living in 16th century england

Chapter 53

Zhuangtou was very happy to see the original owner of the manor deflated.As soon as this person is happy, he misses the mark.

Matthew glanced at the farmer and asked, "Who is this?"

Butler: "This is my boss, Bob..."

Bob's reaction was not slow: "Master, you probably don't know me. I'm just a farmer, and I'm usually in charge of arranging everyone to do farm work."

Articulate clearly and concisely.

Matthew immediately classified this guy as a "talent": "Very good... Bob, what's new recently?"

Bob: "It seems that there is nothing wrong... By the way, can the village dig a well?"

Matthew wondered, "You don't have a well?"

Bob quickly said: "There are some, but now the well water is like river water, it doesn't look clean."

Matthew pointed to him: "I guess your well must be by the river."

Steward: "That's right, all the manor buildings are by the river."

Matthew smiled and said: "Sure enough... I agree. But the new well should be far away from the Thames River, the farther the better."

Bob understood.

Matthew: "Is there any problem in the manor?"

Bob: "According to tradition, every farm has to brew ale, but our ale is too bad to drink, can we stop brewing? We have to grow barley...I want to change it to wheat."

Matthew: "...?"

The butler stared: "Do you want to die if you don't brew ale?"

Bob: "The beer in Plymouth tastes better. I heard that the winery is huge. The farms over there no longer make beer. They all get some from the winery, and they usually boil water for drinking."

Joseph was a little embarrassed to follow behind. The baron and the farmer were actually quite able to talk?He was a baron walking behind?

Matthew: "...have you ever drank Hawkins beer?"

Bob put on his hat casually, and gestured: "Of course, last time a sailor chatted with me and gave me a drink. I just thought, isn't this a ready-made pier? Why don't you just bring some with you when a ship comes over? Besides, we can boil water, too."

Matthew rubbed his chin, and an idea popped up: "Are there any famous wines up and down the Thames?"

Bob spread his hands: "Famous? My baron, let me tell you this, I have lived for more than 20 years, and I have never heard of anyone whose horse urine tastes good."

Matthew's thoughts diverged immediately, Nima's farm was too wasteful to use for farming.Laozi can completely bypass the large and small guilds and ports in London.Just pay taxes to the king.

Leap over the first floor of second-tier dealers, and sell directly to the residents of London, manor owners, large and small gentry nobles, there will be an absolute price advantage, and you can earn a lot of money.

But what if they get together... trade sanctions?
London is England's largest trading hub, once it is restricted outside, it will be very troublesome.

Still, it's always okay to experiment.Beer is just right.If they are all "horse urine", there should be a market.

Matthew: "Housekeeper, let's build a warehouse at the pier first."

housekeeper:"……"

"Bob, I can ship you some beer, but you'll have to sell it for me. Go try it... to anyone you can think of."

Bob is a little dumbfounded, do you want me to change careers?
All of Matthew's things, the shipping port is actually a wholesale price.This kind of deep inland retail is really not available except in Plymouth.Even next year's pepper will run from port to port.After all, this thing is definitely a luxury.It's not a guild boss, the local powerful and rich aristocrats can't afford it.But even for this kind of person, the trading unit is "pound" at most, and they have to earn a lot for the three dealers.

Joseph's thinking was a little sluggish. In just a few minutes, the Baron of the Isles of Scilly found a way to make a fortune?But what he heard felt very reliable.

However, as an experienced bureaucrat, he immediately thought of some problems.

"Lord Hawkins, you may be in for some trouble."

Matthew turned back and smiled: "I know, my plan is to make this farm a free city, and it's the king's free city. Then there won't be any problems."

Joseph was dumbfounded, a free city with only a few dozen farmers and women? ...on an equal footing with London?

It is very troublesome to explain clearly the autonomous free cities from the Middle Ages to the 16th century.Basically, it can be understood as a bandit den.Not only do you have to pay money to enter the nest, but you also have to abide by my rules.The number of so-called free citizens in the city is actually very small, usually in double digits.Others may be serfs and slaves.

If you want to be a free citizen, you can, you can live there for one year, and then you have to pay the money.Therefore, free citizens are often wealthy merchants.And this identity can also be deprived, for example, if you can't pay various taxes, fees, and money.The so-called right to vote and be elected is for these very few people.

Those councilors in Plymouth, there are only a few dozen people coming and going, all of them are like this.

You can think of them as the master of the great village, the master of the second village, the master of the third village, the fourth master...and so on.By the way, Andrew has become the head of the village.

So why does anyone always want to go to these cities?It's very simple, many people often can only go to the city, where there are indeed some opportunities.Adventurers are not so easy to be.In any case, if you can't earn money, you are doomed to become a tramp and a beggar.

"The eldest son becomes a gentleman, and the remaining son becomes a beggar." That's how it came about.

What makes you think that so-called autonomous cities have more moral attributes than feudal lords?
It can be seen that from the very beginning, freedom has belonged to a very small number of people.

Freedom is privilege.Without money, you have no freedom, let alone privileges.This one runs through the later capitalism all the time.

Matthew laughed: "There is a ready-made name-Greenwich Town. What do you think?"

Joseph was stunned for a while, opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

This kind of thing can only be done by the king's favorite minister who has no public office.Even if it loses money, the only thing left in depression is... agriculture, which is also the title of a royal chartered city.And he was sure that Henry VIII would agree and let his seal holder seal it.

