Vol 7 Chapter 313: Contend

Encouraging a person's son to do the right thing with his father is a very despicable thing, even if the son himself hates the father, and the father also hates the son.
Jeffrey Borgia obviously hates his father, and Alexander VI has no favor with Jeffrey because of doubts about his origin.
But this does not mean that Alexander VI can tolerate Ferdinand using Jeffrey to oppose him.
This really touched the bottom line in Alexander VI's heart that seemed tough but actually fragile.
Alexander VI believed and insisted on maintaining his family concept. For him, mutual harm between family members was more intolerable than violation of doctrine.
The same hatred of family members is also not allowed, even if this kind of harm has been caused, but still to be forgiven.
This kind of thinking may sound contradictory, but it is not difficult to understand.
Alexander VI insisted that all Borgias were a family, even if he didn't like Jeffrey, his surname was Borgia as long as he lived one day.
It doesn't matter how Jeffrey died, even Ferdinand suspected that Alexander VI might have ordered the removal of this son himself.
But perhaps because of this, in order to calm down his unwillingness to personally destroy the concept of family, Alexander VI will never let him go.
Ferdinand’s guess of Alexander VI was very accurate. Almost just before the news of Jeffrey’s death and the rebellion in Valencia, Alexander VI, who was in Madrid, suddenly issued a very harsh word on the Church of Aragon. statement.
In this statement, the Pope’s subordination to the church has become the
watchdog
of secular forces. The priests and pastors colluded with officials to obtain benefits, and the bishops did not hesitate to lay down their dignified positions to flatter those in power in exchange for that. A little bit of a poor reward."
Alexander VI believed that the church in Aragon had completely fallen. They even acquiesced in secular forces to intervene in church affairs. The most severe of these was to allow "some people to arbitrarily occupy the church's property to satisfy his personal ambition to rule the two kingdoms." "
This statement immediately shook the entire Iberian Peninsula.
From Lisbon to Navarre, from Valaritod to Zaragoza, this statement was quickly transmitted to churches throughout the peninsula via the efficient church post, and spread quickly between dioceses. Everyone saw this statement. People in, couldn't help being shocked by the pope's harsh accusations and the unmistakable hostility.
Ferdinand felt that he had to fight back. He immediately ordered the church in Zaragoza to make a public rebuttal to Alexander VI's statement. At the same time, he also made a statement directly questioning whether the Pope's identity is still legal.
However, Ferdinand knew that this move was the last step, and that he did so without the public support of the Vatican, which might put himself in a situation where the entire church was the enemy.
So despite his anger, he quickly sent people to the Vatican again, hoping to get the support of the old Rovere.
The people around him were not without doubt about his decision. Some people pointed out that the old Rovere’s daughter was the wife of the Duke of Rome Thesia, which made people doubt whether the old Rovere could be on his side.
Although he was worried about this, Ferdinand had no choice but to believe that the temptation of the pope's throne was big enough to make the old unaware that Rovere and Gombray had completely broken off, so he was still sure about it. .
Ferdinand’s judgment was not wrong. The old Rovere is now in a dilemma as to whether to support his daughter or to be crowned as soon as possible.
If he is safer, he should wait patiently, as long as Alexander VI dies, the pope's throne will definitely fall into his hands.
However, just because he didn't know when it would happen, Old Rovere felt a little anxious.
He is not much younger than Alexander VI. He doesn't know if he can survive that old enemy. In case of a sudden accident one day, he may regret it for life.
This made Old Rovere's heart very entangled. He longed for his family to become the most prominent family in Europe. Obviously, he has such an opportunity now.
His daughter is about to become the queen of Castile, and even if possible, there may be a chance to become the future queen of Aragon, and his son is about to become the Duke of Milan according to the "Po River Agreement", which for the old Rovere It is an unprecedented honor.
But he himself yearned for the pope's throne at the same time, and for this he could do whatever it takes.
In the Sistine Chapel, Old Rovere looked from a distance at a closed door.
Except for the servants who cleaned the room regularly, no one had gone in for a long time.
That is the room of Alexander VI and where the four popes have worked since the establishment of the Sistine Chapel.
Numerous decrees that have a significant impact on the entire Christian world have been brewed here, the most famous of which is the Pope Meridian of Alexander VI.
Old Rovere imagined that one day he himself would become the owner of this room. Although he didn't like this place where the light was a little too bright, he still hoped to summon bishops from all over there.
There was a gentle sound of footsteps, and Old Rovere saw Massimo approaching him.
To this young bishop, Old Gombray had no good feelings, but there was no malice.
He knew that this man was Alexander's spokesperson in the Vatican, and he knew he was equally ambitious, but at least they were still standing together now.
