monarch

Although it rained heavily last night, the central square of Brussels was still filled with the smoke from burning firewood and the stench of burnt flesh.In the center of the square stood several burnt stakes that had been burned black, and the scorched and deformed bodies of Protestants had been removed, leaving only those pillars standing there alone, like tombstones in the center of the city .Although it was raining outside, there were still many pedestrians in the square. When they first entered the square and saw these pillars, they all lowered their heads and covered their noses with their hands at the same time, as if hanging above the pillars. Holding the head of the Medusa basilisk, it will be turned into a stone statue just by looking at it.

A four-wheeled carriage slowly stopped in front of the square, the curtain on the window was lifted a small gap, and the outline of a pale face was exposed from the blurred window glass by raindrops and mist .

Passers-by looked at this bold carriage one after another. In today's Netherlands, such a move can be regarded as very bold. If you don't pay attention, you may be detained by the religious court with increasing power. Protestant sympathizer hat of.So those passers-by also quickened their pace, and even the carriage was treated like a stake, no one dared to look at the carriage.

Several Spanish soldiers on duty in the square also noticed the lonely carriage parked there. The two handsome Arabian horses and the large four-wheeled carriage pulling the carriage all exuded the smell of rich people. .The few soldiers smelled this smell, like flies that smelled the smell, they swirled and flew towards the carriage, trying to extort a few gold coins from the short-sighted rich man for funding. Spend tonight in a tavern or a whorehouse.

Regrettably, when they approached the carriage, the huge golden lion coat of arms with a blue background painted on the door made them stop involuntarily, and then, as if they had received some signal, these greedy vampires They scattered like flies being chased away.Obviously, the passengers sitting in this carriage were an existence they could not afford to provoke.

The carriage stayed there for about half a quarter of an hour, until the passenger in the carriage had seen enough, he tapped lightly a few times on the sideboard of the carriage against the coachman, and the wheels of the carriage turned again Get up and drive across the bluestone slab with black water flowing, the rain mixed with the ashes on the stake, dyeing this ominous color everywhere.

The carriage crossed the stone bridge across the Chartrois Canal and stopped in front of a rather imposing mansion. The coachman yelled, and then the heavy wrought iron gate slowly opened.

The carriage drove into the front yard of the mansion, circled around the fountain in the middle, and stopped right in front of the mansion.

The door was opened from the outside, and a young man leaned out from the carriage, jumped on the pedals, and then fell to the ground.He had a long, angular face, and his hair was a chestnut color mixed with gold and brown.Those piercing eyes shone with the light of wisdom, while those tightly pressed lips revealed a kind of indifference that repulsed people thousands of miles away.

William van Orange is only 23 years old this year, but he has inherited the title of Prince of Orange from his cousin who died for Charles V in the Siege of San Dizzi, and has become the prince of the entire Ned. The leading aristocrat in the Lan area.The well-informed Emperor Charles V, who realized at an early age that the young man had a bright future, summoned William to his court and treated the prince as he would a nephew, Every important decision concerning the Netherlands, the emperor will consult his opinion.When Emperor Charles V abdicated in Brussels, it was the Prince of Orange who held his arm and led him down from the throne.And the crown of the Holy Roman Empire was transferred from the emperor to the emperor's younger brother Ferdinand through his hands.

Before his abdication, the Emperor Charles V had told his son Philip to treat William of Orange as his brother, but this king, unlike his father, did not want anyone to be his brother , all he needs are loyal servants.King Philip granted Prince William the power to govern the three provinces of Holland, Zeeland, and Utrecht, but reduced him from the king's apprentice and friend to an ordinary servant, and there are countless such servants in the Spanish Empire.

The Prince of Orange walked to the noisiest hall in the room, where his wife presided over the salon. Although it was only afternoon, many nobles and dignitaries from the Netherlands had already arrived here, and they were having a heated discussion in the living room. He talked loudly.

"As I always say to the bishops in my territory," the prince hadn't even entered the door when he heard a loud female voice coming from the room. If it is a male voice, it is a bit too harsh, "I think Madrid now treats us as their cows. Whenever their wallets are empty, the first thing those incompetent ministers think of is to squeeze another from us." Give some money. All of you here, we have all bought a lot of public debt, some of my pro-Spanish friends have even bought Spanish public debt with all their wealth, and now they will stop paying our funds with a word, And let us buy those worthless stamps with gold and silver coins! Without the consent of the Parliament, and without consulting anyone, just a cold decree from Madrid! Who knows what they will have later What, now I won't be surprised if they force me to donate my entire fortune to the grown-ups in Madrid!"

The woman who spoke turned her huge body like a battleship towards the door, and saw the Prince of Orange standing at the door. the smile that often appears on the faces of women whose age has passed but is unwilling to face reality, "You are a celebrity at the court of Madrid, and I think even you will admit that what they do unacceptable!"

