On this night, Alexander was also looking up at the starry sky.

A little starlight in the middle of the deep sky makes the night sky appear wider and colder.

Such a starry summer night would have been hard to see many years later.

Similarly, depending on the location, the starry sky seen on the Iberian Peninsula may not be seen elsewhere.

Alexander wasn't groaning on his own, he did think of a lot of things.

Among them are the great discoveries that most people are still unaware of, and that are about to change the history of mankind.

Alexander believed that Ferdinand should have known that he was in Toledo by now, and that he must have been in a hurry by now.

Ferdinand was able to maintain Castile power after Isabella's death, not only because he was Isabella's husband, but also because he completely controlled Juana.

In order to compete for power regardless of family affection, and finally because of the long imprisonment, Ferdinand completely drove the already mentally abnormal Juana crazy, Ferdinand acted more like a king than a father.

However, Ferdinand did take a great risk in doing so, the Castilian people never liked him, and even those who willingly attached to him were only justified because of Juana, and after Juana was imprisoned, the voice of the Castilian people against Ferdinand never disappeared.

It's just that it's not just domestic that gives Ferdinand a headache right now.

Historically, the Portuguese really realized the importance of the New World almost 30 years later, and until then they had their eyes fixed on the new route to the East.

When they discovered that the New World was far bigger than they had imagined, and that there was more wealth than they could have ever dreamed of, the Spaniards had already gained a foothold in the New World by virtue of their early preemption.

Then the Portuguese made another major mistake because of their habitual rivalry with the Spaniards.

They neglected the North because they were too focused on the South, and the Spaniards occupied large swathes of the North Continent as they fought each other with their Spanish colonies on the east coast of the South Continent.

However, it was precisely because of the lack of rivals in the north for a time that the Spaniards regarded the new world as an inexhaustible gold mine given to them by God.

This allowed them to squander this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity from the very beginning with an attitude that they not only valued and squandered it, until they were unwittingly pursued by the descendants of the Anglo and Normans far away in England, and finally surpassed and defeated.

Alexander shook his head with emotion, he didn't want the empire he had worked so hard to inherit would end up like that in the future.

To contain the current British, he naturally can't do it now.

Since the defeat of the Hundred Years' War, the British who retreated to the British Isles finally recognized the situation because of the defeat in this war, and since the end of the Hundred Years' War, the British have always maintained a distance as much as the English Channel from the European continent for nearly a century.

This allowed the British to take the initiative, and they could intervene in European affairs from time to time, and if the situation was not good, they would immediately retreat back to the British mainland.

At least at this time, the influence of the British on the European continent has been greatly weakened, but for a time there is little that people can do with them.

However, Alexander did not want the British to go so smoothly that their navy was strong enough to rival the Armada.

Since he can't go directly to Britain itself now, then he has to prepare an enemy for the future British Empire.

Portugal was clearly a good choice, and Manuel was ambitious enough to swallow a decoy that was disproportionate to himself or Portugal.

Alexander couldn't help but smile as he thought to himself.

He saw Sher approaching from a distance, followed by a rare guest.

It was so late that the Chief Elder suddenly visited, which made Alexander realize that something might have happened.

Sure enough, no sooner had Sher left, than the Chief Elder revealed important news to Alexander.

"Ferdinand's envoy has left for Lisbon, and this time he is said to have made up his mind to make peace with Manuel."

The Chief Elder looked at Alexander and smiled, and although he tried to make it look like he just wanted to reveal the news to the other party, his vaguely smug thoughts were revealed intentionally or unintentionally.

Alexander, of course, knew what the elder was thinking at this time.

After all, you still refuse to bow your head?

Alexander wondered.

He knew that the elders had told him the news in order to weigh themselves in front of him.

Now looking at the elder holding a wine glass Shi Ran, waiting for him to take the initiative to ease the relationship, maybe thinking about taking the opportunity to put forward some conditions, Alexander couldn't help but sneer secretly in his heart.

