It is a despicable thing to encourage a man's son to go against his father, even if the son himself hates the father to the core, and the father hates the son just as much.

Jeffrey Borgia clearly hated his father, while Alexander VI also had no good feelings for Jeffrey because of suspicion of his origins.

But this did not mean that Alexander VI would be able to tolerate Ferdinand using Geoffrey against him.

This really touched the bottom line of Alexander VI's seemingly tenacious, but actually fragile.

Alexander VI believed in and maintained his family values, and for him it was more intolerable for family members to hurt each other than to break their teachings.

Hatred of family members is also not allowed, even if the harm has been done, but it must still be forgiven.

This may sound contradictory, but it's understandable.

Alexander VI insisted that all Borgia was a family, and even though he did not like Geoffrey, he was surnamed Borgia as long as he lived.

It doesn't matter how Geoffrey died, and even Ferdinand suspected that maybe Alexander himself ordered the son to be removed.

But perhaps because of this, in order to calm the unwillingness to destroy the concept of family with his own hands, Alexander VI will never give up with him.

Ferdinand's speculation about Alexander VI was accurate, and almost around the time of the news of Geoffrey's death and the rebellion in Valencia, Alexander VI, who was in Madrid, suddenly made a harshly statement against the Church of Aragon.

In this statement, the papal church has become a "watchdog" for secular powers, with clergy and priests colluding with officials to gain benefits, while bishops do not hesitate to put down their dignity to flatter those in power "in exchange for that pitiful reward".

Alexander VI considered the Church in Aragon to be completely degenerate, and even acquiesced in the interference of secular forces in the affairs of the Church, the most severe of which was to allow "certain men to usurp the property of the Church in order to satisfy his personal ambition to rule the two kingdoms." ”

As soon as this statement came out, it instantly shook the entire Iberian Peninsula.

From Lisbon to Navarre, from Barriato Zaragoza, the proclamation was quickly transmitted throughout the peninsula by efficient ecclesiastical post, and spread rapidly from parish to parish, and anyone who saw it could not help but be shocked by the Pope's harsh accusations and the already unmistakable hostility.

Ferdinand felt that he had to fight back, and he immediately ordered the Church in Zaragoza to make a public refutation of Alexander VI's statement, as well as a direct statement of doubt about the legitimacy of the Pope himself.

Ferdinand, however, knew that this was a final step, and that without the Vatican's public support, he would likely put himself in a position where he was the enemy of the entire Church.

So despite the anger in his heart, he quickly sent people to the Vatican again, hoping to get the support of the elder Rovere.

The people around him were not unsuspicious of his decision, and some pointed out that the daughter of the elder Rovere was the wife of the Duke of Rome Thesia, which made people wonder whether the old Rovere could be on his side.

Although he was also worried about this, Ferdinand had no choice, and he believed that the temptation of the papal throne was great enough for the old man to break with Cambrai, so he was sure of it.

Ferdinand's judgment was not wrong, and the elder Rovere was now in a dilemma as to whether to support his daughter or to be crowned himself as soon as possible.

If it is safer, he should be patient, as soon as Alexander VI dies, the papal throne will fall into his hands.

But because he didn't know when it would be realized, old Rovere was a little anxious.

He wasn't much younger than Alexander VI, and he didn't know if he would survive that old enemy, and if something happened to him, he might regret it for the rest of his life.

This made the old Rovere very entangled in his heart, he longed for his family to become the most prominent family in Europe, and now he obviously had such an opportunity.

His daughter was about to become queen of Castile, and perhaps even the future queen of Aragon, and his son was about to become Duke of Milan under the Po Accords, an unprecedented honour for old Rovere.

But at the same time he longed for the papal throne, and he could do whatever it took to do so.

In the Sistine Chapel, old Rovere looked at a closed door from afar.

No one had entered the room for a long time, except for the servants who cleaned it regularly.

It was the chamber of Alexander VI and the place where the four popes worked since the establishment of the Sistine Chapel.

Many decrees were brewed here that had a great impact on the whole of Christendom, the most famous of which was Alexander VI's Papal Meridian.

Old Rovere fantasized about one day becoming the master of this room himself, and although he did not like this place where the light was too bright, he nevertheless wished to summon bishops from all over the world in a grand manner.

There was a sound of soft footsteps, and old Rovere saw Mahimo walking towards him.

Old Cambrai had no affection for the young bishop, but there was no malice.

He knew that this man was Alexander's spokesman at the Vatican, and he knew that he was equally ambitious, but at least for now they were standing together.

Even if Massimo longs for the papal throne in the future, his soul will probably have been in heaven for a long time at that time, so this relationship seems just right for them now.

