In the year 1499, many great things are happening and about to happen, and people far away in the interior of Europe have been fascinated by the smoke of the war between religion and foreign invasions, so they will not know that in some corner of the world, there is a Portuguese man returning home with his fleet in the wind and waves, and many people are not optimistic about his voyage before leaving Portugal, and some even think that he will die on the dangerous sea. But now this man is returning with a load of countless treasures brought back from the Far East.

And in a house in Lisbon, a businessman from Barearic has been waiting for a long time, since he came to Lisbon almost half a year ago, this person has been moving around the Portuguese court, no one knows what this person has done except for business, but many people do know that this businessman from Castile has a good relationship with the famous Gamma family.

Likewise, no one will know that while southern Europe is facing the threat of the Ottoman armies, another storm is brewing in the mountains of Western Europe, which is a storm that has not shaken any country, but has really shaken many countries.

On February 26, 1499, in a remote village in Switzerland, a group of French men fought a battle with the army of the governor sent by Emperor Maximian to shelter a group of local squires who were opposed to the Holy Roman Empire.

It was originally a seemingly inconspicuous conflict, because there were many conflicts and frictions between the emperor and the French king, so although the battle had casualties, neither the French, nor the emperor's governor, nor the local squires who caused the conflict took the battle as a big deal.

No one could have imagined that such a small conflict would soon lead to a real trouble, which began to become serious in April, and the forces and numbers of the two sides or even several parties involved in the conflict increased, and finally one day in mid-April, in Schwadello, Switzerland, Schwabian, who supported Emperor Maximian, and the army of the Swiss Confederation, which had long wanted to completely free himself from the shackles of the empire, had a large-scale battle.

As a result of the battle, the Swabian army was completely defeated in less than two hours under the onslaught of the Swiss, and the Swabians, who suffered heavy casualties, fled the battlefield without even taking all the wounded soldiers away, so much so that until a long time later, there was a satirical comedy among the Swiss folk about a Swabian wearing a woman's clothes and twisting his ass and fleeing in a panic.

Emperor Maximian was completely shaken by this battle, and he sensed the urgency of the situation, and felt that if he could not quickly suppress the increasingly arrogant Swiss, then he, the Holy Roman Emperor, would be discredited in the eyes of the German princes, and although he still wore the title of Emperor, the Holy Roman Empire could become neither holy nor Roman, let alone an empire that was not seen at all.

So Emperor Maximian decided to teach the Swiss barbarians a lesson, and if possible he hoped to help his son, the pretty Philip, to solve the troubles of the Netherlands, which seemed to have been in a series of troubles since the ship blocked the port of Amsterdam the year before, and the prosperity of another small fishing village called Rotterdam seemed to make things worse.

It's just that the fishing village has the support of a prestigious old family in the Netherlands, and more importantly, it seems that there is a shadow of the Hanseatic League behind it.

The Emperor seemed to smell some kind of conspiracy, which made Maximian a little uneasy, and he was worried about whether his son would be able to properly manage his relations with the cunning northern merchants' guilds, so he decided to take advantage of the suppression of the Swiss to help Philip solve the immediate problem as soon as possible, because as far as he knew, it seemed that the health of Prince Juan, the only son of the Queen of Castile, was deteriorating.

If something happens to Prince Juan, then Philip's wife, the prince's sister Juana, will be the only heir to the two kingdoms.

This means that the grandson of Emperor Maximian may become the future king of these two kingdoms.

Maximian hoped that his son and his wife should wait for the last news in Castile instead of pestering the northern merchants in the swamps of the Netherlands, so the emperor decided to take matters into his own hands and do both things together.

The year 1499 was so disturbing from the beginning, but it was the Ottoman invasion that really caught the attention of the entire continent.

In April, the Ottoman fleet suddenly bypassed Crete, which was still largely controlled by the Venetians, and marched west across the middle line of the Mediterranean, directly threatening the Venetian colonies in the Mediterranean, a move that immediately shook the Venetians.

The Venetian consuls passed several decrees to increase taxes and expand armaments with almost unprecedented speed, and the Venetian merchants, apparently aware of the great threat posed by the Ottomans, generously donated money and went from place to place, even volunteering to convert merchant ships into makeshift warships to join the Venetian navy.

The Venetians are ready to face the invasion from the sea.

The actions of the Ottomans also frightened Rome and the Vatican, and many people had previously scoffed at Alexander's remarks that the Ottomans might come across the sea and directly threaten the Vatican, but now the whole city of Rome is panicked and cannot live all day.