"You're saying Ferdinand didn't want to fight the Portuguese anymore?"

"It should be said that he intends to win over the Portuguese," seeing that Alexander did not seem to understand what was happening at all, the elder could only speak more clearly, "Queen Juana may object, but as long as Ferdinand's offer is generous enough, Manuel may not be willing to make peace or even form an alliance with Ferdinand. ”

As he spoke, the Elder's gaze turned to Alexander again, and at the same time, a distinct expression of "Say something" appeared on his face.

"Oh." Alexander answered

"Oh?"

The elder looked at Alexander in astonishment, which was so unexpected that he didn't know what to say for a moment.

After a while, the elder finally asked with a puzzled face, "Duke, aren't you going to say something?" ”

"Say what? Send someone to assassinate Ferdinand's messenger on the way? ”

Alexander's rhetorical question stunned the elder for a while, he didn't expect Alexander to react like this, and for a while he felt speechless.

"I'm glad you came to tell me the news," Alexander, who seemed to suddenly remember that he should be grateful, bowed slightly to the elder, but before the elder could reply, he continued, "but I think this is probably Ferdinand's last resort, and he will do more stupid things in the future, and believe me, you will soon know how wise you were to choose in the first place." ”

The elder looked at Alexander blankly, he had even stopped hiding his surprise at this time, and his eyes were full of "Are you crazy?" I was puzzled.

Alexander felt that it was time to do something to make the man in front of him understand the situation, otherwise no one knew if he would have another moth to come.

"I guess you're worried that the Grapevines might actually make peace with Ferdinand, or even form an alliance against the Queen of Sicily, right?"

"Aren't you worried?" The elder secretly breathed a sigh of relief, he felt that after such a big circle, it seemed that the conversation between the two sides had finally returned to the right direction.

"Indeed, you should be worried," Alexander looked at the arrogant elder as he said this, "but if the Portuguese, I mean King Manuel, did not accept Ferdinand's so-called good intentions, do you think this concern is still necessary?" ”

The elder looked at Alexander in a bit of a daze, and he couldn't help but look down at the cup in his hand that was still showing cold air, and then look at Alexander's cup.

The wine in the two of them was almost full, so it meant that neither of them was drunk.

But the elder could not help but suspect that Alexander was drunk.

Although reason told him that Alexander must have had his own reasons for saying this, no matter how ridiculous, as far as he knew, Ferdinand was indeed prepared to accept many harsh conditions, and he had even authorized his envoy to sign a contract directly with the Portuguese.

This made him unable to think of a reason why Manuel would reject Ferdinand.

Alexander wasn't going to play hide and seek with the elders anymore, and he decided to take the opportunity to make the man really understand what options he was facing.

"You must wonder how I could be so sure, because I know that for anyone who decides who to choose to side with, he must first know who will bring him enough good."

"Duke, you mean you can come up with conditions that will convince the Portuguese to side with you?" The elder asked interestingly.

Looking at his disapproving expression, Alexander could probably guess what he was thinking.

To be able to convince Ferdinand that harsh conditions would never be trivial, and he had done whatever it took to resolve the threat from Sevilla as soon as possible.

The Chief Senator didn't really care what Ferdinand promised Manuel, and for Toledo, the conflict with Valrialidot would not disappear because Ferdinand had an advantage.

It only makes them more cautious, or bold.

However, with Ferdinand likely to reverse his disadvantage, the Elder seems to feel that the role of Toledo's old nobles has become more important.

Alexander decided to let him see the situation clearly.

"I can assure you that Manuel will not change his position because of Ferdinand's compromise," Alexander smiled confidently, isn't it too little that Ferdinand can give Manuel compared to the world "Ferdinand can give him whatever he can give, and I can give, Ferdinand will never give." ”

The elder looked at Alexander in bewilderment, he couldn't imagine what else Alexander could do to impress Manuel.

