monarch

When Robert returned to the room, he clearly felt that the atmosphere in the room was much more stagnant than when he left.The lines of the king's face looked a little stiff, while Cecil looked restrained, and every movement was full of cautiousness.

Robert wisely did not speak, but walked to the king's table and put the golden ring on the king's hand.

The king nodded and motioned him to sit down, then took the ring and put it on his index finger.

"His Excellency Buronchino, the royal painter, has returned from the European continent. He has completed the portraits of His Majesty's fiancée candidates according to the order. These portraits are now placed in the Venus Hall. According to your schedule, you will be here at ten o'clock this morning. Go to see these paintings at one o'clock, and the Chief Minister and some other important cabinet members will also be there to greet His Majesty." Mr. Cecil's eyes seemed to be attracted by the documents in his hands, and he was reading this passage I kept staring at the few sheets of paper in my hand, like iron nails attracted by a magnet.Because of this, he didn't notice the displeasure flashing across the king's face.

"Well, since they're all going, I'll be there too." The king's answer showed no enthusiasm for it, and anyone could tell that His Majesty thought such things were a complete waste of time.He turned his head and looked at the clock on the opposite fireplace, "It's just after ten o'clock, so you haven't arranged any schedule for me for the remaining hour?"

"I have temporarily revised your schedule, Your Majesty." Cecil replied hastily, "Sir Francis Walsingham sent a message last night, requesting an audience today." When he said this name, his body couldn't help but Shake a bit.

The king frowned slightly, "Really? Did he say why?"

"He claims that he won't say anything until he sees His Majesty," Cecil said, "but someone has concluded that when Sir Francis Walsingham appears in your office, there will be no Good thing."

Cecil laughed dryly, but the other two in the room showed no signs of being affected by his one-liners, so he could only shut his mouth in embarrassment.

"Thank you, Cecil." The king nodded. "Has Sir Francis arrived yet?"

"He is waiting in the anteroom."

"Then invite him in."

Cecil stood up and pushed the door to go out. Not long after, the door was pushed open again, and Sir Francis Walsingham followed the returning chief secretary into the door.

Kings can certainly shine in the political arena, but even a saintly monarch needs a handy person or two to handle the dirty parts of politics for him.For King Edward VI, Sir Francis Walsingham was his chosen man, or rather, his instrument.

Sir Francis came to the table and saluted the king.His face was gloomy, and his swollen eyes and huge hooked nose made Sir, who was only in his twenties, look like a middle-aged man.He took off his hat and sat in an armchair. The gloomy atmosphere around him caused Robert, who was sitting not far from him, to move his chair quietly and slightly.

Like many people who have played this role in history, Sir Francis was also a lawyer. It seems that legal education is more likely to give people insight into the dark side of human nature.Now Sir Francis' official title is the private secretary to the Secretary of the Interior and the chairman of the Investigation and Statistics Committee of the Ministry of the Interior. It turns out that Sir Francis is actually at the helm of the Home Office.As the most important department of the Ministry of the Interior, the king's arrangement naturally has a profound meaning-Sir Francis is now in a low position and powerful, relying on the support of the king to temporarily vacate the Minister of the Interior, so once the king withdraws his support, Sir Francis' power will become So he had no other choice but to get closer to the king.

The so-called "Investigation and Statistics Committee" chaired by Sir Francis, although the name is inconspicuous, has made the nobles change their colors.This agency is a secret agency re-established by King Edward after integrating the spy network left by the previous dynasty. Its powers include spying on foreign military affairs and monitoring "unreliable elements" in the country.In the year and a half that Sir Francis has been in charge of the secret department, more than twenty nobles have been arrested because of the evidence collected by the Statistical Commission.In return, the head of the secret police, Francis Walsingham, was knighted, and the budget of the Statistical Commission was tripled, all paid for by the generous king from his own pocket.

Sir Francis opened the black briefcase he was holding and produced a stack of papers.The face that frightened many aristocrats who had ghosts in their hearts so that they could not sleep at night, was now full of obedience and obedience.

"I'm sorry to disturb Your Majesty," Sir Francis said in a hoarse voice, "However, there are some important situations that I think need to be informed to Your Majesty immediately."

"Speak, sir." The king also sat up, evidently infected by Walsingham's seriousness.

"In the past three months, I have received information from several independent sources that some nobles are colluding in private. We have investigated many such things before, but this time the scale seems to be much larger than before , it is said that many high-ranking nobles participated in it."

