The Rise of the European Emperor

In the Royal Palace of Toledo, the capital of Spain, King Aragon rushed over from Zaragoza angrily to discuss sending troops with his son Juan III.

The information that the French sent troops to the kingdom of Naples was finally sent back to Barcelona by Spanish spies by sea, and then to Zaragoza. However, because the sea route was very slow, and there was a long delay in the middle, the Spaniards delayed the best rescue time.

In particular, the French were 70,000 or 80,000 troops heading south, and Ferdinand II did not have any confidence to let the Kingdom of Aragon and the French go head-to-head.

You know, in terms of national strength, the Kingdom of Aragon is not as good as the Kingdom of Castile. However, it is true that the navy of the Kingdom of Aragon is strong. At the beginning, in order to compete for Sicily and Sardinia, the Kingdom of Aragon developed a powerful navy. In the Mediterranean Sea, except for Venice, Aragon's navy is the strongest, much stronger than the navy of Genoa, which has begun to decline.

And the Kingdom of Castile, although the national strength is stronger, the navy started very late. At the beginning, Queen Isabella I sent Columbus to find the Indian route.

However, this is also not possible. Because, at that time, King Ferdinand II of the Aragon Kingdom, which was more developed in navigation, did not support Columbus's voyage. So, Queen Isabella I could only give Columbus three boats.

However, in the past 20 years, because the Kingdom of Castile has gained a lot of benefits from navigation, especially the huge profits from the Indian spice trade. Therefore, the navigation industry in the Kingdom of Castile has also developed now. Even, the combined naval power of the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Aragon can no longer fear Venice.

Of course, when it comes to the army, the Kingdom of Castile is stronger. Even the famous Spanish general Gonzalo de Córdoba belonged to the Kingdom of Castile. To deal with tens of thousands of French troops, Ferdinand II had to come to Toledo to discuss with his son.

However, on the side of the Kingdom of Castile, except for Juan III, the other nobles seem to be less interested in rescuing the Kingdom of Naples. Why? Because, the interests of the Kingdom of Naples were basically swallowed up by the Kingdom of Aragon, nothing to do with the Kingdom of Castile. Therefore, the nobles of the Kingdom of Castile were not very enthusiastic about rescuing the Kingdom of Naples.

For a few days, Ferdinand II was busy arguing with the great nobles of the Kingdom of Castile, but to no avail. In desperation, Ferdinand II could only do his son's work first—

"Juan, you have to support me in the kingdom of Naples. Because, after I die, the kingdom of Naples will definitely be yours. Remember, you are not only the king of Castile, you will also become the kingdom of Aragon in the future. King! And the King of Naples!"

Juan III nodded, he naturally understood this.

Later, Ferdinand II also said to his daughter-in-law Margaret of Austria:

"Margaret, write to your father to see if he can send troops to help? You should know very well that if the French annex Italy, it will be very bad for Austria!"

Queen Margaret of Castile nodded and said:

"I have contacted my father with carrier pigeons, but the Austrian troops are basically piled up in the Swiss battlefield, and it is difficult to divide them to support. The main reason is that the French sent troops to rescue the 17,000 Swiss mercenaries who were detained. Now , the army of the Habsburg family was dragged on the Swiss battlefield, unable to move!"

"Then what should we do? If we don't have enough troops, we can't fight against the French..." Ferdinand II was a little distressed.

Queen Margaret thought for a while and said:

"Father, it's not impossible to convince those Castilian nobles..."

"Oh? Let's talk about it!" Ferdinand II's eyes were full of expectations.

"It's like this. Two days ago, the fleet sent to the Spice Islands for reconnaissance came back..."

Ferdinand II was taken aback:

"Why don't I know?" After speaking, he looked at his son Juan III.

Juan III explained:

"The ship docked at the port of Cadiz in the Kingdom of Castile, and of course the news was sent to Toledo first, and then to Zaragoza (the capital of Aragon)."

"What about the Spice Islands? Are there a lot of spices?" Ferdinand II was also a little interested. At first, Marin had described the situation to him in Rome. However, he was skeptical, and after teaming up with Portugal to monopolize the Indian spice trade, he sent a fleet to the Indonesian archipelago for reconnaissance.

Juan III replied:

"The situation is similar to what Marin said, where cloves and nutmeg are abundant. It is said that the cloves and nutmeg in the Calicut market basically come from the Spice Islands and are shipped to the Indian market through the Strait of Malacca. Because There is a change of hands in the middle, so the price in the Indian market is much higher than that of pepper. Its profit is also much lower than that of pepper. If you control the Spice Islands, it is estimated that cloves and nutmeg will be much more profitable."

Ferdinand II thought for a while and said:

"This is indeed good news, but, what does this have to do with the rescue of the Kingdom of Naples? The most important thing for us now is to send troops to Italy!"

Queen Margaret interjected at this time:

"Father, what I mean is that the future interests of the Spice Islands must be huge. If you now promise to give more interests to the great nobles of Castile when developing the Spice Islands in the future, I think they are still willing to send troops... "

Ferdinand II hesitated for a moment. If he did this, it might be a little difficult to explain to the nobles of Aragon. However, at this critical juncture, the French cannot be defeated without relying on the strength of the Kingdom of Castile. In desperation, Ferdinand II had no choice but to nod:

"Okay, I'll go back to Zaragoza and discuss with the ministers..."

Then, Ferdinand II and his men rode back to Zaragoza to discuss the matter with the ministers of Aragon. Sure enough, many Aragonese nobles were not satisfied with the transfer of benefits. However, if the wealthy kingdom of Naples is lost, it seems that the loss is also very large. If the interests of some of the Spice Islands are exchanged for the interests of the Kingdom of Naples, it is not impossible. It's just that this amount needs to be carefully considered...

So, Ferdinand II simply took a group of top nobles from the Kingdom of Aragon and took the spring shock-absorbing carriage sold to them by Marin, and came to Toledo to discuss with the nobles of the Kingdom of Castile. The matter of distribution of benefits...

The great nobles of the Kingdom of Castile seem to have seized the opportunity to blackmail the nobles of Aragon. Even, the golden interests of the Zimbabwe Empire, which the two sides had agreed to share equally, the great nobles of the Kingdom of Castile wanted more.

Then, the nobles of the two countries fought directly in the parliament hall, and many noble nobles were bruised... But the meeting had to continue, and the two sides continued to discuss the issue of calling for interests...

In the end, the great nobles of the Kingdom of Aragon made a concession and agreed to give up most of the interests of the Spice Islands in exchange for the full support of the Kingdom of Castile...