As soon as the news of Manuel's second summoning of da Gama broke, many of the Lisbon nobles immediately heard about it, and they crowded into the office that was not very lenient, and this time it was they themselves who came instead of servants or brokers who delivered the letter for them, so that the whole office was full of "Yes, sir" and "sorry, sir" responses.

Among these nobles, Eriodor Don Antonio enjoyed the enviable privilege of others, and as soon as he arrived at the place, he was greeted into the room at the back of the office by Fernando da Gama, who had been waiting at the door, and the others could only endure a little in the office.

Don Antonio was not a tall man, but he was sharp-eyed and sharp, and the descendants of this illustrious family had worked in the nautical office established by Prince Enrique for nearly 30 years, so he knew everything about the nautical office more than anyone else.

Although Don Antonio himself did not make any major expeditions, in his early years he led many fleets to and from many ports on the Mediterranean and North Sea coasts, and he also visited the farthest islands in the Atlantic Ocean that were previously accessible to Europeans.

Don Antonio had met Alexander a few times before, but all of them were in the court, and this was the first time he had met him alone, and to Alexander's slight surprise, Don Antonio was a rough and straightforward person, and after only exchanging two greetings, he immediately went straight to the point, without the bad habit of other nobles who had to ramble or talk about it before opening the topic.

"All I can offer you is here," Don Antonio said, placing a prepared document on the table, "and this is my investment in the West India Company, and I can also select for you a group of experienced sailors, all of whom are of good character, and I can guarantee that they are all reliable, at least not to mutiniate over the slightest petty." ”

Alexander nodded, of course he knew how important it was to have a group of skilled and reliable sailors, and that was why he valued Don Antonio so much, because the nautical office would be of great use in Alexander's plans in the future.

"Since the king is tempted, he will pay for us," Don Antonio continued, "I don't know exactly how long you will need to sail this time, so I suggest that you should consider the possibility of getting lost, in addition to all kinds of supplies, so you should take at least two priests with you, in case you ...... I mean, in case something happens to one of them, and you get lost, a priest is more likely to settle the sailors in that difficult situation than a noose. ”

Speaking of this, the chief of the navigation office looked at the map on the table and let out a sigh of embarrassment, and then he looked at Alexander with excited eyes: "Duke, please tell me, is the conjecture you are talking about, is it true, Amerigo Vespsy really thinks that it is a land that no one has ever discovered before?" ”

Alexander nodded slightly, he knew that Don Antonio must have heard about this from the king, but he didn't intend to keep it a secret, this kind of thing couldn't be kept a secret in the first place, so when he decided to provoke Manuel to reveal it to him, he was ready to make this huge discovery public, only this time there was probably nothing to do with Amerigo Vespoussy.

"Vespsie did come up with such an idea, but he was not very sure, but it was James Columbus, who was next to me, who thought it was not a hypothesis but a fact, and that he was on his way to Castile, probably to get more evidence from his brother Christopher Columbus."

"Wait a minute, Duke, do you mean that James Columbus went to Castile?" Don Antonio's expression changed like Manuel's, "Duke, I think you must know very well what this discovery means, although it may only be a business for you, but it is very important for our country, if it is really a large land that has never been discovered, it means the right of occupation, so I hope to meet that James Columbus as soon as possible, and I am a little worried that he will reveal this news to his brother, or rather the Castilian, Of course, I know that you have no intention of getting involved in such a dispute, but I cannot help but be responsible for my king. ”

Looking at Don Antonio's grim expression, Alexander smiled in his heart, he knew that the first step to provoke an Iberian conflict that would create many opportunities for him had finally worked, Don Antonio's prestige was enough to make Manuel wary, and he would influence many people to exert greater influence on the king.

"Rest assured, I've sent a message to James to return as soon as possible, but as far as I know, his brother, Big Brother Lumbus, seems to be in some trouble right now, and Queen Isabella has sent someone to arrest him and escort him back from the colony, I wonder if this will help you or the king?"

Don Antonio was a little puzzled at first, then seemed to understand, and then looked at Alexander excitedly: "Duke, you mean that this may be a good opportunity for Christopher Columbus to serve us?" ”

"At least if he can be gratefully given some help at this time," Alexander nodded affirmatively, "you know that if that land is as it is suspected, perhaps what awaits us is a great wealth that we could not have imagined before, and that wealth is so great that any royal family in Europe would be jealous, and all of this must have a share in all of us." ”

Alexander stretched out his hands and gestured to Don Antonio to indicate the room where the men were, the West India Company, which had been established from the beginning to open up new routes to the Atlantic, as Alexander said, the existence of that new land meant the future of the new West India Company, and even more thoroughly, even if it was not a new world, and the sparkling gold, brilliant gems, and expensive pepper that Columbus had brought back could also be guessed as rich. And how could such a huge temptation be easily abandoned.

