Gonzalo de Córdoba, a favorite of Queen Isabella of Castile, is also evidence of her pride in her knowledge.

Many people may not know that Gonzalo in his early years was completely different from today, arrogant, aggressive, and unruly, which is the common impression shared by all who knew him in his youth.

If it weren't for the fact that he was born into a prominent aristocratic family, and was more or less related to Queen Isabella, Gonzalo might have to spend his life in the position of a low-ranking officer, and if he survived, he would at most have a decent salary to live out in the future.

After all, during the time when he participated in the Reconquista, Castile had no shortage of brave and impulsive soldiers like him, but there were many faults, and people like him were seen as tools to charge into battle, and as for the use of their brains to fight, they often had nothing to do with them.

Gonzalo was indeed the same at the beginning, he fought bravely and toughly, and his posture as a pioneer made him look more like a ** who was responsible for taking the lead, such a person might be able to survive the war with his wounds until the end of the war, but most of them died on the battlefield in obscurity, and no one remembered them except his family.

But Gonzalo was lucky, he was a nobleman, and he was still Isabella's distant cousin, which gave him enough opportunities to get ahead, and Gonzalo's performance in the war was indeed appreciated by the queen, so he stood out among the many soldiers and was reused.

And Gonzalo did not live up to Queen Isabella's appreciation, and when he realized that good luck began to beckon him, Gonzalo did not get carried away like others, but immediately realized that he was not up to the duties entrusted by the queen with his ability at that time.

Since then, Gonzalo has begun to learn knowledge, this ** who has difficulty even spelling before the age of 35 began to read those boring history, poetry, and even collected all kinds of war-related books left by his predecessors, he frantically absorbed knowledge, and at the same time, with the rich experience gained on the battlefield over the years and the talent in military affairs, he quickly turned that knowledge into a force that can play a major role on the battlefield.

However, although Gonzalo's status has changed, he has always been the unruly **, whether in the court or in the barracks, he is so unscrupulous that many people can neither stand his vulgar style, nor accept his rude attitude, it can be said that if it were not for the Queen's almost paranoid favor, even if he was once a hero during the Reconquista War, he would inevitably be kicked out of the court because he offended too many people.

It is no exaggeration to say that if it weren't for Queen Isabella's discernment, Gonzalo's gold would have always been a stinking and hard stone.

So if someone would betray Isabella, someone else might be, but Gonzalo would never do such a thing.

At least Queen Isabella wouldn't believe the rumors that Gonzalo had betrayed her.

However, Mary of Aragon was only her daughter, she was not her mother, much less her mother's decisiveness that could always move firmly towards her goal in the most difficult of times, and her mind to make sound judgments with sober reason in the face of all kinds of disturbing fogs.

She had inherited some of her mother's almost stubborn and suspicious qualities, but she didn't know how to use them, and she used them to maintain her fanatical beliefs while staring suspiciously at everyone around her, but she clearly didn't use them in the right place.

It was for this reason that she had more than once asked Manuel I to form a crusade to restore the Holy Land, which was already anachronistic, and that although she was as enthusiastic about court intrigue as her mother, she always kept her eyes on those who circled her, and never noticed whether there were any conspiracies against her outside the court.

When she heard Gonzalo's name now, Maria's first thought was whether Gonzalo had any collusion with Juana, and although she immediately forced herself to abandon the absurd idea, and at the same time had doubts about Tiego's intentions, it was difficult to erase it completely once it appeared.

Maria's reason told her that Gonzalo would not betray her mother, because it didn't make sense at all, whether it was status or wealth and honor, not to mention that Juana couldn't give him now, even if she became queen, she wouldn't give more than Isabella, just this point was sure that betrayal would not do Gonzalo any good, not to mention that Maria could hardly imagine anyone else who would favor Gonzalo like her mother.

The most important thing is that Juana has nothing now, and anyone who is not a fool knows how stupid and unwise it is to bet everything on her.

It's just that although she knows this, her suspicious personality makes it impossible for Maria to completely eliminate that thought, and as time goes by, she begins to think crankily, and as her brain hole grows bigger and bigger, a thought that she has never had before suddenly burrows into her mind.

Juana, will he use the throne as a bait to lure Gonzalo?

What if she promised to marry Gonzalo, if she promised to make Gonzalo the co-king of Castile? What would Gonzalo do then?

