The city of Lisbon is boiling.

This is not because of the hot weather, on the contrary, as November begins, Lisbon has a long rainy day.

A series of rainy days for nearly half a month made it difficult for Lisbon to travel, and even Queen Maria had to abandon her habit of taking the "Portuguese Way of the Cross" at the beginning of each month, because the clergy in the church told her that it was too dangerous to take that road at this time.

Most of the city of Lisbon is built on the hills, especially the castle of São Jorge, because of the steep terrain used to defend against strong enemies in the early years, and many other parts of the city are not flat, so the heavy rain for several days is undoubtedly a very distressing thing for Lisbon himself.

However, this did not affect the enthusiasm of the people of Lisbon today, and the city was indeed boiling, especially among the nobles and the rich, who were so excited that there was talk everywhere about the appointment of da Gama as commander of the new Atlantic expedition and governor of the new territory, which the king had signed, and it was quickly noticed that this appointment was obviously different from the previous exploration of the Indian route, when da Gama was also appointed, but only in the name of the king was allowed to negotiate and do business with the countries of the East, But this time, a new title of Governor of the Territory has been added, which is a completely different change from the previous one.

This change meant that da Gama, as commander and governor of the fleet appointed by the King of Portugal, had the right to claim sovereignty over any new territories discovered, and to declare war on any enemy who threatened the claim in order to maintain the suzerainty of the Kingdom of Portugal over those territories.

This series of powers and appointments of power brought widespread attention to da Gama's expedition before it even took place, and many people also noticed that this appointment of Manuel I was obviously meant to be meant.

Although they did not want to admit it, the Portuguese knew that Portugal was actually a weak person compared to their powerful neighbors, and although the Grape court had always been careful to get along with Castile, and tried to establish a relatively stable alliance through marriages and other means, with the death of the incompetent Enrique and the defeat of his daughter Juana for the throne, Portugal finally had to choose to succumb to Castile and Aragon, two more terrible neighbors united.

However, Manuel I was not reconciled, he always wanted to change, and now a rare opportunity appeared, da Gama and Alexander described to him a wonderful prospect that he had never imagined before, that mysterious land that was assumed to have never been discovered attracted him, or rather that he preferred to believe that there was a completely ownerless paradise waiting to be conquered and possessed by the new owner, so Manuel I finally chose to accept this challenge and adventure.

He made the decision to predate the official appointment of a Portuguese colonial governor on the American continent 14 years earlier, and for the first time in order to defend his interests abroad, he explicitly gave his captain the power to declare war on any enemy.

It was a significant decision, both for forward-looking explorers and for aristocratic businessmen who wanted to make a fortune on the new routes, and they knew what it meant for the whole of Portugal.

Queen Mary was also well aware of the meaning of this order, so she immediately approached her husband to protest against him so hastily, and at the same time she demanded that Manuel take it back with an almost commanding taste, which eventually led to a heated quarrel between the king and his wife.

It was late at night when Alexander heard about the king's housework, and Schell, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened by the loud slamming of the door outside, and he was accustomed to immediately grab the saber that was placed at the head of the bed, and then he had no time to put on his boots and rush out of the room barefoot to Alexander's door at the end of the corridor.

Alexander was also woken up, and when he opened the door, he saw a group of hunting guards already standing in the hallway, and before he could speak, Schell had already grabbed his arm and walked towards a small and inconspicuous door in the corner of the house, where there was a wooden ladder leading to the roof, from which it was evident that the Balkans were trying to send him out.

"Go and see what's going on," Alexander waved his hand to Schell to stop, "If things weren't that bad, we wouldn't have to make trouble for ourselves." ”

Downstairs came the sound of servants talking to the comers, and after a while a servant came up, apparently startled by the battle upstairs, and looked at a group of hunters with sabers and muskets gleaming in the corridor in the darkness, and the servant could only stand at the top of the staircase and carefully report to Alexander on the other side that it was "His Majesty the King wants to see the Duke."

Alexander hesitated for a moment, and it seemed strange that Manuel was about to summon him in the middle of the night, but when he heard the report from the hunters, who had climbed to the roof to observe it, that they had not seen any shadow of anyone but the two who had told him, and that no army was about to surround the house, he ordered the servants to prepare for him, and then rushed with Sher to the castle of São Jorge.

Manuel lived in the Château de San Jorge all year round, while Maria lived in the new palace because of her prejudice against the castle, which in Alexander's view was actually a separation, although the two of them later had several children, but Alexander was sure that Maria would not love Manuel as much as her sister Juana loved Philippe.