Don Antonio seemed to hesitate slightly, but it was only a subtle moment before he made his decision.

It doesn't matter whether that land is really the New World at this time, what matters is that there is enough wealth to make people covet, if the new route discovered by da Gama was financed by the king from the beginning and most of the proceeds belonged to the Portuguese royal family, then the route to the western Atlantic was dominated by the West India Company, then even if he had to give a part of the benefits to the king because the occupation required Manuel's name, because the investment came from the West India Company, So from the beginning, it had a completely different meaning from the new route to Vasco da Gama.

One is that the sole grant can only work for others, and the other is that the two parties cooperate to get what they need.

That is, at least theoretically, the West India Company and Manuel were equal in the "distribution of property" in that land.

This means unimaginably large amounts of wealth!

"I have asked to see the king when I have returned, and I think your assumption is correct duke, and that there is indeed a new land that has not yet been discovered."

Don Antonio replied in the affirmative, and then he and Alexander smiled meaningfully almost at the same time.

Manuel I suddenly felt energetic and motivated.

If the impetus that had sustained his expedition to the East was to let the whole of Europe know that Portugal had faith and military power that was not inferior to its powerful neighbor, now that he had met Alexander and Vasco da Gama, he seemed to have opened a door to a new world, and then discovered the true self that had been hidden in his heart.

He found that he also had worldly ambitions, and instead of only wanting to contend with the powerful couple through a contest of faith, he also hoped to directly confront his powerful neighbors by expanding his territory, and now it seemed that there was such a perfect opportunity in front of him.

Don Antonio's arrival made Manuel even more determined, and he repeatedly asked his trusted adviser on maritime affairs about the success of the expedition, and whether it might prove to be a new land without an owner, and whether it was worth the huge amount of money and resources to explore, and when Don Antonio replied in the near affirmative, Manuel was so excited that he rushed into the small prayer room next to him, and he knelt in front of the statue of the Virgin and made a choked sound, It took a while before he came out wiping his tears.

"This is a miracle, my dear Don Antonio, this is a miracle, the others are so helpless, I don't mean they are not, but this one is more like a real miracle." Manuel said incoherently that he knew there was no need to hide anything in front of people he trusted, and that Maria's enthusiasm for learning from her mother had already caused many Portuguese nobles to be dissatisfied.

But Don Antonio was very clever not to take the stubble, all he cared about now was to get the king's support as soon as possible, Alexander was right, one thing is certain, whether it is a new world or not, everything there has a share of them.

The king was so excited, that he brought it directly into the bedroom, much to Maria's surprise, for she knew that Manuel had not been so in such a high mood for a long time, and that in her experience, what would please Manuel was not always pleasing to her.

So she sent someone out to inquire, and then she quickly got an answer.

"The king summoned da Gama again? I thought he had fallen out of favor, "Maria was a little strange, it was a little strange to summon Vasco da Gama again at this time just after the fleet under Cabral had just left" So what did they say? ”

"The king seems to want to open up a new route," replied the attendant cautiously, and Maria sometimes seemed a little nervous, which would have seemed somewhat similar to her sister to those who were familiar with their family, "it was a route to the western Atlantic. ”

Maria's hand that was combing her hair with a comb stopped, and she seemed to look at the retinue standing behind her in disbelief: "Did you hear it right, the king wants da Gama to go to the new colony?" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, a lot of people are talking about this now, and people are saying that maybe the new colony is big enough for more people to get rich."

Maria's face slowly sank, she turned her head to look at herself in the mirror, and after a few moments she suddenly slammed her ivory comb on the mirror.

With a "snap", the ivory comb broke in two.

Manuel was indeed too excited, he felt that maybe he really had received God's gift, as long as he thought that the crown, which was basically related to him, accidentally fell on his head because of the heir of the orthodox royal lineage, he always thought that this was the result of God's hand-picking, and now he heard the news about the new colony, and just after he missed a Columbus, it seemed that God had appeared again and sent him a second Columbus, which made him think that there was no more obvious evidence than this, It proves that he is the one who has received God's grace.

So Manuel couldn't wait to meet da Gama again two days later, and this time he officially told the explorer that he had decided to consider him as a sea commander to explore new routes in the western Atlantic.

