living in 16th century england

Chapter 19 There's Always a Reason
Henry VIII: "You have to think about it before answering me." Turning to Matthew, he said, "It seems that God is on your side."

Matthew took off his hat, waved it, and finally bowed to him.This style of demeanor is personable and full of aristocratic style, but there is no feeling of pretentiousness.

Henry couldn't help but look at Matthew a few more times, and gestured back.In any era, high society is actually a kind of stage.

The aristocrats in the impression of modern people are actually actors shown in movies. In fact, many aristocrats in the old era are almost no different from rich landowners.Only those noble families with generations of generations can cultivate that kind of charismatic aristocratic children.Many things cannot be raised without the accumulation of three generations.

Matthew seems to be pushing the show, he has to act like a young man~this is a persona.

The winner is not blamed, even if someone thinks he is not pleasing to the eye, no one speaks against him.

Then Henry took the lead, followed by everyone, and soon came to the square in front of the palace.While some guards were leading the horses and unloading the boxes, they kept looking at Cohen.

As for the unconscious chief guard, no one cared.Two soldiers were trying to wake him up.Matthew looked back from a distance, and suddenly felt that he had indeed underestimated Henry VIII.

Cohen is undoubtedly a target now, what will these people do?
At the beginning of the 16th century, the French army had a big problem in the Italian War, which was the lack of qualified officers.

Officers who have emerged and been promoted exceptionally are most likely to be provoked by those who are dissatisfied.This leads to a duel.

Obviously, superior tactical talent does not mean that they have superb swordsmanship, and they often die in the duel in the end.

Last year, Louis XII led the French army to attack Venice, and the Holy See also organized the Holy League.The two sides are playing with great joy.It won't take many years for kings and monarchs to realize the disadvantages of dueling.

It is said that for a period of time in France, thousands of nobles and noble children died in duels every year.This is actually a kind of bloodletting, an astonishingly huge loss, the accumulation of which is greater than any war loss, and it is essentially continuously weakening the power of the feudal kingship.

To make stupid people powerless to resist, just let them kill each other.

In 1571, Elizabeth I was the first to realize the loss of duels to national power and ordered duels to be illegal in an attempt to save the lives of those fools.The French waited another 50 years to realize this.

The disappearance of duels is definitely not a manifestation of the so-called civilization, but the need to accumulate strength in the early stages of the emergence of the nation in the modern sense.Preserving their lives is to let them spend their lives in places that are more beneficial to the country and the nation.

In this era, only when the nobles die well, can the support of the people at the bottom be meaningful.Otherwise, feeding pigs is better than this.

Of course, you can also say that it is the need for progress, but this kind of vague rhetoric will not help the ignorant to understand the essence of things.

Regardless of the feudal aristocracy, in fact, they are still almost the only source of talent in Europe in this era.

The war between the French and the Holy See has nothing to do with England for the time being, at least Matthew now thinks so.

Cohen lowered his head, but a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.While much different than what he envisioned, it turned out to be better.

As for what Henry VIII was planning, he didn't care.If you want to get ahead and revive your family name, you have to pay a price.

The mentality of the strong is often manifested as standing up.Nothing fits the bill more than murder.

Henry VIII sat on the throne, took a silver goblet, and drank it down: "Now, tell me your answer."

Cohen: "My king, your request is my mission."

Robert looked around, he had never seen this court occasion, and he was a little nervous.His gaudy attire doesn't stand out in front of a group of more gaudy people.Irene stood in the corner with her head down the whole time. She is now a maid.

Someone yelled: "King, this man's origin is unknown, I think you are too hasty." Some people agreed, and more people remained silent.

Henry VIII was scanning the crowd.

A man dressed as a guard came out suddenly: "My king, I think that I am more suitable for this position than him. Please allow me to be presumptuous."

All the people here are actually descendants of nobles, including soldiers.In the king's palace, even a maid may be the daughter of some count.

Henry: "I hear your opinion, but...please wait a moment."

"Matthew Hawkins, I'm very interested in your...security consultant, how much do you pay him?"

Matthew: "£5 a month."

Everyone was a little surprised, this is definitely a high salary.£60 a year?The financial resources of this Plymouth businessman appear to be not to be underestimated.

Remember, in the early 16th century, the rent of an acre was only 6-7pence. Sixty pounds equals the annual income of several farms.

"However, so far, I've only been paid once."

Henry was a little surprised.He doesn't really care about the salary, what he cares about is how deep the relationship between the merchant and the down-and-out knight is.Unexpectedly, this young man gave him the final answer without asking any further questions.

He could not help observing the Plymouth merchant again, but saw nothing.So he turned his head and said: "Guard, you want me to take back my life, you can't just rely on your mouth."

The guard took off his gloves: "I understand..."

Henry: "Korn Pearl, would you accept his challenge?"

Matthew thought, what is this?Do you want to get rid of these challengers?Or is it just to satisfy the hobby of martial arts duels?Or... a person like Cohen who has no background is the most satisfactory candidate for Henry VIII?
He knew nothing about the inside story of the court, nor about the power struggle around the king.Matthew is not a member of the aristocratic circle, and there is no way to know a lot of information.

There were a few more people who came to the hall, probably all nobles, and even a bishop.

Matthew made up his mind to just watch the excitement.Cohen, wish you were lucky.

