[Henry VIII] Tudor Crown

"Your Majesty, please allow me to ask seriously, do you really want the Prince of Wales to marry the youngest daughter of King Francois?" Thomas Cromwell was slightly taken aback after hearing Henry VIII's marriage plan , and then the brain started to work rapidly: "If you really have this plan, then the religious issue of the French princess marrying is a major matter that must be discussed clearly before marriage. In addition..."

Thomas Cromwell's hesitation caught the attention of Henry VIII, who thought Thomas Cromwell would interfere with his decision, so his face changed slightly: "Are you dissatisfied with my resolution? Your Excellency the Keeper of the Seal."

"And, I don't have such offensive thoughts." At this moment, Thomas Cromwell's brain was running fast, and he quickly found a reason for himself to convince Henry VIII: "If I remember correctly, France Margaret is the second daughter of King Francois, and her sister Princess Madeleine has just married your nephew, King James of Scotland. Although France is at war with Spain, King Francois wants to consolidate the relationship with Spain The alliance of Scotland, so an unimaginably huge dowry was purchased for Princess Madeleine. Under this premise, I am very worried that the determination of the alliance in France is not so firm, and its financial situation does not allow King Francois to pay for Margaret Princess Te bought a dowry no less than her sister's."

Thomas Cromwell secretly looked at Henry VIII's expression, and seeing that the latter nodded slightly to him, he continued: "Of course, with your wealth, you will never be like the shabby King of Scotland. , will care about a dowry of 10,000+ pounds. But the Prince of Wales is your heir after all, representing the face of England. If his wife is the younger sister of the Queen of Scotland, she will be far poorer than Princess Madeleine when she gets married What do the other sovereigns of Europe think of you, and the Prince of Wales?"

"...What you said makes sense." Henry VIII's pride made him never take the King of Scotland seriously. Although James V was his old neighbor and nephew, if William Tudor's marriage If it's not as good as the bumpkin James V, then England will feel ashamed: "Catherine once defeated James' father. If she knows that her son has become a brother-in-law with the son of the defeated general, she will definitely feel ashamed."

Since the Prince of Wales could not marry the French princess, Henry VIII naturally thought of the Habsburg princess.

It just so happened that Charles V's eldest daughter and eldest niece were almost a few years younger than William, but when he thought of the Habsburg's heavy debts, Henry VIII felt a little disgusted by the Spanish emperor's move to sell land at a low price during the war.

"Let's take a look!" Considering England's religious issues, Henry VIII also thought about proposing marriage to the German princes, but compared with Spain and France, Henry VIII looked down on the princesses of the German princes. I don't think there is much political interest in marrying them.

Thomas Cromwell, who temporarily resolved the marriage crisis, decided to step up his efforts to find a Protestant princess for the Prince of Wales. After all, William Tudor was already 11 years old. If Henry VIII wanted his son to marry early, it would probably not be three or four years later. There will be a royal wedding at Westminster Abbey.

But the Protestant princess is not so easy to find.

Thomas Cromwell regretted that Renee of France was 15 years younger than William Tudor, otherwise the latter would be the most perfect Protestant princess, and would even win the support of Calvinism for England, thereby consolidating England in Europe religious status.

Of course, when Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII were worried about the life-long affairs of the Prince of Wales, the parties had already taken the opportunity to return to Wales, and then gathered people to build a new port in the coastal area near Ireland.

For Welsh residents, this is undoubtedly a highly supported move.

Not to mention that during the period of construction of the port, many people can find a piecemeal job, and after the communication channels between Ireland and Wales are broadened, corresponding markets, pubs, and small shops will also emerge. Those value-added services such as loading, unloading and intermediary liaison will also increase employment opportunities for local residents.

However, William Tudor's ambition was not as simple as building a port.

He intends to center on the Welsh port and expand his business channels outward like a spider's web.

If conditions permit, William Tudor even wants to establish a port in Northern Ireland dedicated to Scotland, so as to use the trade balance to briefly control the Scottish economy and influence the direction of future wars.

Of course, these are all plans that William Tudor can gradually implement after he takes over Ireland.

His primary goal now is to build a port to Ireland, and then build several roads and post stations connecting other areas, so as to ensure that Wales has sufficient business resources and more people are willing to invest here.

"Build a few hotels and small banks for currency exchange here, and at the same time ensure that the post office and main post stations are under our control." When William Tudor came to inspect, he put forward a series of requirements for the port that had not yet taken shape: "If conditions permit, you can find a few minor nobles near Wales, or directly transfer people from Pembroke Castle to be responsible for the protection and escort of the goods."

