Segovia is a town between Valliardo de Madrid that has already had a new era.

There is a river here that is not wide but is quite turbulent due to the terrain.

Because of this, if anyone wants to go to Madrid, he must pass through the ferry of Segovia, otherwise he must take a long way to find a place to cross the river, whether east or west.

Ferdinand believes that the fugitives will not take risks, because it will not only delay time, but also may encounter various accidents on the road.

Their only quickest way is to cross the river through the Segovia ferry.

It can even be said that once they crossed the river from the Segovia ferry, they had almost escaped from Ferdinand's control, and by this alone, they were likely to escape from the Segovia ferry.

But to Ferdinand's surprise, the troops he sent chased after the Segovia ferry and did not hear about the whereabouts of the fugitives anymore. The result he found out from the people at the Segovia ferry was that he had certainly never seen such people.

The search team had to patrol the roads between Valliaridod and Segovia in an attempt to find the whereabouts of the fugitives.

They would search strictly whenever they went to, and searched all the suspicious travelers they encountered on the road.

But they never got anything. After leaving in a hurry, they only left the locals full of doubts and uneasiness.

In Valliardo, the only thing Ferdinand regretted was that in order to expand its influence, he invited so many nobles to participate in the purification ceremony.

Despite orders to strictly block the news, in less than half a day, terrible rumors have spread throughout the city.

What made Ferdinand even more angry was that some people have publicly suspected that Juanna and his wife may have defected to Madrid.

By this time, many people already know what happened in Madrid and who is in Madrid.

Ferdinand's actions of sending troops to chase Madrid invisibly proved this speculation.

Valladiot, shocked.

Ferdinand felt the danger and ordered the troops mobilized from Aragon to take over the guards of the entire palace. For a moment, the palace of Valliardo was heavily guarded and as if facing a great enemy.

When night came, Ferdinand ascended to the tall tower of the palace.

He saw the city outside, which was brighter than ever before, and the candles and torches lit in the hands of the Barriadotids who walked onto the streets.

The people were praying for their queen and were also expressing their anger to Ferdinand in this way.

At this moment, Ferdinand felt completely in trouble.

For the first time, he had the idea of ​​escaping from the city and the country.

When Alexander got up in the early morning, he suddenly felt in an extremely good mood.

He couldn't tell what this was, but it seemed that the premonition that something good was about to come was so strong from the moment he opened his eyes.

A day ago, an army from the south arrived in the outskirts of Madrid. The army had briefly "visited" Torredo and then obtained a flag with a yellow base from the Archbishop.

This army was formed by Castile and the Sicilians, and according to the Knights of Don Decliar, this would make the operation seem "consistent with the rules".

The leader of the army was a Castile general, which was not to be discussed, but the Sicilians also sent their generals as the so-called deputy general.

Because they were cavalry and were marching in the country, they used the army that was worried about supply to set off from Andalusia and headed north, with the destination of the old capital Toledo.

The army had caused some panic along the way. The Castiles were surprised to find that a foreign army suddenly stepped into their own territory, but the ones who marched with them were soldiers of their own country.

Such doubts began to spread from south to north, and even those places with blocked news began to know that something extraordinary was happening in this kingdom.

It was also the day the army arrived that Don Banderaz formally submitted his resignation to Alexander.

The reason for resigning was that although this appointment was originally from Queen Isabella and later recognized by Juana, the latter's appointment was automatically considered illegal because it was "coerceded" by Ferdinand.

Therefore, both Don Bandraz himself, the nobles and the general public in Madrid believed that this appointment was out of place, so they requested to resign.

Alexander happily accepted Don Bandraz's resignation, but immediately, almost after taking the resignation with his left hand, he handed the new appointment to the former Madrid mayor.

The appointment letter reads as follows: "I appoint Juan Fernando Don Bandraz as Mayor of Madrid. May God protect his soul from corruption, loyal and diligent, upright and honest, in order to repay His Highness Joel Modillo Astamara's trust..."

Wait, wait, wait, wait.

Perhaps in many people, this trick is a bit funny, but both Alexander or Don Bandraz, and all participants have carried out the entire process seriously.

The new mayor naturally has a new look. The first thing Don Bandraz did after taking office was to order the abolition of the so-called "South Tax" formulated in the Isabella era.

The Southern Tax is a unique product of the Isabella era, or a very effective means created by Isabella to consolidate her rule.

Even during the Moorish rule, due to geographical advantages, the southern part of Castilla was much richer than the north, especially with the development of new colonies, the gap between the rich and the poor in the north and the south became larger and larger.

Isabella, who saw this early on, could cause a huge conflict and crisis, thus establishing a southern tax system, stipulating that any goods from the south would be sold in the north would be subject to additional taxes of half to 10%.

Isabella initially did this to balance the differences between the north and the south, and her larger purpose was to gradually weaken the strength of the southern nobles.

In Alexander's view, although her methods are a bit too simple and crude, they are not undesirable.

Even if he had to summarize, Alexander felt that although Isabella's methods were primitive, they seemed to have traces of macro-control.

In this regard, Alexander actually admired Isabella's foresight, but because of today's knowledge, she turned a better measure that could have been done into a bad policy.

This of course caused dissatisfaction among merchants, especially those chambers of commerce that had close contact with the south, who hated the Southern Taxation.

So when I heard that the mayor took office again, the southern tax was immediately abolished, so the merchants in Madrid couldn't help but cheer. After shouting long live the mayor, some smart and well-informed people soon began to shout the slogan "Long live the Duke's Highness."

Alexander, who heard the cheers appear and fall outside at this moment, was looking at Ruosha's letter sent by the messenger.