"My lord, there is something that may need to be reported to you," Massimo said respectfully to old Rovere, "and it is important. ”

Old Rovere was secretly stunned but still did not move, he motioned to Massimo to accompany him along the corridor slowly, the two of them first chatted casually about some inconsequential things, when he came to the old Roviere's office, he withdrew from his entourage and closed the door of the inner room with his own hands, and then looked at Massimo: "Tell me friend, what is the important matter." ”

…………………………

The waitress sat in a chair outside the door, staring at Schell across from her with an ugly face, which made the Balkans feel that this woman was becoming more and more difficult to serve now.

Ever since the queen became pregnant, the lady-in-waiting had taken care of everything almost entirely for "those two", which made Sher feel as if she was about to lose her job.

There seemed to be a noise in the room, and Schell's eyelids twitched, and then he saw that the waitress who had been sitting there immediately stood up quickly, first glanced at him, and then turned around and walked to the door with a very steady step, and after leaning over and listening to the movement a little, he reached out and knocked on the door.

But before she could push it open, the door was already open from the inside.

Alexander, who poked his head out of it, nodded to the lady-in-waiting for her to enter, and then instructed Sher who was about to come over: "Go and call Uliu, Don Bandraz, and the others, and let them wait for me in the royal house in an hour." ”

Schell nodded immediately, he knew that it was indeed inconvenient for him to serve at this time, which made him wonder if he should find some maids from his hometown to serve the master.

But then Schell felt that the idea was unrealistic.

For it suddenly occurred to him that doing so might arouse the suspicion of the Grand Duchess.

In the room, she sat casually on the couch in a wide robe, leaning on the armrests of the couch, her arms supporting her chin, and her legs together on the soft cushion.

Perhaps because of pregnancy, her originally slender figure gradually became plump, and her obvious curves made her look more feminine than girlish.

The waitress looked at the room with a slight frown, and every time she had to come in before the maid came in to clean up, she would take a look first, and if there was anything too obscure, she would clean up and stop first.

Although the waitress was already skeptical that there was really any point in covering up, she did her best to fulfill her duty.

The room was a bit of a mess, with maps, letters, books, half-written notes with strange graffiti, and pillows littered everywhere and silk quilts halfway down the bed.

When he hurriedly put the quilt away on the bed, with a "bang", there was a silver shiny, amazingly delicate close-fitting fine armor that slid down the side of the bed and fell to the ground.

The waitress hurriedly picked up the thin armor, which was inlaid with pearls in a critical part and made people blush and fever just thinking about wearing it, and put it into a box next to her, and after a while of busy work, she finally gasped and carefully examined the things in the room.

It's still a mess, but at least it doesn't let anyone who comes in know what's going on here.

She smiled and watched the waitress busy until she reached the door, first cleaned herself up, and then opened the door majestically, beckoning a few maids who had been waiting for her to come in, and then she put away her smile and looked at Alexander, who was sitting on the cushion on the windowsill and looking out.

"Gonzalo should be ready," Alexander whispered, "so I may leave Valariolidot in the near future." ”

She didn't say anything but nodded, she already knew this.

It's just that she regrets that she didn't expect to get pregnant at this time.

Several maids carefully cleaned up the room, trying not to disturb the conversation between the two, but some of the maids still took the opportunity to quietly raise their heads to look at Alexander.

"A maid just now gave you a flattering look," said Tsusha with some unhappiness after the maids had left, "and you didn't scold her." ”

"That's because I didn't pay attention to them at all," Alexander said helplessly, he had heard of the contrast between women who were anxious and suspicious when they were pregnant, but he didn't expect Jisha to do the same, "And don't worry, I won't take a maid with me when I go out this time." ”

Josha smiled, she didn't really care about the women who tried their best to get to Alexander, but she liked the feeling of jealousy.

"Let me enjoy this kind of time that you have only for me," said Jossa with open arms to Alexander, "and I'm going to return you to your wife," and added, "and mistresses." ”

In mid-October, when Zaragoza was in the midst of a revolt over the rebellion in Valencia, a piece of good news that had been struck by the recent setbacks of the Zaragoza people was finally lifted a little.

After some effort, the Aragonese army was finally assembled, with 4,300 royal troops and about 5,000 territorial troops organized by local nobles in Zaragoza.

Although far below Ferdinand's hopes, an army of about 10,000 men made the Zaragoza court feel that it had regained its courage.

At the same time, the F-Khasi coalition under Gonzalo's command had completely broken away from the floodplain and began to advance into the interior of Aragon.

