My British Empire

Chapter 309 Scottish Riots (5)

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"Mr. Carrile, now, I will give you 10,000 pounds. This is a deposit. You go to the German region and hire about 5,000 mercenaries and let them come to England."

Edward raised his head, looked at John Carrile's beard seriously, and said.

"Remember, the age of the mercenary should not exceed 30 years old, this is a hard requirement!"

"Oh! Follow your instructions, Your Majesty!" Seeing His Majesty the King's serious face, John Carrile could only agree in a daze.

I can’t manage so much anymore, I just need to help the king recruit mercenaries, this is my task.

"Then, Your Majesty, I'm stepping back!" John Carrile lowered his head, exposing his bald head, and said respectfully.

"Well—" Edward nodded lightly, and continued to add,

"Remember, you only have one month, and in one month, I have to meet five thousand people in London!"

"Yes, I understand!"

As he spoke, John Carrile slowly backed away, and finally bowed deeply near the gate before turning around and leaving.

Edward watched him leave quietly with a smile on his face.

Of these 5,000 people, Edward actually wanted to keep most of them.

The main reason is that the parliament and the nobles can no longer tolerate him having more troops.

That is to say, he can no longer recruit troops openly, and the army he owns is suppressed to a size of more than 5,000 people.

Some people say, isn’t the king of England at its greatest right now? Are the nobles and the parliament at the mercy of the king?

To be honest, when it comes to the nobles or the parliament alone, the state power can settle them at will.

However, if the two join forces, they can directly defeat King Quan.

The nobility represents the traditional power, and the parliament represents the local gentry and gentry group. The combination of the two is enough to overthrow any king.

So, when both of them were dissatisfied with the current expansion of the size of the Guards, Edward consciously stopped the expansion.

But if this group of mercenaries is left behind, it will be completely different. As long as they are well controlled, they will be the biggest blade in the king's hands.

They don't have the scruples of the English, so they don't have any sympathy for the parliament and the English nobles, and they will act without scruples after receiving instructions.

And if Edward's guards were to attack, those officers from noble and country gentry backgrounds would definitely be extremely cautious.

Moreover, the arrival of these 5,000 people can greatly reduce England's population loss.

In the 16th century, population is the most important force for a country to be strong. Compared with colonization, three million people are far from enough. Therefore, if it can reduce the loss of population, it is better to have less.

For example, in the future, Portugal and the Netherlands, in the early days of the great voyages, were in charge of the wind and rain. In the middle period, the disadvantage of underpopulation was fully revealed, and the huge colonies did not have enough troops to guard them.

In the end, the hard-earned colonies were gradually swallowed up by other emerging countries and slowly declined.

Thinking about his own plan, a smile slowly appeared on the corner of Edward's mouth.

The next day, the Speaker of the Privy Council, His Excellency Faris Alexander, came to the House of Commons and made a rigorous report on the proposal, and the parliament suddenly became lively.

"My dear gentlemen, according to valid information, we have received information that a rebellion in Ireland is about to endanger the rule of the empire. In this regard, His Majesty the King has sent me. , to temporarily increase the war tax to maintain the rule of the empire!"

Faris Alexander used the compiled words, solemnly declaring to the congressmen below, as if he was reading the Bible aloud, without any emotion.

After listening to the speech, the MPs under the podium immediately started talking about it.

Obviously, they didn't get the news of the rebellion in Ireland, so they were skeptical about the news.

"Everyone, please think about it carefully. The same is true for His Majesty the King. I hope everyone will think about it more!"

Faris took a deep look at the many congressmen below, and said meaningfully.

Subsequently, half an hour later, the entire motion was passed unanimously.

After that, Faris Alexander charged the Privy Council to order the Ministry of Finance to show the necessary spirit and levy war taxes.

So, for a while, the whole of England was wailing again.

War tax, the lord's privilege left over from the Middle Ages, once again tormented the English.

And at this time, Scotland.

Originally sent to England to meet Russell, the Duke of Norfolk, a red-haired businessman, and also a smart man.

In Scotland, since he returned from England, he has been based on the anti-British forces in contact with Scotland, plotting how to let Scotland take control of the English.

But what he didn't expect was that the nobles who hated England in the past seemed to have forgotten England's control of Scotland at this time, and instead focused on the church.

In this regard, he did not give up at all, and devoted all his thoughts to the class of merchants.

Sure enough, the merchants lost a market like France, and the loss was extremely heavy. They welcomed Russell and raised a lot of funds.

However, how can the English be driven out of Scotland without the participation of the nobles?

Faced with such a situation, Russell directly chose to support the church.

The Catholic Church definitely opposes the current religious reformation, and it definitely hates the Protestant Englishmen!

So, Russell decided to let the church defeat the nobles, thus driving out the English.

And before that, when the churches in various places were slowly plundered by the nobles, Russell finally convinced the church to believe him by virtue of his wealth and connections, stabilized the panicked church, and let them continue to maintain their strength , waiting for the right moment.

Sure enough, as time passed, as soon as the incident at Danfries Cathedral came out, Russell knew that the opportunity had come.

"Your Excellency, the time has come. The nobles have taken us lightly. It is time to give them the final blow!"

Russell stood up abruptly, slapped the letter in his hand on the table, and said excitedly to the bishop sitting in the main seat.

"Oh? Mr. Russell, this is really good news!"

The gray-haired bishop couldn't help but cheer up when he heard this, and said excitedly, pulling his beard.

The rest of the bishops also had red eyes and were very happy.

The original archbishop of Scotland was David Beaton. He was one of the four major Scottish families and was also inclined to religious reform.

So, the bishops from all over Scotland scattered together, and the arrival of Russell gave these bishops a backbone.

And Russell, relying on his own cleverness, transferred most of the church's property secretly, and the nobles could not find out.

In this way, Russell became more and more important in the church, and finally became the think tank of the church.

Seeing the happy expressions of the other bishops, Russell was satisfied for a while. It feels so good to hold the power in his hands.

"We will mobilize all our strength to help the Dumfries Cathedral resist the attack of the nobles, so as to annihilate them in one fell swoop, and then let Scotland get rid of the control of the English!"

(end of this chapter)

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