The changing situation in the Mediterranean Sea is difficult for many people to understand, and all kinds of great changes are taking place around this ocean, both in the East and the West.

The year 1501 ended in a year full of unusual events, whether it was the turmoil in Iberia, the struggle for power on both sides of the Bosphorus, or the disputes between the Balkans and the Apennines, all of whom seemed to want to vent their grievances with others during the year.

The French army had gradually retreated from the Apennine Peninsula, both by land and sea, and to the anger of Emperor Maximian, the French army had been covertly coordinated, even overtly aided, by Rome, Thessia and Naples, as well as by the southern Italian alliance.

Today's Italy has formed a line that stretches from Parma to Genoa to the west and to Venice to the east.

North of this line has been tacitly regarded by the Trade Union as an area contested by the French army and its enemies, and beyond this line it becomes the Trade Union's sphere of influence.

This did not seem to be a loss, after all, the Trade Union generously ceded the richest Lombardy region, and Maximian could fight with the French army again for this territory, and the Trade Union was limited by the treaty with both sides and could not actively participate in the next war.

But to Maximian's annoyance, the Duke of Rome, Combrai, publicly declared his support for his brother-in-law, Constantine della Roverre, for the title of Duke of Milan, which really disgusted Maximian.

A Duke of Milan from a powerful family is enough to make Maximian furious, after all, it has long been no secret that he has coveted Milan for many years, and it is only because of various scruples and lack of perfect excuses that he cannot openly announce the annexation of Milan like the French.

Now the Luo Wei Lei family actually fell in love with the throne of the Duke of Milan, which made the emperor, who had just had a warmer relationship with the old Luo Wei Lei, hate the family all of a sudden.

The French were now sailing almost unscrupulously on the Tirenian Sea, and the Genoese captains, who had always been troublesome to them, had received a promise from the Queen of Naples, who promised them greater compensation to the Genoese nobles in exile in exchange for their temporary patience and cooperation with the French.

And these compensation has now begun to be paid off.

The navy of the Genoese exiled nobles joined the trade federation fleet, and not only had they landed in Sicily, but the Genoese exile nobles had a place to live in Sardinia under the agreement between the trade union and the French.

"Friendship and hatred can be paid for, the difference is only how much to give," Alexander said in his letter to Josa, and it seemed that the pacification of the exiled nobles of Genoa was not a very important matter, but the deeper intention was the result of careful consideration by the brother and sister: "The Genoese can provide us with a ready-made sea power, which will be very important for us to conquer Sicily in the future, and let them guard Sardinia against threats from France and Aragon." ”

A small fleet of Trade Union ships was now cruising the waters between Sicily and Tunisia, and their task was more to keep an eye out for the possible return of the Aragon navy, since most of Sicily was now occupied by the Trade Union.

The Sicilian Governor Flomenza became a prisoner of the Trade League, and many of the officials he had promoted defected to the Trade League fleet as soon as it appeared, leaving Flomenza completely unprepared.

So much so that when the trade federation fleet entered the port of Palermo, he was still giving orders to the officers who he thought would be loyal to him to prepare for resistance, but the answer was that the troops surrendered without a fight, and the Aragonese defenders guarding the city of Palermo were taken by surprise by the Neapolitan army that had quickly landed on the coast of Cape Gallo, west of Palermo, because they had been deliberately deceived by the local aristocratic officials who had already colluded with the trade alliance.

Flomenza eventually had to retreat to the palace, but under the persuasion of the wife of the former Sicilian court minister Gomez, Flomenza finally chose to open the door and surrender.

Josa kept her promise to Flomenza, and she agreed that the hapless governor should leave Sicily with his wife and all his personal possessions, and it was not his concern whether he would return to Aragon or go into exile incognito for fear of severe punishment for his dereliction of duty.

When Flomenza left, he again asked to see the Queen of Naples, and to his surprise, although he had been attacked, Flomenza did not seem to be very surprised by the actions of the Trade League, and he had a surprisingly large number of possessions, most of which were handy gold coins, precious stones, and all sorts of things that were not bulky.

Even when she heard that the governor had brought with him a small, seemingly important box filled with thick title deeds, she couldn't help but feel as if Flomenza had been preparing for the day.

"Your Majesty, my show is over, but you have just stepped onto the stage," Fromnza did not look frustrated at all when they met, and even had a hint of relief, "You and your alliance have indeed captured Sicily, but what comes next is the most important thing, I wish you all the best." ”

Flomenza left Sicily, boarded a ship bound for Europe, and disappeared into the depths of the Mediterranean with his young wife and vast possessions, and disappeared from everyone's sight, no one knew the whereabouts of the first and last governor of Sicily.

The Trade Union was of course very pleased with such an outcome, and the fall of Palermo meant the end of the rule of the Aragonese line of the Astamara family over Sicily.