It was at this time that Alexander suddenly announced that he would be replaced by the regent of Barriaridod, and that he himself would lead the hunts-hunting guards to the border.

When he heard that Alexander was rushing to the front, Ferdinand immediately made the same decision.

Although he knew that he was not good at fighting the enemy on the battlefield, Ferdinand knew that he could not back down at this time.

Perhaps it was because Alexander knew this that he deliberately went to the front.

In order to force him to make the same decision.

The mistress strongly objected to his involvement in the battlefield, but was unable to convince Ferdinand, who had already made up his mind.

"I'm not going to charge like a knight with a sword, but I have to show everyone that I have the courage to live up to the enemy."

Ferdinand said this with an unconcealed irritability in his tone, which was very different from his usual composure.

Ferdinand could clearly feel the change in the atmosphere in the court.

This is why although it is not a wise move to leave Zaragoza at this time, and an enemy that has not been identified before may be ready to stir up trouble at any time, Ferdinand still has to fight.

Ferdinand was disturbed by the vacillation of the Zaragoza people, and the appearance of the Queen of Sicily, who also had the right to claim the kingdom, made him feel in crisis.

Now he must assert his authority, and facing the challenge of the future king of Castile on the battlefield is the only way to do it now.

Ferdinand responded quickly, ordering his grandson Carlos to serve as the overseer, and appointing a number of trusted ministers as his grandson's assistants.

Looking at his infant grandson, who was still ignorant, Ferdinand rarely showed a gentle expression.

He kissed his grandson's soft and smooth cheek, looked at his granddaughter, who was also being held by the nanny, and then looked up at the archbishop standing opposite.

"I entrust them to you, and I entrust Aragon to you," said Ferdinand earnestly, "and we must not allow that Cambrai to succeed, otherwise not only the temporal power of Aragon, but also the Church will face disaster, so I hope you will pray for me." ”

The archbishop groaned for a moment, as if he was considering the words, before nodding to Ferdinand.

He made a slow cross, then looked down at Carlos, who was being held by his nurse.

"God has laid down the fate of all men, and no matter what path they take, they will eventually be judged justly."

Listening to the archbishop's words, Ferdinand suddenly felt unspeakably uncomfortable in his heart.

In October, the Cassie coalition forces took the upper Ebro River reservoir as a threat and established a strong defensive line near the town of Rome.

Gonzalo was in no hurry to attack, and when it came to the conclusion that the Aragonese were preparing to take the initiative from the scouts and from the information transmitted by Barrialidod, Gonzalo couldn't help but excitedly ask the servant to open himself a bottle of good wine.

"It's about to be winter, and for the Aragonese it may be possible to drag the war into winter to turn the tide in their favor, but for us it's the beginning of it all." Gonzalo excitedly said to his generals, "When the Aragonese decided to attack us first, they were doomed, for they had no idea what kind of battlefield we were going to take them into. ”

In late autumn, the water of the Ebro River had become unusually cold, and he took off his boots and stood on the beach, letting the water wash his smooth feet, Alexander let the cold of the river remind him of the situation he was facing.

An army of about 10,000 men of Aragon was approaching.

Of course, this was not the entire army of Aragon, but now Ferdinand could only use the maximum of that force.

The rebellion in Valencia posed more than a betrayal of a city, and he had to send more troops to fortify his defenses in case the same thing could happen elsewhere, while he had to write to his officials everywhere asking them to keep an eye on the movements of the local nobility.

This made his relationship with the local nobles suddenly strained and delicate, and as a result, he was even more unable to mobilize the royal troops stationed in various places.

For Ferdinand, he could not tolerate the emergence of a second Valencia, and even more so to find a way to quell the Valencian rebellion as soon as possible.

"Your Highness, you are here."

In the distance, Gonzalo, who had come down from the riverbank, came to Alexander, and when he saw him, he sat down and took off his boots, and soaked his feet in the stream among the rocks on the riverbank.

"Ferdinand is here." Gonzalo said a word, and seeing that Alexander did not mean to speak, he leaned back against a huge cobblestone, and said with some emotion, "I didn't expect to meet the Aragonese on the battlefield again one day, at least not so quickly." ”

Hearing the meaning of Gonzalo's words, Alexander rose from the stone and put on his boots after stepping on the pebbles, which were still a little hot from the midday sun, to keep his feet dry.

Then he straightened up and said to Gonzalo, "General, your enemy is Ferdinand. Believe me, Castile and Aragon will soon have a common peace, and I assure you that this will be the last war between our two nations. ”

In October 1502, on the banks of the Ebro River in Aragon, Alexander and Ferdinand faced off!