The sky is still gray. Although the rain has stopped, there is no sunshine.

Diego walked forward along the palace road, and after walking for a while, he stopped and turned to look at the monastery behind him.

Diego didn't know if the princess was looking at him behind the window of her room at this time, but he still couldn't help but look back.

Even now he still doesn't believe what he has done, or even though he has arrived in Lisbon and has been there for so long, he doesn't believe that he has actually participated in such a conspiracy.

The word conspiracy may not be a mutation. It means more an undeclared plan rather than a special word for a villain. Diego does not think he is a villain, but even so he is still surprised by his boldness.

Although he had never seen the couple's two kings with his own eyes, he had heard a lot.

The most appropriate description of them is that of being cruel and ruthless and full of wisdom. Although Queen Isabella is a woman, she has no less wisdom and courage than men. Her husband, King Ferdinand, is a nearly perfect ruler. The couple is now the common supreme of Kestilia and Aragon. And one day in the future, they will be the masters of almost the vast majority of the Iberian Peninsula.

Did you actually participate in a conspiracy to overthrow the couple?

Tiego was surprised by his own situation, but he was even more unbelievable that he was so naturally trapped in. After all, this was not speculative business, but a business that lost its head. Although he made a fortune, he would be successful, but if he lost his money, he would die without a burial place.

But perhaps because of this, Diego was worried and also had an unconcealable excitement. He remembered a strange thing Alexander had said to him before.

"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."

Secretary of the Finance Department, this is definitely something that Tyergo had never thought before. When Alexander said this to him, he felt novel, but now he suddenly felt that perhaps this dreamy ideal may not be impossible to become a real reality.

Diego turned around and continued to move forward with excitement. He could only move forward now. Whether it was the so-called driving force of ideals or for anything else, the road under his feet was paved so well, and the only thing he could do was continue to move forward.

When he returned to his residence, Diego saw Marcoliri, the captain of the Berio merchant ship. The captain seemed a little excited. He kept turning around in the circle. When he saw Diego coming back, he immediately stopped and looked at him.

"Oh, you're here." Diego was not very enthusiastic. If he had been a little interested in communicating with such a person who had participated in a great adventure, now he felt that it was no big deal.

After all, I was a man who was involved in the big plan to overthrow the two kings.

Marcoliri seemed not to notice the change in Tiego's expression. He grabbed the curled hat with his left hand and held the sword shaking around his hips with his right hand. He asked excitedly: "I'm here to ask when our adventure will begin. You must know that I'm ready. Although I've just returned for two months, I've already disgusted with land. I want to go back to the sea, where is the territory."

Tiego accidentally glanced at Marcoliri's already bloated belly. It was the result of his time being being swollen by various banquets and gifts from others. This man has indeed done a good job in Lisbon during this period. If Da Gama had not returned, he would definitely be a distinguished guest of the Lisbon merchants and nobles.

But now Dagama is back, carrying more gold, ivory, spices and gems, and more importantly, with a complete route chart of the new route, which makes the originally radiant Marcoliri dimly pale.

So perhaps his desire to return to the sea could deceive the women in the noble merchants' families, but this could not impress Diego.

"Soon, the clan will be six months longer, maybe even earlier." Tiego said, signaling Marcoliri to sit down, and then looked at the excited captain in front of him seriously. He knew that this man could not hide his happiness because he thought of the various benefits that an adventure led alone would bring to him.

"Is it so fast?" Marcolliri asked unexpectedly. Although he was indeed anxious to start a new adventure, it would be a year later when he thought it would be too complicated after all. After all, the various preparations were too complicated. More importantly, although the adventure was funded by the merchant in front of him, it would inevitably require the support of the king to make a journey, so things would become much more complicated.

"Yes, don't worry, we will prepare everything for you. All you have to do is strictly carry out the tasks we have arranged for you."

"Task?" The captain suddenly became a little alert. He looked at Tiego cautiously, hoping that he could say something more clearly. "I know my mission is to discover more new routes to the East based on the Dagama route, but is there anything else I need to do besides these?"

