Vol 7 Chapter 18: Sprout of doubt

The series of wars that took place near the Aegean Sea earlier in 1500 are somewhat remote to the Iberian Peninsula.
Compared with those things in the east of the Mediterranean, the Iberian Peninsula is undergoing a series of fierce and fierce changes after the movement to recover the lost ground. The most obvious of these is the purification of faith after the expulsion of the heretics.
After eliminating the enemy, it ’s time to eliminate the internal enemy. This seems to be an inevitable process that countless countries have experienced for thousands of years, and the intensity of this process will not gradually disappear with the development of civilization. On the contrary, it will intensify.
The Iberians were not as empathetic as the threats from Ottoman as Venice or Hungary, so even if the Venetians repeatedly appealed to Aragon through the Governor of Sicily, Ferdinand II ’s eyes were more staring. Naples, not Ottomans.
So Ferdinand II was very angry about Gonzalo changing his destination without permission and going to Crete to sell his life for the Venetians.
It's just that Gonzalo's identity is a little special, so no one can take him for a while.
As Queen Isabella's most admired general, when she was still ignorant of words, Isabella had eyed Gonzalo from the many soldiers like him. Choose from those people to start training, and then give him honor, status and power, and Gonzalo did not disappoint the queen, he became the most productive general of Castile after the war to recover the lost ground, especially After he succeeded in defeating Charles VIII in Italy and then entered Rome as a triumph and even a conqueror to see the pope, Gonzalo's reputation throughout Iberia had reached a worrying point.
It was because of this that Maria was very concerned about the interaction between Alexander and Juana. After all, the duke came under the trust of Cardinal Mahimo, who was due to the army from Gonzalo Here I heard about Juana.
This sounds far-fetched. After all, this circling around cannot really prove that Gonzalo himself has anything to do with Juana, but Maria cannot ignore this seemingly unrelated possibility, because it is involved in this In fact, it was really people who made her uneasy to think about it.
There is no need to mention Juana. Mary sometimes curses her quietly when she prays, even if she does not go to but go to heaven, as long as she does not live in the world.
As for Gonzalo, although her mother was very fond of the general, Maria could not trust that person exactly as Isabella did. In this regard, she inherited her mother ’s suspicion, but did not Her firm self-confidence with no doubt.
So when I heard that Gonzalo and the Ottomans were at peace, Maria refused to believe it first, but then, like most people who heard this afterwards, she gradually asked again in her heart, "If this is true What about it? "
And the seeds of doubt are buried, no matter how solid the soil of trust is, it is destined to break out of the ground one day.
Alexander was not in a hurry to see the result of the game he had laid, because he knew that it would be almost impossible for Isabella to suspect that Gonzalo was at least very difficult, because the queen had not only a discerning hero In fact, there is a heart that is more firm and confident than men, which makes her often see the truth from the heavy fog, and she also has strong confidence in herself, believing that she can fully control and influence her Those courtiers, even those who are as reckless as Gonzalo, even the people whom the pope dares to reprimand face to face.
"It's such a tough woman." Alexander sighed secretly in his heart, feeling a headache for the powerful opponent he was facing.
He was at his residence in Lisbon at this time, although he could guess that Mary should be hesitant to report the matter about Gonzalo to his parents at this time, and even if she reported it last, Isa Queen Bella ’s character will not change her attitude towards Gonzalo, but Alexander is not in a hurry, because he knows that the key to changing this is not Isabella, but Ferdinand II.
Ferdinand II did not like Castilian aristocrats, or he believed that the lords and nobles who held heavy powers were his enemies. When Isabella chose him as her husband, Castilla The nobles have many objections, although some of them have been wiped out by the war or subsequently gradually deprived of power in the court, but in the face of the significantly stronger Castile nobles, Ferdinand Always think that you are in a hostile situation.
So for Alexander, Ferdinand is actually a good ally. No matter what the original intention is, their purpose seems to be the same.
The result of Manuel ’s third summoning of Dagama was that many businessmen in Lisbon were finally unable to sit still. These businessmen began to try to squeeze into the small office of the West India Company in various ways. After the bribery, some people were fortunate to meet Fernando, but to their disappointment, the response they received from Fernando was "no investment is needed anymore".
This makes those businessmen feel puzzled. After all, I have n’t heard of anyone who thinks that there is too much money. As for doing business, the more abundant the money, the better. Although the new route does have a lot of risks, whether it is at sea Unpredictable weather, turbulent sea conditions on the reefs, or murderous pirates that may appear at any time may make people lose their lives, but as long as they succeed, all the efforts are worth it, because it will be an unimaginable return.
And more investment can also make the risk allocation smaller, right? Is there anything more cost-effective than this?
The businessmen felt weird because they could n’t figure it out. They asked everywhere what Fernando wanted, but the answer was that the old man also stubbornly refused the money of others besides them, which made people a little uncomprehensible. .
Fernando did n’t actually want to refuse the money. It can be said that looking at the backs of the disappointed businessmen who walked out of the door, he was more disappointed than those people. It was just a suggestion from Alexander that he could n’t help making such a decision .
It is very difficult to wait for the king to make up his mind. It is even more difficult to wait for him to pay.
Manuel I was not a stingy person, but he was by no means generous. He was very cautious in guarding his wallet, even when deciding to pay for it, he would be cautious rather than generous.
Alexander advised Fernando not to be so eager to accept the investment again, because it was the King ’s money that really decided the West India Company ’s equity allocation.
