In March 1502, the temperatures of the spring, which had become noticeably warmer, gave Iberia a little more hope.

Although the harvest in the first year was not satisfactory and this year's spring planting was not optimistic, people are still looking forward to a good start.

As the largest city in Castile and in the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula, Seville is also becoming more and more lively.

The excellent waterways provide easy access to Seville, with rivers crisscrossing Seville from the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Mediterranean Sea to the south, bringing a steady stream of goods from the coastal cities to this southern Iberian transit point.

This made Seville, even in the heart of the war, the busiest place in the southwestern corner of the European continent.

But it is precisely because of this that Sevilla has also become a problem in Gonzalo's mind.

After Don Bavi turned his back on the negotiations and fled to the south, Gonzalo, who had been ordered to quell the rebellion, launched a fierce attack on the rebels of the Andalician nobility, centered on Seville.

In just half a month, the rebels took advantage of Gonzalo's departure from Andalusia to encounter a fierce blow, and the rebels in many places were ruthlessly attacked by the model army led by Gonzalo himself, and the rebels in some places had to be forced to abandon their strongholds and retreat to Seville, and some of the rebels who were lucky enough to rely on the strong fortress to retreat and resist could only rely on the high walls and walls to wait for the final destruction.

Gonzalo turned the tide in Andalusia almost overnight.

This pleased the Vallaaridot court, and even Ferdinand, who had a special taste for this result, had to write Gonzalo a handwritten letter of appreciation and thanks with mixed feelings.

In the letter, Ferdinand praised Gonzalo's masterful conducting skills and loyalty to the queen, and in order to show his trust and appreciation for Gonzalo, he called Gonzalo "Juana's other father" and wrote: "Your loyalty was admirable in the days of the first queens, and I believe that you have also brought this loyalty to the present queen, and this loyalty will make the House of Córdoba a model for generations to be the nobles of the kingdom." ”

Such an obvious hint from a king was enough to make many people mad with envy, and in the eyes of those people, Ferdinand was undoubtedly making a public guarantee that the pre-eminence of the House of Córdoba would not be shaken, at least for the reign of the monarch or two that could be seen.

However, after the letter was delivered to Gonzalo, it is said that the commander-in-chief simply smiled disapprovingly and stuffed it into a drawer.

When this result was reported back to Badialydod, Ferdinand, though he said nothing, according to some insiders, the king immediately left a party to which he was attending with an ugly face, and then did not see anyone for a long time.

Gonzalo apparently sent a clear signal to Ferdinand and everyone with this unreasonable gesture bordering on contempt that the glory of the House of Córdoba did not need to be guaranteed from anyone.

This is indeed an arrogant move, but compared to his arrogant attitude in the past, which does not take anyone seriously at all, this time it is actually not too excessive.

But Ferdinand apparently didn't think so.

In Ferdinand's view, the more powerful the model army Gonzalo had, the more potentially threatening it became.

Even after Isabella's death, the Model Army, which had been ordered to be stationed not far from Barriaridud, had already shown this threat to the court.

This is also the reason why Ferdinand tried to tolerate Gonzalo despite his domineering appearance, after all, no one knows if Gonzalo's cronies, who are not far from Barriaridud, will make any unexpected moves.

In addition to being annoyed by Gonzalo's ignorance, Ferdinand was even more annoyed by Isabella's favor for this man.

It was her unbridled favor that made Gonzalo develop such an unruly attitude, and sometimes Ferdinand even wondered if there was some ulterior relationship between the two.

Although this idea was somewhat out of anger, it can also be seen that Ferdinand did not have much to do about Gonzalo today.

He could not transfer this man back from the front, let alone remove him from his post at will, because the previous war in Andalusia had proved that even if there was a well-trained model army, it would not be able to exert its actual power without Gonzalo, the commander of the army.

Perhaps this will gradually change in the next few years, and as they become more familiar with the characteristics of these new armies, more and more generals will become adept at commanding them.

But for now, at least, the only one who can truly exert the power of the exemplary army is Gonzalo.