"What purpose do these people have?" The king's displeasure was already very obvious.

"These people call themselves 'Oxford Club' or 'Seven Earls'. Judging from these two titles, they seem to have the intention of obstructing His Majesty's administrative reform."

The king snorted coldly, "'Oxford Society'? 'Seventh Earl'?" He slammed the table, startling everyone in the room, "It seems that they regard me as an incompetent person like Henry III older."

In 1258, seven disobedient earls forced King Henry III to sign the "Oxford Agreement", transferring taxation, legislation, personnel and other rights to a council of nobles, which is considered a parliamentary system the beginning.In this way, the purpose of these secret associations has become clear.

"Who is involved in these activities?" The king's voice already carried a trace of murderous intent, "When can you provide me with a list?"

"These are the known participants." Sir Francis took out a piece of paper and handed it to the king.Robert glanced at it and saw more than two dozen names written on it, some of whom seemed to be familiar to him.

"Besides, it is said..." Sir Francis glanced at Robert, "the Duchess of Suffolk is very close to these people... Many of these names are regular visitors to her salon."

Robert's face immediately lost color. The Duchess of Suffolk is the mother of Lady Jane Grey, who will soon become Robert's father's son and daughter. If she is also involved in the conspiracy... Robert gritted his teeth and tried his best Keeping calm, he looked up at the king and found that His Majesty was staring expressionlessly at the opposite fireplace.

"Duchess of Suffolk?" Edward whispered the name softly.The duchess's mother is Mary Tudor, sister of King Henry VIII, making her and her daughters the closest heirs to the throne besides the two princesses, Mary Stuart of Scotland Very comparable.She or her daughter Jane Gray would be a good choice to replace Edward if the nobles conspired to rebel.

The Duchess is over forty this year, and her daughter is obviously a better puppet to manipulate than herself.Jane Gray, maybe they were after her idea... a good choice indeed!She is not only the great-granddaughter of King Henry VII, but also the daughter-in-law of the Dudley family... Edward couldn't help but look at Robert, the blood on the other's face had completely faded, obviously thinking of this too.If Jane Gray becomes the future queen, Guildford Dudley will become the husband of the king, and the chief minister will also change from the king's chief servant to the actual ruler of the kingdom. Is this temptation enough to tempt him? ?

"If Your Majesty allows, I would like to talk to you alone for 5 minutes." Robert's voice interrupted Edward's meditation.

The king looked at Sir Francis, "Is there anything else you want to report to me?"

"That's the case at the moment," Sir Francis closed the folder in his hand, "How to deal with this matter depends on His Majesty's will."

"Continue to monitor closely. I want you to send the best spies and use all means to collect relevant information... Be sure to find out their purpose and all the participants."

"As you wish." Sir Francis bowed deeply, and walked backwards towards the door.

"Cecil, send Sir Francis off." The king looked at Cecil who was standing aside.

Cecil sensibly followed Sir Francis and exited the room, leaving only the king and Robert in the room.

The room fell silent, the breeze was blowing the leaves of the sycamore tree outside the window, making a rustling sound, on the branch of the sycamore tree stretching out in front of the window, a gray pigeon was combing its feathers, its two mung bean-sized eyes He looked curiously at the two relatively silent people in the room.

"I hope you understand that I do not doubt your father's loyalty," Edward said first. "I would not doubt anyone for no reason without evidence."

A somewhat forced smile appeared on Robert's face, and he nodded slightly, "Thank you for your trust, please believe that neither I, my father, nor my family will betray your trust .”

The king didn't reply to his words, he sat quietly on the chair, the sun shone on his face from the side, the shadow cast by the long eyelashes was like a drawn curtain, covering the darkness in his eyes. look.

After a long time, the king finally spoke again, "If there is only one person I can trust in this world, it is probably you." He raised his head, and Robert finally saw the king's eyes clearly. Like those clear lakes in the Scottish Highlands, rippling in the sun, "so please don't make me regret it."

Robert nodded again, "You will never regret it." He stretched out a hand, the king hesitated for a moment, then stretched out his right hand and shook the opponent's hand.

"So what do you think of your father's suggestion?" The king let go of Robert's hand, and there was a trace of seeking in his blue eyes again, "Do you think I should take a step back and reach an agreement with the nobles? "

Robert thought for a moment, "Frankly speaking, I don't understand why you are in such a hurry... If you slow down a bit, you will surely receive much less resistance. Nowadays, almost all nobles have a certain degree of support for your reform. The hostility is only because of the force of the imperial guards, so I dare not act rashly... It will be very dangerous if this situation continues."

