[Henry VIII] Tudor Crown

"If I had to say who Spain's greatest enemy in Europe is, then William III of England would be the first name that would come to my mind." Has retired in the Monastery of Eustace in Extremadura The living Charles V, when talking about several young kings in Europe with his illegitimate son, suddenly mentioned an unexpected name: "I still can't understand this cousin of England. Although his father is my One of the most familiar kings, but for him, it always feels like looking at a portrait through a veil, making it difficult for people to distinguish his real appearance."

Jeromin was a little surprised by the return of Charles V. After all, England was used to make up numbers in the former European Iron Triangle. Coupled with their geographical location and historical reasons, England also made England difficult to defend. While attacking, it is difficult to expand outward.

To put it more clearly, England can't find other expansion points except France.

It is true that William III also thought about developing the colonial economy outwards, but considering that the land in the Americas has been completely divided by Spain, Portugal, and France, plus colonization is not a good word, and Charles V sent What the explorers in America did to the Aztecs, but any king who had some information would not think it was an honorable thing, so William III did not want to base his prosperity on the suffering of another nation. Besides, gold in America is not so easy to earn.

In the event of a dispute between the English expedition and the Spanish or Portuguese garrison there, the follow-up settlement work, as well as the manpower, force and financial resources William III spent on the expedition, will not be easy to pay back.

So to sum up, William III gave up following the crowd to discover the New World, and instead managed international trade relations.

This also made Charles V very puzzled.

It seems that England has not gone through an ordinary path since this cousin began to be a regency.

Whether it is relaxing religious laws or carrying out large-scale promotion of American crops, William III's policies are confusing at first glance, but after a few years, you will find that he has occupied the future market in advance without giving People leave too much breathing room.Even if France and Spain want to pursue the victory now, they will be limited by domestic policies, various forces, and technical problems, and they will not be able to compete with England on the same stage.

"A real king can always see what others can't see." Charles V can no longer control the future of Spain, and at the same time he can see that Henry II, William III, and his son Philip II will succeed the European Iron Triangle seat.

It's just that it's hard to say who will be the one with the upper hand.

Jeromin did not understand Charles V's criteria for judging the king, because the education he had received was to become a great general who assisted Philip II.

Just like William III knew that the Duke of Richmond and Guillaume would be wary of each other, but he still tried his best to ease the conflict between the two.

Charles V was also very aware of how much influence his illegitimate son, especially a healthy and intelligent illegitimate son, would have on Philip II.

Emotional unacceptability is only secondary. The problem is that William III is only one year older than Philip II, and now he has two healthy and smart sons.However, since Philip II lost his wife, there is only one Don Carlos who is irritable and even has mental problems.

This made countless people worry about the issue of Spain's succession, and at the same time exposed Jeromin to Philip II's guarded eyes.

After all, speaking more closely, João I of Portugal (great-grandfather of Isabella of Castile) was an illegitimate son, and Charles V didn't really want to hand over the throne to his younger brother instead of his son.

"Will there be a day when Spain and England go to war?" After Jeromin returned from the blind date in Calais, he chatted with Charles V about England again.

"Do you think it is necessary for Spain and England to go to war?" Charles V put down his glasses and asked, "If we go to war with England, what can we gain?"

"Money? Land, or more troops?" Charles V, who had experienced the war in the Netherlands, had already deeply realized the disadvantages of straddle rule.Because the Netherlands, which once belonged to Habsburg, was surrounded by England and France, Charles V married Isabella of Austria to Denmark in order to avoid Spain's The army and the two joined forces to block the English Channel, unable to provide effective support to the Netherlands.

It's a pity that the Netherlands was finally lost in the religious issue and under the attack of Britain and France.

Even Charles V's sister didn't end well, and the two nieces were driven out of Denmark by their cousins ​​because of religious issues, and they defected to Charles V's command.

"If Spain wants to officially go to war with England, then it must be prepared for the Hundred Years' War." Jeromin analyzed: "With the help of France, it will not be difficult to win England."

