for a second battle.

The conflict between two nobles who were originally just a small place gradually turned into a war between the old and new nobles who were either robbed or divided into territories and the nobles who were benefited.

Now, in such a seemingly inconspicuous small territory in the northwest, because of an accidental robbery, it seems that this contradiction has a tendency to break out.

Isabella looked at the report of the events in the town of Carsrela, wondering what the impact it would have.

Unlike many people who believe that the two kings have achieved great things by virtue of their reconquest exploits, Isabella and her husband see their situation very clearly, the union of Castile and Aragon is not so much a state as a union of the two of them, as long as one of them has three strengths and two weaknesses, this fragile United Kingdom can quickly divide and even go to war as a result, which Isabella and her husband Ferdinand are very aware of.

Because of this, a tacit understanding was formed between the couple, Isabella tried to bring the two countries closer together through the church, until one day the two became one, while Ferdinand did a much more mundane approach, strengthening his rule while doing everything in his power to fight the nobles who he saw as potential enemies, and at the same time trying to win over those monarchs who might help him.

"What happened in that town of Kasrela, this must be found out immediately," Isabella instructed the secretary next to her, she had too many official duties to deal with every day, although the riots in the town of Kasrera made her a little worried, but after all, there was more to do, so she put the matter aside after the order, "Then tell me what we can get from the new colony this year." ”

When it came to this, Isabella's originally expressionless face showed a slight smile, speaking of which was one of the few differences between her and Ferdinand, when she summoned that Columbus, she heard him make various requests, Ferdinand immediately refused very dissatisfied, in Ferdinand's opinion, this person is not only unreasonable but also greedy, and the amount of money he asked for funding is indeed huge, which is not a trivial matter for a country that has just ended the war, so Ferdinand chose to be cautious.

Isabella, on the other hand, saw a mad confidence and hope in that Columbus, and she was attracted to this madness, and finally decided to fund the man to complete his adventure.

Isabella proved to be the right one, Columbus brought them back great rewards, and successive expeditions had made people realize that perhaps the archipelago named San Salvador by Columbus was much larger than he had thought when he first discovered it, and this led to a wave of exploration of new territories, so much so that even the discovery of a new territory from Africa to India by a Portuguese named Vasco da Gama did not dampen the Castilian enthusiasm for the new colony.

Thinking of this, Isabella's eyes softened a little, Columbus had brought her too many surprises, and these surprises, in addition to the boatload of gold and spices, made her feel as if she had overcome her husband in some places.

Even when she disobeyed Enrique's orders and secretly married Ferdinand when she was young, Isabella knew very well that her choice was also a combination of interests and had nothing to do with love, so even though their children had grown up over the years, in fact, the relationship between their husband and wife was more about the meaning of the combination of the state and the state, which is why she never understood what Juana's overly persistent attitude was.

At the thought of Juana, Isabella's already better mood couldn't help but feel bad.

She had heard of Philip's amorous nature, but Isabella never felt that there was anything wrong with this son-in-law, in fact, Ferdinand also had several mistresses, and he probably didn't know how many illegitimate children he had.

So Isabella felt incredulous about Juana's seemingly insane jealousy, and the bad thing was that as Philip's behavior became more and more debauched, this already almost insane jealousy became more and more intense.

Isabella had to consider whether she should give the son-in-law a little reminder, after all, that kind of Juana was really reassuring.

The Queen, who had a bit of a headache, was thinking about her thoughts as she flipped through the official documents in her hand, and the Queen of Castile was known for her diligence, and in this respect Isabella could proudly declare herself more dutiful than any European monarch of her time, but that seemed not enough.

Isabella sighed softly, she wished she could do more, as she had begun to vaguely feel that her body was not as good as before, and it worried her.

Because of the death of her son Juan, the future heir to the throne has become a major concern for everyone, and with her daughters getting married, although no final announcement has been made, it is now certain that Juana will become the future queen of Castile.

But now Juana's appearance is really worrying, Isabella has been troubled by this for a long time, and she once secretly asked her personal pastor, Thomas Tongomada, to exorcise Juana, because she thought that her daughter was haunted by the devil.

If it were anyone else, she might have been sent to the gallows or even burned alive, Isabella certainly wouldn't do this to her daughter, but the exorcism was not ideal, Thomas Tongomada was a complete failure, and even a little frightened, he reported to the queen that "the princess's soul has been completely taken over by the devil and witches, and she is now only a walking shell, and the terrible thing hiding in her body has completely corrupted her soul."

Thomas Tongomada's words also frightened Isabella, and the thought of handing over the throne to such a daughter in the future made her head struggling with the predicament she faced.

So when she finally saw the report written by the Portuguese ambassador, Count Don Louvigo, Isabella almost fainted from her excitement.

"What's going on, what the hell is that Manuel trying to do?" Isabella walked up and down the palace angrily with the letter from Count Don Louvigo, and she was so anxious that she didn't even bother to give orders, but went through the doors and went straight out into the corridors to greet the ministers who were waiting to be seen, and then they closed the doors and began to discuss the chain of events that had taken place in Portugal.

