"Praise the Lord! After a holy war, millions of Moors in the peninsula have accumulated wealth for four hundred years. The Moors themselves have become the spoils of the holy war, and they have been continuously sent to the Apennine states! The whole of Italy
The peninsula was unprecedentedly prosperous, and the workshops in each state were expanded several times. The Roman Church also made a fortune, and began to sponsor "artists" to build a brand new Vatican Palace, and even used paintings from "ancient Rome and ancient Greece"
Sculpture. The great aristocrats of various states are also following suit. They want to be 'protectors of ancient art' and leave their names in the history books... Tsk, tsk, it's really a panic to burn too much money..."
"Burn... Oh, that's right! Isaac, you won't go to Castile recently, especially the newly conquered Moorish land in the south of the peninsula. Last year, the Kingdom of Castile officially issued a ban on the Moors and Jews.
The "Alhambra Decree", a large-scale 'expulsion' of Moors and Jews, and 'legal' deprivation of all property from each other, was actually a fanatical religious inquisition... Only half a year later, the Kingdom of Castile was returned to the
After paying a debt of two hundred thousand gold ducats, I really don’t know how many heretics and heretics were burned to death on the rack in the east of the peninsula?…”
Having said this, the old knight Lorenzo paused and opened his drunken eyes. He looked at the Jewish businessman Eleazar meaningfully, with obvious knocks in his tone.
"Isaac, in God's world, there are not many places like city-state republics that are tolerant and accepting of your ethnic group! You must know how to be grateful..."
"Yes, yes! Knight Lorenzo, I have also heard that the Castilians are very violent... As long as they see Moore or Jewish origin, they will arrest people and send them to the stake, and take away all their property... They
It’s just crazy. It doesn’t matter whether it’s pious to the Lord or whether it’s meritorious to the church…”
Mentioning the heretical inquisition that occurred in the east of the peninsula, the Jewish businessman Eleazar sweated on his forehead and trembled with fear in his heart. Those poor knights with red eyes and those inquisitor priests in black robes really burned people like firewood! As a
A Jewish businessman with obvious characteristics, he did not dare to step into the territory of the Kingdom of Castile at this time and deal with those knights and priests with fanatical beliefs...
This is why even though he knew that the Holy War was a good opportunity to make a fortune, he had been staying in Portugal and never went to the peninsula to lend money. As for the news about Columbus in Castile, he had known about it for two or three years, and he had not found any information.
The other party’s idea of collecting debts…
The painful experience of his ethnic group told him that in the world of God, every holy war with religious fanaticism will eventually turn into a barbecue party for heretics and pagans, venting anger against their ethnic group, writing off accounts, plundering and killing!...Every time
, never an exception!
"Yahweh... God witnesses! My loyalty to the city-state republic is more real than real gold! Only the city-state republic will accept and protect us who are doing honest business and let us survive from those greedy and fanatical poor ghosts.
Come down..."
"Dear Knight Lorenzo! The City-State Republic is my master! The orders and instructions given to me by the Congress are my life! I will do my best to obtain information about the Portuguese gold mines in the southern continent for the Congress... Yes! I am very confident.
, let the Portuguese naval officer come and meet you in person. He comes from a very low background, has no savings, and has to live a noble life, so he is very short of money. He is very greedy, and his loyalty to the Portuguese royal family is just that.
He has no devout beliefs... Every time he returns, he smuggles a lot of goods, the most among all Portuguese captains!..."
Having said this, the Jewish businessman Eleazar paused, looked at the port outside the window, and said hesitantly.
"Strange! The Portuguese southern fleet returned from the southern continent just last month, bringing back a large amount of spices, ivory, gems, gold and slaves... I also made an appointment with the naval officer to meet quietly in the past few days.
Once, he traded the private goods he brought back on the ship..."
"I just don't know why... A week ago, the Portuguese naval fleet parked in the port suddenly lost a dozen caravels... The young naval officer also disappeared, and there was no one in the house... I sent someone to inquire, and quietly
I asked some familiar naval officers... It is said that there was a royal order from the king before, asking a part of the navy to be dispatched to contain some 'pirates from the north'..."
"Huh? The Portuguese navy is dispatched to contain some pirates?...Northern pirates? Are they barbarians from Northern Europe?..."
Hearing this, the old knight Lorenzo was startled, with a confused face. However, he didn't understand things at sea, so he could only be confused for a moment.
"Lord! When will he come back?"
"This... I can't tell you what happened at sea... I guess it only lasts ten days and a half? It is said that the dispatch was so urgent that the ship only had about twenty days of supplies..."
"Hmm... Do you want to wait another half a month? That's okay..."
"O Lord! One, two, three... ten... all Portuguese ocean-going sailing ships! So big, so majestic!..."
