monarch

A series of dramatic events in Hatfield Palace soon became a hot topic in the whole of Britain and even in Europe.This so-called "Somerset Rebellion" was a combination of palace secrets, power struggles, and pornographic content that ordinary people like most, so when the news was released, it caused a huge sensation.

In the eyes of many, the charges against the Protector's brother were less a legal issue than a political one.Today, King Henry VIII has been buried under nine feet. Although the bones of the first queen and the queen are not cold, they are already outdated figures on the political stage where "newcomers laugh and old ones cry". About them The truth of death is no longer important to the living.If the king wanted to, he could easily define the repentance of the first queen as the ramblings of the dying. However, His Majesty did not do so. On the contrary, he appointed Bishop Gardiner, the arch-rival of the Lord Protector, to preside over the investigation, which in itself The King's attitude has been clearly stated - His Majesty wants the Lord Protector to fall.

And apart from the king, few people hope that the Protector will survive the storm.The Lord Protector may be about to step down from the stage, but the roles left by him and his henchmen must be played, and their fortunes must be enjoyed.Once the Lord Protector falls, countless titles, offices, and estates will be redistributed to everyone who remains on the stage.

On the third day after the Lord Protector lived in the Tower of London, the Regent Council finally convened again.

When King Henry VIII died, the power structure of the Kingdom of England was in an extremely chaotic state.In theory, at the top of the power pyramid is the Regency Council, which will act as the king until King Edward VI turns 14 years old.However, King Henry VIII's dying will made the Regent Council a castrated monster, and a large part of its power fell into the hands of the new king. share power.

However, in just over a year, the Regent Council suffered a series of severe blows.In the face of the king, who has won the love of the common people through ingenious means, the scandal-ridden Regency Council is already powerless to resist the will of the monarch.And the latest incident dealt a fatal blow to the Regent Council-the leader of this institution, who was entrusted by King Henry to assist his son, is now found to be behind the poisoning of his benefactor. The legitimacy of the Regency Council was shaken.

Under the Regency Council are the executive body, the Privy Council, and the legislative body, the Parliament.However, with the strengthening of the monarchy, the legislative power of the Parliament gradually fell into the hands of the Privy Council.Since the fifteenth century, His Majesty has been able to declare bills valid without the consent of Parliament, simply by manipulating the Privy Council.The king can also set up an investigative committee through the Privy Council, which can sentence anyone to a death sentence without evidence, thereby bypassing the court.By controlling the Privy Council, today's king can already hold the executive, legislative and judicial powers in the palm of his hand.

In the Privy Council, the most favored by the king and the most powerful people in this institution form a small circle called the cabinet.The Privy Council has dozens of members, and the monarch usually only consults with members of the cabinet and discusses major policies with them.And the current cabinet members correspond exactly to the members of the Regency Council.

The day when the Regency Council was held was a clear February day. The bitter cold wind blowing from the direction of Norway dispelled the thick fog that often enveloped the island in winter, revealing the pale sun again, hanging feebly. in mid-air.

At 02:30 in the afternoon, carriages decorated with colorful family emblems drove into the courtyard of the Whitehall Palace where the meeting was held. If you look with your eyes, then you will undoubtedly fail to notice the flame of ambition shining in their eyes.Today is the day of power reshuffling, and everyone is hoping that they will come home with a good deck of cards in their hearts.

In the conference hall, the adults who participated in the conference gathered together in twos and threes to chat.Compared with the previous meeting, there were significantly fewer people attending this meeting. This is a chain reaction of the Lord Protector's downfall. There was no chance of getting out of that castle.

After the fall of the Lord Protector, the kingdom's political situation faintly showed a trend of two heroes standing side by side.Bishop Gardner took advantage of the spring breeze of the downfall of his old opponent, and now he is embracing Princess Mary and the Catholic forces, and has become a force to be reckoned with.Because Princess Mary loves red, this party is also known as the "Red Party".

The faction that opposed Bishop Gardiner was headed by John Dudley, Earl of Essex, who is now in the limelight.The political program of these people is to unconditionally support all the policies of His Majesty, so some people call them the "Royal Party", while more people call them the "Blue Party". "Tit for tat means.

