Mary Su Stuart

With the full cooperation of Cecil, the envoy of England, Li Qiao, the deputy envoy of Scotland, and Maitland, the temporary representative of France, the negotiations with Spain went smoothly.

Because of the backing of Henry II, even though Queen Elizabeth was sick, England still had a certain amount of confidence; after bargaining with the Spanish mission, the two sides finally reached an agreement: spend money, rest, and peace.

The "frugal" Elizabeth gave a price of [-] pounds, which was about one-seventh of her annual income.On this basis, Mary Regent added another [-] pounds proudly, expressing "deep apology" for "inadvertently using" Philip II; source: the private treasury of the French Dauphin.

Uh, adhering to the principle of "what's yours is mine", Mary has no psychological burden to spend her husband's money.In particular, François said, this money was intended to buy her clothes...

Well, since leaving the French court, Mary's interest in jewelry and clothing has plummeted.François reunited after a long absence, and found his wife's clothes were old and her jewelry was not new. He was very sad, so he generously handed over the purse.Mary took it as a favor within a few days of accepting it.

However, this favor is well worth it.The members of the Privy Council saw that Mary's gold and yuan offensive was used properly, and Philip II was quickly settled, and they were all in admiration.

She is willing to pay out of pocket, which is even more remarkable.

It would be nice to have a rich queen, nay, regent.

But Mary spent the ten thousand pounds with conditions.The Regent soon announced that since the beginning of 1563, the country had suffered "heavy losses"; then, the financial plan for this year, and even the next year, must be carefully adjusted.

——As a responsible administrator, Mary has to think seriously about her financial plan since she has England as her home.

It's nothing more than increasing revenue and reducing expenditure.

Open source, Mary has a lot of ideas, but it can only be implemented after the situation becomes more stable.

To save money, of course, we have to start from the palace expenditure.

Mary first consulted with the Privy Council to restrict the Queen of England's tour.Ahem, due to the hygienic problems of this era, the monarch often travels around to make room for cleaning the palace.The former Elizabeth, because she likes to be admired by the public, likes to show up in public to increase her popularity, fears that women will not be able to suppress the scene, wants to observe the lords of the land nearby, has a lot of fun to travel, and is easy to get in touch with Dudley. not in london...

And the annual travel budget is really quite a lot.

Mary’s reason is very good: she even donated her private house (her husband’s), and temporarily stopped buying jewelry; you Elizabeth is a patient with smallpox sequelae, so you can rest in the capital or nearby.

Not only the Privy Council, most of the nobles in England were very happy to hear this proposal.The Queen always travels, and it's not just the central government that bears the security and financial pressure—the local government also needs to provide guards, prepare houses, and entertain inspection teams with delicious food and drinks!It can save worry, effort and money, so why not do it.

Even some who had wanted to take the opportunity to get close to the queen, knowing Elizabeth's current illness and weighing the input and output, couldn't help feeling that it would be better to wait and see.

Unexpectedly, Elizabeth herself happily agreed to the proposal.

The Earl of Pembroke and Mary were deeply surprised when they spoke. "It just doesn't match her usual indecision."

Mary can understand: the new regent's posture is to stick to London, and it is impossible for government affairs to move with her; the Privy Council has not all "rebelled"; how can Elizabeth throw the capital to the enemy, travel alone, and rashly give up her own life? What about central influence?

Mary didn't mind that Elizabeth was "watching" nearby.In view of her blindness, almost all the details were left behind, and only major matters were reviewed by the Privy Council.As the regent, Mary was still familiar with England's government affairs, and she was not in a hurry to decide everything by herself, and she didn't care to listen to the opinions of the Queen and the Privy Council.

"Those in power should accept restrictions, be careful, and never do whatever they want." Mary confessed sincerely in the Privy Council, her words were convincing, high-sounding, and very impressive.

Elizabeth craves power, and Mary is happy to find something to do—her marriage, for example.

