[Henry VIII] Tudor Crown

Before Henry VIII, he only thought that John Dudley was a useful general. After all, the two dukes and the Earl of Surrey died, and the most important part of the available generals in England was missing.The Stanley family, which was very active in the War of the Roses, is a fool that Henry VIII cannot trust. As for the older Percy family-this group of unlucky ghosts has not stopped for a day since Edward III came to power, and they are very good at standing in line. There is a problem. Not only did the Percy Rebellion in Henry IV come about, but even at the beginning of the War of the Roses, this group of people, like the Stanley family, repeatedly jumped between York and Lancaster, betting on both sides, so He was not liquidated until the end of the war, but lived leisurely to this day.

But now...

Glancing at John Dudley, whose brain is not working well, and William Cecil, a political newcomer who is not yet 30 years old, Henry VIII only felt a pain in his head, so that his injured leg was also aching.

With this lineup, how can he trust the country to William Tudor?

However, when Thomas Cromwell walked in, Henry VIII's face softened a lot, thinking that he could find a reliable candidate after all.

However, this little bit of consolation fell on Thomas Cromwell's coughing and obviously crooked figure.

"Your Majesty." The Seal Keeper, who was over sixty years old, already had gray hair.

It was only then that Henry VIII remembered that Thomas Cromwell was only six years older than himself, but he was more like his elder in description.

"Please sit down, my lord." The old Henry VIII finally eased his attitude, and asked someone to pour a glass of mulled wine for Thomas Cromwell, and asked his entourage to heat up the stove.

William Cecil on the side was a little envious of the treatment Thomas Cromwell could get, and wondered if he could get the same status as him when he was the other party's age.

"The result of the negotiation between Dudley and the Spanish ambassador was so bad that I lost my good mood for this day." Henry VIII did not hide from Thomas Cromwell, and said directly: "You go and talk to Spain. Let the ambassador talk again, and let the young gentleman and his son learn a thing or two by the way."

Henry VIII pointed to William Cecil, guessing that the other party's brain should be better than John Dudley: "He will be your secretary in the future, and you should know better than me what to teach."

"Yes." What a smart man Thomas Cromwell was, he quickly understood that Henry VIII wanted William Cecil to take his place.As for his son Richard Cromwell and another entourage of the Prince of Wales—William Parr, it is estimated that he will embark on the road of royal butler or secretary of the navy, but no one can compare with the past Duke of Suffolk.

But before that, Thomas Cromwell still imagined that his adopted son could take over the position of Lord Seal, but now it seems that this is just Thomas Cromwell's unilateral delusion.

Both father and son are ministers of the seal, so there will inevitably be a hereditary system, or a situation where power is concentrated in a certain family.

Like Warwick the Maker under Edward IV, or John of Gaunt before that.

Because William Cecil's father had been an attendant to the king, he could not take over the position of royal steward, lest he rely on his father's connections to control the entire court.

Likewise, Richard Cromwell cannot be Lord Seal.

This is Henry VIII's consideration for the Prince of Wales' team.

Thinking about this, Thomas Cromwell decided to let his son reduce his communication with William Parr or William Cecil, so as to face Henry VIII's suspicion that they were together, and then they took it together.

For the Spaniards, being an ambassador to England is a high-risk occupation.

At least in the eyes of the current Ambassador Sharpei, this kind of work that is about to be scolded by the monarch in letters every now and then is really whoever likes to do it, anyway, he can't stand it.

Of course, the Spanish ambassador could still get along very "happy" with John Dudley, who was not good at business, or the Duke of Norfolk, who was loyal to Catholicism and selfish.

He was in a happier mood until the pagan Lord Seal appeared before the Spanish ambassador.

It's just that now, if it wasn't for completing the task entrusted by the Spanish emperor, the Spanish ambassador would really leave the table.

"My lord, I don't understand what you mean." When the Spanish ambassador saw Thomas Cromwell's renewed conditions, he was trembling with rage, and he didn't even bother to hide his surface anger: "Co-authored by the King of England Are you going to spit out that sum of silver, and step on the dignity of our emperor and even the entire Habsburg?"

"Your Excellency, please pay attention to your words." Facing the undisguised anger of the Spanish ambassador, Thomas Cromwell said calmly: "We must pay attention to evidence in everything. Do you have evidence to prove that the king of our country let the pirates rob us?" The Spanish American Silver Ship? Or, do you think our monarch will allow pirates to do evil in our country?"

Although Henry VIII incorporated English pirates, it was a secret act after all, and it must not be made public.What's more, England hasn't withdrawn the official document to exterminate the pirates so far, so those English pirates who were incorporated did not rob their own ships in a proper way, but did evil in French or Spanish waters.

"My lord, you also said that the monarch of England will not allow pirates to do evil in their own country, and the ship transporting American silver was robbed near Cape St. Vincent. Didn't the king of England let his own pirates rob foreigners Is there an idea for a ship?" The Spanish ambassador said not to be outdone.