From now on, it was the beginning of the Neapolitan lineage of the Astamara family becoming the rulers of Sicily.

On December 1, 1501, the Queen of Naples, Josa Cosenza Astmara, proclaimed herself Queen of Sicily by abolishing the rule and viceroyalty of the Kingdom of Aragon over Sicily.

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, officially declared unified!

The fall of Sicily brought with it the fury of King Ferdinand of Aragon, who quickly ordered an army to be assembled for an expedition to Sicily, and ordered the Aragonese fleet in the eastern Mediterranean to quickly return to find the trade alliance's fleet.

Ferdinand, though furious, did not lose his mind, and while he prepared for an expedition to Sicily, he ordered the fleet to actively seek an alliance for a decisive battle at sea.

Especially after hearing that the queen of Naples, Jossa Cosenza Astarama, had personally led a fleet to invade Sicily, Ferdinand once again ordered his fleet to strike hard at the alliance's maritime power.

"Blockade Sicily, blockade Palermo and Messina," Ferdinand thought in circles, dictating his orders, "destroy their fleet, and blockade the trade alliance armies on the island, especially that Zhosa Cosenza, and then perhaps we can borrow the power of the Emperor, and if possible, perhaps Naples will open its gates to me." ”

Listening to the king's own words, the clerk who was taking notes couldn't help but stop and looked at Ferdinand with some blankness.

Perhaps sensing the clerk's movements, Ferdinand remembered that he seemed to have spoken his mind, and he waved his hand to the clerk to signal him not to write this passage as well, and then continued: "Let them put aside the pirates for a while, now those pagan pirates are not the most important thing, and without the Sicilian pirates there is no point for us." ”

At this point, Ferdinand stopped abruptly, and he asked the attendant standing aside, "Is that Duke of Rome Thesia, Gombray, the brother of the Queen of Naples?" ”

"Half-brothers," he reminded in a whisper, "and they are said to be in good shape." ”

"I've heard of that, too," Ferdinand thought, not knowing how much Alexandria had to do with the annexation of Sicily by Naples, and more importantly what role Pope Alexander VI played. ”

Ferdinand said indignantly, and at the same time glanced with some annoyance at the small palace that had not moved much in the distance.

It was the center of power in Castiria, and Isabella had moved into a summer palace on a hillside not far from the palace after handing over power to her, where the queen was to continue her treatment and retreat.

This should have been a good thing for Ferdinand, but Isabella's act of handing over power to the palace minister before leaving annoyed him.

Now that something like this had happened in Sicily, Ferdinand had to consider returning to Zaragoza to preside over the overall situation, after all, there were so many things to decide to start a war, and it was impossible for him to deal with such important state affairs so conveniently in Castiria.

It's just that Isabella's current situation reassures him, and Ferdinand worries that something will happen during his absence, and somehow he has a vague feeling that all this is happening in some way that is inexplicably linked.

Ferdinand didn't know if he was too careful, but he couldn't take any chances, which made him very embarrassed for a while, until another news came from the east that seemed to have nothing to do with him.

A rebellion broke out within the Ottoman Empire, and a man supposedly the son of Cem suddenly appeared in the eastern part of the Ottoman Empire, forming an alliance with Shane Ismaili I of the Safavid Persian Empire, and their common enemy was Selim, the son of Bayezid II.

The news made Mehmed, who was on his way to Mamluk, Egypt, overjoyed, and felt that he finally had a rare opportunity to defeat his biggest opponent.

In order to seize this opportunity as soon as possible and take advantage of the opportunity to push the enemy-stricken Selim into a desperate situation, Mehmet intensified his attack on Mamluk, and at the same time did not hesitate to promise heavy benefits to the pirate families in the Mediterranean, hoping that they would help him fight the enemies in Africa, so that he could free up his hands against his brothers.

Khaireddin's brothers immediately intensified their raiding and destruction along the African coast, and although they did have good relations with the Mamluks, this did not prevent them from helping Mehmet teach his former allies a hard lesson.

Hayreddin did not deliberately participate in this naval invasion against the Mamluks, and his main concern now was cooperation with the trade alliance.

From the woman named Connie, Hyreddin knew about the huge plans that the Trade Alliance was underway, and although it was impossible for the other party to fully reveal his plans to him, Hyreddin keenly smelled something different.

This is different from the previous countries that hope to use their family's power to fight their opponents, Hayreddin senses that the ongoing plan of the trade alliance is likely to change the situation in the Mediterranean, because the other side clearly requires him to firmly contain the Aragonese fleet, and thinking of the previous request of the other side to disrupt the maritime communication between Sicily and Aragon, Hayreddin realizes that the opponent's target is likely to be Sicily.

His guess proved correct too, and when news of the Trade Union's occupation of Sicily came, Hyreddin knew his chance had come.