"But do you think France will help Spain unconditionally?" Charles V asked back: "Let's not say that England's religious issues are more complicated than those in the Netherlands, just talk about England's geographical location."

Charles V gestured with his finger on the map of Europe, indicating to Jeromin to consider the issue of the success of the war: "Because of the loss of Rome, the Pope still has not let go of his dissatisfaction with me. If Spain and France join hands to win England, then in a few years, France will take the opportunity to annex our hard-won achievements, and the pagans in the Netherlands and other places will also rise up to resist our rule."

"In the long run, just spending resources to appease England is enough to drain the gold of three to four American continents." When Charles V said this, he coughed excitedly, letting out the stagnation in his chest : "William III is a smart man. He has long thought about the possibility that Spain and France will join forces to attack England, so he has made complete preparations in advance."

"Are you talking about preparations... for the marriage between England and France?" Jelomin had just returned from a blind date in Calais, so he naturally thought of the engagement of Guillaume of England and Marguerite of France.

Facing his son's question, Charles V shook his head with a more complicated expression than before: "Marriage is the most risky preparation. With William III's brains, he will not put all eggs in the same basket. I think you will also Heard how Lady Margaret Beaufort of the Tudors put her son on the throne."

Jeromin remembered the famous saying that could be called Tudor's family motto, and said with a serious expression: "No matter when and where, there must be someone wearing the color of the winning side."

"This is what William III is doing." Charles V sighed: "Every step of his is so delicate, like a sparrow stepping on a sword, carefully maintaining relations with Spain and France, so that We will hate him, but not the most. We want to take England, but we don't want France to take advantage of it."

"Although William III is inferior to his father in military affairs, the king does not necessarily have to go to the front line. Sometimes things that can be solved with money and words don't have to be the step of resorting to swords and guns." Charles V said Here, I seem to think of my son Philip II and his younger brother Ferdinand's various disputes in Burgundy, and suddenly he has a problem with ventilation, and he is about to move: "If the Netherlands does not lose In my hands, you should succeed your aunt when you become an adult and become the governor of the Netherlands."

Even though Charles V knew that his eldest son was a hard-working person who did everything by himself, he could not only rely on his own strength to manage the huge land.

Regardless of whether they are brothers or sisters, all resources that can be used must be tightly held in their hands.

After hearing his father's words, Jelomin couldn't help becoming more curious about William III of England, as if he wanted to meet this English monarch who was highly regarded by Charles V in person.

And Charles V seemed to have seen Jeromin's expectations, and then changed his voice: "I went to England when I was young, but that was three or forty years ago. And William III was not born at that time. .”

"If you want to meet William III, you can live in England for a period of time as an envoy from Spain when you become an adult." Charles V also hoped that Jeromin would not always hang around in front of Philip II, This will make the eldest son who is sensitive and suspicious start thinking wildly again.

The young Jelomin didn't think about it that much, but he also looked forward to being able to go further and see more scenery.

…………… I am the dividing line……………

"How is the Countess of Nottingham's work in Wales?" William III glanced at the calendar on the table, and found that the Duke of Richmond had been away for a few months, and Guillaume had also returned to England, and also returned to England. Put on the title "Engaged".

Director Perot, who is in charge of reporting the situation in Wales, is preparing to report his retirement to the king, and at the same time wants to recommend a helper to the Countess of Nottingham: "The Countess of Nottingham has recruited skilled textile workers in Wales, and Bring the machine invented by Mr. Michelangelo."

"In addition, Cheshire, where the Earl of Derby is located, is also very suitable for fodder. Maybe we can concentrate the supply of Welsh wool in Cheshire and other places, so as to avoid the problem of land barrenness caused by grazing transition."

"Sheep feed is also a major event that cannot be ignored." Although William III has used the "four-field rotation" to expand grain production and at the same time avoid England from the historical Irish famine, but for the issue of grazing, there is no There has never been a definite regulation.

It is true that England made a fortune from exporting wool, but with it came the environmental degradation left by overgrazing.

In the long run, the reduction of arable land will only lead to the starvation of sheep in England.

This kind of practice of killing chickens and taking eggs is the behavior of idiots.