At this thought, Maria could not sit still, and her mind began to run wild along this seemingly improbable but plausible train of thought, until she almost wrote to her mother at once to expose a great conspiracy, and she could not suppress the impulse in her heart.

She kept telling herself to be cautious, after all, it was none other than Gonzalo de Córdoba, her mother's most trusted and favored minister, so it was reckless to accuse a prince and general in this way without any evidence.

But even so, Queen Mary lost sleep that night.

Alexander slept soundly that night, but before he went to bed, he wrote several letters, addressed to his wife, sister and lover, but only he knew whether this ranking was in order.

Also suffering from insomnia was James Columbus.

He held the nautical diary that he was about to turn over and looked at it repeatedly, trying to find something in it that he had neglected before, he carefully pondered the records in the diary word by word, and even some small things in daily life, because for some reason, James had a vague idea that maybe he might have some major discoveries that no one before him, including his brother Christopher, had noticed.

James would attach so much importance to Alexander's reminder that his continuous exploration of new routes in the past few years according to Alexander's instructions not only made him a lot of money, but also broadened his horizons, and he felt more and more magical about the land that his brother called the Indies, especially as Alexander said, the further south he went, the more difficult mysteries to solve, It's just that so far he hasn't explored the land too far beyond the one roughly described in Columbus's naval diary, but if he is going further south, as Alexander says, then he must be well prepared.

In the early morning, Alexander awoke at the gentle urging of his attendants, and he had a dream in the night that he was rising and falling on a large ship that was constantly rippling, and that in the distance there were thunderous clouds, and that the sea seemed to be boiling, and huge waves were rising from the deep bottom of the sea, throwing his ship into the air again and again, and then suddenly grabbing it into the deep valley.

When he woke up, Alexander wiped the sweat from his forehead, of course he didn't believe in the so-called omen, but the dream still made him feel a little angry.

Iberia was different from other places, neither in Italy nor in the Balkans, he was not alone, but here he was on his own, a dream that seemed to remind him that the slightest mistake here would be doomed.

Alexander, who was in good spirits, quickly got to work, and as previously revealed by Tiego, he had come to Iberia to examine the holy sites on the orders of the Pope, and according to the Vatican's usual strict attitude towards the conduct of holy miracles, Alexander decided to visit the local archbishop of Lisbon first.

At this time, Lisbon was building the later prestigious cathedral, which was strongly supported by Queen Maria and the purpose of the construction was changed again and again, and the building scale was getting larger and larger until two and a half centuries later. The once glorious Portuguese maritime empire has since declined.

But no one could have thought of this now, and Alexander, although he knew, did not want to bother with the nosy reminder of the Portuguese, after all, it was 200 years later, and he did not think that it was a bad thing, and if he became the future king of Spain, maybe he would have contributed to it.

Today, the Archbishop of Lisbon still houses the Church of Sant'Angelo, an old church in the heart of Lisbon and the first church built in Lisbon after his conversion to God.

Today's Archbishop of Lisbon is Archbishop John Bruo, as the archbishop of the entire Kingdom of Portugal, who enjoys the same high status and great power as bishops in other places, and because of the special historical reasons of Iberia, the atmosphere of faith here is much richer than that of other European countries, and the worship and respect of the people for the Church is far from comparable to those in other places where priests and bishops are made all day long.

Archbishop Bruw was a tall, fat man with a loud and hearty voice, and he often recited aloud words and phrases full of God's threats of punishment to the world in his sermons, which earned him the nickname "God's Hound."

The archbishop apparently liked the nickname, and sometimes even referred to himself as such.

In Lisbon, Archbishop Browsbon is satisfied with his exalted status and the respect he enjoys.

In the archbishop's view, the Vatican's disturbances have nothing to do with him, although some of the Vatican's magnates have revealed to him that they want him to serve in the Holy See, but the archbishop simply refuses.

At the same time, he also warned a few of his good friends to stay away from the Vatican, and Archbishop Brown once privately told some friends about the visit of Alexander VI, who was then the Archbishop of Valencia, to the Vatican: "That man will one day regret this decision, and he will soon find that the Vatican is not a place where people can be happy." ”

Alexander's arrival came as a surprise to Archbishop Brows, and even more so when he made his intentions public.