Connie had also revealed what seemed to be an imminent change in the East, and thinking about the changes in the Mediterranean that might result, Hayreddin felt that perhaps this was the right time for him to realize his dream of building a country of his own.

Khareddin did not hesitate to reject his brothers' offer to join them in attacking the Egyptian coast, and instead gathered all his ships and fought the Aragonese fleet in the Mediterranean.

He sent numerous camouflaged fishing boats to inquire about the whereabouts of the Aragonese fleet, and with his familiarity with the sea and his secret contact with the inhabitants of many islands, Hayreddin seized the opportunity again and again to launch a frenzied attack on the Aragonese ships that happened to be alone.

When there are many enemies, his cunning flees to the far side of the sea, but when the enemy unfortunately falls into his trap, he cruelly devours and destroys his prey.

Such entanglement was of course very passive for the Aragonese fleet, which, despite their great strength, was harassed by the cunning tactics of Hayreddin, and because they could not get rid of it, they had no chance of returning to Sicily in time.

When Jossa landed in Sicily with the Trade League fleet and reached Toledo, Alexander VI even hummed a little song in front of his servants out of joy, not because of any special affection for the Queen of Naples, but in fact because the Queen had driven him out of the Vatican.

The church rejoiced that it was really as Alexander had told him.

In this way, the Pope's confidence in the promise made to him by Alexander was instantly multipluried.

The Pope felt that the world was truly beautiful when he thought that the Borgia family might be on an equal footing with the ancient and noble royal families of Europe, and that his descendants would have the opportunity to be crowned with the title of "Your Highness" or even "Your Majesty".

Although it was not long to hear that Ferdinand had ordered an expedition to Sicily, Alexander VI was not very worried this time.

After all, Ferdinand's reaction was expected, and the Queen of Naples still raided Sicily, so the Trade Alliance must be prepared for the next war with Aragon.

It was they who should be worried now, Alexander VI was a little skeptical that Ferdinand would be angry and use them as a punching bag, although an agreement had been made with the old nobles, but no one could guarantee that anyone would accept Ferdinand's bribe and secretly deal with them.

"It's too dangerous for us here," the Pope said to his son-in-law as soon as he calmed down, "if Ferdinand had bribed someone, it might only take a few people to kill us." ”

Alexander admits that his father-in-law's fears were correct, since the Borgias were experts in such intrigues, but he was not worried, for he had been prepared beforehand.

Two letters of almost identical content have been sent separately, addressed to Ferdinand and Don Bavi.

The letter is about Sister Alfret's whereabouts, and although it does not reveal much, anyone who knows the secret will know exactly what the letter is talking about.

Alexander now only hoped that the letter would not arrive too late, at least before Ferdinand did something stupid.

As for Don Bavi, Alexander was not worried about any unfavorable actions he would make when he learned of Sister Alfret's whereabouts, because according to James, after this period of preparation, based on his fellow pirates and the influence of Columbus's call, an expedition of considerable size had been raised in Málaga.

These men certainly did not spend all their days ashore idle, in fact they had taken over almost all the river transport between the Andalusian aristocratic rebels and the Atlantic ports, and the fleet under construction now consisted of at least three large armed merchant ships large enough to pose a threat to the coast.

"This will allow Don Bavi to calm down even if he knows the whereabouts of the nun," Alexander assured the Pope, "Actually, I am not more worried about the sea now, I am worried about the north. ”

Alexander's words made the pope's expression grow solemn, and he knew that Alexander was talking about a war between the Portuguese and the Castilian army on the border between the two countries.

The French in the north crossed the Eboro and attacked all the way south, albeit with a slight difference in timing, and the Portuguese in the west began to switch from defensive to counter-attacking.

This made Gonzalo, who was defending the northern front, a little tired and flustered for a while.

Unfortunately, the Portuguese's advantage did not last long, and Gonzalo quickly settled his ground, finally seizing a clever moment in the village of Licuvalyo, not far from the western Castilian city of Zamora.

For the first time, he committed a large number of musketeers in the village of Likuvalyo, and at the same time dug a number of trench breastwalls on the hills outside the village facing the main road.

When the Portuguese army attacked, the Castilians opened fire on the Portuguese after the fortifications of the trenches and breastwork, relying on the terrain.

"3,800 people." When he saw the loss of troops of the Portuguese in the battle of Licuvalyo, Alexander groaned slightly, Gonzalo was much more powerful than he had imagined.

Manuel was clearly frightened by the sudden crushing defeat, and although he did not immediately propose a ceasefire, he also ordered the troops to retreat, and as for the agreement with the French, he could no longer care about it.

Gonzalo, who had been able to breathe, immediately swung north, this time targeting the invading French army.

"I'm going north." Alexander said suddenly to the Pope.

Looking at Alexander, who seemed to be relieved all of a sudden after saying this, the Pope, who originally wanted to say something, was silent for a while and finally did not speak.