“…… The kingship of Castile was conferred by God on the chosen pious nobles, knights, and faithful guardians of the faith, Fernando I, whose power was orthodox and whose blood purity was protected by God and Christ Jesus the Lord......"

Ferdinand looked at the proclamation.

He stood at the large table, on which the fully opened manifesto was placed.

"The rights, duties and duties of the sovereign are conferred by God himself, and by this he enjoys all the privileges of the noblest nobles, the sovereign is the foundation of the kingdom, the representative of it, the benefit of which derives from the people, and the commitment of his duties is directed to all the subjects of the kingdom, so that the king is the ...... of the state."

Ferdinand was silent, he didn't even pay attention to the ministers who had already heard the news, but when his eyes swept over them, Ferdinand could guess from the looks on their faces that they should have known the contents of the declaration in advance.

"The importance of royal legitimacy and the foundation of blood inheritance are the cornerstones of the legitimate and reasonable existence of the Kingdom of Castile......"

Seeing this, Ferdinand's expression moved slightly, and he knew that this should be the place where it really mattered.

Sure enough, the entire manifesto was followed by a detailed and coherent explanation of the legal status of Juana of Castile, the daughter of Enrique IV.

Juana was the legitimate son of Enrique IV.

The heirs of Enrique IV had the right of legitimacy.

The usurper is Isabella, so naturally her children have no legal inheritance law.

And Juana is already the queen of Portugal, and according to the agreement signed between Castile and Portugal many years ago, any princess who marries into the other party's royal family must automatically renounce the legal right to inherit the throne.

At this point, the succession to the throne of the line of Enrique IV will be succeeded by the king's son.

Ferdinand's eyes flickered as he looked at the declaration, he was not actually looking for any legal loopholes in this declaration, everyone knew very well that it was not the ethereal legal system that finally decided who the crown would be worn, but spears, swords, muskets and cannons!

Ferdinand was looking for a promise.

When the Moors were finally driven away from the peninsula, whether it was Isabella, Ferdinand, or even Manuel in Portugal, they knew that a golden opportunity lay ahead.

By taking advantage of the Moors' destruction of the Castilian aristocratic system that had been inherited for many years, the royal power took the opportunity to raise the bloody butcher's knife against the princes and nobles who had divided the territory.

This may be excessive, but in the struggle for royal power and aristocratic power, the two sides did not leave much room for each other.

The struggle for power and profit was always the most brutal, and after repeated struggles, the two kings were about to see the fruits of the expansion of royal power ripen in the Iberian Peninsula, but at this time the Andalusian nobility rebelled.

Next, this Castirian prince who appeared out of nowhere suddenly appeared.

Ferdinand wanted to know if Alexander had openly promised the nobles, and he knew that if so, he would probably face an extremely difficult situation.

Ferdinand had no doubt that the nobles would turn to Cambrai for their own right, and because it was the Sicilian army that invaded, he suspected that it would not only be the Castilian throne that would engulf Iberia next, but perhaps Aragone.

For even in Aragon, too, there were many nobles who could not tolerate the expansion of royal power.

But to Ferdinand's surprise, in this manifesto, Alexander unmistakably proposed that 'the king is the state', a declaration that even the husband and wife did not explicitly proclaim, which made Ferdinand rejoice but also marvel at the boldness of the young man, or rather the recklessness of the young man.

It was hard for him to imagine how the nobles would react to such a manifesto, and he felt that the vast majority of them would probably simply stand aside and watch from the sidelines, as it was clearly a winner-take-all war.

So why do those nobles have to choose one of the two greedy wolves to eat them in the future?

This made Ferdinand start to think that Cambrai had done something stupid, but then he gradually realized that this might be the strategy of the 'Prince of Castile'.

The Duke of Rome Thessia was telling everyone that of all the Castilian enemies he had were actually the only enemy, and that man was the king of Aragon.

The expansion of royal power has been irreversible, whether it is Isabella or Ferdinand, or Alexander, who may have the opportunity to bring the crown in the future, they will not hesitate to continue to implement the rule of royal power when they are monarchs.

So in this case, it is better to tell those Castilian nobles directly: this is a royal dispute, or simply the Astamara family is infighting, no matter who wins in the end, the wheel of royal supremacy is already unstoppable!

Ferdinand's gaze finally took his eyes off the declaration, and he slowly raised his head to look at the silent ministers, looking at their expressions of indifference or trance, and a dark cloud gradually appeared on Ferdinand's face.

He knew that Alexander's plot had worked, or that the Castilian nobles had already shown their attitude from the beginning.

Castile, winner takes all!

Ferdinand slowly put away the declaration, his gaze swept over everyone's faces, and finally fell on his close retinue: "How is Gonzalo?" ”

"Your Majesty, the Knight Commander has sent someone to wait for your summons at any time."

Ferdinand exhaled slightly, although he didn't expect much from Gonzalo at this time, it was a good thing to have news after all.

"Let's hear what he brought."