The young knight Giovanni drank a lot of wine and lay by the window with his eyes wide open, greedily counting the ships and flags in the port. Regarding the huge loans and profits made by the Republic of Venice in the Holy War, he also had the potential to make a fortune while lying down.
Happy, but he feels guilty from time to time. He always feels that this kind of greedy holy war lending violates the code of knights and is unworthy of the Lord...
The knightly education in the past has left too many profound marks on him. Even though these romantic and naive marks are gradually being smoothed away by reality, they still prevent him from being like a pure Venetian aristocrat who regards the pursuit of power and wealth as his life.
The ultimate goal. And what is the ultimate goal of life? The goal of a knight...honor, courage and piety...
"Ah! Sail to the mysterious southern continent, follow the hot land cursed by the devil, and open up a new route to the East... Looking for allies in the world of God to attack the Ottomans, looking for King John who believes in the Lord in the East... Ah! This is honor.
, a symbol of courage and piety, not to mention being rewarded with Eastern wealth!… This is the right path approved by God!… Alas! The Portuguese sailing nobles are the real knights of the sea!…”
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Wine is not intoxicating, dreams are intoxicating. The young knight Giovanni imagined brave sailing exploration and the opening of new routes of glory, and his young face lit up.
The wine red with yearning aroused. He had participated in real and cruel holy wars. The so-called magnificent and glorious wars he had imagined when he was a boy had already been completely broken in his heart. But he had not yet participated in sailing, those mysterious and glorious wars in his imagination.
The brave voyage still enveloped his young heart, filling him with desire from the bottom of his heart.
"If... I can command a large sailing ship of my own and go south with a pious crew... I will definitely be guided by the Lord, defeat the native cities one after another, burn down the devil's altars and temples, and find the rich and pious East.
Christians!...Ah! I have gone through the same test as "The Odyssey" along the way, and finally engraved my name in the immortal biography of a saint!..."
"Boom boom!..."
The faint sound of thunder came from the window, like the cannon of a warship, roaring to destroy the barbarian natives, and also awakened the fantasy of the young knight. Giovanni blinked in confusion, watching the faint sound of thunder.
direction, but did not see any dark clouds...
"Huh? Is this? Thunder? Why are there no clouds?..."
"Boom boom!..."
After a while, two more thunders sounded, which seemed far away in the horizon, but also seemed a little closer. And the originally orderly port also began to have some movement. The captains of many merchant ships sent sailors to the observation tower.
Look to the northwest where the thunder is coming from, which is the northern entrance to Tahoe Bay.
"Hmm! What's going on?...This noise seems to be? The sound of gunfire?!..."
"Boom boom!..."
The amplified thunder was getting closer and closer, as if floating from the sky where the sea of clouds met, making people dream back to the battlefield of the holy war siege. The old knight Lorenzo suddenly shook, and the hazy drunkenness dissipated instantly. He quickly walked to the window
, looking at the open and prosperous Tahoe Bay, his expression became solemn.
"Giovanni, you have good eyesight... Is there a ship on the western horizon heading towards the port?!..."
"Ah! Yes! There is a ship! A big ship!...Ah! It is getting closer and closer, as if it is rushing straight towards this side, with the sails fully hoisted and not slowing down at all!...Ah! Behind it
, and also followed several Portuguese sailing ships, seemingly chasing it, but almost collided with other merchant ships!…”
Giovanni squinted his eyes and looked hard at the sea outside the port. The rampaging ship was like a crazy Iberian bullfight, rushing desperately to the place with the most ships. The merchant ships inside and outside the port were all in a hurry.
It turned the ship around and panicked to avoid the "mad cow ship". The several Portuguese warships following it were also blocked by the messy merchant ships in the port. Some of them were too timid to intercept them at full speed, and they were always just a little short of it.
"Huh? The sound of the cannons and the smoke from the big ship? It seems like... that big ship has been firing off cannons?! But there is no water spray, is it an empty cannon?... Where did these stupid pirates come from? They are really desperate! How dare they
Heading straight to the port of Lisbon, heading straight to the home base of the Portuguese Navy?!..."
"No! No! That big ship raised a flag, they are not pirates!... They are... They are?... They are!..."
At this moment, the old knight Lorenzo and the young knight Giovanni looked at each other, and they both saw the shock and disbelief in each other's eyes.
In front of the busy port of Lisbon, with countless merchant ships from all over the world watching, the dilapidated "crazy ship", the large sailing ship being chased by the Portuguese navy, actually raised a shabby flag majestically.
Styrian Royal Family's Castle and Lion Flag!
"Holy Mother! It's the navy of the Royal Family of Castile! How could this happen?!..."
"O Lord! Could it be that the Kingdom of Castile, which had just conquered the Moors, suddenly started a war with the Kingdom of Portugal, which was exploring the southern continent?..."