"I know the future is very difficult, and it is dangerous to march in a hostile country. We do not know whether the hostile people on the roadside will suddenly attack us, and if we do not take tough measures, we will not be able to get enough supplies, so I ordered some rough and even barbaric measures to ensure that our army can march north quickly."

Alexander looked at Xin and nodded slightly. It was difficult to find a truly disciplined army in this era, or the environment did not allow such an army to exist at all.

Proper looting and plundering of war is one of the most effective means to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army. As for honor and faith, as well as loyalty to the king and dedication to the country, these can only be hoped for long-term cultivation and indoctrination in order to play an important role in the future, even in the Romanesian and Sicilian armies.

So Ruosha didn't feel much guilt when describing the barbaric actions of her army, or she only cared about how Alexander thought of this behavior.

After all, Alexander is the future King of Castilla, so Ruosha must obtain his understanding, both public and private.

"Our army is advancing to the north, and the Knights Don Decliar agreed with my suggestion. We formed a vanguard to rush to Toledo to support you, and in order to ensure your safety, and in order to let more Castiles know that this is a war between the Castiles themselves."

Seeing this, Alexander nodded again. He couldn't help but admit that Ruosha was not only the most heart-warming sister, but also her best helper. She could always give him the greatest help in many places, and even if she was not by his side, she would play an important role that others could not play.

The letter was very long, with a long list of government affairs and military affairs in the first place. These things may be put into a museum in the future for future historians to study and admire, but it is difficult for the latter part to be treated like this.

Alexander carefully read the previous content and smiled and read the later love words written by his sister that only two people could confide in each other. Finally, he came to a conclusion again. He really had a good sister who was sensible and caring.

When Don Bandraz, who was temporarily acting as a guide, walked into the office with two soldiers, they saw Alexander standing on the balcony and looking at the city outside in a daze.

At this time, most of the balcony is just a small bulge protruding outside the window. Few people would stand there and watch outside stay for a long time.

But Alexander likes to stand on a high place and look at the city outside.

At this time, Madrid was not well-known in both the Adriatic Peninsula and the entire Europe. The palace, known as the "Mother of Versailles", had no shadow. Its famously covered the entire city with the palace as the center, and finally made Madrid the seven Rainbow Avenues that once became the most prosperous city in Europe.

Now Madrid is full of low and dilapidated houses, the city is dirty and disorderly, and there is no even a decent piece of brick and stone on many streets.

If you must find urban buildings that Madrid people think are still good at, then there are only the fortresses and canals that were left behind in the Roman era.

It is such a city that cannot be liked, but it will become the capital of Spain in the future and one of the most important centers in Europe.

While Alexander secretly sighed that Isabella and Ferdinand were foresighted, he also felt the tremendous pressure.

Establishing a capital in Madrid is an inevitable trend in the future. Therefore, it will be unimaginable to build such a city into a European-renowned metropolis.

In fact, from the time Isabella started planning and to the official capital of her great-grandson Philip I, the city has been expanding wildly for more than 70 years.

This is also one of the root causes of the continuous consumption of wealth from the New World.

Alexander actually did not oppose the expansion of the city. It is conceivable that a magnificent city that combines politics, economy, religion, culture, and developed education and a modern city can have a great impact on a region and a country.

London to Britain, Paris to France, Vienna to Austria and later Petersburg to Russia. These cities that rose at that time could drive the pride and prosperity of a country and even a nation.

As for those city-states in Italy, Alexander felt that they had begun to gradually lose their former glory.

This is not because these cities are declining themselves, but because with the formation of absolute authority of monarchical countries, the traditional Italian city-states are no longer suitable for the changes of the times.

A gentle cough came from behind, and Don Bandraz bowed slightly to Alexander who turned around and looked over.

Seeing the two soldiers behind the mayor, Alexander already knew who they were.

Alexander was still very satisfied with the arrival of this army.

Although I made up my mind from the beginning and would not fight Ferdinand head-on until I had no choice, Gonzalo was indeed less people. Even if I included all the hunting guards and the Madrid defenders, I would be at a disadvantage once I confronted the army from Valliardode.

Alexander dared to enter Madrid alone because of Gonzalo, a general with great reputation, and the hostility of the Castiles towards Ferdinand, but he did not take it upon himself to think that he could stand up to Ferdinand without restraint.

After all, that was a powerful figure who had exhausted Isabella.

Alexander has always been wondering what kind of relationship the couple had. They have many children, but they have been intrigued from the beginning. If we must find a representative of a pair of bed and dreams, Isabella and Ferdinand can definitely be selected.

"I want you to watch closely the movements in the direction of Valliaridod. If anything unexpected happens, don't act rashly. Remember that your mission is only to make sure that Valliaridod's army does not suddenly appear outside Madrid, and we know nothing."

Alexander's orders were concise and clear, and this was the way he had always been with his generals.

If it were Ofulei, he would carefully determine every goal that needs to be accomplished so that the Chief of Staff could achieve almost perfection by just following the steps.

If it was Gompatti, he would only arrange a general direction and let that person play it at will.

As for the others, Alexander would tell them what level they need to do, just like the two officers in front of him, because they did not know them, and he would neither clearly define the required results as Ofulei, nor let them play freely like Gompatti. He would tell them clearly what to do and what not to do, so that even if an accident occurs, he would immediately know what was wrong.

Seeing the two generals bid farewell and leave, Don Bandraz, who stayed, accompanied Alexander to walk out along the corridor.

He noticed that the Balkan was far away, which made the mayor realize that the duke might have to tell him something more secretive.

"Mayor, I need you to arrange a quieter place where you won't be disturbed, but you won't feel like you're imprisoned."

Don Banderaz was slightly surprised. He felt that this request was a bit too private. At least he believed that he had not yet reached the point where he could get the Duke so trust. However, it was of course a good opportunity for him to arrange such an errand.
To be continued...