Alexander had been in Lisbon for the whole month of March, and there was so much he had to do, just the Portuguese aristocracy was already keeping him out.

Not everyone was optimistic about the sudden appearance of the Castilian prince, and many elderly Portuguese nobles had not forgotten the aftermath of the war with Spain.

Portugal fought a year-and-a-half-long war with the combined forces of Castiria and Aragon in support of Juana, but as a result, Juana was not only forced to give up the struggle for the throne of Castile, but Portugal was also forced to accept one and then two Spanish princesses as their queen.

The old Portuguese nobles obviously didn't want to see this happen again, so they were barely able to accept Manuel's dissolution of his marriage to Maria, and even they put up with the king's move to marry Juana, which had obviously angered Spain, but when Manoel publicly declared his support for the Duke of Rome, the Portuguese nobles finally couldn't sit still.

They all spoke to the king to dissuade Manoel from this almost madness, and the Portuguese neighbour seemed to be a behemoth, and the king seemed to be on the verge of death, and the end result was to completely anger the terrible enemy who was always looking for an opportunity to try to swallow Portugal.

So the Portuguese behaved very unkindly towards the Duke of Thesia in Rome, and even shortly after Alexander attended Manuel's welcoming ceremony at the castle of St. John, an assassination that was not very well planned took place.

As a result of this assassination, several Portuguese nobles were imprisoned, and it made those who were still watching realize that the king had made up his mind.

In fact, Manuel's decision was not due to "the obligation and mission of the orthodox succession to the throne of Castile", as he himself said, after all, if it is serious, George Mordillo Astamara was only an illegitimate child.

What really made him determined to fight Spain was the exciting news from the new colonies.

On November 14, 1502, an expedition led by Christopher Columbus again left for the new colony, but this time instead of moving around the familiar area of San Salvador, they began to sail southwest after identifying the sea not far from the new colony.

It was almost the last days of December, and the crew had received communion on board, and then had a sumptuous Christmas dinner, before they began to approach the shore.

Two days later they arrived at a new place, which was slightly cooler than the San Salvador they had discovered, but the sea was so strong that many people thought they might be doomed, and they began to pray to God for the final judgment, but then they miraculously broke through the wind and entered a rather peaceful sea.

According to the signs of the seagulls' flight, the explorers found that they seemed to be surrounded by a huge bay, because the seagulls did not only fly from the west, sometimes large and large groups of strange seabirds that had never been seen before would fly to their ship from all directions, some would use the boat as a floating island to rest temporarily, and some of the slightly stupid ones would be regarded as large dead sea fish, so those seabirds would swoop towards the hull, and the slender and sharp beaks would poke the hull deck "thump". Some of the troublemakers simply flew between the sails, and finally crashed into the sails and fell off the sails, which became a meal for the crew.

The sight was a great deal of excitement to the experienced sailors, and Columbus was at last secretly relieved, for the crew had been so angry about sailing north from that wonderful place in San Salvador, and if they hadn't found land that would have allowed them to dock soon, perhaps there would have been a riot on board.

At the beginning of January, in Columbus's new diary, he wrote, "It was a day to remember, and I saw a most beautiful coastline, with its curves like the graceful curves of a beautiful woman, and at last I was sure that the duke's conjecture was correct."

In the days that followed, Columbus became even more certain that it was indeed a rather vast bay, and that the area of this vast bay was unimaginably large, and even the Mediterranean Sea seemed to him to be no larger than here.

Columbus was vaguely heartened by the fact that all the natives he met here bore little resemblance to the descriptions of the natives of India brought to him by the Duke of Rome, which made him finally seriously consider the duke's whimsical and bold speculation.

A new land that had never been discovered before, the idea of a new land that had never been discovered before had to be a thought that kept Columbus awake at night.

And he knew that the news had to be brought back to Europe as soon as possible, because as far as he knew, the Duke was ready to send another expedition to sail west from the Azores, and not to divert the "Indies" he had discovered.

If he did not wish to give up the honor and fortune of discovering a new land, he must return to Europe as soon as possible, and then do his best to convince the Duke to once again support him in a more thorough exploration of the land.

On March 9, 1503, just three days after Alexandria entered Lisbon, a two-breasted caravel called Oluben staggered into the port of Cabo da Arabrata.

Despite their enthusiasm for ships from the new colonies, the people on board were clearly unlucky, they did not bring back much wealth, but rather the people on board were tired and some looked sick.

But these people seemed to be very excited, ignoring the 10-day quarantine imposed by the port authorities, and insisted on going ashore immediately, and when the port officials sent someone to forcibly drive them back to the ship, the captain of the ship cried out to "sue you to the king."