Although summoned individually, the conversation between the king and da Gama soon spread like wind through the Portuguese aristocracy.

This made the West India Company even more popular, with the aristocrats scrambling to shove copies of the concessions into Fernando da Gama's hands, while the merchants tried their best to get information about the new colonies from their fellow companies, and then wondered how to get on the ship that seemed to make a fortune.

Fernando da Gama Sr. was indescribably pleased with what was happening before him, and he never imagined that the merchant who knocked on his door to visit him in bad weather would end up bringing about the changes he has in his family.

Although he was surprised that the merchant named Tiego had offered to use the sugar plantation shares in Crete as a bargaining chip to establish a relationship with da Gama's family, it was now too cost-effective for Tiego to be an investment.

The only thing the elder Fernando was worried about now was the queen.

From the day she got married, Queen Maria insisted that she was the link that kept Portugal and her mother country at peace.

In this respect, she is much more stubborn and responsible than her sister, but her attempts to implement the mother country approach in Portugal have attracted much resentment and criticism.

Now Manuel's attempt to sabotage the papal meridian ruling in order to gain the wealth of the new colony has led many to realize that it is likely to provoke a backlash from the queen.

Fernando was also wary that his nephew might fall victim to the king's conjugal struggle, as the queen was so protective of her mother country that she would not tolerate anything that would infringe on their interests.

If there was a dispute between the king and his wife, and Manuel finally chose to back down, as he had done in the past, da Gama would undoubtedly be the most suitable sacrifice to mend the rift between the husband and wife.

Unfortunately, this kind of thing is likely to happen, and even if Manuel finally achieves his goal, he can still do it with da Gama's act of appeasing the queen's anger.

Fernando did not want to see such an outcome, and in his opinion, Vasco da Gama was the hope of their family, and it was up to him whether or not this seafaring family could take advantage of this opportunity to rise.

So after careful consideration, Fernando da Gama visited Alexandria.

Alexander did not guess the purpose of the old man's visit at first, so he could not help but be a little surprised to see him take out the letter of transfer of shares in the Cretan sugar plantation that Tiego had signed with him.

He even thought for a moment that Fernando was going to play the trick of crossing the river and tearing down the bridge, and was ready to get rid of him and go it alone, which made Alexander's mind turn several thoughts in an instant about how to make the old man regret it, and he believed that either method would make the uncle and nephew who did not know the current affairs suffer.

However, Fernando's words surprised Alexander to discover that this old man was really a kind elder, at least for his nephew, Fernando.

"Duke take these documents back, I don't need your money, at least not to sell my nephew's money," Fernando stroked the papers with his hand, and then he pushed the transfer letter forward and pushed it in front of Alexander, "I know what these things mean, and you must understand my care and love for Vasco, so I want to exchange this from you for your protection of Vasco." ”

"Protection?" Alexander vaguely understood Fernando's purpose, his fingers tapped lightly on the book of transfer, his eyes were full of interest and scrutiny, "What makes you think that your nephew needs protection, knowing that he is now a red man in front of the king." ”

"That's why I'm asking you," Fernando was a little agitated, he stood up and looked down at Alexander, a trace of burning anger leaping in his eyes, "please don't think of an old man for blind and deaf, although I don't know what you're trying to do, but I know that you are behind all this, and even before Vasco has returned from the East, and no one even knows if he will succeed, you sent that Tiego to my house, and now I think about it, I really regret taking your money." ”

"But it's because you took my money that the da Gama family is where it is now, isn't it?" Alexander's fingers slammed the table, making a muffled sound, "So what else do you have to complain about?" ”

"No, I'm not complaining, I just want you to help Vasco, Duke I don't know what you're going to do, but I want you to protect Vasco, and I'm sure you have that ability too," Fernando sat down slowly, "I don't want to see him become an outcast thrown by the king in order to curry favor with the queen, it would ruin him." ”

Alexander was silent, he did not answer immediately, but considered it carefully, and after a long time he looked up at Fernando and said, "I can't promise you anything right now, but I can tell you that I have a great interest in the new colony. So, if one day your nephew or your family thinks they can serve me, I will be happy. ”

Fernando smiled, but just as he stood up, Alexander pushed the offer in front of him.

"As for this, please take it back, trust me, it won't be long before you find out that you have absolutely peace of mind with this money."

Sending Fernando away, Alexander looked out the window at the street with his hands on his cheeks, pondering what was happening in Lisbon now, and he suddenly missed the Moors a little.