The price of grain has risen, the price of gold has risen, and the price of copper is constantly refreshing the price list in people's minds every day.

The Bourse in Rome was full of people, and Ashulk's house was full of friends, some of whom came and went to inquire about news, and some of whom wanted to get acquainted with the celebrity in front of the sultan first.

Maybe it won't be long before everyone will have to rely on this vizier lord to keep everything they have, even their heads.

There were so many people who thought this way, so much so that Ashulk wrote proudly in his letter to his brother: "It was probably the most beautiful day of my life, even when I was around the Sultan, and everyone was flattering me, so that I was almost a little fluttery, so that I prayed five times a day that our fleet would win enough victories as soon as possible, so that my days in Rome would be more comfortable, and as for the copper I mentioned to you, I don't think that friend of mine has ever made it, or we'd probably be buried with gold by now. ”

The letter was delivered in early May at the beginning of May, and Prato had left Zagreb to find the Croatian Darius.

Elope waited patiently for news from Helva, he knew that Herva could not trust him so easily, so he was not in a hurry.

And he also knew that it was not him who could really make Helva decide, but the battle in Bucharest.

Elder was a little curious when he thought of the battle in Bucharest, for he had already heard of the rumors of the Count of Montina openly challenging the Sultan, and because of the descriptions of those present at the time, he knew much more about them than had been circulated among the people.

When he heard that the Count of Montina had openly declared himself the one who could stop the Sultan, Ellup was a little sluggish, and he began to wonder if Ashulk had lost his mind, or he was originally a madman, and in Elup's opinion, the latter was more likely, because he thought he could stop the Sultan!

Even the Ashulk brothers, it's just because as Bayezid II gets old, they need to think more about themselves, after all, the two sons of the Sultan are not good people, no matter which of them becomes the future Sultan, maybe others still have the opportunity to be reused by the new Sultan, but as the two brothers of Bayezid II's favorite, it is already a miracle that they can save their heads.

And judging from the Sultan's precaution against his two sons, it is not possible that the two princes will take the throne in the most extreme way, and that things may get worse at that time.

But even so, their brother still believed that no one could stop the Sultan's ambitions, especially his plan to completely control the entire Balkans, and now it seems that almost everything is developing according to the Sultan's previous arrangement, but this is inevitably a little unfavorable to their brothers' previous calculations.

Therefore, Ilup was no less concerned about the progress of the war in Bucharest than Helva, so he sent people to inquire about the news from the front line, hoping to grasp all the changes that happened on the front line as soon as possible.

"I hope that Count Montina doesn't just pay lip service," Elope snorted, and although reason told him not to expect much from that man, it would be good news for them if the Sultan did manage to capture Bucharest and then take advantage of the situation to invade Hungary.

Copper mines in Hungary......

Thinking of this, Elop's mood became hot again.

Many people may not know what the huge rewards of owning a large copper mine will be, but Elope knows that it is a wealth that will satisfy even the most greedy people.

As for if he can rely on the control of a larger copper mining right, and then influence and control the entire European copper price market, as long as he thinks about it, he will tremble with excitement.

And that's not all.

Crete, just thinking of that place, Elop was thrilled.

Among the many condiments, sugar was the first to be accepted, and its aftertaste for the taste buds was remembered long before civilization was recorded.

Sugar was a luxury in Europe, and although the lack of land for growing sugar plants and the scarcity caused by the huge demand, although it was not as expensive as gold as pepper, the almost obsessive pursuit of sugar by both the aristocracy and the common people made sugar one of the most sought-after and expensive commodities on the European continent.

Some aristocrats once boasted of having enough beehives to make honey, while commoners simply regarded owning a few jars of sugar beet syrup as a symbol of wealth.

Crete is home to the largest sugar cane plantation in Europe.

It was a place that would supply almost all of Europe with fine desserts and arouse the appetite for food, and it could be said that if the plantations of Crete were to suffer a natural disaster and the harvest failed, everything from the pope's table to the ordinary farmer's rice bowl would be tasteless.

Behind that sweet taste was an incredibly vast fortune, a figure large enough for Ashulk to do everything in his power to influence the Sultan's decisions for his own gain.

Despite knowing that patience should be met, Eleup was secretly anxious that he had not heard from Helva.

The news from Bucharest made him secretly annoyed, and during this time of waiting, Elup finally learned that in the long poem of the ancient poet Sufman, "a long wait will make life wither".

