Mary Su Stuart

The winter of 1571 was an eventful winter.

"Collini and Prince Condé teamed up with 'William the Silent' to defeat Duke Alva's siege once again."

"The failure on land irritated the governor of the Netherlands. The constant harassment of the coastline almost exhausted his patience. The news of the invasion of English privateers came from Spain, so the duke detained All merchant ships related to England in the port."

"This economic destruction made the opposition in the Lowlands even louder. The local council of the Dutch province, even, pioneered the slogan 'Independence'."

"After that, Alvarez, the son of the Duke of Alva, took over part of his father's work."

"The new commander is really extraordinary. In the latest battle, he took advantage of the location to launch a surprise attack, and even rushed into the detachment of Prince Condé's team."

"During the retreat, Prince Condé was suddenly hit by a stray bullet and died on the same day."

"Some guards are suspected of being assassins, but more people believe that this is just an accident on the battlefield."

"Collini, who lost his arm, deliberately retreated to the border. William the Silent, was betrayed by an old minister and almost died in the woods."

"Alva's side counterattacked and took advantage of the situation to regain control of several cities. However, the Orange-Nassau family is very cunning, and their property has already been transferred; the governor has seized and confiscated very little, and the funds can be said to be stretched, so he has to hesitate."

"The Duke of Alva is eager to apply for more military support from the King of Spain to counter the rebellion in the Netherlands."

Secretary Li Qiao's voice is ups and downs, sonorous and powerful, worthy of his previous singing training.This long report, no matter the content or the form, made Mary feel very comfortable-one was the death of her rival, Prince Condé, and the other was that Spain continued to be mired in the quagmire of war.

She sneered: "The war is a big colander, and Spain's fiscal revenue has fallen into it."

In fact, Mary heard that the treasury income of Spain is about two to three million pounds, ten times that of England, or twice that of France.In this way, it is said that Philip II declared the country bankrupt four times in history.

She asked about another important battlefield. "In the Mediterranean Sea, the holy alliance of Spain, Rome, and Venice, is there a difference between Ottoman and Ottoman?"

"Your Majesty," Li Qiao sighed, "The sea battle near the port of Lepanto has just ended. The Holy Alliance has won, but the loss is not light...It is a pity that this time, the Christians failed to retake Cyprus, and Rhode Island."

Rhode Island?

This long-lost name shocked Mary.Oh, I was wrong, this is not Rhodes Island in "The Rhodes Island War", but the former station of the Knights of the Hospital, one of the three major knight orders of the Christian Crusades. [Note [-]] At the beginning of the sixteenth century, due to the siege of the Ottomans, the Knights had to leave Rhodes Island, and are now settling in the island of Malta.

Mary, the former two-dimensional otaku, squeezed out those fantasy stories in her mind.But, uh, after traveling here for many years, how could she still remember reading a cartoon in her previous life?The "Sea Knights" tells the story of how a heroine in men's clothing became famous on the island of Malta and gained love (basic love), which greatly promoted the romantic splendor of knights.

Alas, the Middle Ages ended with the fall of Constantinople in 1453; the romantic feelings of knights are about to come to an end in this era when rationality begins.During the Battle of Lepanto, a soldier named Cervantes, whose left hand was crippled by the battle, was nicknamed "The Man with the Lepanto Arm". : "Don Quixote".

This is what it feels like to make history and live in history.

"It's really a pity." Mary sighed with insincerity. "So . . . let Melville go to Spain again."

Her most astute and loyal ambassador had married her handmaiden, Livingston, only a month before.In fact, Melville himself admired Mary Seton's face more, but the woman didn't like him; so the Queen recommended the supple and well-behaved Riverston, and gave him three boxes of clothes, and the marriage was successfully concluded. .

Another "older young woman" Miss Beeton, compared with Seton who is voluntarily single and Livingston who has a successful blind date, still has expectations for romantic love.At this moment, she was silently staring at Li Qiao who was giving the report, her eyes were particularly bright.

Mary sighed almost imperceptibly.

"By the way, last time I saw the new list of banned books in Rome. Recently, it's still a low-key deal, and it must not be forced to advance."

The catalog of bibliographies banned by the Catholic Church is a matter for private discussion.Mary didn't want to discuss the provocative topic of "what is heresy" in front of Protestant Cecil or Walsingham at the regular meeting of the Privy Council-especially her recent plan to establish a police department and intend to reuse the history The latter, who has shown his talents in this area, will serve as the first supervisor.

Her Italian secretary had a look of sadness on her face. "The envoy of the Holy See will probably be unhappy..."

"Actually," Mary decided to follow the trend to teach her subordinates, "Simply banning and destroying books may not be effective."

"People are curious, the more forbidden something, the more they want to see something."

"If you want to get rid of the fire and prevent it from happening, it's best to stop it at the source—that is, publication censorship."

It is said that in the history of Western Europe, the originator of publishing censorship was Cardinal Richelieu.However, France, which he worked so hard for, was the one that suffered the most from the revolution more than 100 years later-the French Revolution, which clamored for the abolition of the publishing censorship system at the very beginning.

"However, the government must use this method carefully and grasp the scale."

"Because human beings always pursue freedom."

There is another important reason: the earth is so big, and the world is far from being dictated by the monarch or the Holy See; the tyranny of the government can easily drive the people to other more relaxed areas.

Just like recently, a large group of Dutch businessmen fled their homeland and came to London or traveled to Northern Europe or even drifted to the New World.