The return of the Oluburne did not get much attention at first, after all, all eyes were now on the Prince of Castile, his gorgeous costumes, the neat and powerful uniforms of the guards he led, and the legendary story of the prince himself and his life story have become the most fashionable topics in Lisbon today.

The only person who paid special attention to the arrival of the ship was Don Antonio, the director of the Maritime Office and the Minister of the Sea.

When he heard the news of the Oluben's docking, Don Antonio, who was talking to Alexandria at the time, did not care about etiquette at all and just said hello and left in a hurry, his hurried appearance at that time probably surprised the nobles who did not know what was happening, and some people even secretly speculated whether it was the Portuguese fleet that was at war with the Spaniards that had an accident.

Alexander was also concerned about this matter, and he immediately sent to the port, and when he heard that the Oluben had brought back a significant result of the expedition, Alexander was so excited that he couldn't help but clench his fists hard!

After a few years of business and a few years of hard work, everything has finally come to fruition!

At this moment, Alexander felt a sense of relaxation.

Even if he knew everything about the New World in advance, Alexander knew very well that without the backing of a powerful seafaring power, the existing resources of the Italians would not be able to support the feat of opening up the New World, not to mention the special geographical location of the Mediterranean, which doomed those countries imprisoned in it to be unable to compete with those seafaring powers bordering the Atlantic.

The Strait of Gibraltar is a dead choke on the throat of the Mediterranean countries going to the ocean, so in the coming era, those countries bordering the ocean will be able to grasp the initiative to open up a new continent.

This is the fundamental reason why he wants to sing the Castilian crown at all costs.

Now, although it was the Portuguese who first discovered the true value of the New World because of him, Alexander did not mind that this change did not mean much to him.

The Oluburn, the first to send back the news, brought back not much wealth, and their original mission was not to find gold, but the vast records they brought back about the land were truly priceless.

Then, two days later, a new expedition led by Columbus finally landed in Lisbon.

Columbus didn't really care about the fact that the duke had already told them not to return to Castile but to go to Portugal before they set off.

It was enough for him to discover a new piece of land and get paid a huge amount, and he didn't care who paid for it.

Although the arrival of the Columbus expedition has attracted a lot of attention, not many people really know the significance of their voyage, which lasted more than three months.

Manuel was excited, when the Oluburn arrived in Lisbon, he was already too excited to sleep, after two difficult days, with the arrival of the expedition, Manuel was even more excited when Columbus just came ashore, and he couldn't wait to summon him.

Listening to Columbus's report, Manuel seemed to see a whole new world, and he didn't expect that the Genoese who he had rejected before would finally make such an astonishing discovery with Isabella's support, which made him feel sorry for his original shallowness.

However, Manuel also knew that it was impossible to send two expeditions at the same time with the strength of Portugal, so it did not seem wrong to look for a new route to the east.

Moreover, the importance of the new route to the East was, at least for now, no less important than the discovery of the new colony, but now Manuel's heart was burning again.

Alexander's description of the mysterious land aroused Manuel's great interest, and according to Alexander, it was likely to be much larger than people now believe, which inevitably aroused Manuel's ambitions.

Alexander also summoned Columbus, who listened carefully to his report and read his diary repeatedly, and was able to confirm the new discoveries of the expedition and the location of their landing.

It was obviously the east coast of what would later be South America, and according to the more detailed descriptions in the nautical diary, Alexander felt that Columbus and the Spaniards actually came into contact with the South American continent nearly 10 years before the historical Spaniards.

This discovery is huge and far-reaching.

Although the Portuguese joined the exploration of the New World earlier than in history, it is quite another to truly explore the depths of the continent.

Many years later, most of the European colonizers established their bases and trading posts in the coastal areas, and it would take nearly another 30 years to establish real cities on the South American continent.

At this time, another, more ambitious and powerful competitor will gradually show its strength, especially with the emergence of a childlike queen, and an even more powerful world empire will appear in front of the world.

Alexander thought that at least his current influence would not be able to reach the British Isles, and even if he could destroy the current alliance between England and Spain, he would not be able to control the lower half of the future Henry VIII, and of course he would not be able to prevent the birth of Elizabeth I.

In other words, even if there is no Elizabeth I in history, the British attach importance to the sea, expansion into the ocean is an inevitable result.

So the only way to eliminate the threat posed by that future formidable enemy now is to raise a formidable opponent for the British from the start.

Alexander believed that Manuel's ambitions and the achievements of the Portuguese in the Age of Discovery, would not only be able to take on the role of this rival, but perhaps do better.

As for the possibility that Portugal might become a fierce rival of Spain in the future, Alexander felt that whether it was the intricate relationship between the two countries or the geographical location of the two sides, at least Portugal was much easier to deal with than the British.