When the Lord Protector collapsed, most of his followers withdrew from the stage of power with him, and a large part of the remaining forces were absorbed by the Red Party and the Blue Party.However, besides this, there are still a group of small fish and shrimps without a leader, hoping that some big man can collect them.Although the status of these people is not high, many of them occupy key or lucrative positions. Therefore, if someone can successfully integrate this force, they may become a third party that can compete with the other two factions. .

Just as the bell struck three o'clock, the door of the room was flung open, and the king walked briskly into the room, followed by Robert and several guards.However, to everyone's surprise, there was a group of heavily armed guards behind them. They wore red uniforms embroidered with royal insignia, and the tips of their spears gleamed coldly.These soldiers are all over six feet tall and look like a group of tall giants, with great visual impact.

"The Praetorians!" someone muttered in a low voice.

In the Middle Ages, when a king wanted to raise an army, he had to rely on noble lords from all over the country to recruit their tenant farmers to serve the king.As for this annoying feudal obligation, it is conceivable that the nobles have a hostile attitude.The monarchs can also spend money to hire mercenaries, but the parliament is always very sensitive to tax increases. Those councilors who are mainly landlords and businessmen would rather have their flesh cut off than pay the king an extra sum taxes.

However, as the monarchy became more centralized, Parliament gradually became a rubber stamp, and it became less and less difficult for the king to raise taxes.And the religious reform led by King Henry VIII moved most of the wealth accumulated by the fat and oily Catholic Church over the centuries into the private treasury of the royal family.Now, the king finally has enough financial resources to build an army that is entirely his own. The military pay of this army is paid by the king's internal treasury, the equipment is purchased by His Majesty, and the officers are appointed by the king, and they are only loyal to the king.

This army was organized by the king's order more than half a year ago under the charge of his favorite, Robert Dudley.Since this is entirely the private expenditure of the king, neither Parliament, the Privy Council, nor the Regency Council has the right to comment on it.Although this army only has 500 people, the king's abundant financial resources ensure that each soldier has the best equipment.The Kingdom of England does not have a standing army, and the local security forces are like chickens and dogs in front of this pocket army.In a blink of an eye, King Edward VI had the most destructive power in the land, and the whole process was perfectly legitimate.Therefore, the nobles can only drink this bitter wine silently, accepting the reality that the balance of power has been completely subverted.

The king walked to his throne and sat down. The soldiers of the Praetorian Guard stood in a circle in the hall. Behind every nobleman attending the meeting stood two tall soldiers, looking down on their heads like stone statues.Although the members of the Regency Council tried their best to control themselves not to look back, the feeling of thorns still made them feel stuck in their throats.

The guard officer standing behind the king with Robert on the left and right is Alfred Ponsonby who appeared in the story.Six months before he had been one of those poor people who had lost everything after the Great Fire of London, and now he was a centurion in the King's Guard.Because of the painful experience of being oppressed by the nobles in the past, he naturally hated the people in power, and because of the king's grace, he was 100% loyal to His Majesty, so he quickly gained the king's trust and went straight to the sky.

The chair to the king's left was empty, which had originally belonged to the Lord Protector.Now the dozen or so people sitting at the table have quietly looked at that chair dozens of times.They eyed Bishop Gardiner and John Dudley, wondering which of them would be the lucky new owner of the chair.

The protagonists of today's meeting are undoubtedly Bishop Gardiner and John Dudley, Earl of Essex. When the two entered the venue, they greeted each other with smiles, looking calm The feeling of style.But everyone could see that the bishop's smile was a little stiff, and the earl seemed a little dazed.

The king sat on the throne and looked around at the ministers around the table, and the ministers also looked at His Majesty expectantly, guessing what His Majesty was about to say.

"My lords," seeing that everyone's attention was focused on him, the king finally said, "My lords, we are here today to discuss some serious issues caused by some recent unfortunate events."

"One of the most prominent members of the Regency Council has just been accused of being a regicide, and most of his henchmen are now under investigation. Such a huge scandal has already cast a huge shadow on the reputation of the Regency Council. shadow."

