A Venetian ship with a golden winged golden lion flag slowly stopped at an anchorage not far from the port of Palermo.

As a small boat was lowered, a group of passengers climbed down the soft ladder, and the small boat slowly rowed in the direction of the harbor.

A richly dressed man sat in the corner of the boat, and the sea breeze blew the brim of his hat whirl, revealing his already somewhat gray and thinning hair.

The man's hands under the cloak clung to a very strong wooden box, the corners of the box were wrapped in tin corners, and a secure lock hung on it, and the key was hung on the man's chest with a rope.

When the boat docked, the passengers on the same boat hurriedly climbed ashore, but the man did not seem to be in a hurry, he first stood up and looked at the shore for a while with the help of the servant next to him, and then carefully disembarked.

A man on the shore in a short tunic and half-cut trousers saw the man and immediately greeted him, and after whispering his name, the Venetian, who had been waiting for a long time, whispered to his guests: "Your Excellency, you may not see the Duke of Gonzalo at once, for the Duke has gone hunting in the wilderness. ”

The man looked at the Venetian with some surprise, he had come on an important mission, but now he was told that the man he was anxious to see had gone hunting, which made him even more anxious in his disappointment.

"And what about Governor Flomensa, can I see the Governor first?" Although the man tried to make himself appear calmer, his eagerness to know the answer revealed his anxiety.

The greeter shook his head a little helplessly and said, "I'm sorry, my lord, the governor is also very busy right now, he is making various arrangements for the arrival of the Aragonese army, we have already reported to him that you may be there in the near future, but according to the people around the governor, you still need to wait for the governor to summon you." ”

The man's face showed annoyance and disappointment, although he knew that this time would not be so smooth, but the arrogance of the Aragonese still made him feel unhappy, but his dissatisfaction could only be endured in his heart, because he was on an important mission this time.

"Is there any way I can see the Governor as soon as possible?" The man looked gloomy and asked, "You can do anything, as long as you can see people as soon as possible." ”

"There is a tailor who seems to have a way," said his servant, "this man is very wide-ranging, and has good relations with many nobles, and perhaps he can speak." ”

"Then find this person." The man took a heavy money bag from the belt of the servant next to him and threw it to his subordinates, "Be quick, I can't wait." ”

His men nodded and beckoned into the distance, and a carriage slowly approached as it waited on the side of the road.

Watching the man get into the carriage and gradually move away, his subordinates ripped open the drawstring of the money bag, and looked at the shiny gold coins inside and checked it in his hand: "Obey your order." ”

In 1463, the Ottoman Empire launched a war to encroach on the overseas colonies of Venice, a Mediterranean power, from the sea.

No one knew at the time that this intermittent war would last a long time, and again and again, Venice would be depleted by the war with the Ottoman Empire, which lasted longer than the Hundred Years' War, and finally led to the empty treasury and dragged into the abyss of decay.

The Ottomans tasted the benefits of plunder in the first war against Venice, which began in 1463, and suddenly found that the Mediterranean colonies that Venice had been running for many years could become a springboard for them to gradually close to the western shores of the Mediterranean, from island to island, from one sea to another, as long as this continued, they would one day be able to block Venice, which had once dominated the Mediterranean, in the narrow bay of Adria, and finally drive them completely to land. Thus allowing the Ottoman fleet to transverse the entire Mediterranean.

Therefore, since 1463, the Ottomans have not stopped encroaching on Venice's former maritime power, from Mehmed II to Bayezid II in just over 30 years, the Ottoman fleet from all corners of the Mediterranean Sea occupied by them, constantly launched large and small attacks on the coast of the European continent.

However, these attacks were never very deadly, and the Ottomans sometimes sent their own fleets, and sometimes they directed the pirates they had bribed to take the lead, constantly attacking the passing European merchant ships and looking for opportunities to attack the isolated Venetian colonial islands, a war that lasted for more than 30 years and finally turned into the largest maritime invasion to date.

Beginning in April 1498, the Ottomans gradually amassed a powerful fleet in the Mediterranean, the largest combat force in the Mediterranean to date, which pale in comparison to the famous fleet of the Persian Empire in Greece and the navy of the Crusader expeditions to the Holy Land.

This fleet was built under the supervision of Bayezid II, and whether it was a new ship that had just been launched, or an old ship that had been repaired, or a pirate not long ago, but now a soldier of the Ottoman Navy, all with one purpose: to wrest control of the Mediterranean from the Venetians.

The Venetians were shrewd, as evidenced by the fact that they were only a city-state but had amassed an astonishing amount of wealth, and that they had long been the dominant powers of the Mediterranean, which was a vast stretch of sea between Eurasia.

The Venetians were well aware of their situation, and the Adriatic Sea deep into the bay formed their gift of protecting themselves, as long as they firmly controlled the Adriatic Sea into the Mediterranean, Venice did not have to worry about the threat from the sea.

But the Adriatic Sea also became the bottleneck of Venice's access to the Mediterranean, and if a powerful enemy blocked the gateway to the Adriatic Sea from the sea, the Venetians would be firmly sealed in this long bay.

Therefore, from a very early age, the Venetians began to develop outward, in addition to sending fleets to fight any possible enemy at sea, and at the same time, successive Venetian governments would encourage merchants to actively develop overseas colonies with rich commercial opportunities and various good rewards.

Venice's intention was to establish a series of permanent outposts deep into the Mediterranean, to ensure that the mainland would not be blockaded by a powerful enemy.

For more than a dozen centuries, the Venetian strategy has been carried out smoothly, whether it is in the face of the Eastern Rome, which once restored its former glory, or the rapid rise of the Arab Empire in Asia, the Venetians' intention to protect their maritime interests has never changed, even if there have been some setbacks during the period, but they have always been able to firmly grasp the position of maritime hegemony in the Mediterranean.