The archbishop has naturally heard of the Vatican's cautious attitude towards the various holy miracles that occur frequently in Iberia, especially since the current pope is from Valencia, so there is naturally more information.

Isabella's ambition is palpable, even when she is far from Castile.

The Archbishop of Lisbon was silent about the Queen's actions, and although he shared his fanatical beliefs, what Isabella had done made him somewhat suspicious.

So when Maria arrived in Portugal and immediately began to imitate her mother's rhetoric in Portugal to promote the new Holy Land, the archbishop was cautious because he feared that the actions of the Queen Mother and daughter might cause the Vatican to be dissatisfied.

Now Alexander's sudden arrival made the archbishop anxious that what he had been fearing had finally happened.

"My lord, I think you know what I'm here for, but Lisbon isn't really my destination, I'm actually just passing through."

"Of course, this can be imagined," the archbishop nodded understandingly, he guessed that Alexander must have come for the events that happened in Castile, and when he heard the news of the series of so-called miracles, the archbishop was very surprised, although he had heard of Isabella's ambitions, but he could not have imagined that she would have such great ambitions, as if to turn Castile into the new Jerusalem, "so what do you think about Lisbon, I mean the whole of Lisbon? ”

Noticing that the archbishop seemed to be deliberately emphasizing the Archdiocese of Lisbon, Alexander smiled to himself, knowing that this should be the archbishop's deliberate reminder that the bishopric and the Portuguese royal family are not exactly the same thing.

"The Vatican is very pleased with the Archdiocese, and in fact His Majesty the Pope had privately expressed his respect for you before he sent me," Alexander said to Archbishop Bruzon, who did not mean what he said, for Alexander VI had indeed mentioned the Archbishop to Alexander himself, but the Pope's exact words were: "He was a very slippery man, for whom the Diocese of Lisbon was his kingdom, for which he would have preferred to give up the cardinal's red hat." ”

Alexander's visit was short-lived, but it was enough to attract the attention of those who wished, and shortly after he left the Angel Chapel, the queen's emissary arrived at the church, and invited the archbishop to dinner, while the queen did not forget to reveal to the Archbishop of Bruozon, his desire to bridge the gap between the king and the Duke of Rometesia.

The archbishop responded to Maria's request with a very vague and perfunctory expression, because he still did not know what the Vatican's attitude was to what happened in Iberia, which made the archbishop feel that there was no need to rush to either side at this time.

Maria was annoyed by Brozon's attitude, but she couldn't do anything about it for a while, so she began to encourage her husband again.

Manuel I really didn't have much interest in Alexander, but he was very interested in James, because he had missed the communication with Columbus, and the frustration of letting that powerful neighbor discover the new route first had always occupied his heart, so this time he had made up his mind to quickly assemble a fleet to the Atlantic route even if it cost a certain price.

In Manuel I's view, if two routes to the East from different directions could be mastered at the same time, then Portugal would undoubtedly have a huge advantage in this competition for the development of maritime trade routes and colonies, after all, it seems that Queen Isabella is more concerned about the Atlantic to the East, and does not have enough energy to pay attention to the new routes in Africa, so at this time, if she can maintain control of the African routes, and at the same time send a fleet to the East through the Atlantic like Columbus, Then Portugal will undoubtedly be the real winner in this maritime battle.

As for the objections that might arise from Queen Maria, Manuel did not think it was important.

In Manuel's eyes, Maria was a spoiled child, and her blind imitation of her mother had already caused her a lot of trouble, and Manuel even secretly hoped in her heart that Maria would cause more trouble, because then he would be able to stand up and show his strength as a king in the name of solving her problems, and at the same time take the opportunity to make his queen a little more restrained.

So when Maria suggested to him that she should not be pretending to each other and simply invite the duke to the palace, Manuel immediately agreed to the queen's request without hesitation.

This made Maria so happy that she even smiled at one of the king's mistresses for the first time during a routine visit.

The queen's chamberlain visited Alexander's residence again, but this time it was much more solemn than before, and the invitation was solemnly inscribed with the name "Duke of Rometesia, Duchy of Romagna-Tuscany".

Looking at the solemn invitation, Alexander said to James, who seemed to be ready to go into battle: "Next, it is up to you whether you will become a pioneer who opens the door to a new world, or a pirate who will always hide his tracks." ”

Hearing this, James's red face instantly became excited.

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