Just as Portugal was asking for negotiations, the Pope issued a new edict, "After the Demarcation", which dealt Portugal a heavy blow by retracting the mandate of successive popes and abolishing the legitimacy of the Treaty of Alcasovase.

Negotiations with Castile were deadlocked, and neither Castile nor the Aragonese seemed to care, and on 25 September, Ferdinand accompanied Columbus's second fleet to the newly discovered territory. This is literally slapping Portugal's face into a tomato.

At the negotiating table, the Castilian diplomats did not budge, insisting on the division of the meridian according to the papal rules, and ignored the Portuguese demands.

"We only follow the edicts of the Pope's crown."

Ferdinand had no intention of making any concessions. In fact, the Pope's 100-mile meridian had already run north from the east side of Greenland to the south, narrowly passing a little east of Brazil's easternmost point, and he would not give Portugal the slightest chance of getting their hands on the New World.

João II did not want to be at a stalemate any longer. In October, as in history, he threatened war, and this time he was more certain that Ferdinand was not there, and that Isabella, despite being the co-queen of Aragon, might not be able to take full control of Aragon. Portugal's navy was superior, and he believed that Isabella would not choose war in her husband's absence.

On 11 November 1493, the Aragonese ambassador to Portugal requested an audience with João II, claiming to convey the opinion left by Ferdinand.

The ambassador took out five letters and said to João II: "Your Majesty still wants to maintain friendship with you, so let me read them in turn." ”

João II snorted coldly: "Read it." Listen to what that guy had to say. ”

The ambassador was not annoyed either, and took out the first letter.

"Your Majesty, Dear King of Portugal, I am aware of the disagreement between your country and my wife's country over the division of the new territory, and your reason has always been to demand that the entire coast of Africa be guaranteed to belong to Portugal, and that the meridian drawn by His Holiness will cross the continent, and I have assumed that the coast of Africa is all east of Cape Verde."

"He has never been to Africa, so how do you know how the coast of Africa is divided?" João II uttered such obviously strong words. Yes, however, Portugal has always kept its seafaring discoveries strictly secret, especially with Castile Island. ”

The ambassador was unmoved: "Your Majesty, allow me to read this letter. ”

"Read it." João II doesn't care about the tunnel.

"I can assure that all Castile rights to the African coast will be waived, and that such a supplementary clause may be added that even if a part of the continent is located west of the meridian, the interests there are entirely vested in Portugal."

"Finished?" João II asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty. If you agree with the contents of this letter, I don't have to read the second one. ”

João II was silent for a moment. The unexpectedness of events was unexpected, and the king of Aragon did not leave without consideration, and it was clear that he fully understood and supported his wife's claim, and had prepared some measures to deal with it.

"Keep reading." João II finally stood his ground.

The ambassador took out the second letter.

"Dear King of Portugal: I know why you rejected my proposal because you lied to our ambassadors and diplomats."

"Nonsense, this is slander!" João II rightly became angry.

"Please finish reading it, Your Majesty."

The Ambassador continued to read the letter.

"If your purpose is only to secure rights to the African and Eastern routes, a hundred leagues west of Cape Verde is enough. Obviously, you and your ministers have received reliable information that there is a continent west of Cape Verde. ”

João II's hands trembled. A hint of panic suddenly flashed in his eyes, but he immediately concealed it.

"Unfounded speculation."

"Your Majesty, I haven't finished reading my letter." The ambassador did not respond to the king's words.

"Well, obviously, you know, I know, and my wife, Queen Isabella, knows, that continent may well be part of the land that Columbus discovered. So you are in a hurry to move the boundaries westward in order to take a portion of the land we have discovered. However, you were the one who rejected, ridiculed, and deceived Columbus. God gave you the opportunity, you chose to turn it down, and now this opportunity should not be yours. ”

"Inexplicable, I don't know what to do." João II was seen through his mind and his mind was very irritable, but he controlled himself and did not have a seizure.

"Your Majesty, if you approve of the second letter, the third letter does not need to be read."

"Go ahead." João II clenched his hands, he was not someone to knock down in a few words.

The Ambassador continued to read the third letter.

