monarch

On the night of the end of the naval battle known as the "Battle of Cornwall" by later generations, His Majesty the King drove to the Royal Theater in London to participate in the new work "Salami" by the famous contemporary playwright Mr. Nicholas Udall. The premiere of Battle of the Sea.

Since Britain and Spain came to the brink of war, many socialites and journalists have begun to cite the old example of the naval battle of Salamis as an analogy to today's war.In 480 BC, a combined fleet composed of Greek city-states defeated the mighty invasion fleet of the Persian Empire in the Salamis Strait on the west side of the Attica Peninsula, defending the freedom and independence of Greek civilization.According to this analogy, King Philip of Spain is naturally the contemporary King Xerxes III of Persia. He unscrupulously abused various weak nations and demanded "water and soil" from them. This barbaric conqueror wanted to make the whole of Europe submit to The stake of the Inquisition and the whip of the Spanish Conquistadors would prolong the dark ages that were drawing to a close for another 1000 years.

Since the Spaniards represent barbarism and destruction, the British Kingdom, in contrast, naturally represents civilization and progress.Officially controlled newspapers compared the British Kingdom today to Athens and Sparta back then. It is a beacon of Christian civilization, a rising sun that dispels darkness, and the war to defend the British Isles is a holy war to defend the fire of civilization.

Seeing the king's position, the nobles, businessmen and cultural circles also immediately took action to support His Majesty. A large number of books and paintings about the Salamis naval battle and the Greco-Persian war were created, and the ladies in the salon held recitals The books I chose at the time also changed from poetry collections and novels to Herodotus' "History", in which the description of the Salamis naval battle naturally became the most recited passage.

The "Battle of Salamis", premiered at the Royal Theater today, is a masterpiece invested by Bishop Gardner.The bishop has announced that he will retire before Christmas this year in order to "enjoy a peaceful and peaceful pastoral life in his last moments", and this work will be his parting gift to His Majesty the King.The script was written by Nicholas Udall, who had created "Ralph Loist Doyster" in 1552, and the premiere was also performed in the Royal Theater with [-] seats.

For the loyalty and patriotism of Bishop Gardiner, His Majesty the King expressed that he was deeply moved, and would express his gratitude to the outgoing Prime Minister for his loyal service by personally attending the premiere of this drama.No matter how true or false this statement is, when the news spread, "Battle of Salamis" suddenly became hard to find tickets.

Usually, when the curtain rises, the auditorium is still empty, and most of the audience will not enter until the opening of the first act.However, due to the presence of His Majesty, at eleven o'clock that night, with one hour left before the opening ceremony, the boxes and pool seats of the Royal Theater were already packed with excited audiences.

As the clock struck midnight, the king's carriage drove into the theater's royal entrance amid cheers from Theater Square.As street lights became more common, fights and crime on the streets of London dropped dramatically, so nightlife got later and later.Ten years ago theaters usually opened at nine o'clock in the evening, and now the opening time has been stretched to midnight.After the show ends at three o'clock in the morning, the audience can also go to the dance parties being held in various mansions and play until the sun rises before going home to rest.

Under the watchful eyes of all the audience, the door of the royal box opened, and His Majesty the King, who was wearing a black dress, walked into the box. Facing the audience standing up and applauding in the pool seats below, he paused in surprise , seemed to feel a little flattered, and then he reacted, smiled and waved slightly to the crowd, and sat down on the throne in the middle of the box.

Robert Dudley sat to the king's left, while the right-hand seat was reserved for Bishop Gardner, patron of the show.

The bishop was wearing a shiny purple priest's robe, like an oily eggplant just picked from the greenhouse.A few years ago, when he failed to usurp the throne as the chief assistant of Princess Mary, he thought that he would lose his head on the guillotine in the Tower of London. Most of his own property too!So what if a few years of rubber-stamping as Prime Minister had brought him a load of hatred and disdain?The manor in Hampshire has been bought, and several "nephews" (actually illegitimate children) have also arranged their own property and future. This ending is quite different from what was expected before.As for reputation, how useful is it to a dying retiree?

As soon as the king sat on the throne, the curtain was pulled up, and the stage showed the magnificent scene of the Persian court. The bald and fat man who played King Xerxes on the Peacock Throne was receiving the conquered people who came to offer "earth and water" representative.

"This vast world!" King Xerxes gently waved his hands, "From India to the Pillars of Hercules, what nation does not obey the command of the King of Kings! Only the rebels of Greece are left, huddled in their poor mountains and rivers , refused to submit to me."

"I'll rain arrows on them like a rainstorm! I'll rain stones on them like hail!"

"This is Monsieur Robert Leroux?" the king turned to Bishop Gardiner with great interest. "I heard that he is ill and has not been on stage for more than a year."

