There was some silence around, the king's voice was soft, and he couldn't tell the difference between joy and anger. The nobles thought that the king's questioning was to treat Earl Conster as the first bird who needed to be dealt with.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
At this moment, Count Conster felt like a loyal minister of ancient times who had the courage to discourage a tyrannical monarch. In order to show the determination of the nobles not to back down, this letter of advice was drawn up and written by Earl Conster, not his writer. [1]
Earl Conster answered with a sonorous force, and was prepared to speak eloquently on the spot if the king refused.
The nobles applauded him lowly, calling him "extremely heroic".
"Three spelling mistakes, four grammatical mistakes." The king picked up the quill, signed his name on it, then raised his head and looked at Earl Conster with a half-smile, "I will send someone to read it later. Write the teacher to go to your castle, I hope I can see a qualified essay next time, it shouldn't be difficult for you, right?"
Earl Conster's expression went blank.
There was silence in the hall for a moment, and then people burst into laughter.
It's a rude thing to do, but I have to say, the air is much happier this way.
I don't know which necromancer squeezed his throat and shouted in the crowd: "Mr. Brave Earl Conster, oh, may the Holy Lord save your writing!"
Earl Conster flushed.
He searched for fame, trying to find out which bastard had fallen into trouble, but only saw faces that couldn't help but laugh. Even the nobles who had just applauded him couldn't help lowering their heads and snickering.
"Sit down, sir."
The king handed the signed instrument to the justices.
"There will be field surveyors to re-survey the royal forest. I hope I didn't misunderstand what you meant. This is what you want."
In the king's joking words, the atmosphere calmed down.
The bloody massacre just now was taken so lightly by the king, and he seemed to show some sincerity—he didn't intend to drive all the nobles to the guillotine.
The nobles also felt that they had achieved some victories, too.
So overall, it can be considered as "everyone happy".
Only the Duke of Buckingham sighed inwardly.
- The king made up his mind to overhaul the royal forest law after he nearly died in the Kono Forest. He just waited for the nobles to attack this, so that he could use what he originally planned to do in exchange for some benefits.
Not knowing the truth is sometimes not necessarily a bad thing.
The Holy Lord of the Far East bless the proud nobles.
"Okay, let's discuss the last thing next." The king waited for a while before reaching out and pressing down with a smile to calm everyone down, "Let's talk about..."
The king was halfway across the hall, and his eyes fell on the representatives of the port citizens sent by the Five-Port Alliance.
"About the Port Restriction Regulations."
The king said briskly, in a very friendly tone, as if he was just talking about an ordinary, trivial matter that was mentioned incidentally. Of course, smart people know that this is the finale of today.
The Port Restriction Ordinance is an ordinance that William III tried to implement but failed to implement.
After the death of William III, the Duke of Buckingham had exhausted all his energy to hold the throne for his nephew, so the Port Restriction Ordinance was delayed. It is not until today that the king raised it in parliament for the first time.
Citizen representatives sent by the Five-Hong Kong Alliance were sitting on the chairs, and they were not very worried.
Long before participating in the parliament, the Five-Port Alliance had won the union of the great nobles along the southeastern coast. The relationship between the Five Harbors Alliance and the nobles in the coastal area is definitely closer than the relationship between the king and them.
They are allied interests.
Restrictions will not be passed.
"Of course, after all, the regulations have been put on hold for a long time, and some things still need to be revised."
As if not seeing the calm look of the Five Harbors Alliance, the king clapped his hands. The king's judges stood up, took out legal documents and distributed them.
"Maybe I have to trouble you gentlemen to take a little time to look at these changes?"
The representatives of the Five-Port Alliance looked at the distributed documents and suddenly had a bad feeling. They nervously took over the new restrictions from the judge.
For a time, the whole hall was full of "rustling" page-turning sounds.
The king observed everyone's expressions and, unsurprisingly, saw the nobles show joy on their faces, while the representatives of the Five Harbors Alliance gradually lost their composure.
The new "Port Restriction Regulations" has made some changes on the basis of the original. The 1/3 penny tax originally levied by the Five-Port Alliance was re-judged and divided among the local nobles in the southeast in accordance with the provisions of the lord law [2] ]. In addition, there are several other newly added regulations, all of which redefine the interests originally belonging to the Five-Hong Kong Alliance.