What could move people more than a new world?

Alexander smiled.

Perhaps Manuel might have tried to take advantage of the civil strife in Castile to buy himself enough time.

So he will make peace with Ferdinand.

The idea was not surprising at all, and even if Manuel did, Alexander would not be surprised.

But he wasn't worried that the King of Portugal would do that.

Because he knew very well that although the Castilian fleet had been defeated in the naval battle of the Azores, the Portuguese were not capable of completely stifling the enemy's sea power.

What's more, with the development of new routes in the East, the Portuguese have invested almost all their national strength in the new routes.

Now they have no more strength to compete with Spain in the New World.

Alexander needed a Portugal that could hold the sea coachmen and John Bull at bay for him in the future, not an enemy who might be a stumbling block.

It was for this reason that he was so concerned about da Gama's new route to the East, believing that with the huge capital he had invested in the East India Company, which he had established in Lisbon, the Portuguese would unleash a wave of Oriental wealth that was even more fanatical than it had ever been.

This trend is so strong that even Manuel can't stop it.

As for whether the Portuguese will be able to set his sights on the new world as soon as possible, it will be up to him to decide.

At the same time, it will also determine whether England will have a chance to become an empire on which the sun never sets.

Alexander, who had pulled his thoughts back from his reverie, looked at the Chief Elder.

He knew that he couldn't blame the Chief Elder for being too short-sighted, after all, he was the only one in this world who could see the future.

"My lord, I suggest you don't make a decision too soon," Alexander said, intentionally or unintentionally, looking at the shadows outside the house, Schell had reported to him that there seemed to be some more suspicious people outside the house, and now it seems that it should have been arranged by those Castilian nobles, "Are your people considering handing me over to Ferdinand?" ”

The elder who had been punctured did not show embarrassment, and he shrugged his shoulders disapprerovingly, as if he did not think there was any embarrassment in it.

"You are a little worried, Duke, and I admit that there are suggestions to reconsider your relationship, but I promise you that nothing will happen that you feared."

Alexander smiled at the Chief Elder's words, not committal.

It wasn't that he didn't believe it, and the nobles of Toledo were clearly trying to be a wall.

In their opinion, the internal strife in the Astamara family is left to the royal family to worry about, as long as they can take the opportunity to reap the benefits of it.

So naturally they would not do such a foolish thing as betraying Alexander to Ferdinand completely.

After all, Alexander now seemed to them to be either a bargaining chip with Ferdinand, or a king who would use Ferdinand against him in the future.

Alexander, who guessed the thoughts of the Toledo, couldn't help but shake his head slightly and sneered.

He didn't despise these people's desire to please both sides, but he still sneered at them in the face of the general trend of doomed royal power expansion.

This was an era in which the feudal aristocracy was gradually withdrawing from the stage of history, and it was an era in which monarchs gradually unified their power and established powerful centralized states one after another.

But these Castilians could not see the situation clearly.

This dooms these people to be eliminated by the new era one day.

In the distance, Sher hurried over with a somewhat familiar-looking soldier.

As they approached, Alexander saw a faint look of unease on their faces.

"Sir, there's an army coming from Madrid, maybe as far as Torredo at daybreak."

Schell said and nodded to the soldier next to him.

"Your Highness, my general wants me to ask you, what decision are you going to make?" Gonzalo's lieutenant asked, and then he continued, "I believe Ferdinand already knew you were here, so he sent the army from Madrid to Toledo." ”

The adjutant's words made the chief patriarch's expression change instantly.

It was one thing to be in secret collusion with Roman Thesia, but it was quite another to allow him to appear openly in Toledo.

The patriarch's mind was racing with thoughts, and at the same time he had already begun to consider how to persuade the duke to avoid it for the time being, without making objectionable remarks.

Just before the patriarch could figure out how to speak, Alexander had already said in a slightly excited tone: "Madrid? That's great! ”