To Alexander's surprise, he was summoned overnight by Vasco da Gama, Eriodor Don Antonio, and several of Manuel's most important ministers, who were somewhat surprised to see Alexander, apparently not understanding why the king had summoned this foreign nobleman.

Manuel was clearly not sleeping, his eyes were red, his breathing was heavy, and according to what he heard along the way to the palace, Alexander already knew that it was probably related to the fierce quarrel that had just taken place with the queen.

"You're coming a little slowly, Duke," Manuel glanced at Alexander with a little dissatisfaction, and then without waiting for him to explain, he pushed away one of the ministers standing in front of him and walked over to him, his face gloomy, and he did not hide the severity of the possibility of ordering him to be thrown into prison at any moment, "Duke, I need you to tell me the truth now." ”

Alexander, who already almost knew what was going on, was not intimidated by Manuel's appearance, he just nodded slowly: "Your Majesty, you can ask me anything, as long as I know it, I promise to tell you the truth." ”

Manuel stared at Alexander for a moment before asking, "Tell me duke, how sure are you that the place that Columbus discovered is a land that no one has ever discovered, and how do you prove that it is big enough?" ”

Manuel stared at Alexander after asking, his originally heavy panting suddenly disappeared, and it was obvious that he couldn't help but hold his breath at this moment.

Alexander had already guessed the reason for Manuel's question, and he had been prepared to deal with it and make Manuel determined.

Now, it's time to put these preparations to work.

"Your Majesty has said before, and Columbus has a very detailed description in his nautical diary, that the natives of those islands told him that there was more land farther west than theirs, and that those lands were so large that he could never finish rowing along the coast to the south or north, and if that was not enough to prove it, then do you remember the Vikings, Your Majesty?"

"Vikings?" Manuel was stunned, although he didn't know why Alexander mentioned the Vikings, but he still nodded, "Of course, it was a nightmare for all of Europe, and the Vikings not only occupied England centuries ago, but they were as far away as Africa. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, the Vikings were good seafarers, and their dragon ships not only went to Africa, but also from the north all the way to the west along the ice of the Atlantic, and among them was the famous navigator Leif Eriksson, who once crossed the ocean from the north all the way west to a place that he named Herrulan, which, although cold, was rich in treasures and precious minerals, and the natives there had black hair and smooth skin of maroon, unlike him."

Manuel's cheeks twitched slightly, he didn't think Alexander would know that a favored vassal had given him a slave, but the thought of his black hair and smooth maroon skin made him more credible than Alexander's words.

But the thought had only just flashed through him, and Manuel suddenly realized a problem that he had to surprise.

"Wait a minute, did you say that this Viking is from his native land, from Denmark?" Manuel looked at Alexander in amazement, and at one point he involuntarily held his breath as he waited for Alexander's answer.

"Actually, even further, they were heading west along the edge of the frozen area of the northern ice sea, so that they could camp or hunt on the ice at any time, and you know that Viking ships don't have cabins, and they can't sail in the sea for long periods of time."

Manuel, who got the answer, looked at Alexander with a strange expression, as if he didn't believe his words, and as if he wanted to find someone else to prove whether it was true, and finally his gaze fell on Don Antonio's face: "Tell me, is this possible?" ”

"Your Majesty, the Vikings were the greatest navigators of the 10th century," Don Antonio replied carefully, knowing what his words might bring, and he looked at the king and then at Alexander and the group of nobles next to him who looked nervous, as if waiting for the final verdict, "If, I mean, if this Leif Eriksson's experience and description are true, it means, it means, it means ......"

Don Antonio didn't say any more, because even if he had been prepared, he was completely shocked by the meaning of Alexander's words.

"It means that there is a coastline that stretches from Denmark to Africa, or that even if it is an archipelago that stretches from north to south, it is large enough," Alexander said calmly, an answer that Don Antonio could not say because of his nervousness and agitation, "and if it were a whole land, your majesty, it would be a land that was perhaps no smaller than Europe, and which had never been really discovered by Europeans before." ”

Manuel's heavy breathing intensified again, and this time his hands trembled slightly from the excitement of the past.

Although he had heard more than once that the new colony might be much bigger than he thought, this was the one that shocked him the most.