"Regarding these, there are already businessmen who want to invest in Welsh ports, and intend to establish banks or..."

"They can build taverns or shops, but banks and post offices are restricted areas and must be directly under Pembroke Castle." William Tudor interrupted his subordinates directly, and said in a stern tone: "If those merchants are responsible for currency exchange and The post office, God knows what they're going to do?"

No matter in which era, public opinion and currency are weapons that can influence politics.After all, the foundation of the army is people. Without monetary support, what do you use to build an army?And public opinion can influence the morale of the army to a certain extent and destroy the will of the people.

The Rothschild family and Bezos have proved the power of currency with facts, and the media tycoon Murdoch has also influenced the US election.

If merchants were allowed to control the currency exchange channels and post offices, William Tudor had no doubts that Ireland would be left with a whole region indebted and miserable because of trade balances and false news.

Therefore, these two channels must be in their own hands, otherwise, even without the intervention of English businessmen, the material level of Ireland may not be beneficial.

"You ask your legal advisers to discuss a statute that prohibits private exchange of currency." Since William Tudor wants to strictly guard against this aspect, he must let everyone know that the Prince of Wales is not joking: "If anyone dares to exchange currency privately here , then build the gallows in the most prosperous place of the port."

"Yes." Since the status of merchants in this era has not been raised to the level of the golden age, most nobles look down on merchants who smell like copper, but to some extent, they have to rely on merchants' loans to recruit troops or It is to maintain the ostentation of life, which leads to the accumulation of contradictions between the two, and even the situation of merchants being looted during wartime.

However, this also guaranteed to a certain extent that William Tudor's policies would not encounter massive opposition.

During the establishment of the Welsh port, William Tudor contacted cultivation experts and local hunters and old people, planning to invite professionals to design the irrigation system of the entire area.

Thanks to the existence of snow-capped mountains in Wales, William Tudor was not worried about the water source for irrigation. Instead, he had to worry about whether the establishment of the dam would affect the survival of wild animals.

After all, relying on the mountains to eat the mountains, relying on the sea to eat the sea.

There are quite a few Welsh hunters, William Tudor can't let them all cut off their income!

From this point of view, the follow-up adjustment work needs to be negotiated with the hunters.

William Tudor was willing to give hunters some frivolous work to keep them alive, at least while the irrigation system was being established.

"It's easy to go anywhere after leaving London." In just a few months, William Tudor's property was spent like water, including not only the annuity granted to him by Henry VIII, but also Mary What the princess insisted on him was half the cash belonging to Catherine of Aragon, and the tribute of John Dudley and Thomas Cromwell.

Just hope that William Tudor will be able to pay back soon after the infrastructure is settled.

"Your Highness, there is a letter from London saying that the rebellion in the north has been suppressed by Sir Seymour, which caused friction between Bishop Gardner and the Queen."

Although Jane Seymour is a devout Catholic, and is regarded by Bishop Gardner as the successor to Catherine of Aragon, and a favorable supporter for His Majesty the King to return to the Catholic faith.

However, the queen's brother, Edward Seymour, who is now on the rise, has seen the political benefits that supporting Protestantism can bring. In addition, his wife Anne Seymour is deeply influenced by Lutheranism, so the Seymour brothers have great respect for Gardner. Bishop Na's wooing was not cold, which also made Henry VIII feel a little relieved about them.

"If Bishop Gardner wants to let the Queen influence His Majesty the King, then he has found the wrong person." Thomas Cromwell said with ease: "What Catherine of Aragon can't even do, so what?" Jane Seymour can be counted on to do it."

Besides, the current Jane Seymour had angered His Majesty the King because of the intercession of the rebel army, so before giving birth to the Duke of York, how could Jane Seymour blatantly support Bishop Gardner?It's not that she doesn't know the fate of the first two queens.

"Don't be too happy too early. When the queen gives birth to the Duke of York, even if Bishop Gardiner doesn't speak, His Majesty the king will acquiesce in the queen becoming a supporter of Catholics, and then turn a blind eye to the dispute between you." William Dou Duo knew that Henry VIII did not completely settle England's religious form until his death, which also led to several large-scale religious suppressions in England after his children took turns in power, and several changes of face during Elizabeth I's reign.

Because for the king, religion is not only belief, but also a tool for ruling.

That's why Henry VIII was so irritable in his later years. On the one hand, his leg injury caused pain, and on the other hand, it was his entanglement and fear in belief.