Those autonomous cities really don't please any autocratic monarch.

Thinking of this, Joseph's eyes lit up.He immediately made up his mind that as long as Henry VIII was willing to endorse, he would be the first to apply to become a free citizen of Greenwich Town.When the time comes to get a house, at least it will be very convenient to go to work.

This was something Matthew hadn't thought of.

Now he is thinking about whether to let Henry VIII shed some blood and pay for some gold coins?Hmm, I wonder if the king wants to be the mayor?For this title, 1000 gold coins is not too much, right?

But this is not urgent for the time being. This time I come to London, there is another important job to show the artillery.

As a major military event, Henry VIII certainly had to make a lot of fanfare~ He summoned almost all courtiers and nobles, as well as spies from various countries...ah...no, ambassadors.Come and see that his kingdom is well armed and progressing rapidly, many years ahead of Europe.

This Matthew knows, has historically been leading for more than 60 years.Cast iron artillery technology was not mastered elsewhere in Europe until the 17th century.

The distance is short and there are many trade exchanges, so the Dutch succeeded first.The later Gustav who played the "leather cannon" stole it from the Dutch.

But in this way, Matthew will have to wait for many days.What surprised him was that Henry VIII lived in the so-called small garden.Xiaoyao Palace became the place where he worked.So much so that Cohen's armored knights patrol along the high wall every day.

Of course Henry VIII was satisfied.It looks simple here, and there are not many houses.Life is very comfortable.

The first is that the toilet design is quite ingenious, and there is never a risk of overflow.This is high ground, and a pit is downhill.The second is that there is a special bathroom, the kind that can be soaked, which is simply a luxury.There is a dedicated room for boiling water and cooking.The bed in the bedroom looks ordinary, but it is very comfortable to lie on.The ground is paved with bricks, which has a different kind of freshness.In addition, the air is fresh, the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant.I really don't want to go back to his stinky old den.

That's right, modern ordinary farmhouses are more suitable for living than the king's palace in the 16th century.

It's the flowers and plants all over the ground that make him puzzled. Is this a garden?Later he saw the wheat field and understood, this is the flower field.

In fact, in another room here, his sister lived.There was another room where the pregnant queen lived.But outsiders have no way of knowing.

Because it was actually Princess Mary who occupied the mansion, and Princess Mary was the Queen's best friend.Henry VIII?In fact, he is a sister-protecting madman who takes the blame.

In history, Princess Mary became the queen of France and became a widow within a few days.But in a blink of an eye, he eloped with his lover, almost mad at Henry VIII.Later, because of the divorce of his brother and sister-in-law, he resolutely helped his sister-in-law, and almost pissed off his brother again.He is really a man of temperament, which makes people admire him.

The "second-phase project" that the butler started was actually an auxiliary building for the attendants, so there are actually quite a few servants and maids in this compound.

Matthew came to the old mansion where he hadn't lived for a few days again, and found that there was a big change again.

There are two armored knights at the gate, and there are a few more cabins on one side, which are probably for Cohen and the others to rest.

On the other side, there is an extra stable, in which several horses are eating horse feed.Xie Te, if it were me, I would definitely not set up the stable at the gate, wouldn't it be good to put it at the intersection?
"Who are you? The king has ordered that courtiers are not allowed to come to this palace. If you have something to do, please go to Xiaoyao Palace tomorrow."

Palace?Matthew laughed: "I'm not a courtier. The king's order should not include me."

The armored knight suddenly got stuck, this situation has never been seen before.

Another armored knight recognized Matthew: "Is it the Baron of the Isles of Scilly? Please wait a moment, I will report."

It's a pity that Matthew didn't give in either.But Henry VIII ran out to chat with him.It made him a little confused.All of you have come out, what do you mean by not being allowed in?
Matthew thought about it right away.

There are also many aristocratic kings in this era who are licentious and immoral, and they all hold naked meetings.

Poor Henry VIII didn't know anything, and someone put a blame on his head.

Generally speaking, people are only poor enough to engage in occupations that are considered low and dangerous.

But there are always some weird exceptions.

For example, the guy who likes to shoot guns, now his title is weapons test specialist.Specialized in shooting.

Today, the "commissioner" is not interested. He has already tried these two courses.He didn't even beat his heart.Assisted by the gunner, in the Hawkins woolen uniform, he fired ten shots from each with grace.In order for the power to be displayed, each target is large.

There are no deep pits, no bunkers, and the cannons don't have any long and deadly secondary names, and there are no lights and festoons.

Tie Tuo Tuo's power is still good, and the targets are all rotten, and the sawdust is flying.

The scene cheered loudly.

Henry VIII: "Matthew, you must keep your cannon casting technology secret. I am going to send some people to defend the foundry. What do you think?"

Matthew smiled and said, "As long as you are responsible for their military pay, you can send as many people as you want."

Secret thinking is actually an inevitable product of so-called mercantilism.

On the contrary, the Ming Dynasty later, under the flicker of the Jesuit spies, let the Portuguese manufacture artillery, and lost most of its artillery manufacturing capabilities.Spend money to raise "the best artillery factory in the Far East" in Macau.Simply stupid.

Suddenly a voice said: "My king, you should move the Plymouth Cannon Foundry to a place where it is easier to keep secret. I heard that you also invested a huge amount of money in this baron, so you have every right to do so. "

Matthew turned his head and saw that it was Bishop Wolsey who had met once.

(End of this chapter)