The sky was still gray, and although the rain had stopped, there was no sunlight in sight.

Thiegor walked along the avenue of the palace, and after a while he stopped and looked back at the monastery behind him.

Tiego wondered if the princess was watching him from behind the window of her room, but he couldn't help but look back.

Even now he still doesn't believe what he's done, or even though he's been in Lisbon and all this time has passed, he doesn't believe he's part in such a conspiracy.

The word conspiracy is not necessarily a mutation, it means more of an unannounced scheme than necessarily a villain, and Tiego doesn't consider himself a villain, but even then he is surprised by his audacity.

What the husband and wife were like, although he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he had heard a lot.

Ruthless and resourceful, Queen Isabella is a woman with the same intelligence and courage as a man, and her husband, King Ferdinand, a near-perfect ruler, and the couple are now the common supremes of Castilla and Aragon, and in the future they will rule over almost all of the Iberian Peninsula if the two nations become one.

When did you actually get involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the couple?

Tiego was surprised by his chances, but he was even more incredulous that he seemed to be so naturally trapped, after all, this is not a speculative business, but a head-off business.

But perhaps because of this, Tiego was worried and had an unconcealed excitement, and he remembered a strange thing Alexander had said to him before.

"Thieg, I think maybe one day you'll be the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but maybe the most special Chancellor of the Exchequer in history."

Chancellor of the Exchequer, this was definitely something that Thiegor had never imagined before, and when Alexander first said this to him, he thought it was novel, but now it suddenly occurred to him that perhaps this fantastic ideal might not be impossible to become a real reality.

Thiegor turned around with some excitement and continued to walk, he could only move forward now, whether it was the so-called ideal drive or something else, the road under his feet was already paved, and the only thing he could do was to keep walking.

Thiego returned to his lodgings and saw the captain of the merchant ship Berio, Marcolili, who seemed to be a little excited, and he kept going in circles, stopping to look at him when he saw Tiego returning.

"Oh, you're already here." Tiego was not very enthusiastic, and if he had been somewhat interested in communicating with such a man who had participated in such a great expedition, now he felt that it was no big deal.

After all, he was a man involved in a grand plan to overthrow the two kings.

Macolili didn't seem to notice the change in Tiego's demeanor, he grabbed the curly brimmed soft hat in his left hand, and his right hand clenched the sword dangling around his crotch, and asked with some excitement: "I'm here to ask when our expedition will begin, you must know that I am ready, although I have only been back for two months, but I am already a little disgusted with the land, I want to go back to the sea, there is the territory." ”

Thiego glanced inadvertently at Macolili's already slightly swollen belly, which was the result of the various banquets and his own gifts from others, this man had indeed mixed well in Lisbon during this time, and if da Gama had not returned, he would still be a guest of the Lisbon merchants and nobles.

But now da Gama had returned, bringing with him more gold, ivory, spices, and precious stones, and, more importantly, a complete chart of the route of the new route, which overshadowed the once radiant Marcolliri.

So perhaps his words of longing to return to the sea could coax the women of the noble merchants' houses, but they did not impress Tiego.

"Soon, six months more, maybe sooner." Tiego said as he motioned for Marcolili to sit down, and then looked earnestly at the somewhat excited captain in front of him, knowing that the man's unconcealed joy was due to the thought of the benefits that a solo expedition would bring him.

"Is it so fast?" Marcoliri asked with some surprise, although he was indeed anxious to start a new adventure, but he thought that it would be a year later at the earliest, after all, the preparations were too complicated, and more importantly, although the expedition was financed by the merchant in front of him, it was necessary to need the support of the king in order to make the trip possible, so things would be much more complicated.

"Yes, don't worry, everything will be ready for you, all you have to do is strictly carry out the tasks we have assigned to you."