But this time, the Venetians really felt threatened!

Emissaries from Venice began to appear at many European courts, and their demands were simple, they wanted to form an alliance with those countries that could help them, even Genoa, which had been a long-time enemy, welcomed their lobbyists, although they knew that an alliance with the Genoese was almost a dream, but the Venetian governor Barbareg still hoped to persuade the Genoese to temporarily abandon the long-standing feud between the two sides, and not to stab Venice in the back while it was fighting against the infidels.

The greatest aid Venice could count on came from Aragon and Sicily.

Venice was concerned about the invasion of Naples, but it was concerned about when the Aragonese would send their troops, and as early as the first half of the year, when it was determined that the Ottomans had indeed decided to launch an invasion, he sent an emissary to Aragon asking for help, on the grounds that once the Ottomans controlled the west coast, Sicily would inevitably be invaded.

This statement seems to have impressed Ferdinand, and although Aragorn did not explicitly state that he would send troops to support in the following six months, the Venetians could feel that it was only because the price was not negotiated.

When the French invaded Naples, many people were concerned about the fate of the Kingdom of Naples, while the Venetians were concerned about when Aragon would send reinforcements, because this army that came to Naples would most likely become a strong support for Venice.

However, the development of events was somewhat unexpected, and the Naples court in exile in Biliselli suddenly declared war on Sicily, and according to the information transmitted by the Venetian people who remained in Naples, the French seemed to have secretly compromised with Naples.

Barbarig couldn't sit still, and he sent messengers to Sicily.

The Aragonese army stationed in Sicily was nearly 10,000 men, a force to be reckoned with.

Sitting in the carriage and looking at the shadow in the distance in the direction of the great castle by the sea, the Venetian envoy wondered how to convince the Aragonese.

When Charles VIII first invaded Italy in 1495, Gonzalo was ordered to lead the Aragon army to aid Naples.

From the initial defeat in the battle to the defeat of the French in less than a year, and even forcing Charles VIII to hastily withdraw from Italy, Gonzalo became the brightest star of the war.

Gonzalo's army was even smaller than this time.

The envoy was a little excited at the thought of this, and it would be great for Venice if he could get the Aragonese to send troops.

At this time, the envoy was a little hopeful that the tailor who was very methodical as his subordinate would not be unworthy of his name, after all, the situation facing Venice now was really serious.

Whether Gonzalo would accept the advice he brought, or whether he had other demands, made the envoy uncertain, and the attitude of Flomenza, the governor of Sicily, was the real reason for his concern.

As far as the Venetians knew, Flomenza did not seem to be enthusiastic about supporting Venice, and when Venice sent several envoys to Aragon to visit the governor halfway through Sicily, hoping to get the governor's support first by explaining the situation, the Venetians were disappointed to find that Flomensa's attitude was unexpectedly cold.

Even though the emissaries stated to him the benefits and pointed out that Sicily would likely be the next target of the Ottomans in the event of the fall of Venice's colony at sea, Flomenza was still uninterested in an alliance with Venice, so much so that it was not long before rumors spread in the upper echelons of Venice that the favored vassal of the powerful Sicilian king of Aragon seemed to be deeply hostile to the Venetians.

Worried, the Venetian envoy did not pay attention to a small group that had entered the city at about the same time as him, as the carriage entered the city.

Alexander was slightly dissatisfied with the conversation with Bochum.

After the accident at the first meeting, Bochum quickly calmed down, although he did not know why Alexander suddenly appeared in Palermo, but thinking of the current tension between the two Sicilies, Bochum immediately understood his current situation.

However, Bochum was clearly not stupid, and immediately showed enough tact after determining that Alexander didn't seem to want to hurt him.

He first talked about his current situation, and then told Alexander very simply that he "couldn't help" to rescue Count Modiglo.

"Count, I can't help you, I can't command even a small part of the city defense of Palermo now, Governor Flomenza doesn't trust me, and you're trying to save such an important person, Flomenza keeps him very watched, I haven't even really seen him in appearance."

Bochum tried to prove to Alexander that he was right, but he couldn't help but look at Alexander curiously.

He had always been curious about the rumors about Alexander, and although he had boasted more than once that he was an old acquaintance with the Count of Montina, when he saw Alexander again, he realized that he no longer recognized the "partner" who had quelled the turmoil together.

And he also realized what would await him if he did not agree to the conditions put forward by the count.

But what made Bochum finally compromise was the promise Alexander made to him.

A large sum of money was enough to tempt the now-unhappy captain of the city's defenses, and after promising not only to pay such a sum of money, but also to take him and his men away from Sicily, Bochum finally agreed to ignore Alexander's actions.

"That's all I can do, I can take your people into the castle and pretend you don't know anything, but if you want me to help you rescue the Earl, it's impossible."

Although Alexander was not satisfied with such a promise, he did not demand it too much.

Like Camus, the sudden arrival of the Aragon army was a great deterrent to the Sicilians, and Bochum was able to make such a promise at this time only because the price Alexander was willing to pay was too tempting for him.

However, Bochum was obviously not so stupid as to be willing to take the risk and get involved completely, and even if he failed, Alexander might not be in danger of his life, but he was not so safe.

As for the idea of betraying Alexander to Flomenza, Bochum was not unthinkable, but when he heard that the son he had just given birth to was now in the village, Bochum finally gave up the last bit of thought.

He had to agree to infiltrate the city with the Balkan soldiers who had returned with him under the guise of recruitment, and the only thing he could hope for was that Alexander's plan would not go wrong.

Maybe everything will go well, and it won't be long before he can take the whole family away with a sum of money, and now Bochum can only comfort himself so much.

And all this fell into the eyes of Arian, who had been secretly following Alexander's men.