In 29 BC, a nobleman named Cordaus became a tribune in the Roman Empire.

This nobleman, who was known for his wealth, had no special exploits to show off in his life, let alone left any traces of remarkable history, but one of his hobbies made his fame spread for a long time.

The rich man was a gourmand with a special affection for food, and it can be said that although there are countless examples of poverty and luxury throughout the history of Rome, there is no one who can compare with him in terms of his love of food.

The wealthy tribune relied on his wealth to enjoy almost all the delicacies he could taste at the time, and every lavish banquet held in his home was a delicious feast.

This person's preference for food is even to the point that he can't be neglected every day, so that when the cook at home once thought that he was just eating alone at home and made the dishes a little simpler, his famous sentence "Cordaus wants to invite Cordaus" has become the dream of many people's pursuit of food.

But it's not so easy to enjoy those delicious flavors.

The choice of ingredients, the abundance of ingredients, and the variety of condiments are the keys to cooking a beautiful dish, and without these conditions, a chef will not be able to satisfy the diners, even if he has superb skills.

Pepper is the darling of gourmets in this era, and its price is already comparable to gold.

Another condiment, although it may not seem as exaggerated as pepper, is also of astonishing value because of its large amount.

That's sugar.

The climate of the European continent is not suitable for the cultivation of sugar cane, which is mainly used for sugar resources, and sugar beets, which can also be extracted for sugar, cannot be compared with sugar cane in terms of planting area and sugar production.

Crete, Europe's largest sugarcane plantation, is a Mediterranean island far from the continent that is now facing a threat from the Ottoman Navy.

However, Crete was not so easy to conquer, whether it was for the Venetians, who occupied most of the islands, or for the European continent, Crete can be said to be an invisible barrier, because of its barrier and attraction, the Ottoman navy could not launch harassment and attack Europe again and again at will.

As the largest island in the Eastern Mediterranean, Crete has a unique advantage in planting sugar cane, it can be said that most of the sugar market in the entire European continent is monopolized by Cretan plantations, and as the situation in the Mediterranean Sea gradually becomes severe, the risk of maritime transportation is also increasing, and the price of sugar has risen all the way, although it cannot be turned into black gold like pepper, it can be as high as several times or even more than a dozen prices compared with before, It still makes many ordinary families regard it as an expensive luxury.

The sugar industry sells the book of transfer, just looking at this document, Ladislas II's breathing has become slightly rapid, he knows what this thing portends, this is money, and from now on it seems that it will not decrease for a long time, only more and more wealth.

"Crete?" The king looked at the contents of the document carefully, and when he saw the detailed description above that could be allocated to him the amount of sugar produced by Crete, the king's eyes narrowed slightly: "Haven't the Ottoman navy and pirates already blocked the Mediterranean, Earl, are you really sure that the Cane sugar from Crete will be transported safely to the mainland?" ”

"Rest assured, I can assure you that as long as you can sell the sugar, you will get enough in return, and as for the troubles at sea, I will solve them. You will get the right to sell in Bosnia, Hungary and Moldova or Poland, and of course I would be happy if you could do business in Moscow. Alexander explained to Ladislas II: "30 years of copper mining rights in exchange for the right to sell sugar for the same number of years is not a loss for you." ”

"But I didn't take advantage of it."

Ladislas II muttered in a low voice, he knew very well that this transaction was two completely different things, and that mining copper ore might not immediately get tangible benefits, after all, the series of things from mining to refining, and then to casting and selling were too troublesome, and as far as he knew, since the Fugger family had decided to get involved, things should not be so easy, but because of this, the king felt that Alexander must have something crucial not to tell him, Otherwise, he would not have preferred to exchange the right to sell sugar, which was obviously a quick advantage.

"Your Majesty, sometimes holding a good chip in your hand does not necessarily lead to a good return, especially when you don't know how to use it."

Alexander's words were a little unkind, which caused the king's displeasure, and he stared angrily at the young man in front of him, trying to open his mouth to rebuke him for his arrogance, but after opening his mouth, Ladislas II finally endured.

As king of Bohemia and Hungary, Ladislas II had to bargain with Venetian merchants for a small amount of protection money, and much of the lavish life of the Prague court depended on the money he received from the Venetians.

Ladislas II was short of money, and it was not an ordinary lack of money, and it was because of this that he bowed to the Venetians again and again in the noble capacity of the Elector, which was one of the things that made him most unhappy.

Now that he had such an opportunity, the king felt that it was better not to give up easily.

As for the copper mines in southern Hungary, it is said that the king's control of the huge copper mines was not very smooth because of the fact that Emperor Maximian had been obstructing and destroying them, which made him not averse to the sale of mining rights.

"So, do you think the Duke of Zagreb will be able to stop Rovaji?"