Another example: Ottoman Turkey, which conquered Constantinople in 1453 AD, if they were concentrating on religious persecution, how could they use Iran, which is not in the majority; Years? Moreover, in the future, their power will rise further... There are still three and a half centuries before the "subjugation" in history!

Mary glanced at Li Qiao, who seemed to understand but was aggrieved, and said, "Don't worry too much. The English government will not ignore those extreme Puritans; soon, they will prepare a new resettlement place in Ireland. Help them 'make it right'."

Mary's smile meant a lot. "Stuart and Valois, never forsake the embrace of Catholicism."

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Ireland in this era can be counted as a colony of England.However, although it was conquered as early as around 1171, it was not until 1541, when Henry VIII established himself as the king of Ireland, that the sovereignty of the English royal family was completely established.

But an island full of forests and swamps with almost no roads is not so easy to occupy.There are about 80 Irish natives on the island, scattered scattered all over the place; and their chiefs only nominally recognize being ruled by England.What the British royal family can control is limited to Dublin on the east coast and its south.Most areas are still in a barbaric and primitive state without rule of law. 【Note [-]】

Mary, who came from later generations, believed that "every inch of land is precious", so she naturally actively wanted to control Ireland in her hands.It just so happened that the Privy Council also agreed with this "Tudor legacy".The monarchs and ministers all hope to conquer and assimilate Ireland as soon as possible - just like England once did to Wales.

Choose a coastal area that is convenient for supply and support, build a good port, and then invade the inland; build strong settlements, and gradually erode this land.

Win over some local chiefs, especially those who voluntarily ally with the queen, such as some Tyrone's Shane O'Neill, to control barbarians with barbarians.They can also encourage their upper-class people to come to Britain to accept the influence of civilization, so that more advanced culture can penetrate their will and strengthen their sense of belonging.

As for the English immigrants, the official coordinated the establishment of an administrative organization, moderately provided armed protection, and taught new farming techniques to help them be self-sufficient.

However, although it sounds good, this "immigrant", if forced, is close to exile-especially the Queen's plan to "send" some Puritans, which made the Protestant fans in the Privy Council slightly dissatisfied.

Cecil couldn't help but mutter: "Your Majesty, this, although you have experimented with potato planting in Scotland. But forcing those Protestants to open up wasteland and eat this crop in Ireland is a lot like making things difficult and humiliating..."

Mary probably understood what he meant—although she and Francois planted extensively on the territory and repeatedly proved that potatoes are delicious, elegant and charming (?), but given that old-fashioned people are wary of new things and potatoes are also The situation of being fed livestock by the Scots is still limited by many people.

Therefore, Mary talked about the new promotion plan made by Francois when he returned to France not long ago [Note [-]] with great interest: "This concept will always change. His Majesty the King is preparing to enclose the plantation and make it more mysterious. , arouse the curiosity of the residents, and even allow them to steal food..."

Cecil couldn't help but smile wryly: Your Majesty seems to be too optimistic.Many Protestants have a natural hatred for the Catholic monarch; no matter how hard she preaches the benefits of the potato, they are likely to oppose it.

But on the surface, he still replied very politely: "I wish Your Majesty that potatoes will become popular throughout Europe as soon as possible."

Mary said to herself: "This is natural, it is the choice of human civilization."

She specifically asked the maid: "For today's dinner, prepare French fries."

Forget about the waistline, and the husband isn't around anyway—François is off to Blois for his trinity meeting—junk food, always so happy woo hoo.

However, the joy of dinner today suddenly multiplied many times—because Her Majesty Queen Mary Sutuart, who had been menopausal for two months, started to vomit again, and the imperial doctor diagnosed that she was pregnant again.

Marie touched her little belly, which was barely visible, and guessed what Francois was up to on the other side of the strait, and she felt a sense of happiness spontaneously.

"I really hope it's a boy." Seton, Beaton and the newly married Livingston sighed together.

"I hope." Mary smiled.

The author has something to say: [Note 13] Among the three major knightly orders of Christianity, the Knights Templar may be the most famous?But it is very pitiful, as early as a NO.[-] Friday, it was completely wiped out by a vicious French king, and the charge of "heretics" was used-it is said that it was for the purpose of robbing wealth and centralizing power.

Since 1525, the Teutonic Knights, who burn the soul of Germany, have separated from the Holy See and become secular because the head of the group converted to Lutheranism.The territory of the Knights became the Principality of Prussia, and the military organization continued for many years until Napoleon ordered its dissolution.

The Knights Hospitaller, the "Knights Military Hospitaller of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhode Island and Malta".At first it was a medical charitable organization, but gradually it took on a military nature.The regiment used to be based in Rhodes Island. Under the siege of Ottoman Turkey, it persisted until 1522 before withdrawing.Afterwards, they settled in the island of Malta and were recognized by the pope as "founding a country".

Although the rule of the Knights Hospitaller on the island of Malta was ended by Napoleon in 1798; they lost their traditional territory and still consider themselves an "independent country"-although the United Nations does not fully recognize it.The "current territory" of the regiment consists of two buildings: 68 Via Condodi in Rome, a building covering an area of ​​1.2 square meters, the Palace of Malta; and the Malta Department on the Aventino Hill in the suburbs of Rome. "National residents" are only a few dozen people.

Let me also talk about the historical comics (big mistake) "Sea Knights", which I read with love back then, about the adventures of a female knight in the Hospital Knights.I found out later that the author Togawa Shiyou was born in Danmei.No wonder the heroine always looks like a man T_T

[Note 7] Refer to "The Story of Civilization [-]"

【Note [-]】According to records, Louis XVI did just that.