The beach is very cold in November. Even if the sea water has been eroded all year round, large pieces of ice still appear. From a distance, the edges of the deep blue sea water seem to be dotted with countless white crystals.

The waves in the distance are surging, and even when you look at them on the shore, you can't help but feel excited and snatched by them.

The sky was gloomy, and the lead-gray clouds were pressing down very low, as if something was about to fall from the clouds.

The roaring waves can be heard from afar, giving people the illusion that the waves that seem to be stirring up will sweep ashore at any time, and will blow everything down and take away.

The sea is always mysterious and terrifying, because no one knows what the world under the sea looks like, and no one knows when the sea, which was as calm as a sleeping beauty, would suddenly wake up and turn into a crazy and raging devil.

But the sea is full of charm. Countless people once stood on the shore and looked into the distance, trying to find the world on the other side of the sea level.

A man who looked like a businessman walked along a very rugged path towards the big house on the top of the mountain with the bitter sea breeze.

Like other houses built by the sea, this big house is built of stone and solid wood. Apart from doors, windows and roofs, the house looks very strong, but in such a high place that has been eroded by sea breeze all year round, you can still see traces of decay in some places on the house.

When you walk into the garden surrounded by low walls, you can see the flowers and plants planted in the yard. However, most of these flowers and plants have withered under the cold wind. Moreover, because they are eroded by sea water and wind all year round, the land here is not good, so even the flowers and plants that are still vibrant look wilted and impotence, and there is no anger.

He pulled the beast's door knocking hard on the door, and knocked. After a while, as the heavy door opened, a servant appeared at the door.

Seeing the merchant, the servant was not surprised by the cold weather, but asked with a respectful expression, "Who are you looking for?"

"Please inform your master and say that a Barriali merchant named Matthews Tiego is here to visit him."

The servant looked at the man and brought him into the living room, then nodded and turned away. Although the man looked gorgeously dressed, this did not attract much attention from the servant. After all, there were too many people visiting the master every year, and many of them were high-ranking and powerful figures.

Diego sat down comfortably, and the blazing fire in the fireplace lit in the corner of the house made him feel a little warmer. After a while, the cold that almost emanated from his bones gradually disappeared.

Bali Ali is much warmer than this ghost place, and Diego complained secretly.

Indeed, compared with this ocean edge, the Mediterranean coast is really too comfortable, and even when sailing on the sea, it won’t feel too uncomfortable.

Moreover, the terrifying waves also made the merchants secretly frightened. As long as I thought about what I saw on the shore, Diego couldn't help but wonder what kind of terrible things were waiting for those who were exploring the secrets of the sea in the depths of the ocean that no one had ever visited.

A sound of footsteps came from the wooden stairs, and Diego immediately calmed down. He knew the importance of his trip. Although he was not very clear about the Count's plan, he remembered it very clearly. Before leaving Pisa and returning to Barriali, Alexander had carefully ordered several of the most important things that he had given him, one of which was to visit the family.

The footsteps were a little heavy and slow, and accompanied by a "da da" sound of crutches on the ground, which made Diego realize that the visitor should be an old man.

Sure enough, an old man with all his hair and beards appeared at the entrance of the stairs. As he walked down the stairs, Diego unexpectedly discovered that although this man was a little hunched, his body was very tall. Even if he bent over slightly, it still made Diego feel like he had to look up slightly to look at him.

"A guest," the old man looked at the Tyergo who was about to speak and raised his hand to stop it. "Let me guess, you don't behave like a nobleman, and you should be a businessman. I can even smell the money on you guys from a distance."

The old man finished speaking unreasonably and waved his hand to signal Diego to sit down.

"I'm old, so I don't have to worry about whether it will be annoying, but this allows me to see more things clearly. Young people, I think you probably didn't come to visit me."

Tiego was a little overwhelmed, or he didn't know how to answer.

The wordings that had been prepared before suddenly became completely useless in front of the old man. He even had the illusion that he seemed to be standing in front of the other side naked, revealing all the secrets clearly from the inside out.

"I'm here to visit you by my employer," Diego tried to calm his voice, and in his tone he emphasized that he was visiting the old man himself. "My employer hopes to show you enough respect."

What was enough respect, and soon the old man saw it in a letter brought by Diego.

When Diego looked at the surprised expression gradually appeared on the old man's face, which seemed to care about everything, he couldn't help but feel secretly happy.