"And this is his first performance back on stage." Bishop Gardner smiled like a fox catching a pheasant. "Out of loyalty to His Majesty, the actors competed for every role with great enthusiasm."

A faint smile flickered across the corner of the king's mouth, and the fleeting sarcasm in it was like a candle trembling in the wind, which was extinguished in the blink of an eye.

Under the dim lights of the theater, if someone pays close attention at this time, they will find that there are more than 3000 audiences in the theater, and almost no one pays attention to the actors on the stage, even though the play is as Bishop Gardner said. As praised, it is a very delicate work.The news of the Spanish warship appearing in the waters south of Cornwall was sent to London as early as this morning. When the evening paper was published tonight, whether it was a big newspaper or a tabloid, it would put this news on the headlines of the front page. .

It is already midnight now, presumably the two fleets of Britain and Spain have already met. Maybe when the naval battle on the stage is being staged, a real naval battle is also being staged on the sea more than 100 miles away from the stage.It's just that the bloodstains on the actors on the stage are just prop paint, while the blood spilled during the naval battle is real blood.What the actors reap is the cheers and applause of the audience, while the crew of the battleship at sea have to replace the god of death to reap the fresh life.

"Your Majesty looks really calm." In the box downstairs, a lady leaned closer to the young nobleman beside her. She covered her face with a fan so that people outside the box could not see the slack of her lips. Move, "Look at him, how can you tell that we are at war!"

"I'm afraid this is the so-called 'kingdom'." The young nobleman squeezed his wife's hand and smiled frivolously, "When later historians write about this war, they can add An interesting footnote. You see, compared to the actors on the stage, the real masters of performance are the ones off the stage!"

"The premise is that we win the fight." The lady lightly shook the fan on her hand.

"There will be results in tomorrow's morning paper." The young nobleman yawned, "Wars in the past were a hell of blood, dust and flames, but now they have become a topic of boredom at the breakfast table... this world It really changed a lot."

For the first time since he entered the box, he looked at the stage, where the actor playing the priest was proclaiming the oracle of Apollo to the Greeks.

"When they, full of delusion, robbed Athens of the glory, and with unbridled pride, covet complete satiation;"

"That crazy rage, that ambition to exterminate hundreds of clans, will eventually disappear, because this is beyond the law of heaven!"

"Bronze will collide with bronze, and the furious God Ares ordered to use blood to stain the world red!"

"Zeus, the lord of all gods who sees everything, will give Greece the dawn of freedom!"

As soon as the curtain fell, the audience flooded into the foyers and corridors like the tides flooding the Thames estuary at high tide.

……

From Ludgate a swift bay horse, with its men and men roughly dressed, charged into the City of London.One person and one horse, without slowing down, they rushed to Fleet Street, where passers-by and vehicles were bustling past.Pedestrians and carriages on the street saw the oncoming fierce horses and hurriedly dodged on both sides of the road. Many people fell to the ground in a funny way, and their legs were almost crushed by the wheels of the carriage.

The disgruntled crowd shook their fists angrily at the rampaging and reckless rider, but died down when they saw the Tudor rose with a white feather on the other's saddle.

"It's the royal courier, the military is urgent!" There was a low exclamation from the crowd, and it turned out that it was Philippides, the courier who announced the victory of the Battle of Marathon to the Athenians.Those who fell indignantly just now, curiosity replaced anger at this moment, and no longer cursed the messenger who did not slow down.

The bay horse was already foaming at the mouth from exertion when the messenger rushed into the Admiralty building.And at the entrance of the Admiralty Building, an excited crowd was also crowded at the moment, and the guards couldn't hide their curiosity, so they didn't try very hard to stop them, so the crowd squeezed all the way to the steps of the main entrance of the building.

In the conference room of the Ministry of the Navy, the cabinet members headed by Cecil have been waiting for a long time like ants on a hot pot. His Majesty still has the leisure time to go to the theater, and these servants can only stay at their posts. Stay behind anxiously.The chef of the building prepared a sumptuous dinner for the adults, but now it has been reheated twice, and these exquisite dishes are still placed in the lounge next to the meeting room, almost untouched.

The news of the arrival of the messenger from Portsmouth Harbor was like a drop of water dripping from the boiling oil pan, and the conference room that had calmed down a little earlier exploded again.

In the expectant eyes of everyone, Cecil tore open the sealing seal on the urgent delivery. He squeezed the letter paper and pulled it out of the envelope. The heart in his chest was pounding like a drum.

The ministers looked at Lord Cecil's eyes all the way down, and when he finished reading, he gently folded the letter paper.

Cecil raised his head and looked at his colleagues with eyes mixed with curiosity and nervousness.