"Your Excellency, if you think so, then I will reciprocate." Thomas Cromwell's eyes suddenly turned cold, and his tone became a little serious: "If you can find a clause in the legal documents in England, If there is a statute 'allowing English pirates to rob outside the country,' then I will be put to death by you without any explanation."

"On the contrary, if you can't find relevant cases, then you have to seriously consider the crime of slandering the king." Thomas Cromwell said: "Even the Spanish emperor would not want his ambassador to England to be burdened The crime of slandering the king of England. Besides, it is impossible for our navy to patrol around Cape Vincent. Has the Spanish navy ever patrolled the seas of other countries? No Spanish pirates?"

Thomas Cromwell spoke so fast that the Spanish ambassador couldn't keep up with his thoughts for a while, so he could only try to sort out the current situation in his seat, showing an unbelievable look: "What do you mean? Yes, the King of England is not going to spit out this silver?"

"My lord, your wording is not accurate." Thomas Cromwell knew that Henry VIII had no intention of making peace with Charles V, and he didn't even care about the English businessmen who were imprisoned in Spain.After all, for Charles V, it would be too shameless to vent his anger on ordinary civilians if he couldn't beat the King of England.

Therefore, those English businessmen in Spain will be released in all likelihood, but their property in Spain may be confiscated by Charles V.

"My lord, I think I understand what you mean very well." The Spanish ambassador saw Thomas Cromwell here, and he could more or less guess Henry VIII's plan, and felt that there was no need to waste time here: "I will I will convey the meaning of you and His Majesty the King to the Spanish Emperor, and hope that you will not regret your arrogance today."

"Your Excellency, please don't let the friendship between the two countries be reduced to ashes because of an accident." Thomas Cromwell said regretfully when he got up to send the Spanish ambassador away: "Of course, if the Spanish emperor insists on banning English merchants traded in Habsburg territory, and we would be very worried about the trade situation between the two countries."

"You have taken the Netherlands from Spain, what else is there to worry about?" The Spanish ambassador knew that losing the Netherlands would undoubtedly make Spain's tax situation even worse.Because the current Eurasian continent (not counting florists), there are only two major world trade centers, namely Algiers occupied by the red beard brothers (Barbarossa Hayreddin brothers), and Amsterdam occupied by England.

On the other side of France, because of the "Preferential Treaty" signed with Suleiman the Great, coupled with the fact that he imposed a protective tariff rate on the country's handicraft industry, it restricted the Netherlands, Germany, and even Spain's products from entering France to a certain extent. , At the same time, it also allowed the French to monopolize the trade of Levent.

This is also the main reason why Francois, the prodigal son, is still a point or two better than Charles V's economic situation, and even the French currency is not as crazy as the two opponents.

"My worry is that the Spanish economic market will collapse because of this." Thomas Cromwell knew that William Tudor had caught up with Princess Juana's dark thread, and was going to sign a trade treaty with Turkey to prevent them from being killed by Franceca Spice Pricing with jewelry.Therefore, I don't feel sorry for the Spanish market that is about to be lost, but I don't want Spain to jump over the wall after the economic collapse: "Without the English merchants, you will hand over the market to the German Hansa merchants."

"It is better to make money for the subjects of the Spanish emperor than for the robber Englishmen."

"However, three-fifths of the goods of German Hansa merchants are imported from the Netherlands, and you are in England, and you often correspond with your Spanish family. You should be very familiar with the price difference between the two countries." Thomas Ke Renwell was a businessman who studied under Italian bankers before entering politics, so he has a very sensitive sense of the economy.

The Spanish ambassador could not answer Thomas Cromwell's question - because the main reason why he was unwilling to give up the post of ambassador to England, which was scolded every now and then, was to earn money between the two countries. The smuggled trade was poor.

If the price of an ordinary woolen sweater in England is 1, then it becomes 1.57 when it arrives at the Hansa merchant, and when it is sold to Spain by the Hansa merchant, it becomes 2.14, which is more than doubled. How can it not make people hungry to death?

In recent years, the Spanish ambassador has made a net profit of [-] pounds, which is equivalent to [-] ducats, which is equivalent to the income of a middle-class nobleman for nearly eight years.

But everything has a bottom line.

The Spanish emperor didn't mind his subordinates secretly taking some kickbacks, but if the entire market were to follow the soaring prices and even collapse, it is estimated that Charles V would take the Spanish ambassador first.

Thinking of this, no matter how much anger he had before, the Spanish ambassador could calm down completely, and then replied to Thomas Cromwell: "Please rest assured that I will never have personal emotions in matters between the two countries. "

"Then please contact the Spanish emperor as soon as possible, so that those poor English businessmen can enter the Spanish market again." Thomas Cromwell took off his hat to the Spanish ambassador, but the moment he stepped out of the conference hall , fell headlong.