At first he didn't know why his Earl had such a big investment, but now he felt a little clear from the old man's indifference, but in fact he was more arrogant.

Obviously, there should be many guests visiting before, so it is already very polite to an old man who has no idea of ​​the origin and who the supporter is behind him.

But now judging from the look on his face, the Earl's letter should have touched him.

"Please wait," the old man looked away from the letter paper and looked at Diego. "I read the contents here and have to admit that your employer is the biggest person I have ever met. Now let me think about the purpose of this Earl of Montina."

The old man looked at Diego with a pair of turbid eyes, and after a while he opened his mouth slightly as if he was about to say something, but then he silently closed it.

The old man stood up with the letter and walked to the stove, and looked carefully in the fire, which shone on his side, reflecting the traces of slightly moving movement on his wrinkled cheeks.

Tiego felt that this was waiting for a long time, but he still sat there patiently. He knew that the longer the time, the more important the old man would pay, which was a good thing for him.

The relationship between Portugal and Castilla is not very good, or has never been better.

So a businessman from Bali Ali in Castilla is not that popular here.

This is Portugal far from Castilla.

Compared with Portugal's long-term vision of conquering the sea and opening up maritime routes many years ago, Castilla's qualifications are much shallow.

Even in the past decade, Castilla's attention was only focused on how to expel the Moors and recover lost land.

But in the past decade, Queen Castilla Isabella, who has extraordinary abilities, suddenly developed an unusual interest in the sea.

Especially in recent years, navigators funded by the Queen have embarked on an adventure in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, and some of them have really discovered many things that have never been discovered by previous generations.

However, the Portuguese did not stop. They actively explored the course of the sea. For this reason, they continued to have friction and even conflict with Castile and the Kingdom of Aragon. As a result, this contradiction finally came to the front of Alexander VI, who had just taken over as the pope, not long after he took over the Pope.

That is to this, a famous Pope Meridian that divides the entire world into two halves was born.

The old man kept looking at the letter repeatedly, as if he was studying the contents of the letter.

Diego waited patiently, and his eyes glanced at the row of various sailing models placed on the long table beside the living room wall. Some of the ships he had taken, but some had only seen.

Especially the Garen sailing ships and Calaville sailing ships, which are much larger than ordinary Mediterranean galleys, made Diego a little fascinated.

"The person who wrote this letter is very courageous." The old man suddenly spoke. He folded the letter carefully and put it in the pocket of his thick coat, then walked back to the chair with a cane.

Tiego looked at the old man with some confusion. Of course he knew that the count was very brave, or sometimes he was a little too brave.

But this was the first time he had heard someone say this about a letter writer.

The old man seemed to see Tyergo's doubts. He raised his hand as if he was trying to get the letter out of his pocket, and then stopped again.

“He promised me a lot of things, some of which even made me feel less likely to believe.”

“My employer is very trustworthy.”

Tiego said sincerely that in this regard he felt that he could be a proof of life. In at least a year, the brother and sister did fulfill the things they promised to him. If they calculated carefully, they would find that he had received much more than they promised.

"If that's the case, I should be more cautious," the old man was not impressed. "We all know that any generous promises will be exchanged for enough price. I don't know if I can bear the price I pay."

“My employer respects you very much, so he will never ask for conditions that will make you feel embarrassed.”

Tiego smiled.

The other party was willing to bargain instead of rejecting it, which made Diego feel that this time it should not be in vain.

"Is it a difficult condition for me?" The old man poked the crutch in front of him with his hands. "I just wonder why your employer is so generous, or that he believes that his investment will not fail," said the old man's eyes turned out the window, looking at the undulating sea in the distance, and he said in a faint tone, "No one knows what will happen on the sea. Sometimes the entire fleet may capsize in the blink of an eye. No matter how big the sea boat is, it is as small as a grain of sand in the sea. And those pagans, they may suddenly appear in front of you at any time, and then cut your throat and burn the ship. These are very common things at sea. When you leave the land on a boat, the only thing that can bless you to return to the shore is God."

The old man's words made Diego a little confused. From the old man's eyes, you can see memories of the past and perhaps those thrilling experiences of the past.

"So I'm curious why your employer spends so much on an elderly man like me, knowing he may lose money."

"I'm also very strange," said Tiego a little helplessly. He did not understand why Alexander believed that investment in this person would be rewarded. After all, as the old man said, the huge risks at sea are unpredictable. "But my employer has always been stubborn and he is unlikely to listen to advice, but fortunately his luck has always been very good."

