The fat tax collector at the wharf of Constanta used to stomp the plank under his feet with the fat soles of his feet, and when he heard the sound of the sturdy planks making a "thump", he cracked his mouth and smiled in satisfaction.

In the eyes of the great aristocracy, the local tax collectors were very insignificant petty bureaucrats, but to the locals or the merchants, the tax collectors could be said to be the half of the gods who decided their fate.

When the tax collector is happy, he may only covet a little money and let you go, but if he has a bad temper or is short of money because of all the troubles at home, almost everyone who hits them will have to be stripped into a layer of skin to get through.

Today, the fat tax collector at the port of Constanta is in a good mood, he has just won a gamble, and now his pocket is still bulging, which makes him look at the boats on the dock are more pleasing than usual, although a few of them do not seem to be a good road, but when he is in a good mood, the tax collector decides to raise his noble hand, as long as he knocks a sum from those people, he will let them go.

A large galleys loaded with all kinds of goods were slowly approaching the dock, the sails had been completely lowered, most of the oars had been withdrawn from the bilge, when the crash beam on the bow came into contact with the dock, the boat paused slightly and then slowly leaned against the dock under the sliding of the two large oars.

The tax collector hurriedly quickened his pace, every boat was a relatively large income for him, especially the ship in front of him, which at first glance should not be delved into the intention, would definitely make him earn more.

The gangplank had been lowered, and a pair of travelers, who looked like masters and servants, disembarked first, and just as this time the tax collector walked up to them, carrying his chubby fat face, and the tax collector quickly looked at the two men.

Then, after making sure that these two men did not seem to be looking for trouble, the tax collector habitually extended his hand to the man in front of him.

A few heavy gold coins were exchanged for the pair of master and servant who did not leave any registration records in the port of Constanta, and soon the master and servant changed into a carriage that had been prepared in Constanta, and hurried all the way to Bucharest.

This little episode in Constanta went unnoticed by anyone, and even the tax collector himself soon forgot about it with the few gold coins lost at the table.

The port of Constanta still welcomes merchant ships sent from all over the country every day, and the tax collector is still the lord every day, and he also collects more or less taxes for himself, everything is so normal.

The situation in the Balkans in 1501 was still uncertain, and the fragile balance between the two Bosnian kingdoms was upset in the early spring of that year.

The first to call for a "united Bosnian kingdom" was King Helva of Northern Bosnia.

Hurva took a tough stance against the Ottoman-propped kingdom of southern Bosnia, both to unify Bosnia and to demonstrate his might to the Balkan states.

In Wallachia, in particular, Helva was unhappy that the young Grand Duke appeared in front of others as the protector of the Balkan states, and he wanted everyone to know that he had the same right as the Kingdom of Bosnia.

To Helva's disappointment, the battle for Bosnian unification did not cause much of a stir in the Balkans, and even the Ottomans, who he thought might fully support southern Bosnia, provided only an army to support them, rather than launching a larger reinforcement operation.

Although this made Herva's face much less difficult, it also made his expedition seem somewhat insignificant, which completely lost his original idea that he could carry out a grand battle that was not lost to the Battle of Bucharest, and his original idea of taking South Bosnia without difficulty also suffered many setbacks in the face of reality.

And in the northern Balkans, the Hungarians did not stop either.

Because of the abolition of the black army, a large number of Hungarian soldiers lost their jobs, and as a result, law and order were chaotic and bandits were rampant in many places.

A large number of Hungarian soldiers traveled from country to country in the Balkans in order to make ends meet, stirring up trouble here and there, in order to solve their food problems, and to get the attention of the lords by continuing to make trouble.

As a result of this, the soldiers of these black armies successfully attracted the attention of the Grand Duchess of Wallachia, and under the orders of Sofia, the army of the King of Wallachia taught a fierce lesson to the strong bandits in their own territory, and with almost overwhelming firepower, the army of the King of Wallachia not only exterminated most of the gangs of bandits in their own country, but also entered Bosnia and Hungary several times in the name of fighting bandits, the farthest of which was the "dragoons" of Wallachia Even to the outskirts not far from the Hungarian border city of Southburg.

The "Dragoon" is Sophia's proud work, this cavalry unit marked by short muskets and sabers is the elite in her hands, although the number is less than 4,000, but this is a trump card that Sophia has high hopes for.

The reason why Sophia established this army is actually very simple, the "1st Grenadier Company" of Josha left a deep impression on her, whether it is their strong firepower or the tenacious will to always stand tall on the battlefield, Sophia has been too impressed, but what makes her most concerned is not the strength of this army, but the kind of satisfaction that Alexander seems to be with Josha to establish this army.

This made Sophia very unhappy, and after receiving a large number of arms and weapons provided to her by Jisha, even though she knew that the annoying sister had no good intentions, Sophia still did not resist the temptation and invested a lot of money to establish this "dragoon" unit.