The king must have the largest share, followed by others. Among them, the Dagama family will become the majority shareholder of the company, and James Columbus, who plays a key role in this course, cannot lose. In this way, the equity distribution of the West India Company is much clearer, but in this way, the development of a new colony may gradually become in the hands of the king like the new route of India.
So in this case, Alexander recommended to Ferdinando, although he heard something, but was not very familiar with it-the exchange.
"Let those businessmen invest their money on the exchange instead of directly to the West India Company, and then we put the money into this expedition through the exchange. The advantage is that the investment in the exchange is entirely our own Control, no matter what changes in the power of the West India Company, but the premise is not to violate the interests of investors. "
When Alexander explained the whole process to Fernando, it happened that Elliot Don Antonio was there, too. The Portuguese nautical world's scoop listened to Alexander's words thoughtfully.
Fernando is more thorough. Although he is not very clear about the difference between investment exchanges and direct investment companies, he guessed that this should have played a role in his previous visit to Alexandria.
So on a gloomy morning with a chilly wind and a dark cloud, an exchange called "Atlantic Investment" opened in a not-so-famous facade room next door to the West India Company, and then the West Indian company guys had An extra errand. Whenever a wealthy local tyrant came in and waved a gold coin bag in his hand to yell for money, those guys would first tell each other with an apologetic "We will no longer accept investment", and then just revealed After being disappointed, he pointed attentively, "but you can go out and turn left, there is an exchange there, and it is actually the same transaction."
The people in Lisbon started to get restless. They walked into this eccentric exchange for the first time, and after various explanations, they learned that this is a place dedicated to overseas trade and investment. People can give money here. Then the exchange will look for them for those overseas businesses that are worth paying attention to and cost-effective. As for the end, they can get more or less return, which depends entirely on the results of their investment.
These things sound a bit complicated, but when I learned that the only business with the Atlantic Investment is the West India company next door, the merchants immediately became excited.
"This is done one day in the future when our days are really not very good, or when you ca n’t stay in Portugal as you said, we can still participate in the development of new colonies through this exchange, instead of putting everything together Give it to others in vain. After all, there is a pure business relationship between the exchange and the West India company. Even the king cannot confiscate and close the exchange casually, because this is equivalent to embezzling everyone ’s money. I believe that King Manuel also Not to the point where it will touch the anger. "
Alexander explained this to Fernando, which is indeed what Fernando is most worried about at the moment, but the real reason he did not say.
In November, the exact news finally arrived.
Gonzalo ’s army began to withdraw from the Aegean Sea under the cover of the Venetian Navy, and strangely, at this time the Ottoman Navy, which almost completely controlled the waters near the Aegean Sea, did not respond.
Maria believes that the news should also reach her mother, but Queen Isabella may not think too much about it, and Maria feels that if she has not heard of Gonzalo and the Ottoman peace, she is not There will be too many ideas, but now she feels that there is something behind this news that is worth considering.
Maria still doesn't trust Alexandria very much. This is related to Juana, but also has a lot to do with her personality.
And Maria felt that it was because of the navigator brought by this person that Manuel I suddenly became interested in the new colony, which made her even more annoyed.
Just as a devout believer, Maria believed that she could not tolerate any collusion with the pagans, and Gonzalo may have secretly reconciled with the Ottomans because of the unfavorable war.
So although she finally decided to send someone to invite the Duke, even when the entourage reported to her that Alexander had arrived outside the door, she was still hesitant about the decision.
Then Alexander saw the queen with obvious scrutiny and suspicious eyes on her face.
"Duke, I must say that today's meeting was not what I hoped for," Maria said from a very hostile tone at first, as if to prove that she was not moved by Alexander's letter. "General Gonzalo was A respectable general, he was brave in the battle to recover the lost ground, I believe in his piety, so everything in that letter is too bad, I hope you can explain it to me, because I I just got the news that General Gonzalo did withdraw from the Aegean Sea. I do n’t want to make people misunderstand what agreement he might have reached with the Ottomans. So you are here to clarify the possible misunderstandings.

Alexander looked at Mary, who seemed to use deliberate emphasis on trust in Gonzalo to disguise her inner doubts. He knew that the previously planted seeds had begun to germinate, and maybe it is still very young, but the sprouting of this doubt will grow rapidly over time Big, Isabella may not pay attention to this, but Ferdinand is not so easy to say.
In addition to Gonzalo ’s setbacks in the Aegean Sea and the opening of an exchange in Lisbon, there is another thing on the Iberian Peninsula that has also attracted the attention of many people.
The verdict on Christopher Columbus finally came down.
To the surprise of many people, Queen Isabella, after hearing many testimonies, finally decided to apply for Columbus. The wording was not harsh, and the decision to lift him as governor of the new colony was also a lot. Serious, but the punishment for him is nothing more than that.
Then Columbus and his brother Giovanni were released ~ EbookFREE.me ~ walked out of Seville's prison, Christopher Columbus got on the carriage that had been waiting for, but only a short time after leaving the city he let the driver Stopped.
This intersection has three directions.
In the middle leads to his home on Lake Machek, which is a very scenic place.
The one on the left leads to Valladolid.
The road on the right leads to Malaga.
The carriage stopped at the intersection, Columbus thought quietly.
"Where are we going, Christopher?" His brother Giovanni Columbus asked impatiently.
Columbus pulled out a crumpled paper ball from his pocket and opened it, with an address on it.
Columbus stuffed the paper ball into his pocket again and said to the driver: "Go to the right, we will go to Malaga."