"Good luck," the old man nodded. "He really needs luck, because we can't leave anything else except this."

As he said that, the old man picked up a pen from the table and wrote a line of words in the blank space under the letter.

Then he folded the letter and handed it to Diego.

"I don't know why your employer is so confident, but I'm very interested in the conditions he put forward. If my nephew really discovered a new sea route to India in this adventure as she guessed, I promise you that I would recommend him to sell the right to trade with the Mediterranean port to your employer first." The old man said, smiling in his muddy eyes. "After all, he gave me such a generous gift."

Tiego finally breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that his mission this time should be considered complete.

Although he was like the old man, he could not understand why Alexander was so sure. The Portuguese navigator named Da Gama was carrying out this long journey, and even more undecided sea adventure will definitely be successful.

For this, Alexander indeed gave him a very generous gift, as the old man said, and the weight of this gift was enough to make the person who despise the most money also moved.

A share in a Cretan sugarcane plantation will soon be transferred to the name of Markt da Gama through the formalities of a well-known chamber of commerce arbitration in Portugal.

And such a reward is just to obtain a possible trade right in the future.

This is a bit crazy for many people. After all, Da Gama's voyage will be successful. Even if they can return to Portugal safely, no one can make any guarantee in this world whether there is really a new sea route from Europe to India that has never been discovered.

This made Diego feel that Alexander might have become too confident because of the huge success he had achieved before, and might even be a little crazy.

For this reason, he had to write a letter to Ruosha after receiving Alexander's order. He hoped that the calm and wise Earl's news should be able to take into account the risks that were too great, and then dissuade Alexander from his almost crazy behavior.

But what Tyergo never expected was that the Earl Miss rebuked him in her reply.

"I don't know how you thought my brother had lost his mind and wrong thoughts. I must remind you that this was obviously wrong, and you even wrote me to ask. Don't you know that you might have lost the perfect opportunity just when you wait for my reply? Here I have to solemnly remind you that the only thing you should do is to carry out the task delivered by Count Montina without fail, rather than questioning the decision made by my brother because of your personal speculation."

Ruosha's harsh reprimand surprised Diego. He felt that he had really gotten into trouble, and at the same time he was indeed reckless about his previous questioning of the Earl.

Diego is more clear than many people about what the brother and sister did. It is precisely because of this that he is convinced by the extraordinary ability shown by the brother and sister.

Now it is obvious that the decision made by the brother and sister, which made Diego not only immediately retract his previous suspicion, but also secretly regret his decision to suspect the count.

Tiego still remembers a sentence Alexander once said to him, which always made him feel very confused, but he didn't think of even in the middle of the night, he would jump out of bed and walk back and forth for a few laps to calm down his excitement.

"Tiego, I think maybe one day you will become a Chancellor of the Exchequer, but you may also be the most special Chancellor of the Exchequer in history."

Being an ordinary businessman becomes the Minister of Finance of a country is probably the dream of all businessmen, and he may realize such a dream. Whenever he thinks of this, Diego feels that being captured by Ruosha at sea may be the luckiest opportunity in his life.

The big house on the top of the mountain was already far behind. Although the sea breeze was still so cold, Diego did not feel very cold.

After all, he just gave him a share certificate worth tens of thousands of Florin or hundreds of thousands of thousands, or even more, or even more plantation stock certificates. Just thinking about this, he felt hot all over.

He didn't know if the Count's capital was really worth it, but now Da Gama, the name was deeply imprinted in Tiego's mind at this time.

Looking back at the house behind him that stood on the top of the mountain and facing the sea, Diego sucked, and then was blown by the sea breeze and quickly closed his mouth.

"There's another person."

He murmured to himself, then took out a piece of sour bread from his arms and a piece of mutton that was about the same as a stone. He grabbed the bread and bit it and pulled it off a small piece, and then chewed it hard.

It is still a long way to go from the Portuguese port city of Sinis to Valladolid in Castilla, and Diego was wondering if he should buy a horse on the road.

According to Alexander's instructions, he got Valladolid to find someone.

"Maybe that person is not there yet, but that doesn't matter. You just need to find his whereabouts."

Tiego did not forget the words Alexander told him in the letter.

"You have to be careful about that person, he is a firm and cunning person, and all you have to do is let him know that I am interested in him."

Tiego recalled Alexander's orders again, silently recited the man's name in his heart, and then began to rush.

Christopher Columbus.
Chapter completed!