But he was not waiting for a lover, but for news from an enemy.

The Kulash brothers were also waiting, having done their best to inquire about the Count of Montina, but when they thought that everything was almost done, another news about Alexander made them decide to postpone their return to the camp for two more days

The Patriarch of Bucharest, in the name of the First Patriarch outside the five Orthodox Patriarchates, declares his approval and blessing of a marriage contract.

And the wonderful thing about this marriage contract is that the parties are married in a pagan form.

According to one of the parties, the marriage was the result of a thrilling escape, and on the way from Crete to Europe, the princess had to hide herself as a gypsy in order to escape the Ottomans, and it was at that time that the marriage had to be concluded in a pagan way in order to escape them.

When the news spread, there was an uproar in Bucharest, and although the Ottoman army outside the city resumed the siege after only a one-day truce, the Bucharest people still engaged in a heated debate with unprecedented enthusiasm.

The topic of debate is whether such a marriage contract is doctrinal and whether it can be blessed.

Many people have joined this heated debate for a variety of reasons and purposes, citing scriptures that insist on or against the doctrinal validity of the marriage, and even more so about whether the marriage can be blessed.

On the contrary, the two parties involved in this matter quieted down after the news got out, and no one even saw them for two days in a row.

This naturally led to speculation, one of which was first circulated among the Greeks and then throughout Bucharest, that Ladislas II was dissatisfied and even angry at the marriage, because it meant that his influence on Sophia would be greatly diminished, for which he sternly questioned the legitimacy of the marriage, and even put their princess under house arrest under the pretext of protecting Sophia from rumors.

As soon as this rumor came out, it spread through the city at an alarming rate, and then Bucharest was plunged into all kinds of speculation and unease.

The terrible destructive power of such a rumor was well known, as could only be seen in the agitation of the Greeks in the city, and the other nobles were worried about the truth of the rumor, fearing that if Ladislas II did, it would likely lead to fierce discord and even division within the alliance.

Ladislas II was equally annoyed by the rumor, and he was indeed angry, or rather disgusted, at the engagement.

At this time, he couldn't help but think of what Prato said about Alexander's possible relationship between emperors, which made him regret why he had to arrange for Tsepes to rescue Dembvica when he arranged the troops, if he exchanged them, maybe it was Alexander who was now missing.

Ladislas II was worried that Alexander would use the marriage contract to make a big fuss and use Sophia's influence to contend with him, but he was also concerned about the attitude of the Patriarch of Bucharest, and the king did not think that the Patriarch would support such a controversial marriage contract for no reason, so it was clear that Alexander must have made a promise to the Patriarch that was enough to impress him.

There were many nobles who shared the king's like-mindedness, and they also feared that Alexander would use his relationship with Sophia to influence them, which led many of them to question the legitimacy of the marriage contract.

These doubts caused Sophia to fall from the joy of the beginning, and she was surprised to find that there were so many people who opposed her marriage to Alexander, and nothing could be more important to her.

Enraged, Sophia almost stormed into the arguing meeting with the huntsmen, but even though Alexander was dissuaded from doing so, she angrily told the nobles that she would take back the banner of the Palaiologos, and she declared that she would not appear in public in front of the people of Bucharest unless the marriage contract was legal.

Ladislas II certainly saw both of these decisions as alexander's instructions, which reinforced his belief that Alexander had great ambitions.

Ladislas II decided to resolutely resist the marriage, but it was at this time that he heard rumors circulating in the city about Sophia's possible house arrest.

The king immediately assumed that someone might have deliberately slandered him, and that man was undoubtedly Alexander.

This enraged Ladislas II, and when he began to seriously ponder whether the army had really been used to put Sofia under house arrest as the rumors had spread, another news from Hungary made him realize that the stalemate could no longer continue.

The Bosnian army marched rapidly into Hungary, and after barely encountering resistance and crossing the Maizik Mountains, the Bosnian army quickly approached the southern Hungarian town of Southburg.

Less than 120 fats north of Southburg is Bauderboch, Europe's largest copper mining district.

At this time, Ladislas II seemed to suddenly understand why Alexander had announced his marriage to Sophia at this time.

On May 5, in the Cathedral of Bucharest, the Patriarch of Bucharest, citing the canonical provisions of the doctrine, proclaimed the existence of a blessed marriage that was not recognized because it was contrary to the doctrine, but was also proclaimed through the canonical of the canon.

At this point, Alexander's two major goals in the Balkans seemed to be close at hand.