Count Don Luvigo's letter, which he could not help but give a detailed report on the present situation of Maria, and after a careful analysis of Manuel's words and deeds, he finally came to the conclusion that worried the Castilian court that the Portuguese were likely to secretly form alliances with certain nations as a means of subsequently fighting for colonies at sea.

As for this allied country, although Count Don Luvigo did not say it, everyone naturally thought of the only possibility.

"Are the French going to war with us?" Isabella asked the ministers angrily rather than by accident, "How easy is it to interfere in our affairs and those of Portugal, on our own soil?" ”

"It is evident that this is the case, Your Majesty, and the trouble is that it does not seem to be a matter of course," said one of the ministers, with some apprehension, "and we know that the French have been trying to win over Portugal. ”

"Yes," Isabella furrowed her brows, she had been paying attention to the situation in Portugal all these years, and Portugal's support for Juana in the war for the throne had made her always wary of the Portuguese, so she had her two daughters marry Manuel in succession, in order to try to appease Portugal.

But now it seems that things are completely unexpected, and the description in the letter of Count Don Luvigo makes Isabella feel a dilemma for a while, as many people guess, Isabella really does not know what attitude to make in this matter for a while.

Do you write to Manuel asking him to lift Maria's house arrest, or directly accuse him of trying to compete with him for overseas colonies?

Isabella knew that it would be unwise to do anything, because aside from the reasons that seemed to be in a dilemma, the most important thing was that Manuel did have the initiative.

It would be unwise to be too tough on Portugal, which would undoubtedly push Manuel over the side of the French, but Isabella could not tolerate the provocations of the Portuguese.

It was a very difficult choice indeed, and Isabella felt that Manuel had really taken advantage of her weakness this time.

"Or we should send more troops to the Lombardy," Isabella said and looked around at her ministers, and to her surprise, everyone seemed to fall into an eerie silence at the same time, which made Isabella suddenly feel a wave of dissatisfaction in her heart, and her gaze swept over everyone's faces, but finally she tried to ask quietly, "Why, don't you approve?" ”

"Your Majesty, although our relations with the French are tense now, we are not enemies after all," seeing that the others were silent, a minister finally couldn't help but stand up, "so even if the Portuguese and the French are in collusion, it will be difficult for them to directly clash with us in the short term without sufficient good reason, but if we send troops to Rome, this will lead us to a direct war with France." ”

"War, so that's what you're worried about?" Isabella's expression suddenly became gloomy, her round chin, which had shown signs of obesity with age, moved, and a pair of eyes quickly swept over the faces of the ministers, taking in their different eyes, "Are you worried about offending the French because of this, I think you should not have forgotten the glory of recovering the lost land, you have never been afraid at that time, is it just that in such a short time, have you lost your courage?" ”

Isabella's tone was stern and excited, and there was a hint of frenzy in her gaze, which was no less terrifying than the intimidating look of her woman when she went mad.

Isabella's sudden outburst of anger surprised the ministers, who looked at each other for a moment and didn't know how to answer, while others were already pondering how to echo the queen.

"Tell me, if the French and the Portuguese are united, will we be able to go to war with them?" Isabella looked at the ministers on the side, all of whom had distinguished themselves in the Reconquista, two of whom had fought all the way to Granada, the last kingdom of the Moors.

She was clearly already pondering the worst-case scenario that might arise, and the thought of fighting two powerful enemies at the same time sent a flush of excitement to Isabella's face.

The ministers looked at the queen in amazement, they didn't know what had caused Isabella to suddenly make such a seemingly hasty decision, after all, the relationship between Castile and Portugal was too complicated, and Isabella's decision was likely to completely destroy the relationship that had been maintained for too long.

"My lords, do you think my decision was a bit reckless?" Isabella seemed to see through the ministers' concerns, she stepped down from the throne and stood among the ministers, slowly moving her feet to look at each of them, seeing the look on their faces when they heard her words, Isabella shook her head slightly, "I'm here to ask you, do you think that if I tolerate Manuel's provocation, he will abandon his plan?" ”

Seeing that the ministers shook their heads despite their hesitation, Isabella smiled with satisfaction, which made her feel a little better, which made her believe that even if these people no longer had the sharpness to follow her to expel the Moors after a long time, at least these people were still familiar to her.

"In that case, why should I wait until they are ready," Isabella looked sharply, "I believe that what Count Don Luvigo said in his letter is true, but given the description in this letter, I believe that Manuel is not fully prepared even if he eventually allied himself with the French, at least for now. ”

Speaking of this, Isabella happened to walk around and returned to the steps of her throne, and she slowly walked up the two steps with graceful steps, and turned to look at the ministers,

"This is the best time for us, after this time maybe everything will be different," Isabella looked at the ministers she was familiar with, "My lords, if we can start a war that is enough to make the Portuguese honest before the French intervene, I believe that Louis will not force troops for a defeated Manuel, after all, he himself is in a lot of trouble now, in this case, let us seize this opportunity and strike first!" ”

As the ministers listened to the Queen's passionate speech, they seemed to see the young queen who had led them to victory over the Moors again, and as Isabella's last words fell, all the ministers bowed to their queen in unison, and then exclaimed excitedly: "Long live the Queen." ”