The attack on the robbers made the Wallachians cheer at the toughness of the Grand Duchess, and while gaining the support of the people, Sophia did not blindly chase and beat the robbers.

She accepted the advice of her Greek advisors, showing her former Black Army soldiers a willingness to accept them.

However, Sophia's conditions were harsh, and she explicitly refused the demands of some of the Black Army soldiers to be hired on the condition that she publicly swear allegiance to her and not just accept the hire, and that she promised the Black Army soldiers that their allegiance would be exchanged for land and titles.

Such conditions were undoubtedly tempting for the black soldiers who were in the midst of displacement, and the title may not be of interest to everyone, but the land was enough to attract a large number of people.

In addition, the veterans of the Balkan Regiment, who had already retired from the Duchy of Rome, became the main source of Sophia's new army, and these experienced veterans, who had mastered more sophisticated combat skills than the low-level officers of other armies, naturally became the backbone of the new Wallachian army.

Groups of such Black soldiers and veterans of the Balkan Regiment quickly took root in the Wallachian army, and the elite selected from them were expanded by Sophia into the "dragoon" unit.

The "dragoons" grew rapidly, and Sophia's patience with Stefan in Moldova was gradually worn out.

Stefan had previously contained Rova?? Sophia's actions have already made Sophia very dissatisfied, although she did not treat Roy as much as Helva?? There was so much hostility that she secretly financed Roy from time to time, as Alexander had ordered??, but the compromise and alliance between Stefan and the Ottomans threatened the security of eastern Wallachia.

For Wallachia, the port of Constanta is now the most important port in Wallachia, because many of the weapons from Naples and the merchant ships of the trade union are transported to the eastern part of Europe through the port of Constanta.

However, Moldova's collusion with the Ottomans somewhat threatened the security of Constanta, and after nearly a year of tolerance, after receiving news that Stefan was seriously ill and that his two sons might fight for the throne of the Grand Duke, Sofia finally decided to make the Moldovans more honest.

This was Sofia's first war since becoming the Grand Duchess of Wallachia, and the result of this modest war was that the threat of Constanta was temporarily lifted as the Moldovans had to retreat far east.

It is said that it is temporarily lifted, because Moldova soon asked for help from the Ottomans, who were actively preparing to attack Poland, which made the atmosphere on the eastern border of Wallachia a little tense for a while.

In short, Sophia had a full life in 1501, she had gradually begun to learn how to be an archduke, and her temperament, which was sometimes overly temperamental, became a good protective color, so that the nobles of Wallachia could not always guess what the archduke was thinking, and even her silence because she could not speak became speculative, and her new army quickly became the backbone of the kingdom.

While the Ottomans were still formidable in the Balkans, and they were actively seeking to invade the continent again, Wallachia was rapidly gaining strength.

However, Sofia's "peaceful life" was disrupted by the arrival of an envoy from Italy.

At the court of Bucharest, the relationship between the Wallachian nobility and the Greeks, although not yet to the point of-for-tat, was by no means harmonious.

So when the Grand Duke summoned his ministers to discuss a decision that might have been crucial for Wallachia, the Imperial Council immediately turned into a fiery controversy.

After the two sides expressed their respective views, they immediately launched an attack on each other without giving an inch.

Sophia listened silently, she remembered Alexander's instructions, so she wouldn't reveal her thoughts until the end, but the patience of the people seemed to be exhausted by the never-ending bickering and accusations of each other.

Finally, Sophia struck the table with the scepter in her hand, which was much heavier than any other monarch could have been, and when she heard a muffled "thud", the ministers immediately stopped arguing and looked at their archduke.

Sophia looked down at the map spread out on the table, which was much more accurate than many maps, and she quickly found what she was looking for.

Her hand began to draw lightly on the map, and then her fingers suddenly poked hard in one place.

There was another "bang" on the table, and everyone's eyes couldn't help but fall on the place where the Grand Duke's finger pointed.

The faces of the people varied, but they all noticed that Sophia looked at the place with a smug or mischievous smile.

For a while, everyone's hearts couldn't help but flash the thought of "His Royal Highness the Grand Duke is going to make trouble again".

In a corner of the palace, the envoy from Naples hid in his room in a proper manner, and he had been reminded by Tsusa before he came, so he knew that the Grand Duchess and his queen did not get along very well, and it was said that the Grand Duchess had not been able to become the Duchess of Rome Thesia because of her bad temper, which made the secret envoy more cautious, because as far as he knew that the Queen had a good relationship with the Duchess, which made him worry that he might be beheaded by the Grand Duchess of Wallachia because of this.

Sophia's sudden arrival made the envoy immediately stand up respectfully, and at the same time his eyes looked at the people who were with the Grand Duchess, and he knew that for some inconvenient reason, he could only deal directly with them.

"Your Highness wants to know what you can offer us?"

Upon hearing this inquiry, the messenger immediately told him all the conditions that he had prepared for him, and even though he already knew these things, he was still shocked when he said them from his own mouth.

