Chapter Two - Nobody Wanted This Voyage

CHAPTER TWO

Nobody Wanted This Voyage

LET’S GET SOMETHING straight right now:
Christopher Columbus was not a genius.
He was not a misunderstood visionary. He was a stubborn con man with a god complex, pitching a suicide mission wrapped in Bible verses and gold dust.

And everybody saw through it.

Portugal said no.
France said no.
England said hell no.
Even broke and bloodthirsty Spain said no multiple times. Why? Because the math didn’t add up. The route was wrong. The distance was impossible. He was trying to shrink the ocean through sheer confidence.

Every educated navigator in Europe knew the Earth was big. They knew sailing west wouldn’t get you to Asia. You’d starve. You’d die. You’d sink in open water chasing a ghost. Columbus just... didn’t care. Because he wasn’t trying to prove a theory.

He was trying to win the jackpot.

What he offered the Crown wasn’t science. It was a get-rich-quick scheme with divine branding. “Let me sail west,” he said, “and I’ll bring you gold, spices, silk, and souls for the Church. I’ll find a backdoor into Asia and plant your flag there. I’ll convert the world.”

All they had to do was believe him.

They didn’t.

At least, not until they got desperate.

See, in 1492, Spain was licking its wounds after centuries of war. They’d just kicked out the last Muslim kingdom in Granada and were drunk on the fumes of conquest. The monarchy was broke. The Church wanted converts. And Columbus walked in like a prophetic fever dream: one voyage, one man, eternal glory.

Queen Isabella finally said yes, but not out of admiration.
She saw a weapon.

She saw a tool. A fool willing to throw himself into the ocean for the promise of treasure and salvation. And if he failed? No big loss. If he succeeded? Spain would own a new empire.

It wasn’t a partnership. It was a gamble.

But here’s the sinister part:

Columbus didn’t just ask for ships. He asked for titles. “Admiral of the Ocean Sea.” “Viceroy of all lands discovered.” A cut of the profits. Forever. He was building his throne before he even touched water.

And they said yes.

Why? Because they never expected him to come back.

They thought they were sending a fanatic to drown.

But he didn’t.

And when he did return, clutching lies and kidnapped people, they handed him more ships.

Because nothing’s more dangerous than a man who fails upward with a flag in his hand.