Even at this time, Alexander had a vague plan, although it was still immature, but it was already slightly outlined, and if this plan succeeded, perhaps the future of the Iberian Peninsula would be a different scene.

Alexander looked at Columbus, who was sitting opposite, and he found that Columbus's face was a little bad, which was not the result of years of exposure to the wind and sun on the sea, but a very abnormal grayness.

And the wrinkles on his face, which seemed to be much thinner than before, seemed to be more pronounced, and compared to his slightly chubby appearance before, the adventurer's body should not be very optimistic.

This reminded Alexander of later claims that Columbus may have died of septicaemia.

Just as Alexander wondered whether to remind the greatest explorer of his time to pay more attention to his body, Columbus suddenly spoke.

"I heard that James fought a beautiful naval battle in the Azores," Seeing Alexander nodding silently, Columbus couldn't help but stare at his face with blazing eyes, and after finding that the duke didn't seem to hint at anything, Columbus thought for a moment and finally asked, "So who are you going to let lead the fleet to the north?" ”

Alexander looked at Columbus, who seemed to be unconcerned, but could still detect the vague concern, and asked after a little thought: "Then who do you think is more suitable, I think your experience and vision will be able to choose a competent commander for me." ”

Columbus's face froze slightly, and he sensed that Alexander did not seem to want him to continue as commander of the expedition north, which made his mood drop a lot.

"What do you think of James?" "As you said, he's done a good job in the Azores, and he's not only experienced at sea, but also has a good way of keeping the disobedient crew at bay, and I have a hunch that the expedition to the north will be much tougher, and it will take a reliable man to complete it." ”

Columbus shrugged his shoulders slightly in frustration, he knew that Alexander had made a decision, although it made him somewhat unwilling, but the long experience of dealing with the duke had taught him that the young man was obviously more stubborn than he was.

"But I've got a new arrangement for you," Alexander pushed Columbus's nautical diary back in front of him, "and if you may, I hope you'll be able to sail all the way south along the coastline you've found so far, for perhaps we'll have more significant discoveries to come, as far as we know now." ”

Columbus nodded thoughtfully, he knew that Alexander's words still made sense, he was now very familiar with the vast sea area that could be explored, and he even thought that if he could go south along the coastline, as long as he could get supplies, he would like to see where this land would extend.

Seeing that Columbus's originally gloomy expression had cleared slightly, Alexander did not smile secretly in his heart, he knew very well that this man regarded adventure as a good opportunity to make a fortune, and Christopher Columbus, who was later called the greatest navigator, was actually just a mercenary merchant, but he sold his discoveries.

The reason why the original did not intend to involve Columbus in the northern expedition was that he had decided to suppress the Portuguese power in South America as much as possible, and the vast land in the north was prepared for his future empires of Castile and Aragon.

As for the British, Alexander felt the need for Manuel to share for him part of the pressure of this future world empire.

And he believed that Manuel must have been happy to help others in this matter.

In fact, the Portuguese had landed in the eastern part of the South American continent two years ago, but at that time the Portuguese did not pay much attention to this huge discovery, and they even thought that the land was just a larger island like Columbus, and with the opening of the route to the east, the Portuguese all eyes were on the new route, so it was not until 30 years later that they established the first permanent foothold of real scale in the land they occupied, and nearly 20 years later, They officially appointed the governor of the land.

At that time, the contradictions between Spain and the British had reached the point where they had to fight each other.

It was at that time that the Portuguese, taking advantage of the constant rivalry between the two maritime powers, and ignoring other good opportunities, quickly expanded their territory on the South American continent.

Later, with the defeat of Spain in the contest with the British, the Portuguese took the opportunity to encroach on many Spanish colonies in South America.

Alexander certainly didn't want this to happen again, and he thought that the Iberian nations should love each other more, so he decided to push Portugal into the battle for the Age of Discovery, even if he was pulling it out.

"Rest assured, Commander, I will satisfy your thirst for riches, and what I want you to do is to open this door to a new world for me." Alexander comforted Columbus, who seemed to be a little dissatisfied.

But by this time, his mind had drifted to Italy, far away in the Apennines.

In mid-March, the Eastern Army of Rome-Thesia, commanded by Gompati, in accordance with Alexander's instructions, began to advance along the lines of Genoa and Verona, while Ofleiil led the Western Army to the south bank of the Po River.

When the Roman army arrived, Count Skop of Verona first announced that he would join the coalition, and then Constantine, who had been isolated from Milan, announced his membership in the name of the Duke of Milan.

At about the same time, the French troops stationed in Genoa also began to move.

The Second Italian War was on the verge of breaking out.