Soon, with the sound of hurried footsteps, a reckless-looking soldier strode in.

The scabbard of his sword snapped on his thighs, and when he saluted, he straightened up without waiting for the king's permission.

This is a real soldier, such a person on the battlefield is a warrior, and he will not please others in the court.

"Tell me what your general sent you to report?"

"Your Majesty, the Commander of the Knight had just given the order to prepare for battle when I set out, and I don't know what is going on now, but according to the agreement between the Grand Master and the Duke of Roman Thesia, they will attack Seville at the same time."

Listening to the soldier's unobtrusive report, Ferdinand smiled with satisfaction at first, but then the look on his face couldn't help but froze.

"Wait, what are you talking about, the agreement with the Duke of Rome Thesia?" Ferdinand's face was gloomy and he asked, "Tell me, what is that?" ”

The soldier did not seem to understand that the king was on the verge of rage at this time, and he faithfully explained to Ferdinand what he knew: "Your Majesty, the commander of the regiment negotiated with the duke, and they agreed that the two armies would not be enemies of the other for the time being, but would attack Seville from two directions at the same time, and then take the captured city as the boundary, and as for the rest I do not know. ”

The soldier shrugged his shoulders as he finished speaking, and then he noticed that the whole room seemed to fall into an inexplicable silence.

Everyone felt an oppressive atmosphere envelop the room at this moment, and people looked at each other with strange eyes, and then looked at Ferdinand, who was standing there without saying a word.

Ferdinand's expression was very strange at this time, his eyes that were originally slender and slightly feminine were now revealing a hint of fierceness, and his flabby cheeks were tense, and his expression turned iron blue because of anger looked completely different from the usual appearance that he could always calm down no matter what kind of trouble he encountered.

Those who got close could even see the king's hand shaking at his side.

"Your Majesty, if you don't tell me anything, I'm going back, maybe there will be a war soon, and I don't want to miss this good opportunity."

The soldier said to Ferdinand, with some impatience, that when he saw the king waving his hand slowly towards him, he bowed stiffly and turned and walked towards the door.

Seeing that the door was immediately shut, Ferdinand turned slightly stiff to look at the Castilian ministers.

"Who gave him the power?" Ferdinand's voice was not loud, but it was the tone that seemed inexplicable that made people feel the anger in his heart even more: "Is Gonzalo Córdoba going to rebel, or is he no longer recognizing Juana as his queen?" ”

Listening to Ferdinand's seemingly trying to suppress the anger in his heart, the ministers only looked silently at the king of Aragon, who was obviously on the verge of becoming unrestrained.

The silence of the ministers did not make Ferdinand feel the pleasure of his authority in intimidating them, on the contrary, he was really completely enraged.

"I will send an army from Aragon, and anyone who rebels or tries to rebel will surely pay for their actions."

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I must remind you that the armies of the Kingdom of Aragon cannot enter Castile without the permission of the Queen." An elderly general finally spoke, and he took a step forward to confront the king of Aragon with the air of a cockfight, "and even with the permission of the queen, it must be led by the generals of Castile." ”

Ferdinand looked at the others with gloomy expressions, and seeing their almost identical expressions, he realized that they might have already discussed how to entangle himself on the way here.

"Then as long as these two conditions are complied with, you have no objection to me doing so," Ferdinand asked with a cold expression, and seeing that the men were still not angry but still did not speak again, Ferdinand finally let out an angry snort because of the breath in his heart.

He immediately turned around and without hesitation, picked up an order from the table that had been prepared a long time ago and handed it to the attendant next to him: "Send someone to Zaragoza and tell the messenger that if he can get to Zaragoza within two days, he can get 1,000 gold coins." ”

The attendant seemed to be stunned by the king's astonishing generosity, but he immediately woke up, took the letter, trotted open the door, and ran outside.

"I will ask the queen to sign the order, and I will appoint a Castilian general to lead this Aragonese army with my generals," Ferdinand's eyes slowly swept over the faces of every Castilian nobleman, "but I also want to tell you that I will not allow anyone to threaten the throne of my daughter Juana, just as I did when I defended my wife's crown, and anyone who tries to challenge Castilian orthodoxy will be made to pay a terrible price that I never dreamed of." ”

Between the words, Ferdinand's expression was hideous and murderous.

The heat in Seville in late April is already palpable, and the cool breeze blowing from the Mediterranean Sea has been filtered through the land and no longer has that slightly fishy smell.

On the contrary, the Andalusian winds were warm and sweet, at least not before that Alfurt had noted.

Sister Alft's official title is now Duchess of Buharanse, and although she had never spent a night with the old man who had difficulty getting up from a chimney wheelchair, she was at least to outsiders.

Not far away, the attendant named Mandoza hurried by, and Alft's gaze slowly moved with his figure, until her "husband" let out a seemingly unintentional cough from the side.