The Prince of Orange walked into the room, walked across from the woman, bowed his head and kissed her fleshy little hand that smelled of strong perfume, "My dear Countess, no well-bred man would refute Any sentence that comes out of your mouth." He was like a clock that was wound up, speaking in a flat tone that even he himself didn't believe, squeezed out of that cold face A smile suggests indifference, even mockery.

"Is this the only sentence you're going to send me?" The Countess of Groningen put her arm on the Prince of Orange's. "People call you the 'Silent One', so don't you want to keep silent in front of your friends? ?"

The Prince of Orange had just returned to the Netherlands from the court of Philip II two weeks ago, and he returned with him, as well as the Order of the Golden Fleece that Philip II had just awarded him.The Netherlands is experiencing troubled times, and the seventeen provinces of the lowlands have turned into a blazing furnace, and everyone is about to spit out sparks when they open their mouths.However, the leader of the Dutch nobles, the darling of the Habsburg dynasty, seemed unusually silent at this moment when the interests of the dynasty and the nation were in sharp conflict.He has not revealed a single word of those closed-door conversations with the new monarch in Madrid, earning him the nickname "William the Silent" in aristocratic circles.

"Then what do you want me to say?" The Prince of Orange's voice was low like a dark cloud hanging low on the sky.

"Let's talk about the tax increase." The countess clamped the prince's arm even tighter, like a falcon catching an oversized prey, holding the prey tightly with its claws I want to drag this prey up but can't, but it seems too pity to give it up. "You talked to King Philip, what does he think? Are those terrible rumors true? Is Spain going to suck every penny we have?"

"Everything hasn't been finalized yet, so you don't have to worry too much." The Prince of Orange patted the countess on the back of her hand lightly.

"What about public debt?" interjected a bald-headed nobleman in an embroidered gown, "I bought twenty thousand ducats of Spanish bonds for the dowry of my three daughters, five thousand ducats of which are due in January next year." Are they not planning to repay these bonds when they are due?"

"Yeah, yeah." The crowd echoed, "Are those bonds becoming waste paper?"

"And the Inquisition." Another voice sounded from across the room, "They burned five people yesterday on the Grand Place for spreading heresy, but those people just hid a few Calvinist propaganda at home That's all...does King Philip intend to burn all the Protestants in the Netherlands?"

Prince Orange smiled wryly. In fact, Philip II really thought so.The new Supreme seemed to regard himself as a physician, and the Protestantism, which was spreading like wildfire in his land, was like a poisonous abscess to be cut first with the merciless scalpel. , and then burn the carrion around with high-temperature fire.According to King Philip II's plan, all branches of Protestantism would be outlawed in the Netherlands, and even those who had even the slightest contact with Lutheranism and Calvinism would be tried by the Inquisition, even if they only read the translation If there is no version of the Bible, they will be punished as traitors and crimes of disrupting social order.For those diehards who refused to convert, the only thing waiting for them was the steps leading to the stake.

Everyone looked at William the Silent with uneasy eyes. His unusual silence already explained everything.

Anne of Egmont, wife of the Prince of Orange, who was at this moment playing the part of courtly hostess at the other end of the room, keenly noticed the growing seriousness of the conversation, and raised her skirts. Swing, and walked towards her husband's direction lightly.

"My dear Countess." She greeted the Countess of Groningen in German, and at the same time took her arm affectionately, freeing her husband from the terrible shackles, "please come A glass of wine, it's terribly hot in this room!" She turned to the servants again, "open the windows, please, and let us breathe some moist fresh air."

"Let's all have some drinks, too." The charming hostess showed her flowery smile to the crowd again.

Following the order of the hostess, the glass windows and shutters of the hall were all opened at once, and the breeze with moisture came from the windows, pouring into the thirsty lungs of the guests because of the overheated fire. inside.

Prince Orange sat down on an armchair, put his right arm on a small coffee table next to the chair, and wiped the fine beads of sweat on his forehead with his left hand.

The Countess of Groningen had already reached the other side of the room, whispering together with several nobles, and they looked up at the Prince of Orange across the room from time to time, obviously he was the central topic of discussion among these people.

After a quarter of an hour, the Countess of Groningen lifted her skirt and walked slowly towards the Prince of Orange.There was a slight rustling sound as her skirt rubbed against the carpet.She went up to the Prince of Orange and sat down in an armchair opposite him, their legs almost touching.The slightly vulgar smile from before was on her face again.