"And due to the absence of a large number of members, today's Regency Council is in a state of being unable to work normally. A reorganization is currently the most important task at hand."

Everyone's ears were pricked up, and the next thing to talk about was the key.

"Now this meeting is in a state of leaderless. Not only the Regency Council, His Excellency the Protector is also the leader of the Privy Council, the chief minister of the Kingdom, and now he is unable to hold office, but the work of the Kingdom still needs someone to take charge of the overall situation. Therefore, I now assign The Earl of Sussex acting First Lord and Lord of the Privy Council, assisted by Bishop Gardiner."

Bishop Gardner's complexion turned black. Although he had expected that he would not be favored by the king, it was one thing to predict, but quite another to hear the verdict himself.

Opposite him, the Earl of Essex only showed joy for a moment under the perfect mask, but the joy was quickly replaced by suspicion. He looked at his son standing behind the king and sent him a questioning look .

Robert's eyes wandered a little, he lowered his head, avoiding his father's gaze.

The earl's eyes became sharp instantly, obviously he had already guessed everything.He looked coldly at one of his henchmen and winked at him.

The man planned to turn a blind eye to the Earl's wink, but the cold gaze gave him goosebumps all over his body, and he finally couldn't stand the gaze and opened his mouth. "Your Majesty," he said carefully, "since the Duke of Somerset is now in the Tower of London, it is time for the Regent Council to elect a new Lord Protector." He finished speaking like a frightened quail Same, huddled up in his chair.

The king tapped lightly on the arm of his chair, and the room was so quiet that a needle could be heard.

"I think that after this series of events, the legitimacy of the Regency Council has been dealt a devastating blow." The king's face became a little harsh, "My father, under the premise of being deceived, made a promise to kill him." If he knew the truth, he would have made a completely different arrangement."

Everyone felt a little thumping in their hearts - His Majesty's words had clearly revealed the future fate of Duke Protector.

"It will now be up to me to right that wrong," said the king, "and the Regent Council, which during the more than a year of its Disband immediately."

The grown-ups at the table suddenly turned pale with fright, their mouths were all gaping comically, like a school of fish washed up on the beach.

Before anyone could open their mouths to question the legitimacy of the king's move, the guards surrounding the room began to clamor loudly.

"Long live Your Majesty!" The soldiers standing behind the ministers shouted exquisitely into the ears of the ministers sitting in front of them, and many of them jumped out of their chairs in fright.

The Earl of Essex's face had turned as black as Bishop Gardner's now. He clenched his fists tightly and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

"I thank His Majesty for his trust, and I am willing to assume the responsibilities of the Chief Minister and the Speaker of the Privy Council." His statement acquiesced in the king's actions.The Regent Council was thus dissolved, a body which, according to Henry VIII's will, should have existed until two years later.

"Since the Regent Council has been disbanded, the cabinet will assume the main responsibility in the future." When everyone thought that everything was settled, the king spoke again, "In view of this, I decided to reorganize the cabinet."

The king read the names of all the people in the room, but the one who threw stones for the Earl of Essex asked the way.

The man's face instantly turned as white as paper, and he looked at the Earl of Essex with pleading eyes, but the other party didn't even look at him.

"Now that this matter has been finalized, let's move on to the next topic." The king waved his hand and said briskly, "Since it's a cabinet meeting now, please invite ministers other than cabinet members to leave."

The poor guy who lost his cabinet ticket because of his own words stood up reluctantly under the cold eyes of the soldiers, and walked out of the hall with three steps and three turns.

The king looked at the ministers who were still in the room, and noticed with satisfaction that the expressions of obedience on their faces had become much more sincere. Many of them were trembling in their seats, fearing that they would offend His Majesty if they were not paying attention. , was kicked off the stage of power without dignity.

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In the 3000th century, King Frederick William of Prussia had a preference for tall soldiers. He established a "Giant Grenadier Regiment" of [-] people, many of whom were abducted from all over Europe.The Prussian king's traffickers roam around looking for tall, strong men :)