"Ma'am, I know this must be very difficult for you, but you should also be aware that if outsiders see you like this, it may cause unnecessary rumors." Don Bavi reminded his wife with some difficulty, "I think you already know how your mother's brother lost the inheritance of his children in the first place, rumors, ma'am, rumors are sometimes the most terrible weapon. ”

"You think it's a rumor now?" Alft glanced sideways at her husband in a wheelchair next to her, "But you're not aware of this rumor yourself. ”

"I'm here so that the Bukhalanse bloodline can be carried on."

"So you don't need your wife to give birth to a child of your retinue?"

"I don't think you understand, it doesn't matter who the child's father is, the key is that he is your child," Don Bavi turned his head with difficulty to look at his wife's lower abdomen beside him, and the corners of his slightly crooked mouth twitched, as if he was smiling, "As long as Buhalanse's blood has been imprinted in the bloodline of the Astamara family, even if I fail, it is not terrible, because I have won a chance for the descendants of Bukhalanser to claim to the crown of Castile, I can fail, But who can guarantee that one day the crown will not fall on the heads of the Bukhalanser line. ”

Alft looked at Don Bavi in a daze, she had been in awe, then she was afraid and hated this man, but now she suddenly felt that this person was disgusting and pitiful.

"All just for the crown?"

"You should say that the crown contains everything, power, wealth and honor, and what is the point of the crown without these things......"

Don Bavi muttered indistinctly, waving his hand at his entourage when he saw Mandoza reappear.

Although the movement was small, Mandoza noticed it, and he immediately walked over and bowed his ears slightly to the old man.

"Go and get that Valencian merchant," Don Bavi said to his wife as she walked away quickly, "Do you think you're pregnant?" ”

"What?" Alfurt asked, a little flustered.

"I mean, you haven't been idle these days, and I'm not tolerating this to make you happy," Don Bavi suddenly became a little angry, he grabbed Alft's hand on the armrest and pulled it hard at him, "Listen, those Catalans are very good at fighting, but I don't know how long Seville will last even if they do, so you have to make sure to conceive a baby as soon as possible, and then I will find a way to get you to safety." ”

"With Catalans, will they also lose?" Alfurt was a little uneasy, she didn't know much about war, but that didn't stop her from hearing some terrible stories from the older sisters of the convent, which made her worry about the future, and Don Bavi's words reminded her of more terrible imaginations: "If you had a child, would you give it to the convent too?" ”

"Monasticism is also a good place, and if the Bukhalanse family is destined to produce a king one day, then it is totally worth it to suffer in the monastery."

Alft's cheeks, as smooth as dark silk, flashed with a look of panic and hidden anger, and her body trembled slightly, so much so that Don Bavi could not help but glance at her at the disobedient shaking of her fingers.

"My lord, are you looking for me?"

The presence of Tiego interrupted the conversation between the Duke and his wife, and Don Bavi inadvertently shook his eyebrows, which were about to fall out, at the sight of the merchant approaching from afar.

As a nobleman of high status, he actually disliked these merchants very much, but now he could only count on them.

"My officers appreciate you and your army," Don Bavi said as he looked at Tiego, wondering what to say about the man, "They think that the Catalans can defend the castle of the Grand Knights, because your soldiers are brave and good at fighting, and if the enemy is going to attack Seville, then they will probably enter the city along the Guadaville, and then it will be up to you." ”

Hearing this, Tiego's face, which had been a standard businessman's smile, gradually lost his smile, and he looked at Don Bavi with dissatisfiedness, although he did not immediately refuse, but his expression spoke for itself.

"I can pay you enough."

"You have to live to get any reward," Tiego replied with some coldness, "I won't pay such a big price for this reward, after all, we are businessmen, so I won't promise you what you can't do." ”

"I like the way you look," said Don Bavi, nodding to his wife next to him, "I like this man, a man who really values fame as much as money." ”

As he spoke, he looked at Tiego: "What if I promise you the tax of the Guadaville River as payment?" ”

"What are you talking about......" Thiego asked as if his throat was stuck.

"I mean, if you help me keep Seville, I can give you the right to collect taxes on the Guadaville River for five years."

Tiego took a breath, as if he was trying to sober himself up to make sure if he was dreaming, and then he excitedly began to bargain.

"10 years."

"6 years."

"Nine years."

"Seven years."

"Seven and a half years."

"Deal."

As Don Bavi struggled to spit out this sentence like pulling a bellows, both of them seemed to finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking at the back of Tiego, who was much more excited because of the big deal, Don Bavi said to his wife, "I think you have to make some preparations, maybe you will have to travel again soon, but before that go to Mandoza, there is always a better chance of doing this kind of thing a few more times." ”

Leaving the Doge's Palace, Thiego stood in the square and paused for a moment, and he looked at the castle of the Grand Knights on the other side of the Guadaville River, and looked at the fortress built on the river, and suddenly remembered the oath that the Duke said to have used to cheer himself up before battle.

So he clenched his fists and whispered to himself, as Alexander had done: "Prepare to fight Tiego, prepare to fight!" ”