This fact frustrated Ferdinand, who felt that he had been blackmailed by Gonzalo, but when he showed such obvious goodwill to take the initiative to improve the bad relations between the two parties, Gonzalo responded with such obvious contempt that Ferdinand had to leave the party immediately, or he might have made some kind of gaffe in public because he could not control his anger.

But even so, Gonzalo's indifference to Ferdinand made the King of Aragon embarrassed in public and became a well-known joke in Valialedot, and many Barriarides regarded Gonzalo as a hero who was not afraid of power in their minds, and some people spread the words that he mocked Ferdinand in public as "the king of a small country", and for a time the title of "king of a small country" became synonymous with Ferdinand.

It was at this time that the Sicilian emissaries arrived in Barriariddod.

The Sicilian emissaries, who were supposed to wait for news in Zaragoza, apparently did not want to waste their time, so when the Aragonese expressed their desire for them to remain in Zaragoza to wait for the king's reply, Elliot demanded that the king himself must be seen in person, citing the importance of the matter.

The court of Zaragoza had no choice but to send someone to lead them to Barriariddod.

Elliott moved quickly, and he arrived at Vallaridosto in a very short time with his well-armed diplomatic team, which was not much slower than even the messenger who had sent Ferdinand's credentials.

The slightly quirky atmosphere in the city of Barriarides quickly caught Elliott's attention, and he didn't even need to ask about what had happened lately, but if he looked closely, he would get a lot of useful news from the streets.

The strange relationship between the King of Aragon and the Castilian dignitaries was certainly no secret, so Elliot didn't pay much attention to it at first, but with a visit from one of them, Elliot changed his attitude.

Tiego and Elliott are also old friends, and the unpleasant first meeting with Thisha at sea changed Tiego's fate, which makes Tiergo feel quite embarrassed every time he recalls, and he has thought more than once about what he would be like now if he had not been robbed by the ship led by Thisa, or because he was cautious and timid to refuse the invitation of the brother and sister.

"In that case, I would still be just a small businessman in Bareari, running around all day to support my family, and I would be overjoyed to earn a few hundred florins a year, and certainly not have the opportunity to meet the honorable Duchess of Luna."

Sitting in the house arranged by the Castilian envoys, Tiego said with a little emotion, and when he saw Elliott nodding slightly as if he seemed to empathize, he continued: "Even if we are all like us, the Duke's brothers and sisters have changed the fate of too many of us, and sometimes I even wonder what would happen to us without them, or if they failed. ”

The muscles on Elliott's cheeks twitched imperceptibly, and he glanced at Tiego vigilantly, Elliott knew very well that as the earliest member of the Trade Federation, Taranto had been deeply entangled with the Trade Federation.

In the early years, Taranto had to take advantage of the favorable terrain at the mouth of the Adriatic Sea to coerce Venice into providing him with sufficient help and support, and after becoming a member of the Trade Alliance, Taranto's role became even more important.

Taranto now had to curb the Venetians' ties to the Mediterranean, so much so that they had to comply with the interests of the trade alliance as much as possible, and at the same time monitor the movements of the Ottomans from the eastern Mediterranean to prevent the Ottoman navy from penetrating deep into the western Mediterranean.

Especially after Venice's defeat in the Mediterranean, Taranto had to rely on the protection of the trade alliance against a possible invasion by the Ottomans.

It is for this reason that Count Horsen unreservedly supports Josa, because in the old Earl's opinion, as long as the trade alliance remains strong, Taranto's security is as solid as a rock.

Now that Thiego had suddenly said such a thing, Elliot had become much more cautious, though he knew that the man seemed to be close to the brother and sister of the Duke of Thesia.

"We have a strong alliance with Her Majesty," Elliott felt she should make something clear, "As a trusted messenger of the Queen, I also have an obligation to safeguard Her Majesty's interests. ”

Tiego nodded in relief, and he moved his chair closer to Elliott before lowering his voice and saying, "Since we are all in the interests of the Queen and the Duke, I think we need to be more open with each other. ”

Elliot looked at Tiego suspiciously, and he could roughly guess that this person might have a deeper relationship with the Alexander siblings, but he couldn't figure out for a moment what else needed them to be "more honest with each other."

