……

The issue of witches is a boon for women who may be persecuted at any time. However, in Europe, where the status of women is currently low, the impact cannot be seen much for the time being.

Especially in the context of the intensification of witch trials throughout Europe, Spain's maverickism has led some to complain, such as maliciously speculating that this was one of the manifestations of Ferdinand's growing fear of his wife (another argument of which was that he had not been in contact with his lover for four years).

But this is a good thing, at least Castile's perception of Ferdinand has been greatly improved, and it is finally worthy of Ferdinand's painstaking efforts to practice, meditate and chant scriptures, and make money internally.

……

However, the nobles and officials of Sicily had a deep grudge against Ferdinand.

Because, Sisneros, the "minister of the imperial mission" sent by His Majesty the King, has already established a Ministry of Supervision in Sicily, and has begun to prepare to take the courtiers, officials and even the nobles behind Sicily. Of course, it was an indirect, institutional impact on the aristocracy rather than a direct blow, which is also the purpose of this reform pilot.

Although the king of Aragon was stronger than the nobles and would not end up in the tragic fate of the English king, it was not the time for conflict, and it was time for everyone to unite in order to deal with the French and to suppress the opposition of the king in Castile in the future.

Of course, civil service reform cannot be delayed until after Isabella's death. Ferdinand's plan was to begin reforms in the two provinces south of Aragon by 1497 at the latest, then from south to north and finally to Catalonia, which was clearly not the time to detonate the Catalan nobility, although Ferdinand was dismissive of the undercurrent of Catalan independence; and the West-French border territories of Roussillon and Perpignan on the northern shore of the Mediterranean.

And from the end of 1495, the officials and nobles of Sicily had to appreciate the profound meaning of the phrase "test objects have no human rights"!

Ferdinand's civil service reform in the Kingdom of Sicily was largely modeled after the modern civil service reform of the British Empire. There was no shame in this imitation, for Ferdinand did not think that he could see much longer than the British cabinet ministers.

Moreover, after analysis, Ferdinand found that the reform of the civil service in the Kingdom of Sicily, although at least three hundred years earlier, had many similarities with the reform of the English civil service.

Among the European capitalist countries in the 19th century, Britain took the lead in reforming the civil service system and created the world's first relatively complete modern civil service system. In the words of later historians, this was an inevitable product of the process of British modernization, and at the same time, the reforms in turn greatly contributed to the process of British modernization.

The economic basis of the reform of the British civil service was the fully developed liberal capitalist economy and the enormous productive forces after the completion of the Industrial Revolution. You have money to do things. Although Sicily was far behind, but at that time, in Europe, the economy must have been at the forefront, and the reputation of the Golden Basin was not for nothing, until the Thirty Years' War it was still one of the most important sources of tax revenue for the Spanish crown.

Sicily's budding capitalist economy is capable of hosting more advanced institutions. Of course, if one takes into account the substantial increase in future productivity brought about by Ferdinand's hindsight, then the economic conditions for reform are more adequate.

On a political basis, first of all, the nobility of Sicily was vulnerable to the Aragonese crown, and those nobles were well aware of it (as long as they remembered the history of the last century). To put it mildly, the Italian nation is vulnerable.

Corruption in Sicily is indeed rampant, as evidenced by the fact that almost all of the island's slightly higher officials have contracted syphilis. In addition, their capacity is very poor (see below), and there is a real need for reform. In addition, the burgher class (bourgeoisie) that has risen in Italy has a latent motivation to seek political status (which they themselves are not aware of). Reform can be said to be "the right time".

The triumph of the new over the old, especially the historical journey, often requires an opportunity, and both the United Kingdom and Sicily face a very similar opportunity.

War, moreover, is a won, but not well-fought. Such a war is suitable as a hormone to stimulate reform without stunting people, and such a war can often silence conservatives. Because it can be said, and many times it is indeed the conservatives who "screwed things up", and if those in power are willing to reform, it can be further propagated that it is the factors of reform that guarantee victory.

Coincidentally, the problems exposed by Britain can be applied to Sicily. According to relevant information, in the Crimean War - "the confusion and inefficiency of the British government institutions were fully exposed, the public complained and calmed the strong indignation of public opinion at the defeat at the front......"

And in the First Italian War, which is still going on, it really exposed the inferior level of the Sicilian courtiers, both in morality and ability-

The Castilian army did not receive a single grain or pay in Sicily, and apart from Ferdinand's secret base of Sardinia, Sicily was one of the most productive and wealthiest places in Italy at the time.

All the supplies were brought from Aragon, and if it weren't for Ferdinand's too powerful plug-in, the advantage of the coalition was too great, and the Qatar army would definitely suffer a big loss in Italy. With the confrontation on the peninsula, Sicily still sings every night, and before the brothels were closed, courtiers and officials were always in and out.

And Sicily is naturally inevitably immune to the common problem of all countries at this time - selling official titles and receiving them privately. Hence the edict issued by Ferdinand at the end of the year abolishing the appointment of courtiers and magistrates on their own.

All this aroused the indignation of King Ferdinand II of Aragon, at least certainly to the ministers of the Aragonese court, and his Majesty was furious by the poor administration and state of war in Sicily, and the precious porcelain that had been bought by the Venetians was smashed one by one in the king's newly opened office.

Therefore, it is also agreed that in order to appease His Majesty's thunderous wrath, the Sicilians must be unlucky.

Sure enough, the ascetic Sisneros, who had been used by the queen's and king's side in recent years, went to Sicily with a large number of like-minded subordinates, totaling 1,818 people, which can indeed be called a "record high". This gentleman was difficult to deal with, and slept all day in a thorny wool felt—like Catherine, who was later abused by Henry VIII. More than ten years have been like a day, which shows how terrible he and his like-minded people are - the perseverance to abuse himself to this is really admirable.

The Ministry of Supervision was established in Sicily, and first of all, it had three superficial tasks, namely, wartime control, investigation and punishment of corruption, and supervision of the administrative management of officials.

Cisneros brazenly "stormed" the administrative center of Sicily with his elite soldiers, stationed in the office building of the Ministry of Supervision, summoned a total of 72 Sicilian court ministers and first-level administrative district administrators, praised one person, arrested two people, and criticized 15 people by name. Scared people and waited for a cold sweat. Sisneros gave a brief account of His Majesty's will and the work of the Inspectorate.

“…… I hope that you will actively cooperate and work diligently......" Cisneros said what he had to say with a grim face, stiffly, word by word, without a single superfluous word or expression, and his attaché was as neat and serious as a wood carving.

"You'd better not have evil thoughts in your heart, especially during this sensitive time......

"Otherwise......" his voice paused slightly.

"Poor monks don't like to talk nonsense -

"One second makes you explode in an instant!"

……