"Mission?" The captain suddenly became a little wary, and he looked cautiously at Tiego, hoping that he would make his words clearer, "I know that my mission is to discover more new routes to the East on the basis of the route of da Gama, but is there anything else I need to do?" ”

"Yes," Tiego thought for a moment, he felt that if he wanted to say the Earl's orders at once, perhaps this person would not be able to accept it, or even Tygo himself could not understand how the Earl could consider so many things for a while, "What you have to do is not only to discover new trade routes, but also to establish enough long-term and stable trade posts and solid lines of communication in the local area, and we will send people to help you in these matters, and for this we will ask for a suitable identity for you in front of the king, Because this is the only way to make it easier for you to perform your duties, do you think the title of Oriental Trade Administrator is more suitable for you? ”

Marcoliri looked surprised, when Manuel I conferred the title of 'Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese Navy in the East' on Vasco da Gámìma, Marcoliri had not slept well all night because of jealousy, and he felt that he had done no less than Vasco da Gama, but apart from the brief glory before da Gama did not return, people now only talk about the great explorer, but they are about to forget him.

The fact that he was now willing to support him not only in an expedition of his own, but even in his ability to stand up to da Gama, made Marcoliri feel like he was in a dream.

"Of course, it may take some time, after all, you need the king's permission to get this title." Tiego said, looking out the window at a seemingly chaotic construction site in the distance.

It was the site of the Jerónimos Monastery, which was personally surveyed by Manuel I.

Manuel I was a zealous Catholic, and his second wife, Maria of Aragon, daughter of Isabella of Castilla, was an even more insane obsession.

The couple had an almost paranoid enthusiasm for the construction of the church, and in order to build one of the most glorious cathedrals in Portuguese history, Manuel I insisted on spending a huge sum of money in Lisbon to build the Jerónimos Monastery, despite the opposition of many ministers.

This decision was fully supported by his wife, Maria of Aragon, who stubbornly decided to draw a tenth of the national tax each year as the source of this expenditure, and as to how much the monastery would cost, according to some connoisseurs, it would probably cost two full years of Portuguese revenue to achieve this goal when it was completed.

Such a huge project required not only great wealth, but also a new way to provide them with financial support for many years, which was why Manuel I was so desperate to open new routes shortly after his accession to the throne.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way to make it happen." Thiego smiled and said to Marcolili that he had received clear instructions from the Count, so that he was now actively dealing with the Portuguese nobles and merchants, who he believed would soon help him to speak before the king, who was anxious to make great profits on the new routes, after all, it was a good thing that everyone was looking forward to these days.

Seeing off the rejoicing Marcolili, Tiego returned to his study on the second floor of his residence.

This was his private domain, and neither servants nor assistants were allowed to enter without permission.

Walking over to the wall, opening a secret compartment and taking out a notebook from it, Tiego returned to the table and began to carefully decipher a letter that had just been sent according to the mark on the codebook.

This was Alexander's latest order to him, in which Alexander asked him to pay explicit attention to a man in Castile named Amerigo Vespsy.

"This is a Florentine, I have had a good conversation with his relatives in Florence, and they describe him as an adventurous and braggart man, although his experience as a banker has made him calculating, but his adventurous and showy personality has kept him from staying in one place for long, and I want you to note that this man has also developed an interest in sailing and exploration, and because he has sufficient financial resources, So it is likely that he has taken part in another expedition to the new route discovered by Columbus, supported by the Queen of Castile, and I hope that you will keep a close eye on this man's movements, and if possible, it is best to establish a personal friendship with him, and I believe that this small investment of my dear friend will not disappoint you, and if possible, even let you stand on a high point in history with many people who are destined to be famous in the annals of Liu Ming. As for the work you do in Lisbon, you can leave it to the assistants you have arranged, you just need to keep in touch with them from time to time, believe me dear Tiego, not everything has to be done by ourselves, otherwise we will get caught up in those tedious little things, so it is a good choice to learn to trust your men, just like I trust you, knowing that you may have more and more complex responsibilities in the future. If you don't get into such good habits now, you'll be tired, and I don't want my future Chancellor of the Exchequer to fall so soon. ”

Tiego shook his head a little confused, he didn't know where the Count got all this information, but he didn't doubt the Count's judgment, because all the instructions of the Lord Count so far had been accurate to the purpose he had guessed.

Even if he used the profits of the Free Trade Alliance and the huge amount of 240,000 florins to buy a new route, which seemed to be an unreliable business, Tiego did not hesitate to fulfill the order, as for this person named Amerigo Vespustsy, although Thiegor did not know what he did, but since the Earl valued him very much, Tiego did not care to be close to this person.