"You also said that they were concerned about the force of the Praetorian Guard." The king didn't seem to care about the opinions of the nobles, "As the Latin proverb says: 'Exercitus facitimperatorem' (Government grows out of the barrel of a gun). Now I have Holding the initiative, rather than step by step, it is better to cut through the mess quickly, like a surgeon drawing a knife, to solve the problem completely." He pondered for a moment, and then said, "Besides, you understand the current financial situation."

Robert instantly understood the meaning expressed in the king's cryptic words: in the past five years, the large number of projects proposed by the king have exhausted the savings of Henry VII and Henry VIII, although the royal family's revenue has increased compared to five years ago However, the fiscal deficit has been rising at a balanced rate. Although it has not reached a dangerous level, it is enough to sound the alarm.Today, the royal family owes 200 million pounds to several major bankers in the country. Compared with France and Spain, which have declared bankruptcy, this figure is not much, but the bankers have begun to hesitate to lend to the king. , It's just that the fear of the king overwhelmed their doubts about the royal family's ability to repay.

In the eyes of many, the king's current drastic reforms seem to be deliberately forcing the nobles to raise their flags to rebel.They would be surprised if they knew that this was the king's purpose.According to Sir Francis' survey, the land owned by nobles now accounts for more than half of the country's total land area, not to mention other floating wealth other than land and mansions.A rebellion involving a large number of nobles means that a large amount of wealth will be confiscated. According to Sir Francis' estimates, a large-scale rebellion will bring more than 500 million pounds to the king, of which 300 million will be allocated Into the king's secret fund - after the downfall of the rich and powerful Lord Protector, a large part of his property did not go to the treasury, but fell into the king's pocket.His Majesty used this money to set up a secret fund known as the Somerset Fund to pay for some shady expenses, from which Sir Francis financed many of his secret missions.The existence of this secret fund was only known to the king himself, Robert Dudley, William Cecil and Sir Francis, and even Robert's father was kept in the dark.

"Is this...too risky?" Robert looked as if thunder had just exploded under his feet. "A slight mistake, this could mean civil war!"

"I am not only for money." The king said in a tone that made the listener shudder. "The most important thing is not to relieve the current financial pressure, but to remove those obstacles that hinder me. The Sultan of Turkey is now the whole The nightmare of Europe, because in his empire there is only one voice, one thought. And the Holy Roman Empire is a mess, because their nobles and princes have too much power." He pointed to a painting hanging on the opposite fireplace European map, "Spain and France are both losing. For us, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity... We can build our own empire! Before that, I must clean up the potential threats in the country." He sneered , "I know these people too well, once they have the opportunity, they will not hesitate to collude with our enemies and stab me in the back, just like the Duke of Norfolk back then... I will never allow that kind of thing Happen again."

"I never told anyone about my plans. Maybe Francis Walsingham guessed something, but he was wise enough to keep his mouth shut," continued the King. "Now that you have Got it, then I want you to prepare the Praetorian Guard, this is our trump card. These nobles will rebel one day, then I will let them rebel according to my arrangement, so that the damage they cause will be destroyed Keeping it to a minimum also sends a clear warning to others to think twice in the future."

Robert looked at the expression on Edward's face in surprise. That familiar face looked strange, as if he had never seen the other side of the king until today.He remembered a bust of the god Genos, the patron saint of Rome, who had two faces, he had seen in the living room at home when he was a child.Edward VI and Henry VIII are exactly the two faces of this statue of the Tudor dynasty. Although the expressions are different, the statue is still the same statue.The pursuit of power is rooted in their blood. Henry VIII had six wives and countless mistresses, but his lifelong partner was always the same, and that was power.For King Edward VI, his closest friend and companion could only be power.An absurd thought could not help appearing in his mind: King Edward VI would not hesitate to send Robert Dudley to the altar for bloodletting if power required it, but would Edward Tudor?When these two characters clash, who will prevail in the end?

"I understand." He heard a calm voice in his throat, and finally a smile appeared on the face of the opposite king again.Robert tried hard to force a smile, but the muscles on his face no longer obeyed the instructions of his nerves like a disobedient soldier on the battlefield.In the end, he could only move the corner of his mouth slightly.