Different from the previous ones, the result of this discussion was a duel on another day.It's a little bit about things and not people.

Cohen said that as long as it is an upright duel, it will do.He accepts any time, place, weapon, or form of duel.The strong confidence in the tone is impressive.

There is something that the Duke of Buckingham insists that even a duel is not in accordance with the practice of selecting a captain of the guard.

However, the bishop strongly agreed, and followed suit with the king.

Then there was a discussion about France.A group of people argued again.

After all, Henry VIII was young, and his complexion was not very good-looking.

Don't think that the king of this era can be compared with the emperor of a big oriental country.

It is recorded that in the 13th century, when a certain nobleman was competing with Edward I of England, he grabbed the king's neck. The king was not happy, saying that he violated the rules.As a result, the two sides could not stop arguing, and in the end they actually fought.Their respective knights and followers, and even the audience joined in one after another.The result of the two groups of firefights ~ more than 80 knights died on the spot.

The Chief of Guards is concerned with the king's safety. Has the Duke of Buckingham lost his mind?From Matthew's point of view, this is completely unreasonable.If you change to the one who started the game, no matter what your status is, if you meddle in this kind of thing, you are bound to be dragged out and killed.

So?

Matthew's eyes began to flick, unless... the palace is not full of the king's people?

Well, Matthew's suspicious personality flared up.Until the end, there was no palace coup.This is only because no matter how powerful the European royal power is, it cannot be compared with some emperors in the East.

But one thing he guessed right, Henry VIII later killed the Duke of Buckingham.On the bright side, it is because of the possibility of becoming a pretender to the throne, and on the brighter side, it is because of treason.In fact, almost everyone with royal blood is likely to receive foreign support.This also includes his father Henry VII.

Regardless of the era, supporting various factors of instability in other countries is a routine operation in national competition.

Obviously, Henry VIII is good at summing up the lessons of history.From the professional point of view of the monarch, Mingjun is undoubtedly.

But the tragedy is that the only son of Henry VIII, a king with explosive force, was a sick child.

Thinking of this, Matthew suddenly thought about it.

France likes to play this trick the most, and finally came up with the United States. In the end, everyone became younger brothers together, and they didn't know what to do.Those who helped it up almost turned their faces against it in the end.For example, Henry VIII is considering responding to Spain's request to jointly target France.

His father was supported by the French, but he changed hands and married a Spanish princess to his two sons.

The dispute in the palace finally came to an end, and Matthew discovered that some people were smoking.So he unceremoniously took out a tobacco rod, which was custom-made by him.

Henry VIII couldn’t help but glanced at Matthew again.There is only one such advanced device in Europe at present.With one hand in the pocket of the woolen coat, the other holding a cigarette pipe, wearing a top hat and puffing.This shape is really unique.

The discussion was finally over, Henry VIII clapped his hands and decided to say something happy.

"Gentlemen, this is Matthew Hawkins, who has come all the way from Plymouth just to tell me..."

Matthew immediately added: "...to congratulate the new king on his enthronement, I have prepared a few small gifts."

Henry VIII smiled and said, "That's right, so, guard, bring the gift here for me to see."

Matthew was speechless immediately, doesn't it need to be kept secret?Who knows if there are any spies in this room.On second thought, maybe his wife is a part-time spy.Forget it, nothing much.

A cannon that can be carried on horseback is definitely not too heavy, and certainly not too big.In fact, it is a rapid-fire gun mounted on the back of the Menfraun machine.Still pretty advanced for this day and age.Many people have seen it.

Knowing what to do feels amazing.Laymen disagree.

The technical difficulty of casting cannons with cast iron actually lies in the impurities and air bubbles in the molten iron.There is no blast furnace in this era, let alone a converter. The blacksmith shop is actually a shaft furnace.Utilize the property that impurities are lighter than the weight of molten iron, and it is good to let the impurities float on the upper layer of molten iron.Matthew knows that there is something called a slag remover, but he doesn't know what it is, so he can only try one by one.

The yield rate is actually not high, but it is also much cheaper than copper.

After seeing Frangji, Henry picked up a swift sword. As a young man who has been playing with various weapons since he was a child, he quickly noticed the beauty of this long sword.Can't help but love it a little bit.

Suddenly his hand trembled, and there was a sharp whistling in the air, as if some whip had been whipped.Then the upper part of a suet candle fell off, but the bottom did not budge.

All the men here are good at wielding knives and guns, and Swift Sword quickly gained unanimous praise.Even the bishop had started taking measurements on the palm of his hand.

Nima blatantly wants to fake it? !
Henry VIII finally took up the model sailing ship.After looking at it a few times, I put it back in the box, as if not interested.

Matthew was a little disappointed.This thing is at least three floors higher in technical content than artillery.In order to calculate the center of gravity with the appropriate dimensions.He spent a lot of effort.

Henry VIII: "Mr. Hawkins, I am very satisfied with your gift. But... why is there no gift for the queen?"

Matthew: "..."

Nima, there are still people asking for gifts for their wives?However, this question is easy to answer.Either there or not.Matthew can tell convincing reasons.

Yes, that is the swift sword, one long and one short, one male and one female, one gold and one silver.

No, it is the reason of the East ~ foreign ministers are not allowed to make friends with the inner palace.

Or a little more nasty: I only know the king, not the queen.

Which one should I tell him?

(End of this chapter)