"Yes," Diego thought for a while. He felt that if he wanted to say the Count's orders in a row, perhaps this person could not accept it, or even Diego himself could not understand why the Count would consider so many things for a while. "What you have to do is not only discover new trade routes, but also establish enough long-term and stable trade stations and stable contact lines in the local area. We will send people to help you in these matters, and for this we will ask you for a suitable identity in front of the king, because only in this way can you perform your duties more conveniently. Do you think the title of Oriental Trade Manager is more suitable for you?"

Marcoliri showed a look of surprise. When Manuel I awarded Da Gama the title of "Commander-in-Chief of Portugal in the East", Marcoliri had not slept well all night because of jealousy. He felt that he did not do much less than Da Gama, but except for the short glory before Da Gama came back, people are talking about the great explorer, but they are almost forgotten.

Now seeing someone who is willing to support him in a completely his own adventure, he is even willing to support him as someone who can compete with Da Gama, Marcoliri can't help but feel like he is dreaming.

"Of course, this may take some time. After all, to get this title, you need the king's permission." Diego said, looking at a construction site that looked chaotic in the distance outside the window.

That was the location of the Jeronimus Monastery, which was personally surveyed by Manuel I.

Manuel I was a fanatical believer, and his second wife, Maria of Aragon, the daughter of Kestilia Isabella, was even more crazy believer.

The couple had an almost paranoid fanaticism about building a church. In order to build a cathedral that is the most glorious in Portugal's history, Manuel I insisted on spending a huge sum of money in Lisbon at almost a sky-high price to build the Monastery of Jeronimus in Lisbon.

This decision was fully supported by his wife Maria of Aragon. They stubbornly decided to withdraw one tenth of the national tax every year as a source of this expense. According to some experts' calculations, it would take Portugal's full two years of fiscal revenue to achieve this goal until the construction is completed.

Such a huge project requires not only huge wealth, but a new way to provide them with financial support for years. It is precisely because of this that Manuel I tried to open up new routes so urgently shortly after he ascended the throne.

"Don't worry, we will find a way to help you achieve this wish." Tiego smiled and said to Marcoliri that he had received clear instructions from the Count, so he is now actively dealing with the Portuguese noble merchants. He believes that these people will soon help him speak in front of the king who is eager to make huge profits from the new route. After all, this can be said to be a good thing that people are looking forward to now.

After seeing off the joyful Marcoliri, Diego returned to his study on the second floor of his residence.

This is his private territory, and neither servants nor assistants can come in at will without permission.

Walking to the wall, opening a secret wall, taking out a notebook from it, Diego returned to the table and began to carefully decipher a letter he had just sent according to the mark on the password book.

This was the latest order given to him by Alexander. In this secret order, Alexander asked him to pay a clear attention to a man named Americo Vespsi in Castilla.

"This is a Florentine. I had had a great time talking to his family relatives in Florence. In their description, this is a person who is willing to take risks and bragging. Although his experience as a banker made him proficient in calculations, his adventurous and promising personality made him unable to stay in one place for a long time. What I want you to note is that this person is also interested in sailing and adventure, and because he has enough financial resources, he may have participated in a new expedition supported by Queen Castilla on a new route discovered by Columbus. I hope you can pay close attention to this person's movements. If it is possible to establish a private friendship with him, I believe that my dear friend, this little investment will definitely not make you

Disappointment, if possible, or even perhaps, you can stand at a high point in history with many people destined to be named Liu Ming's history. As for the work you have in Lisbon, you can give it to your appointees to do. You just need to keep in touch with them from time to time. Believe in my dear Tiego, not everything must be done by ourselves, otherwise we will fall into those cumbersome and trivial matters and cannot extricate ourselves. Therefore, learning to trust your subordinates is a good choice, just like my trust in you, you must know that the responsibilities you may have to shoulder in the future will become more and more complicated. If you cannot develop such a good habit now, you will be exhausted. I don't want my future Minister of Finance to fall down so early."

Tiego shook his head in confusion. He didn't know where the Earl's news came from, but he did not doubt the Earl's judgment, because all the instructions from the Earl so far have accurately achieved the purpose he had previously speculated.

Even if he used the profits of the Free Trade Union and a huge amount of Florin to buy a new route, which seemed to be reliable, Tiego did not hesitate to follow the order. As for this man named Amerigo Vespsi, although Tiego didn't know what he was doing, since the Count attached great importance to him, Tiego didn't care about getting close to this person.