To some extent, it should be called "The Queen's Marriage Diplomacy".

Look, the Spanish fleet, having received the compensation, departed reluctantly; their ambassador is still working hard for another additional clause in the English court.

This additional clause is to restart the marriage negotiations of the Queen of England.

Philip II really recommended his cousin, Archduke Charles of Austria.Elizabeth has always had a celibate tendency, but now in order to ease the relationship with Spain, she once again agreed to discuss marriage.

If Mary hadn't added a quarter of the compensation, Philip II probably wouldn't have agreed to withdraw his troops so quickly, and maybe he would have to sign a marriage contract before he would leave.However, Cecil, Li Qiao and Maitland took turns lobbying, and the Spanish ambassador was short of manpower, which contributed to this ambiguous result.

Although it seems that it is not easy to get this procrastinating queen into marriage-but this time the situation is different, and she has a good attitude, let alone not marrying.

With Mary's understanding of the "Virgin Queen", the Queen of Scots and the Regent of England were quite relieved, and Elizabeth was left to deal with it herself.

Now that the Spaniards had left Britain, Mary turned her focus back to England's religious conflicts.

Mary came in the name of a Catholic protector (this is also an important reason why the Spanish "guardians" could be sent away), so it is natural to punish the heresy in England.

Not all Protestants were fanatics, and Mary Stuart didn't have the same penchant for burning people as the other Bloody Mary.However, it is still necessary to "put order out of chaos and uphold justice".

Mary's purpose is: catch the big and let go of the small, catch the thief first and catch the king first.

The next thing is: Educational fines are the main thing, and personal punishment is supplemented.

Considering that there are still a considerable number of Protestants in the Privy Council (especially Cecil is more strict); Mary ordered that when Elizabeth appeared, all religious ceremonies would remain as usual.However, the public or private activities of the regent must abide by the original Catholicism.

Mass, Holy Communion, Latin prayers... The Archbishop of York and the Archbishop of London were pleased to attend and preside over the ceremony with great joy.

Even the Archbishop of Canterbury nodded frequently.

I forgot to mention that the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Matthew Parker, the most senior archbishop in England, was completely single-handedly selected by Elizabeth.His predecessor, who happened to die on the same day as his predecessor, Queen Bloody Mary.So when Elizabeth came to the throne, he was not in the throne, and he didn't take the opportunity to lobby the Queen to respect the old tradition...

Of course, he is more tolerant, obeys the kingship, and knows how to keep his mouth shut; therefore, he and Elizabeth have been getting along quite happily.

But if the relationship between England and Rome can be repaired, he will be more happy and support it with both hands.

Therefore, Mary and he have a lot in common.

"That John Knox has to be dealt with."

"The monarch's tolerance should not be bestowed on those extreme thugs."

"Forgiving those people means harm to non-violent protesters, harm to law-abiding people."

Mary cited the existing regulations in Scotland—many of which were promulgated after imitating Henry VIII in recent years—that holding her own ceremonies in private is tolerable, and disrupting secular public order is absolutely not.

"John Knox didn't cause too many riots in Scotland, but in England, he and his fanatics attacked the Catholics frequently, which really induced the rebellion of the old religion."

This reason is a little far-fetched.But it is not without causal connection, and it may not be unconvincing.Mary had already put on a tolerant gesture in Scotland; now that she came to England, although she put on the signboard of "stable situation and upholding justice", she was still inclined to the old church; to deal with some Protestants, she had to use some ruthless means.

The property of the extremists was confiscated, and several "culprits" were sent abroad to do hard labor, and a place was reserved for John Knox-for this Scot, Mary simply ordered in the name of the queen.

"Many Catholics clapped their hands and cheered. At the same time, they felt that they were not cruel enough. They believed that only the burning of the square would relieve their hatred." The Earl of Pembroke rubbed his hands slightly while faithfully reporting the public feedback to the Regent. "You see?"