A piece of land, perhaps no smaller than the whole of Europe, just thinking about Manuel makes you feel like you're going to faint, you know that for him Castile is already a behemoth much bigger than Portugal, and the whole of Europe ......

Manuel admits he couldn't imagine how big a place it would be.

Now, that place is waiting for him to take it.

Manuel knew that he had been moved, as Alexander had said, and that even if that land were just a series of scattered archipelagos from north to south, it would be staggeringly large, and it would be inconceivable if it were a whole land.

Manuel felt hopeful, and now more than ever, he had always thought that God had favored him because he had been lucky enough to ascend to the throne.

He didn't say a word, but his feet began to walk up and down the room at a faster pace, and all eyes were on him, and for the first time Manuel felt so strongly that he was clutching the neck of the future fate of the Kingdom of Portugal.

Finally, after a while, he suddenly stopped and looked at Don Antonio.

"Eriodore." The king said in a very calm tone, "Tell me if there is any certainty of victory if our fleet engages a mighty enemy at sea." ”

Seeing that Don Antonio was about to speak, Manuel interrupted him again: "I mean a country that also has a strong fleet and a much larger territory than us to go to war, think about it and then answer." ”

Don Antonio groaned, looked at the others, and then he said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I must answer you honestly, if only at sea, with our existing strength and the potential of shipbuilding, we can still compete with this powerful enemy, and if our captains can perform better, we can even win." But if this enemy shifts the battlefield from the sea to the land, then I can only say that this war will be very bad for us, as you say, the enemy is very strong. ”

The corners of Manuel's mouth twitched, he knew that Don Antonio was reminding him that if he went to war with Castilla over the new colony, he would probably bring the war from overseas to his own country, and just think about the size of that neighbor, and then the fact that they still had the support of Aragon, Manuel couldn't help but be discouraged for a while.

Alexander stood aside and watched silently, seeing Manuel's frustrated and unwilling look, a faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

The meeting ended silently without any decision, but before he took his leave, Alexander stayed behind in the name of giving the king some more explanations to the overseas colonies, along with Don Antonio.

No one knew what Alexander had said to Manuel other than about the new colony, and even if Maria, who had received the news the next day, sent someone to inquire, only to get the news that the king seemed to be hesitating about something.

This made Maria feel that her previous advice or threat had worked, and it was clear that Manuel could not ignore the couple behind her.

Mary smiled with rare satisfaction, during this time she had become more and more bad because of the conflict between her husband and her temper, and a few days ago she had punished a few servants for no reason, and now her mood was difficult to relax, and she was even wondering if she should show a little more kindness to the king, so that she might be able to repair the very stiff relationship between husband and wife as soon as possible.

Maria believed that she would be able to convince Manuel in the end, after all, it would be too unwise for Portugal to collide directly with a behemoth.

Maria considered herself to be the queen of Portugal, and although it was unlikely that her daughter or future son would become king, she was always the queen of Portugal.

Thinking of this, Maria was a little unhappy, her sister Isabella of Aragon left Manuel a son, as a stepmother and aunt, she originally cherished this 2-year-old child named Miguel, but every time she thought that the future Portuguese throne should be inherited by him instead of her own child, Maria's heart was somewhat awkward.

Maria thought aimlessly about the new palace, which she liked to look like to the pagan Fort of St. Jorge, and just as she was thinking about the good and bad things in her mind, she saw a servant come with a plate of food.

"What is this?" Mary asked, looking at the plate that had been cut into several light gray pieces.

"Your Majesty, this is a merchant from Castile, and it is said that it is only available in overseas colonies." The servant hastened to answer.

"Yes," Maria frowned slightly, she was not disgusted by these things she had never seen before, but her feelings became a little complicated at the thought of her husband's ambitions caused by them, "Where are you going to send this?" ”

"For the Princes and Princesses."

"Yes, but children can eat these things?" Maria picked up one of them with her hand and put it in her mouth, it tasted salty and a little strange, but it was not unpleasant, "Okay, take it." ”

Maria waved her hand casually, she didn't care much about her daughter, let alone the child left behind by her sister.

As she watched her servant leave, Maria began to wonder how she could continue to dissuade her husband from opening up a new Atlantic colony.

That night, the news suddenly broke in the palace that Prince Miguel was seriously ill!

In the early morning, the bad news spread, and Prince Miguel was called to die!

Then, a rumor that came out of nowhere suddenly spread in Lisbon.

Prince Miguel dies of poisoning!

And the prince's last food seems to have passed through the queen's hands......