What's more, his mission in Portugal has almost been completed, and his homesickness that has been away from home for a long time also makes him willing to take this opportunity to go back to his hometown of Bali Ali to take a look.

As for the words of the Chancellor of the Crown that Alexander mentioned again as a joke in his heart, Tiego did not pay much attention. His attention was focused on the Florentine man named Americo Vespsi. He wanted to know everything about this man as soon as possible so as to complete the task of establishing a private friendship with him as the Count said.

One day after the third week of September, Diego quietly left Lisbon, just as he had come without much attention. However, the large net woven with a large sum of money that had been cast in Lisbon for nearly a year began to move. This net consisted of everything from ordinary merchants to prominent nobles, and even the favored maids around Maria of Queen Aragon were caught up in it because they had gained some benefits from it. For a moment, from the folk to the palace, there were loud calls for a second new route exploration. Faced with such enthusiasm and the financial gap in the Monastery of Jeronimus, which really needed a lot of wealth, Manuel I began to prepare for the second expedition.

At this time, after many people's "warm recommendations", the name of Captain Marcolliri, the Captain of the Berio in the Dagama expedition, naturally appeared in front of Manuel I.

The king, who was originally planning to carefully select, was a little scared by people's desire for new routes, and he had to consider organizing a new expedition team to go east again, so he became somewhat hasty in selecting the commander of the expedition team.

As the captain of the Berio, Marcoliri quickly stood out from many people because of her rich sailing experience and her previous experience in exploring a new route. Compared with him, the others were indeed much worse.

When Manuel I finally decided to command Marcoliri on the second expedition, no one knew that a navigator named Cabral was destined to bid farewell to the honor of the second Eastern route pioneer in his original fate.

But Tiego is not aware of all this for the time being. He was taking a boat along the winding and changing coastline of the Iberian Peninsula, all the way around Gibraltar toward the Mediterranean. He was going home to see his wife and children first.

Just as Tiego was anxious to go home and see, there was a man who was sighing and silenced in Bologna, Italy.

As the occupier, Busacco has brought many days in Bologna. From the initial excitement to the later calmness, to the now a little impatient, Busacco's life in Bologna can only be described as "poverty and tasteless".

Bologna is a city where quiet and passion coexist. The rich academic atmosphere here seems to permeate every corner of the city. Often, walking on the street, you can see someone loudly chanting his understanding or objections to a certain master's insights, and you can also see female students wearing purple cloaks made by Bologna University that other cities would never see passing by.

The open academic atmosphere and the luck of being a direct territory of the Pope who has been able to escape war for many years have made the city develop its unique charm.

But all this does not seem to fit Busacco's taste.

The previous "humiliation" experience at the University of Bologna made Busacco really unable to raise any favorable feelings for the city.

Busako had visited Breggit, whom Busako had met several times later, and twice was accompanied by his daughter named Gina. What surprised Busako was that Gina seemed to have a strong interest in the Queen of Naples, so she had found Busako more than once and asked him about Rusha.

Although it is not beautiful, it has a very intelligent mind and serious attitude. The contact with the master's daughter made Busacco's heart a little restless.

But Busako knew very well that he was thinking about things. He had a wife and children at home and was obviously not qualified to think about these things, but these were all second-hand. The real key was that he knew very well that this female college student named Gina Brigitte would not fall in love with him.

Busako became a little anxious. He longed to see the girl every day, but often after meeting, he didn't know what to say to her. After all, her knowledge was like the revelation God gave to the saints, and it was not something that he, a mortal, could understand.

Gina Breggit also seemed to notice Busako's unusual feelings for her, but the girl who seemed to be armed with reason and calm was neither complacent because of an occupier's obsession with her, nor was she disdainful of him because Busako was a vulgar **. She was interested in the news she heard from Busako, and she was planning a plan for herself.

In mid-September, when the northern countries of France and Austria finally broke out after a confrontation and temptation, Busako also received an order from Barondi, in which Barondi gave him a concise instruction: "Be prepared at any time and hand over to the city to the Vatican's special envoys to Bologna."
Chapter completed!