What to see!The "Bloody Mary" of a few years ago had a bad reputation for this!Mary couldn't help cursing.She glanced at the secretary Li Qiao again, and the Italian youth nodded vigorously.

Mary looked directly at their expectant eyes; the words in her mouth were not harsh. "Think about Mary I of England in the past, and learn a lesson. Let's leave it at that for now. I don't mind attacking Calvinism, but I have to worry about the feelings of Protestants like Cecil in the Privy Council."

Mary couldn't help but be thankful that she chose the relatively slick Duke of Norfolk to deal with the "petition" English Catholics.Those mobs who stand on their "own side" are a help, or they may become a drag, and they must be dealt with carefully.And the Duke of Norfolk lived up to his mission.Now, these batches of uprising teams are divided by him, lobbying to appease them, the mood is finally calm, and they are willing to go home to rebuild the country church...

The situation is great.

Mary was in a better mood, and she no longer rolled her eyes frequently when looking at the almost deadly sweet British cuisine at Whitehall Palace.The Prince Regent was thinking, since London is clearly richer in products than Edinburgh, why not hire a French court chef class from the mainland?

Well, after two days like this, the French cook didn't arrive, but the French Dauphin came first.

This time, Francois, who is also the King of Scotland, can be regarded as an official public schedule.

The welcome ceremony was expensive, and Mary didn't want to be extravagant.However, she also knew that Francois should not keep a low profile any longer.

As Scotland's "side-by-side king" who should have real power, Francois only held a small banquet in the palace to announce his presence during his stay in Edinburgh; he didn't ask for any "co-government" at all, and almost put himself in the position of "second in command" He handed over all government affairs to Maitland according to Mary's opinion.

It can be suspected that this is the majestic Crown Prince of France, who doesn't care about the small country and few people at all; it should be believed that he actually respects his wife's career very much.

Mary became the regent of England, and as her husband, he never made any request for the separation of powers—although the "regent" of England is only a "temporary title" with an indefinite term, and Mary's "number one heir to the throne" position is still unclear However, according to Henry II's plan, even if there is little hope, he can still bargain with the Privy Council on the issue of "co-governance".

However, François rejected his father's proposal.As soon as he arrived in Edinburgh, he made it clear to Mary early on that he would not interfere in England's internal affairs - at least until she wore the "new crown" firmly, he promised to do so.It is precisely because the Crown Prince of France is "knowledgeable and interesting", and Mary can minimize the "foreign influence" when she wins over the English dignitaries, so she quickly won the majority of votes in the Privy Council.

Looking back on these days, François has always thought of himself...Marie was touched.Therefore, she needs to reciprocate and show full respect to him.

The people in power in Great Britain have no intention of fighting against France for the time being.Now that the French crown prince has publicly stated that he respects and upholds the independence of England, the English government, which is less worried about "foreign interference", should warmly entertain its "friendly neighbors".

This is a harmonious "foreign affairs visit".The flag of the Valois royal family fluttered in the wind, and the distinctive iris pattern deeply caught the eyes of Londoners.The Swiss mercenaries in charge of the guards were brand new, with their heads held high.The welcome team also showed enough enthusiasm, pulling a long queue for a mile on the street; the choir was loud and loud, and the capital band performed hard; Mary led the dignitaries, sitting on a tall horse covered with white silk and gold satin, to welcome them.

Then came the lavish dinner at Whitehall Palace, which lasted from three o'clock in the afternoon to eleven o'clock in the evening.The cooks were so busy that they were sweating, for fear that they would not be able to satisfy the picky tongue of the Crown Prince of France.How could they have imagined that the husband of the Queen of Scots, who finally met his wife again, was more inclined to the latter option when it comes to the question of "eat or eat me first".

It was night, and Miss Fleming, the chambermaid, was depressed again.The Queen and Her Majesty the King were turned into red waves, while her fiancé, Maitland, was still left in Edinburgh to look after the house this time...