Alfonso is an old acquaintance of Almeida, he was the chief chamberlain of the former King João.
When King Joao was on the throne, Alfonso enjoyed a brief period of glory as his chief attendant. However, Joao was a short-lived ghost and died at the age of forty. Joao's only son hunted him a few years before his death.
He died accidentally after falling from his horse. Because of this, after Joao's death, there was no legal heir after his death, so the nobles unanimously elected and the throne was passed to Joao's cousin Manuel.
As the former king's chief attendant, Alfonso was naturally not reused. Once the emperor and his courtiers, the same was true in the Franco Kingdom. Alfonso went from being the chief attendant respected by everyone to a person without any power.
people.
After that, Alfonso went overseas to work as a governor for a period of time. He went to some barren places and had a very unhappy life. So through his wife's relationship, he got involved with Manuel's brother Prince William.
, he did not hesitate to give his wife to Prince William for fun, and gave him a lot of gifts, helping Prince William earn a lot of money and manor.
As a result, Prince William relied heavily on Alfonso and promised to get him an important position.
Alfonso is interested in the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Fleet. This position is very important in the Franchi Kingdom, and it is very profitable. The Imperial Eastern Fleet protects the Eastern waterways, trades goods, and traffics in people, and there are huge profits. If you can
If you get this position, you will gain fame, wealth, and power.
However, Commander Almeida's reputation was at its peak, and King Manuel and a group of nobles were very satisfied with his actions. When the Franco Kingdom planned to expedition to the East, no one dared to accept this dangerous mission.
Almeida stepped forward to take on this burden. After that, she attacked cities and conquered foreign countries, established colonies and many ports, and earned a lot of wealth and land for the kingdom.
As a result, Almeida was awarded the title of Marquis. Almeida is not of royal blood, and Marquis is the highest title he can obtain. This shows.
Although in recent years, Almeida has been somewhat unwilling to make progress. Some of the nobles of the Franco Kingdom proposed to conquer the continent where the Ming Empire is located. It is said that there are gold and silver treasures everywhere, and tea, porcelain, silk and other things are all from the West.
The world's most sought-after high-end products. Coveted.
But Almeida knew that this matter could not be rushed, so she wrote to King Manuel, telling him that the matter should be considered in the long term, and not to offend the behemoth of the Ming Empire because of greed. She should wait until she has sufficient strength and absolute certainty.
Act. King Manuel agreed to his suggestion and suppressed the opinions of some nobles. Because of this incident, Almeida also offended some people. Some people privately thought that Almeida was unwilling to make progress and was afraid of failure.
I no longer have the courage I had before.
Prince William was one of the people who actively advocated attacking the Ming Empire. He was Manuel's younger brother, in charge of government affairs and had great power. Although he did not dare to disobey his brother's decision, Almeida still
Disregarded.
Moreover, this Almeida always only had eyes for the king, not herself as the prince. Prince William had long been dissatisfied with him.
A year ago, during the Battle of Tuen Mun Island, the news that the Ming Empire's army recaptured Tuen Mun Island, killed many Fo Lang Ji soldiers, and imprisoned many Fo Lang Ji residents spread back to the country of Fo Lang Ji.
Prince William was furious.
At his suggestion, King Manuel called Almeida back to report his duties. Prince William asked Almeida in person to attack the Ming Empire and use this as a reason to launch a war. But Almeida withstood the pressure and argued his interests.
After convincing the king, he finally decided to use the Champa New Port Fleet to carry out a retaliatory attack and rescue the expatriates. However, he did not launch a formal attack on the interior of the Ming Dynasty.
As a result, Prince William had a greater opinion of Almeida.
After the formation of the Ming Dynasty Armada, Xingang of the Champa Kingdom was captured and the entire Xingang fleet was destroyed. This incident shocked the whole country. Prince William took the opportunity to propose the removal of Almeida as commander-in-chief and recommend Alfonso as his replacement.
Although King Manuel was also dissatisfied with Almeida, and Prince William had some nobles saying these things in his ears every day, his attitude was somewhat relaxed.
However, a few days ago, news of the Battle of Furong Cliff quickly spread to the country. The news of Almeida's defeat at Furong Cliff shocked Manuel. Prince William struck while the iron was hot and proposed that Alfonso immediately go to replace Almeida.
He took up his duties as an official and fought a decisive battle with the fleet of the Ming Empire.
Manuel acquiesced to this suggestion, but he told Prince William that Almeida was a meritorious person and had a good reputation in the kingdom. Don't go too far. Let Alfonso replace him first and wait for Almeida to return to the country.
Later, I personally persuaded him and appointed him as the Sheriff of Lisbon, the capital of the kingdom, so that he could get the respect and dignity he deserved.
I have to say that King Manuel was a good king. He knew tolerance and respect. But Prince William didn't think so. Prince William told Alfonso that there was no need to give Almeida any respect and directly took his position.
If he dares to resist and disobey, Almeida will be imprisoned for his crime.
This is not just a matter of personal grudges, Prince William is cultivating his own power. A stubborn person like Almeida, who is disdainful of himself, can only establish his power by taking advantage of his illness and killing him.