Even if Massimo longed for the pope's throne in the future, his soul would probably have been in heaven for a long time at that time, so the relationship seems to be just right for them now.
"My lord, there is something that may need to be reported to you," Massimo said respectfully to the old Rovere. "This is very important."
Old Rovere was silent for a moment, but he still looked motionless. He motioned to Massimo to accompany him along the corridor slowly. The two of them first chatted about something insignificant. When he came to Old Rovere’s office, he Only then did the entourage close the door of the inner room with his own hands, and then looked at Massimo: "Tell me my friend, what is important."
…………………………
The waitress was sitting in a chair outside the door, staring at the opposite Schell with an ugly face, which made the Balkans feel that this woman was becoming more and more difficult to serve.
Since the Queen became pregnant, the maid had almost completely arranged everything for the "two", which made Schell feel that she was about to lose her job.
There seemed to be a noise in the room, Schell raised his eyelids, and saw that the waitress who had been sitting there immediately stood up quickly, first glanced at him, and then took a steady step. Turned around and walked to the door of the room. After leaning over and listening for a little bit of movement inside, he reached out and knocked on the door.
But before she pushed it open, the door had already opened from the inside.
Alexander, who stuck his head out of it, nodded to the maid to signal her to go in, and then told Schell, who was about to come over, "Go call Uliu and Don Banderas and others, and let them pass. Wait for me in the royal room in an hour."
Xieer nodded immediately. He knew that it was really not convenient for him to wait on the side at this time, which made him wonder whether to find some maids from his hometown to serve the master.
But then Schell felt that this idea was unrealistic.
Because he suddenly remembered that doing so might arouse the suspicion of the grand duke.
In the room, Ruosha was sitting casually on the couch wearing a large robe, her body leaning against the armrest of the couch, her arms supporting her chin, and her legs together on the soft cushion.
Perhaps because of pregnancy, her slightly slender figure gradually became plump, and the obvious curve made her look more feminine than a girl.
The maid frowned slightly and looked at the room. Every time before the maid came in to clean up, she had to come in first to see if there was anything too confusing, she would clean up herself first.
Although the maid had already doubted whether this concealment really had any meaning, she still performed her duties as much as possible.
There was a mess in the room. Maps, letters, books, half-written notes with weird graffiti, and thrown pillows and silk quilts that hung down half of the bed were laid out in disorder.
When I quickly packed the quilt on the bed, with a sound of "crash", there was a piece of silver shiny, stunningly delicately crafted close-fitting armor that slipped to the ground along the side of the bed.
The maid hurriedly picked up the pearl inlaid with pearls on the important parts, and took it up with the thin armor that made people blush as long as she thought of wearing it, and put it into a box next to her. After a while, she finally panted. Carefully looked at the contents of the room.
Although it's still messy, at least it won't let people who come in know what happened here at a glance.
Ruosha smiled and watched the maid busy, until she walked to the door, first cleaned herself, then opened the door majesticly, and greeted some of the maids who had been waiting to come in. Then she put her smile away and watched. Sitting on the cushion on the windowsill, looking at Alexander outside.
"Gonzalo should be ready," Alexander said softly, "so I might leave Valladolid recently."
Ruosha didn't speak but nodded, she knew this for a long time.
What made her a little regretful was that she didn't expect to get pregnant at this time.
Several maids carefully cleaned up the room, and they tried their best not to interrupt the conversation between the two, but some maids took the opportunity to quietly raise their heads and look at Alexander.
"A maid glared at you just now," Ruosa said unhappily after the maids left, "and you didn't scold her."
"That's because I didn't pay attention to them at all," Alexander said helplessly. He had heard of contrasting behaviors of emotional anxiety and suspiciousness when women were pregnant, but he didn't expect Ruosa to do the same. "And you can rest assured, I won’t take a maid with me this time."
Ruosa smiled. She actually didn't care about the women who tried their best to drill around Alexander, but she liked the feeling of jealousy very much.
"Let me enjoy this kind of time when you belong to me only," Ruosha opened her arms to Alexander. "Then I will return you to your wife," she added, "And mistresses." "
In mid-October, when Zaragoza was panicking for the insurgents in Valencia, a long-lost good news finally lifted up the Zaragozas who had suffered successive setbacks during the recent period.
After some efforts, the Aragonese army finally assembled. 4,300 royal army and about 5,000 territorial army organized by nobles from various places have assembled in Zaragoza.
Although the number was much lower than Ferdinand's hopes, an army of about 10,000 people made the Zaragoza court feel that it had found the courage again.
At the same time, the f-cassi coalition under the command of Gonzalo has completely got rid of the floodplain and started to advance to the interior of Aragon.