"You're from Sicily, I think you can make something more interesting," Tiego said, leaning forward again, "I have a friend who could have helped you with your mission, but unfortunately he has just left Barriedot, and I'm talking about Don Maklosbein, the private treasurer of the royal family, who is now on his way to Lisbon to negotiate. ”

Elliott's words were delighted and then disappointed, and though he felt that the merchant seemed to be teasing him, he listened patiently.

Sure enough, Tiego continued: "But fortunately, the treasurer has some friends, who are also in high positions in the Castilian court and can help you. ”

"So what do I have to give?" Elliot asked cautiously.

"You don't need to do anything specific, just make small talk with those people, it's enough that you're from Sicily, and you're the heir to the Count of Taranto, which is all the better, because you don't seem to have anything to do with it."

"You're going to let me spread rumors?" Elliott immediately guessed the purpose of the merchant in front of him, he was a little annoyed and felt as if he had been insulted, but looking at Tiego's smiling expression, he slowly calmed down again, "This matter has something to do with the queen?" ”

"It's about the Duke, to be exact, but you should know that the Queen and the Duke are family, uh, I mean they have a good relationship between brother and sister...... In short, their interests are the same, so you know, I believe that the Queen would support our cooperation if she knew. Tiego said as he took out a handkerchief slazoned with perfumes now popular in Iberia and wiped the sweat from the March sun on his forehead.

Elliot looked at the merchant who seemed to be a little uncomfortable a little strangely, and although he felt that his appearance suddenly became strange, he recognized his words.

No one denies that the brother and sister are the soul of the Trade Alliance, they first used gold, and then used sword and fire to lead the Trade Union to set off a monstrous wave in the Mediterranean, and now the Trade Union is like a crazy and unstoppable giant stretching out its tentacles in all directions, and some people even worry that if they stop here, the Trade Alliance will hurt itself because of this expansion.

Therefore, Wallachia, as an important stronghold of the trade alliance in eastern Europe, even proposed to Aragon the opening of the Strait of Gibraltar by virtue of the victory in Sicily, in order to be able to connect with the coastal ports of both northern and western Europe in the future, so as to be able to march further to the east.

Elliot sometimes wondered whimsically whether the Trade Alliance would challenge the mighty Ottoman Empire for the sake of great profit if it could no longer expand, and what the Trade Alliance would look like at that time.

But these are too far away, Elliot shook his head secretly, he looked at Tiego and licked his lips and said: "I am a nobleman, and I am a sincere knight who swears to God all my life, I cannot tolerate lies, let alone deliberately create lies myself, this is a despicable act. ”

Tyego immediately showed a look of disappointment on his face, and he shook his head helplessly, as if a little frustrated, but he didn't move, and still sat there looking at Elliott.

"But ......"

Sure enough, there was one, Thiegor thought to himself, but his body leaned forward.

"If it's about the Queen and the Duke, it's about the entire Trade Union, and it's so important to all of us, I think God will forgive me," Elliott said and asked Tiego, "so what do you want me to do?" ”

Elliot from Taranto was an elegant nobleman, and he became good friends with some of the nobles of Vallaredot almost quickly.

He told them about Italy, describing the artistic atmosphere of Florence, the pleasures of Venice, Genoa and Naples, and the bustle of Milan and the extravagance of Rome, which fascinated the young nobleman with the Iberian "buns".

Soon Elliott became a guest in the homes of some Castilian dignitaries, and in his dealings with the Italian guests, the Castilian people soon heard rumors about Sicily, Venice, and Crete.

It is said that Gonzalo Córdoba was originally referred to as the "Belisarius of modernity".

Hearing this, Ferdinand only sneered.

But when he then heard that the man had been called "Elagabalus of Castile," Ferdinand fell into deep thought.

Eragabalus was a general, commander and hero of the ancient Roman Empire, and the Romans worshipped this general madly.

But these were not the things that worried Ferdinand, he was worried about the future.

Later, Eragabalus usurped the throne of Roman Emperor.