As a result, Alfonso, supported by Prince William, hurriedly rushed to Guri Port by speedboat. On the way to Malacca, he caught up with the warships coming for reinforcements, so he arrived with these warships.
On the pier, Alfonso laughed and walked down the gangplank, came to Almeida, took off his hat, smiled and bowed.
"Dear Commander-in-Chief Almeida, oh no, I can't call you that, because you have been dismissed. From now on, I will be the Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Fleet. Mr. Marquis of Almeida, I hope you will join me as soon as possible.
Hand over the affairs, and then return to the country to report on the work. Everything here will be left to me." Alfonso smiled.
Almeida said solemnly: "Please show me your appointment certificate."
Alfonso smiled and said: "It seems you still want to struggle. Here is the appointment letter."
Alfonso took out a letter of appointment from his arms and opened it in front of Almeida. Almeida looked at it intently and suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahaha. Alfonso, what kind of letter of appointment is this? There is no signature of His Majesty the King on it. This letter of appointment can do countless things."
"Nonsense, this is a letter of appointment signed by Prince William himself. Are you blind?" Alfonso scolded.
"I'm sorry, Prince William is not qualified to remove me from my post. It is true that Prince William is the chief administrative officer, but the Eastern Fleet is a special fleet appointed by His Majesty the King personally. My original appointment was also personally appointed by His Majesty the King. It belongs to the military.
Matters cannot be decided by the political officer. Even if I want to be dismissed from my post, it must be signed by His Majesty the King. Otherwise, I will not recognize it." Almeida said solemnly.
Alfonso sneered: "Mr. Almeida, you are trying to disobey me."
Almeida glared at him and said: "This is not the king's order, so I can't be considered disobedient. If it is your majesty's order, I will obey it. Alfonso, you'd better go back to your country and get the letter of appointment signed by the king."
.How do I know that you didn’t do this behind His Majesty’s back? The position of Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Fleet is so important. I can’t just give it up to you based on this vague letter of appointment and a few words.
you."
Alfonso's face turned pale with anger, and he shouted loudly: "Okay, Almeida, are you going to rebel? You are arrogant and disobeying orders. Do you know the consequences of doing this?"
Almeida snorted coldly and said: "Mr. Alfonso, I still have some important things to do. When you come to the Port of Malacca, don't wander around. This is an important military port, and the Ming Empire's fleet may come at any time.
Launch an attack. You can stay here, but you can't wander around. Otherwise, I won't be polite."
Alfonso couldn't help but sneer, bent down and bowed: "Mr. Almeida, I finally understand. You are indeed a rebellious and unruly person who refuses to admit defeat. You are indeed an arrogant person who even disobeys the kingdom's orders."
.Very good. In that case, I won’t disturb you. Goodbye.”
Alfonso raised his head and left. Almeida shouted: "Shouldn't you go back to the boat and turn around and go back to the country?"
Alfonso said without looking back: "Mr. Almeida, you have no right to interfere with my freedom. Even if you are the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Fleet, this place in Malacca is under the control of Governor Goya. If you want to expel me, you have to
He just speaks. Unless you really think that besides the king, you are the greatest, I have to listen to you in everything."
Almeida frowned and said nothing, watching Alfonso quickly go ashore and leave. He knew in his heart that Alfonso's letter of appointment was genuine. Since Prince William issued the letter of appointment, it must be approved by His Majesty the King. The reason why he did this
Doing it is not to disobey orders, but to give yourself a chance.
The reason why His Majesty the King allowed Prince William to appoint Alfonso to succeed him was because of the defeat in the previous battle. If he could defeat the fleet of the Ming Empire, things might turn around.
He, Almeida, has been in business for more than ten years, has won the name of the Eastern Fleet, and made great contributions. In no way can he be captured by Alfonso, a shameless man with a despicable face who gave his wife to others as a lover.
.Unless you let go and hand it over to others, being deprived of your position will be a lifelong shame and absolutely unacceptable.
Almeida quickly forgot about this matter and did not pay attention to Alfonso's movements. In the afternoon of that day, he summoned all the generals to a meeting to discuss combat matters.
The meeting lasted until dark, and he dragged his tired body back to the manor. After entering the manor gate, he saw his daughter Helena sitting alone in the hall under the candlelight in a daze.
Almeida felt a little sad. After her defeat, she had been in a bad mood for the past few days. Whenever she spoke, she would blame Helena for being deceived by Zhang Yanling, blaming him intentionally or unintentionally. During this period of time, Helena said nothing and looked lonely.
.
"She is my daughter, how can I treat her like this? Isn't everything I do for her to live a happier life? I am really stupid, why do I treat her like that?"
Almeida felt guilty and walked quickly into the castle hall. Helena also heard the sound of the carriage stopping and her father's footsteps, stood up and looked outside the castle.
When Almeida opened her mouth to call Helena's name, suddenly, he heard screams coming from the door of the manor. Almeida was startled and turned around to look. She saw the door of the manor, the door wide open. A group of cavalry