What's more, his mission in Portugal is almost complete, and the homesickness that has been away from home for a long time makes him willing to take this opportunity to return to his Barearic hometown to see.

As for the words of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which Alexander seemed to jokingly refer to again, Tiego did not pay much attention to it, and his attention was now focused on the Florentine man named Amerigo Vespustsy, who wanted to know everything about this man as soon as possible, in order to fulfill the task of establishing a personal friendship with him, as the Count had spoken.

One day after the third week of September, Thiego quietly left Lisbon, as he had attracted as little attention as he had when he first arrived, but the great net of large sums of money that had been sown in Lisbon for nearly a year began to move, from ordinary merchants to prominent nobles, and even a few of the maidens who were favored and trusted by Queen Maria of Aragon were caught in it because they had received some benefits from it, and for a time from the people to the court. Calls for a second expedition to the new route abounded, and in the face of such enthusiasm and the financial shortfall of the Jerónimos Monastery, which was indeed in need of great wealth, Manuel I began to prepare for a second expedition with great eagerness.

At this time, after the "warm recommendation" of many people, the name of Marcolili, the captain of the Berio in the previous Vasco da Gama expedition, naturally appeared in front of Manuel I.

The king, who had been prepared to make a more careful selection, was a little frightened by the fanatical desire for a new route, and he had to consider organizing a new expedition to the east as much as possible, so that the choice of the commander of the expedition was somewhat hasty.

As the captain of the Berio, Marcolili quickly stood out from the crowd because of his extensive sailing experience and previous experience in exploring a new route, and he was indeed much inferior to the others.

When Manuel I finally decided to appoint Marcolili as commander of the second expedition, no one knew that a navigator named Cabral was destined to say goodbye to his original destiny as the second pioneer of the Eastern Route in history.

But Thiego didn't know all this for the time being, and he was sailing along the twists and turns of the Iberian Peninsula all the way around Gibraltar towards the Mediterranean, and he was going home to see his wife and children.

Just when Thiego was anxious to go home to see, far away in Bologna, Italy, there was a man who was sighing for a long time.

As an occupier, Busaco has been in Bologna for many days, from the inexplicable excitement at the beginning to the calm and calm later, and now he has become a little impatient, Busaco's life in Bologna can only be described as "poor and boring".

Bologna is a city of quiet and passion, where the rich academic atmosphere seems to permeate every corner of the city, and it is not uncommon to see people on the streets loudly proclaiming their understanding or disagreement with the insightful opinions of a certain master, and you can also see schoolgirls wearing the purple capes of the University of Bologna dancing through the streets that are never seen in other cities.

The open academic atmosphere and the luck of being able to escape the scourge of war for many years as a direct domain of the pope give the city its unique charm.

But none of this seems to be to Busaco's taste.

The previous experience of "humiliation" at the University of Bologna made Busaco really unable to raise any affection for the city.

Busaco's previous visit to Brigitte was later met several times, and on two occasions he was accompanied by his daughter named Gina, who to his surprise, seemed to have a strong interest in the queen of Naples, Josa, so much so that she approached Busaco more than once and asked him about him.

Although not pretty, he has a rather intelligent mind and a serious attitude, and the contact with this master's daughter makes Busako's heart become a little restless.

However, Busako knew very well that he was thinking nonsense, and he was obviously not qualified to think about these things with his wife and children at home, but these were still secondary, and the real key thing was that he knew very well that this female college student named Gina Brigitte could not take a fancy to him.

Busako became a little agitated, he longed to see the girl every day, but often did not know what to say to her after meeting, after all, her knowledge was to Busako like God's revelation to the saints, and it was beyond his understanding as a mortal.

Gina Brigitte seemed to be aware of Busako's unusual feelings for her, but the girl, who seemed to be armed with reason and calmness, was neither carried away by an occupier's obsession with her, nor disdainful of him because Busako was a vulgar **, she was interested in what she had heard from Busako, and she was hatching a plan for herself.

In mid-September, when a major battle finally broke out between France and Austria in the north after a tentative confrontation, Busako also received an order from Barentia, in which Barentia gave him a concise instruction: "Be ready at all times to hand over the city to the Vatican's envoy to Bologna." ”

After more than a month of stalemate, Alexander VI, compromised.