And she knew that this was only part of the conditions put forward by the queen, which made even the messenger himself a little doubtful about how much such conditions were true.

And he saw the same question in the eyes of the Wallachian ministers, and just when he began to worry that the mission might fail because of these unreliable conditions, Sophia suddenly nodded solemnly.

Sophia's action immediately attracted everyone's attention, and both eyes were focused on her, waiting for an important decision.

Sophia waved her hand to the people who came with her, and immediately someone spread out the map she had brought, and then she motioned for the messenger to look at some of the markings on it.

Looking at the ugly signs with barely recognizable handwriting, the messenger gradually understood what Sophia wanted him to see, which surprised him at first, and then looked at the archduchess in front of him in surprise.

The messenger believed that he had not revealed any details of the negotiations beforehand, but the signs on the map clearly proved that the conditions to be put forward by the Grand Duchess were very similar to the other promises of the queen that he had not yet revealed, and the obvious markings covering Crete spoke for themselves.

"You want Crete?" The envoy asked tentatively, but he was not sure that Sophia really wanted Crete, after all, now that the entire eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea was almost completely occupied by the Ottoman navy, he could not imagine how the archduchess could whimsically hope to occupy Crete.

However, Sophia's serious nodding made him quickly realize that he had guessed correctly, and to his surprise, before she came, she had told her that if Sophia was not satisfied with her terms, she could promise to give up Crete in exchange.

The envoy did not have time to express his feelings for the two female monarchs to be so "heart-to-heart", and he immediately carefully bargained with the female archduke.

The envoy soon discovered that the Grand Duchess's ideas were sometimes really confusing, and that the purpose of the negotiations she revealed to be to claim Crete was only to give herself a palace in Crete that she could settle down at any time, and although the envoy did not want to believe that this was the truth, Sophia insisted that she must have this privilege on that island.

As for the rest, she threw everything directly to the ministers around her, and even after a while she began to look impatient, and then simply left the room with the waitress.

"The trade alliance has to make sure we have safe passage at sea."

"Wallachia needs to make sure that the troops it sends are sufficient to make a difference."

"The time left for us is too hasty, and it will definitely cost a lot more than usual to prepare for it, and you have to pay for it."

"Then you must ensure that you can send troops on time, and there must be no delay."

Both sides were arguing about how much they could get even a little advantage for themselves, but Sophia had already left the palace in a carriage.

Her destination was the New Army barracks, built in the wetlands outside the city.

According to Alexander's suggestion, Sophia gradually carried out the alternation of the old and new armies in Wallachia, and if the musket gradually became an important weapon of the army was a characteristic of the difference between the old and new armies, then establishing Sophia's four-cornered cross flag as the only military flag became another important symbol to distinguish the new army from the old Wallachian nobility.

So when she saw the flag fluttering over the barracks from a distance, Sophia laughed at once, and her joy of not hiding her emotions at all immediately infected the people around her, and people knew that the Grand Duchess should be happy now.

Negotiations in the palace continued, and Sophia was already eager for her army to get ready.

After all, there was so much to prepare for a long expedition at sea, and perhaps they wouldn't have been fully prepared before 1502.

On the shooting range, Sophia watched those horses running back and forth, shooting at distant targets with the short horse guns in her hands from time to time, and then immediately brandishing their sabers to slash the dragoons in the past, and the corners of her mouth curled proudly.

She was eager to show the always commanding Jasha at once how strong her dragoons were, but she wondered if the army she had built at great expense would be able to stand up to the enemy she was about to face.

However, these worries did not affect her good mood, although the shooting range was constantly shooting, shouting and killing one after another, but Sophia's mind had already flown to a distant place.

No one knew that at this time, Sophia was shouting in her heart: "Alexander, I'm finally coming back!" ”

In November 1501, the trade league fleet, led by the Neapolitan navy, suddenly announced the military punishment of Sicily on the grounds of "hostility caused by unfair trade attitudes".

On the 19th, the coalition fleet crossed the lighthouse on the Lipari Islands, which marked the division of the two Sicilies, and headed for Sicily.

On the 20th, the coalition fleet arrived in Palermo and immediately landed to attack the coastal city.

On the 21st, a number of local nobles in the city of Palermo revolted, and they suddenly attacked the Aragonese army defending the city, and then let the alliance enter the port.

The city of Palermo fell.

It had been a week since Ferdinand got the news, which made him angry and pinned his hopes on the Aragonese fleet, which was fighting bandits in the Mediterranean.

At this moment, Sophia, the Grand Duchess of Wallachia, who was far away in the Balkans, suddenly announced that at the request of the Trade Union, an expeditionary force would be sent to Sicily.

In the east, a long-simmering uprising finally broke out on the eastern border of the Ottoman Empire.

It was at such a time that the year 1501 ushered in its last month.

Nine Heavenly God Emperors