One called the plan, impossible to any educated person. But even so, Ferdinand and Isabella footed the bill, partly because they were full of crusading zeal after expelling the Muslims from Spain, and partly because they were desperate to get their hands on some of that pepper richness. Columbus of course failed at finding riches. He returned with neither spices nor gold. He did create some Christians, as we'll discuss in a future episode, but in terms of goal accomplishment, Columbus was much less successful than either Zheng He or Vasco de Gama. But within two generations of Columbus, Spain would become fantastically wealthy, and for a time they were the leading power in Europe. Columbus' voyages also had a huge, largely negative impact on the people the Spanish encountered in the Americas.