"Dear His Majesty the King of Portugal: If you read this letter, it means that your attitude is not as friendly as I thought. In fact, you will only see these five letters after you have made a threat of war against Castile. ”

Joao II was silent, and the other party had already seen his biggest hole card before leaving.

"If you were willing to take my previous advice, you wouldn't have to know the contents of the fourth letter, and it would be detrimental to our friendship."

The third letter did not reveal anything, but conveyed a strong, implicit threat. João II knew the time had come to make a choice.

"Go on." After a while, he said grimly.

The ambassador shrugged his shoulders and showed a look of regret as he handed the fourth letter to João II.

"Your Majesty wants you to open the last two letters yourself."

João II opened the fourth letter with no more honorifics or markings on the letterhead, only one line of large letters.

"A hundred leagues west of Cape Verde or war."

"Crazy! Scoundrel! João II, ignoring the etiquette and face, tore up the letter and roared in a gaffe. No one had ever dared to threaten him so blatantly.

The ambassador's face does not change color. Your Majesty, don't stop, I'll just watch you go crazy like this.

"Your Majesty, the medicine can't be stopped!"

Of course, the ambassador would not have said such vulgar things, even if the thoughts in his heart were even more vulgar and uninteresting.

"The fifth letter," João II kept his emotions in check.

"Give it to me."

The Ambassador handed over the fifth letter.

"I know, you must be angry. You are confident that your navy is superior to Castile and Aragon, but you do not have an overwhelming advantage, and your navy will not change anything, and it will certainly not be enough for you to capture Sardinia and Sicily. ”

"All you can do is cut off the new territory from Castile, but that won't change anything. I know I'm on my way to a new land now, and maybe I won't be able to come back alive after the war. Yet I appreciate the old adage: "Nothing is for Caesar." ”

"Castile alone now has at least 150,000 troops, and you have less than half of that. Your navy is not enough for you to conquer Seville, Toledo or Valencia, Catalonia, or even more so than what we have done in Granada. ”

"Our army, however, can attack anywhere in Portuguese territory, including Lisbon. There is no doubt that the fighting on land will take place on the border, as well as on the territory of Portugal. You have experienced the civil war in Castile, in which my wife did not have much power at first, and my kingdom was also in the midst of a civil war. You came prepared, with a strong army, supported by the Castilian nobility, but I repelled your army at Toledo. ”

"Today, you know this very well - even if you take Toledo today, then nothing important will happen at all, the army of Castile is still strong, and Aragon is unscathed, the combined territory of Castile and Aragon is five times the size of your country, and our population is far greater than yours."

"You have gained a lot of wealth in Africa, but you may still have a strong enemy in North Africa. Unlike years ago, when we will start a war on your soil and Lisbon will be an important target for us, unlike Toledo, with the capture of Lisbon, it will be all over. ”

"Your idea is to engage us at sea and gain an advantage. On land, the two sides each guard their borders and strongholds and confront each other at the border. What I will tell you is that there is no such war in the world. The flames of war will burn at sea, on the roads, on the borders, in the cities, in the countryside, everywhere our army can reach. No one knows how long the war will last, a year, five years, ten years, or a hundred years. Maybe the sea is dry and the rocks are rotten, or maybe the sky is old and the earth is old. ”

"I'm not afraid of such wars. England's iron hooves once trampled on the territory of France, and the war lasted for a hundred years, but today, France is stronger than before, and England has gained nothing, even the territory of Normandy. The Duke of Burgundy, who had once been able to threaten the life of the French king, was now careful to resist the French king's invasion. Charles VIII could snatch the fiancée of the Holy Roman Emperor in Brittany, and the Emperor could do nothing but protest. ”

"Your country is not England a hundred years ago, and our country is not the France of a hundred years ago. Your country also does not have a strait to keep its capital and territory. I have taken steps to ensure that Queen Isabella has control over all of Castile and Aragon, and it is easy to guess what I have prepared. ”

"Are you ready for another Hundred Years' War in Europe? The decision is yours. ”

"King Ferdinand II of Aragon."

João II's whole body was trembling, his hands were clutching the letter, he wanted to tear it up and declare war, but he didn't dare.

He found himself scared.

The Hundred Years' War.

A cold sweat broke out from his back, and indescribable fear gripped his heart.