"Your Highness," the Countess of Groningen's voice was not too loud, but when she spoke, everyone in the room stopped talking consciously and looked in the direction of the two with probing eyes, so her voice It's much louder in this room than it really is, "I discussed it with a few of my friends, and in fact, we've met most of your guests today...for this time Taxation, IMHO, is unacceptable to us, and a default on Spanish bonds is equally unacceptable to us."

"You have a close relationship with His Majesty the King and His Majesty the former Emperor. We would like to implore you to write to Your Majesty. Please use the language he is willing to believe to state the plight that our loyal servants are facing, and ask him to be considerate. Our difficulty...you are a noble nobleman, our unquestionable leader, I beg you to help us."

The Prince of Orange sighed and took the Countess's hand again, with some emotion in his voice: "My dear Countess, I ask you to believe that I have done what I can All, what you said before, I have said all to His Majesty the King, and even more... When you said these words to me, it was with a pleading attitude, and I am in Your Majesty In front of me, I exhausted all kinds of methods: pleading, begging, and even violated my parents' teaching and family inheritance, and quarreled with my venerable master. Unfortunately, neither tears nor anger can make Our king has changed his mind, and he has made up his mind: he will get money from the Netherlands, and your majesty will not rest until he has what he wants."

The air pressure in the room suddenly dropped, and the expressions on everyone's faces became less pretty.

The Countess of Groningen looked around the room. She looked at many people with inquiring eyes, and everyone she looked at nodded to her.

"Then there is only one way left." The Countess of Groningen hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I have agreed with other nobles that we will form a delegation. Once the tax collection order is issued, We are going to petition Her Majesty the Governor of the Netherlands, and we hope you can become our leader."

There was once again a sharp silence in the room. The Prince of Orange, who was not only the leader of the Dutch nobles, but also deeply loved by the Spanish royal family, was now in an awkward position.In the past few years, he has been able to switch between the two roles of the spokesperson of the Dutch nobles and the loyal servant of the Habsburg dynasty, but the current political situation has forced him to give up one of them. the point.

Mrs. Prince felt that it was time for her to come out and restore the party to normal, but she was about to speak when the Prince cast a meaningful look at her, and the meaning was very obvious: the Prince did not need his wife to rescue him .

"I will go." To everyone's surprise, the Prince of Orange agreed very readily. The Countess of Groningen had already prepared a lot of words in her stomach to persuade the Prince. There is no use for it.

"So, you agreed?" The Countess of Groningen hesitated for a moment, and then an expression of ecstasy flooded her fat face, turning that rosy face into a ripe and split persimmon.

"Yes, I promise you, I will go to the petition with you." Prince Orange smiled slightly, "I am a Dutchman, so I will join you in advocating for the interests of the Netherlands." Excuse me. In addition, my conscience also tells me that I have not failed the royal family's kindness to me by standing with you and expressing my wishes to Your Majesty. As loyal servants, we exercise our own rights and pass on the people's wishes to Your Majesty. Shout out, this is not an act of kindness, but a manifestation of our loyalty!"

"That's right!" Someone took the lead in applauding, and then the applause spread to the entire room, accompanied by shouts of "Long live Your Royal Highness" from time to time.Someone shouted "Long Live the King" a few times, but there were very few responders, and they quickly disappeared into the waves of applause.

The party didn't dissipate until after dark. When the last guest left and only the prince and his wife were left in the room, the bewildered Mrs. Prince of Orange finally asked her husband The question that has been bothering her since the afternoon: "When the Countess of Groningen asked you to express your opinion, I was going to come to make a rescue, but you didn't let me intervene. Why? You always wanted to be between the two sides before." It’s a matter of time.”

"The situation is different now," said the prince, "and then the result of sitting on the fence is to incur a common resentment between the two factions. When the dust settles, the losers will think that my inaction has caused their defeat, and the winners will feel that I have done nothing. To be bitter about refusing to help them."

"Have you made up your mind? Do you want to work with these people?" Mrs. Prince opened her cat-like round eyes, "This means that we will break with His Majesty Philip..."

Prince Orange narrowed his eyes slightly, tilted his head back, and yawned, "Is there any other choice? I'm tired of being a servant, and now I want to be my own master."

He opened his eyes again, and the Prince's wife noticed that the flames of ambition were burning in those brown pupils.

"But why is that?" asked the restless Mrs. Prince, in that innocent tone of inexperienced.

"Why? I don't know..." The Prince of Orange shrugged his shoulders. "I think I just don't like to bend down. It just so happens that many people in the Netherlands are unwilling to bend down to a foreigner."

"So... maybe they would be more willing to bend over to a Dutchman?" The Prince's wife seemed to understand something.

The prince laughed out loud, with a rare fox-like sly expression on his face.

"Maybe." He stood up and extended his arms to his wife.The Prince's wife gently pressed her slender hand on her husband's arm, and the two walked towards the depths of the mansion together.