What Led Portuguese Nobility to Organize Expeditions in Search of Plunder

What led Portuguese nobility to organize expeditions in search of plunder?

A) They were economically weakened after the Black Death.
B) They hoped for upward mobility which would lead to an overthrow of the monarch.
C) Spanish explorers had reported that there was great wealth in the "new world."
D) Portugal's status in Europe had declined, and Spain and England had become the major powers.