It was at this time that Alexander suddenly announced that Ruosa would replace him as the regent of Baria Lidod, and he would lead the guards to the border.
When he heard that Alexander had rushed to the front line, Ferdinand immediately made the same decision.
Although he knew he was not good at fighting the enemy on the battlefield, Ferdinand knew that he would never back down at this time.
Perhaps Alexander deliberately went to the front because he knew this.
To force him to make the same decision.
The mistress expressed strong opposition to his dangerous battlefield, but failed to persuade Ferdinand who had made up his mind.
"I won't charge like a knight with a sword, but I must let everyone see that I have the courage to not defeat the enemy."
When Ferdinand said these words, his tone was full of unbearable irritability, which was completely different from his previous calmness.
Ferdinand could clearly feel the change in the atmosphere of the court.
This is also why it is not a wise move to leave Zaragoza at this time. Enemies that have not been found before may make waves at any time, but Ferdinand still has to fight.
The vacillation of Zaragozas made Ferdinand uneasy, and the appearance of the Queen of Sicily, who also owns the rights claimed by the kingdom, made him feel a crisis.
Now he must stabilize his authority, and facing the challenge from the future king of Castile on the battlefield is the only way now.
Ferdinand responded quickly. He ordered his grandson Carlos to serve as the prison of the country and confessed to a group of trusted ministers as his grandson's assistants.
Looking at the ignorant grandson in his infant, Ferdinand rarely showed a gentle expression.
He kissed the soft and smooth cheek of his grandson, then looked at the granddaughter who was also hugged by the nanny to learn, and then looked up at the archbishop who was standing opposite.
"I entrust them to you, and I entrust Aragon to you," Ferdinand said seriously. "We must never let that Gombre succeed, otherwise it will not only be the secular power of Aragon, but the church will also face disaster, so I hope you can pray for me."
The archbishop pondered for a while, he seemed to be considering the words, and then he nodded to Ferdinand.
He slowly crossed, then lowered his head to look at Carlos, who was being held by the nurse.
"God has arranged the fate of all people, no matter what kind of path, they will eventually receive a fair trial."
Listening to the words of the archbishop, somehow, Ferdinand suddenly felt uncomfortable.
In October, the Cassi coalition threatened the upper reaches of the Ebro River and established a strong line of defense near the town of Rome.
Gonzalo was not in a hurry to launch an offensive. When the scouts and the information transferred from Vallitod showed that the Aragonese were about to take the initiative to attack, Gonzalo couldn't help but let his servants give him the result. Open a bottle of good wine.
"It's about to enter winter. For the Aragonese, perhaps dragging the war into winter can make the situation good for them, but for us this is the beginning of everything." Gonzalo said excitedly to his generals. "When the Aragonese decided to attack us first, they were doomed to fail because they didn't know what battlefield we were going to bring them into."
In late autumn, the water of the Ebro River has become abnormally cold. He took off his boots and stood on the beach, allowing the water to wash away his bare feet. Alexander let the cold water remind him of the situation he was facing.
The Aragonese army of about 10,000 is oncoming.
This is certainly not the entire army of Aragon, but Ferdinand can only use at most so much power now.
The threat posed to Ferdinand by Valencia’s mutiny is more than a betrayal of a city. He had to write to the officials he stationed in various places to keep them abreast of the movements of the local nobles and at the same time mobilize more troops. Strengthen the defense to prevent the same changes in other places.
This made his relationship with the local nobles suddenly become tense and delicate, and as a result, he was even more unable to mobilize the royal armies stationed in various places.
For Ferdinand, it is impossible for him to tolerate a second Valencia, and he must find a way to quell the Valencia rebellion as soon as possible. UU reading www.uukanshu.com
"Your Highness, you are here."
From a distance, Gonzalo, who had walked down from the river bank, came to Alexander and saw his appearance, so he also sat down and took off his boots and soaked his feet into the stream among the rocks on the river beach.
"Ferdinand is here." Gonzalo said. Seeing that Alexander didn't mean to speak, he leaned back on a huge cobblestone and said with some emotion, "I didn't expect to meet with Aragon one day. People meet on the battlefield, at least I didn't expect it to be so fast."
Hearing the meaning of Gonzalo's words, Alexander stood up from the stone. He stepped on the pebbles that were still hot by the noon sun to dry his feet and put on his boots.
Then he straightened up and said to Gonzalo: "General, your enemy is Ferdinand. Believe me, Castile and Aragon will soon have a common peace, and I assure you, this It will be the last war between our two countries."
In October 1502, the two armies of Alexander and Ferdinand faced off on the Ebro River in Aragon!