The king did not directly say whether he agreed or not, his main concern at this time was how to stop the attack of the Bosnians, if the copper mine fell into the hands of the Bosnians or the Emperor Maximian, it would undoubtedly cause him an unimaginable huge blow, which he definitely did not want to see.

"The Duke's army should be in the McCheek Hill by now, and I beg your pardon for some special reasons why I can't tell you, but I'm sure you'll hear some good news soon."

Alexander didn't want to say anything about the tacit understanding between him and Elup, and it was not known how many people would be involved behind the huge interests of the copper mines, but he was sure that such a huge interest would be enough for many people to give up not only friend and foe, but even differences in faith.

At least the Ashulk brothers are a clear example of this.

The king was still hesitating, but he had already made a decision in his heart.

The vendetta with Emperor Maximian had made him inclined, and when he first heard of the Bosnian invasion, he even felt for a moment that if the Emperor took the opportunity to try to reach into southern Hungary, he would rather give up the copper mines to the Ottomans than let them fall into the Emperor's hands.

Now there was an opportunity to turn things around, and maybe even make a profit from it, and the balance in the king's mind quickly tipped in favor of him.

The look on Ladislas II's face slowly softened, and he felt that the young man was not so annoying at this time, but he was a little worried about whether Herva would really be able to hold the Bosnian as he said.

The king's fears were not unfounded, as the Bosnian army was not only unusually brave in the Battle of Southburg, but also the brilliant command of Rovajn made the battle almost a one-sided massacre.

Not only did the defenders of Southburg suffer heavy losses, but more importantly, the castle they relied on did not withstand the bombardment of Bosnian artillery, which made Ladislas II worry about the extent of the Bosnian ambitions.

The king, of course, did not believe that Royce would be arrogant enough to take all of Hungary or Budapest with his Bosnian army alone, but he was concerned that if the Bosnians continued to advance north, they might give Emperor Maximian an excuse to send troops.

Of course, Ladislas II did not know that at this time the emperor was suffering from the headaches of the mountain people in Switzerland, let alone that it was not long before that a decisive battle not only freed Switzerland from the shackles of the Holy Roman Empire, but also disgraced the emperor himself.

So much so that for a time there was no mood or energy to get involved in Hungarian affairs.

But Alexander knew all this, and he made the most of it.

"Your Majesty, you may think carefully, but let me remind you that His Majesty the Emperor cares deeply about Hungary."

The king's face, which had just improved a little, instantly turned gloomy, his lips moved, and the word "blackmail" almost blurted out, but he finally held back.

"And now, I mean the Ottomans outside the city, what do you think should be done with them?"

The king barely managed to calm his emotions, he knew that this was not the time to bargain with this hateful foreigner, and he knew very well that this man had seized on his weakness.

"We will hold Bucharest," Alexander replied without any novelty, and when he saw the king's disappointed expression, he smiled slightly, "Your Majesty, what do you think is the purpose of the Sultan's expedition?" ”

Ladislas II pondered slightly, speculated about the Sultan's intentions, and finally concluded that Bayezid II clearly could not tolerate the existence of a Greek princess and an anti-Ottoman alliance.

As for the Sultan's desire to take advantage of the opportunity to consolidate his rule in the Balkans, the king was not really concerned.

After all, both Greece and Bulgaria had been heavily influenced by the Ottoman Empire for many years, and even southern Bosnia had already been gradually Ottomanized, which made his Balkan ambitions more maintained in those areas bordering Hungary.

Ladislas II's plan was simple: he wanted to create a buffer zone in the Balkans between Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, and Northern Bosnia, Croatia and Vagalaya were undoubtedly the most ideal.

It was only Rhova's sudden betrayal that disrupted the king's calculations, and made him hate the traitor more than anyone else, so when Alexander asked him to publicly support Helva's claim to the Bosnian throne, he agreed almost without hesitation.

Just Sophia......

Thinking of Sophia, the king couldn't help but look up at Alexander.

The eyes of the two met, and Alexander felt the inquiry in the king's eyes,

"Your Majesty, the princess of Greece is the symbol of this land," Alexander's voice was soft but unmistakably firm, "Sophia has a great role to call on all the people here, something that no one can shake or violate. ”

The king's face trembled slightly, he knew that Alexander was actually warning him not to fight Sophia's idea, but he actually said it so directly, which made Ladislas II feel annoyed.

"As for the Ottomans," Alexander obviously did not want to give the king a chance to refute, he simply went on directly, "cut off the supply lines of the Ottomans and the Bosnian army, so that they could not continue to fight for a long time, and let every piece of land become a battlefield, the Ottoman army is huge, but because of this how long can they hold out?" ”

Alexander's voice was not high, but his words made the king fall into a kind of imagination with his words.