He turned to the paperwork behind him, stuffed the letter back into the envelope and handed it to him. "

"Go and give this to His Majesty and tell him we have won."

Downstairs, the excited crowd watched as the courier disappeared into the building. After about 10 minutes, another courier reappeared through the door, and a fast horse was ready for him at the foot of the steps.

"Did we win? Did we win?" When the messenger mounted his horse, the people in the vicinity crowded in front of his horse.

"We won! We won!" The beaming messenger held up the envelope, "I'm going to report the victory to His Majesty!"

……

The second act is already halfway through. On the stage, when the Persian army is crossing the Hellespon, the pontoon bridge they erected is destroyed by a storm.The furious King Xerxes ordered the sea water to be whipped three hundred times with a leather whip, and then threw a pair of shackles into the sea as a punishment. Such ignorant behavior naturally aroused a burst of ridicule from the audience.

"I don't know what Philip is doing now." The king said to Robert, "I'm afraid he is praying to God to throw thunder on our fleet."

"Who knows? But it must not be at the theater." Robert said in the king's ear.

The king chuckled, and in the dimly lit theater, that laughter was like a feather, gently stirring Robert's heart.

At this moment, people in the theater noticed that thunderous shouts and cheers came from outside the walls of the theater. This sound became louder and louder, and came from outside the theater to the corridor separated by a wall.

The actors on the stage dedicatedly increased their voices, their faces were flushed, and they even started shouting out their lines, but this was still not enough to draw the audience's attention back to themselves body.

Under everyone's gaze, the door of the royal box was pushed open from the outside, and a sweaty messenger broke into the box, his body was still steaming with the sour smell of sweat.

Bishop Gardner calmly put a perfumed handkerchief on the tip of his nose, "Who are you and what do you want?"

The messenger ignored the bishop's question. He went straight to the king, bowed to the end, and took out the envelope that he sent all the way like a treasure.

"A courier from Portsmouth, Your Majesty." The messenger's voice was trembling, "We won!"

The king opened the envelope and read the contents of the letter at a glance.

"We are victorious, and Athens is saved!" he whispered, repeating the last message of the messenger who had declared victory at the Battle of Marathon before falling dead.

The messenger proudly puffed out his chest, feeling very honored that he had the honor to witness this historic moment.

"Thank you, sir." The king waved his hand and signaled the messenger to step back.

When the messenger opened the door and was about to go out, His Majesty said again: "You and the messenger who delivered this letter along the way, you are all knights."

The messenger trembled with excitement, mumbled a few words of thanks incoherently, and closed the door stiffly.

"As your majesty's prime minister, please allow me to be the first to congratulate your majesty." Bishop Gardner approached with a flattering expression.

"Thank you." Wang Wangwang nodded, "Please go to the backstage and tell the actors, I will reward them with fifty pounds of gold coins each."

The bishop knew that this meant sending him out, and he had already been effectively excluded from the center of power. He didn't care about it, stood up gracefully, bowed to the king, and left the room.

"Well?" Robert finally asked, when the Bishop's footsteps had disappeared in the corridor. "You don't look as happy as you should."

"We won, but not completely." The king handed the letter to Robert. "Hawkins wanted to destroy the Spanish fleet, but he only achieved half of his goal. About 150 Spanish warships sank or surrendered, A hundred or so enemy ships have escaped from his encirclement. We have lost about fifty battleships, and another twenty have been badly damaged and must return to port for repairs. Hawkins is leading our fleet in pursuit of the enemy. "

Robert read the content on the letter paper, "The exchange ratio of one to two to one to three is satisfactory enough."

"But don't forget that they still have more than 100 warships left. If they are filled with soldiers, they can also send fifteen thousand to twenty thousand Spaniards to our shores."

"Then the Janissaries will eat them," said Robert, "and they won't be able to occupy England."

"Unless Philip's prayer is really answered." The king laughed.

"If his prayers were really answered, then Spain would not be in the situation it is today."

While the King and Robert were talking, news of the naval victory was spreading in the theater.People cheered to the royal box, the gentlemen took off their hats and threw them into the air, and the ladies threw flowers and handkerchiefs from their boxes.

"It's almost like a carnival." The lady just now threw down the handkerchief she was carrying, and was picked up by a gentleman in the dark, "We are here to see a play, but who As expected, he turned out to be an actor in the end!"

As Madam said, no one is still paying attention to the performances of the actors on stage, but out of their professional ethics, they are still concentrating on their performances, even though their lines have been applauded Cover up.

"We Greeks' hatred for one another has reached the point of daggers; but I always hope that the same hatred will finally unite us. All according to the will of the gods! We shall live or die, It's all about us wielding a strong wrist."

"It would be great if that's the case!" The lady covered her mouth with her fan again and giggled.