"The Ottomans seem to want to break through from the east bank," the king looked at Alexander, "do you think that Chipes will be able to stop them from continuing their offensive on the east bank of the river?" ”

"To be honest, I don't know," Alexander shook his head slightly, he knew that the Ottomans were actually going to break through directly from the river into the city of Bucharest, and the sudden appearance of Tzepes had obviously ruined the Sultan's plan, and it was unknown whether the Ottomans would attack as originally planned, "We must prevent the Ottomans from breaking through the river, maybe we should let Tzepes not return to the city for the time being, he is far more dangerous to the Ottomans outside the city than to stay in the city." ”

The king snorted softly, and when it came to defending Bucharest, Ladislas II couldn't help but feel a little frustrated in his heart, in fact, he had already regretted why he had come to this unfortunate city, where he had not received the honor he had imagined, but on the contrary, he had almost suffered an unbelievable insult.

The thought that the Bucharest people had openly forced him to swear an oath brought a wave of anger to his heart.

Perhaps it would be better to betray the city to the Ottomans, the terrible thought came back to him, but he knew that if he did, he would be the target of all sides.

Even this could become a pretext for the emperor to declare war on him.

"Where is Chipes now?" The king finally asked in a deep voice, knowing that Alexander must have known the whereabouts of Cepes, especially after hearing that he had sent the Greeks to support Cepes.

"Actually, I don't know very well, but the Duke of Wallachia now seems to be retreating eastward, and he must first escape the pursuit of the Ottomans before he can wait for an opportunity to attack the enemy on the east bank from outside the city."

Seeing the king's disbelieving expression, Alexander only smiled slightly, he knew that Ladislas II must have thought that he and Cepes had negotiated some terms, but after thinking about it, he could not help but admit that the king's speculation was not entirely unreasonable.

Bodped brought to Chipes not only Alexander advising him to retreat, but also a question that made him ponder.

"Do you want to be the real Grand Duke of Wallachia?"

When he heard this sentence conveyed by Bodpaed, Cepes almost burst into a rage, but he soon calmed down.

He knew that Alexander wouldn't ask such an insulting question, so he was clearly referring to it.

As for whether he wants to become a real Grand Duke of Wallachia, this does not need to be considered at all, the question is how to do it.

Now Tsepes kept urging his mount and nervously watched the smoke rising in the distance, which was the Anatolian light cavalry that had been chasing behind.

The Ottoman army had been chasing him for almost two days, from the east bank of the Dembvica River to the east, and as he gradually entered the low-lying areas, Cepes found that if he went any further, he might even have to leave Wallachian territory.

It's just that the enemy behind doesn't seem to have any intention of stopping, they chase and fight all the way, except for the sake of food, they will stop and plunder the nearby villages, and almost refuse to stop chasing after them, which makes Tsepes even think that the commander of the Ostian army has a personal vendetta against him.

As a result, the Wallachian army was forced to move with the enemy in the eastern part of the vast Bucharest Plain, and for a time there was no chance to return to the city.

And a few miles away, Xi Sugu, who was also about to be exhausted after two days of pursuit, was also not so good.

With the exception of the Anatolian light cavalry, most of his army was also infantry, which made it impossible for him to quickly pursue and engage Cepes except for constantly sending light cavalry to intercept and harass the enemy in pursuit in order to delay the enemy's retreat.

Two days is not a long time, but it is on the verge of collapse for both sides.

The Wallachians could rely on their local superiority to get supplies as quickly as possible, while the Ottoman army had to rely on requisition or even looting to replenish supplies.

Sisugu knew that Chipes was planning to delay until he had to retreat on his own, but Sisugu hoped to have a decisive battle with the enemy as soon as possible.

However, the Wallachians had apparently avoided encountering the Ottomans by virtue of their familiarity with the area, which angered Sisughu, but as the armies of both sides approached the eastern edge of the Bucharest Plain, Sisughu knew that his opportunity might have come.

On the eastern edge of the Bucharest Plain is a vast and vast lowland.

This area of rivers and lakes forms one of the largest delta wetlands in the lower Danube.

For the Wallachian army, which had been retreating eastward, once it was driven into this delta, it meant that the initiative was lost, and as long as the Ottomans defended some key roads, the Wallachian army was bound to be blocked out of the Bucharest plain, and no matter what the final outcome of the battle of Bucharest was, it would be of little significance to Cepes.

He will completely lose the opportunity to finally unify Wallachia, and may not even be able to secure the Grand Duke's throne.

Because of this, when he knew that it was Cepes who was being pursued, Sisugu immediately realized that as he approached the edge of the Bucharest Plain, perhaps the time for a decisive battle was approaching.

Sisugha's guess was undoubtedly correct, and when the army entered the vicinity of a town called Slobozia on the edge of the plain, Cepes finally gave the order to engage the pursuers behind him.

At noon on 11 May, Chipes' army marched on the outskirts of Slobozia, where he prepared to meet the Ottoman army.

At the same time, to the east of Slobozia, a convoy was slowly approaching.