The alliance between the ancient port alliance and the aristocrats in the southeast is by no means unbreakable.
As long as there is competition of interests, even the iron barrel will be riddled with holes.
"Tell me, what do you think?"
The king asked amiably.
The representatives of the Five-Port Alliance turned their attention to the nobles who had made a private agreement with them.
They are destined to be disappointed.
The nobles were full of praise for this, as if they were all amnesiac for a moment, turning a blind eye to their eyes. Many impatient people even stood up and praised the new regulations, saying that it inherited Legrand's usual legal spirit.
The representative of the Five Harbors Alliance stood up, and just as he was about to refute, the king clapped his hands.
"Okay, gentlemen." He ended the discussion. "It's getting late. Let's vote. Gentlemen, please."
He glanced deeply at the representative of the Five-Hong Kong Alliance.
They were like falling into an ice cave, watching helplessly as one of their original allies turned their backs on them in the blink of an eye.
The southeastern nobles who originally thought they would be their comrades-in-arms became their competitors.
The bell of St. Weiss Cathedral rang.
In the bells revolving around the Rose Palace, the voting was over, and the new "Port Restriction Regulations" was passed with a very high number of affirmative votes.
…
When the parliamentary representatives left, they saw that the gate of the palace was still bright red. The guillotine stood high, and the blood of the sheriffs stained the snow.
Someone stood in front of the guillotine for a long time.
He is the only head of the five major families of the Five Harbors Alliance to come to Merz Castle, Patriarch Dawson.
The brown-haired, brown-eyed patriarch looked at the blood ice that had been frozen by the severe cold for a long time, and finally made a decision.
He raised his head: "I hope God will bless Legrand and the Dawson family."
This is destined to be a busy and diametrically opposed winter.
The newly appointed sheriffs returned in a hurry, and the representatives of the freedmen returned to each county happily. The blood of the executed sheriffs froze into ice at the gate of the palace, while the commoners in dilapidated houses felt a touch of warmth in the middle of winter. Even if the king didn't mean it that way, things are moving in the right direction.
Everything became hopeful.
The representatives of the Five-Port Alliance also returned with the new "Port Restriction Regulations". This winter is just the beginning for many people, and some people already understand that the winter of the Five-Port Alliance has arrived.
They either bowed their heads to the king or rose up in rebellion.
The Five Harbors Alliance chose the latter.
The end of October 1432.
In the first week after the end of the parliament, the Five-Port Alliance, headed by five families including Goros, protested to the royal court: they believed that the Port Restriction Ordinance violated the powers promised to them by the royal family since the eleventh century, and had It goes against the free spirit of the port city.
Represented by the Five-Port Alliance, the chambers of commerce along the southeast coast united to refuse to provide maritime military services for the royal family before the royal family made changes to the "Port Restriction Regulations"[3], and also refused to transport the royal family to build castles around the country. 's materials.
Work on two important military castles under construction by the king had to be interrupted.
Thus began the resistance movement of the Five-Hong Kong Alliance.
…
"You don't seem worried?"
The Duke of Buckingham and the King walked slowly along the corridor of the palace, talking as they walked.
The Duke of Buckingham was referring to the resistance movement of the Chamber of Commerce in the southeastern region. Under the organization of the Five-Port Alliance, this time the merchants of all sizes joined together and unanimously refused to accept the restrictions imposed by the king.
The momentum is quite large.
The southeastern region is the richest part of Legrand, where the commercial capital of the empire is located.
But the king did not seem to take the union of the merchants seriously.
"The materials for building the military castle can also be transported by land." The king replied, "The Gru family will be happy to take on this responsibility. The Anger State will not refuse the purchase plan offered by the royal family - they are so poor. The Chancellor of the Exchequer was a little unbearable when he negotiated. As for those businessmen..."
The king smiled.
"They are merchants, not nobles, not commoners. My uncle."
"You already have an idea?"
"What do merchants want freedom for?" the king asked, and then answered himself, "the meaning of freedom itself is for profit. It's a simple thing... Put profit before them, and they will be more than anyone else. Make a choice now."
The king stepped forward on the icy rock.
"Look, an antitrust law, and you'll know how fragile the union of businessmen is."
said the king softly.
"Then I'll watch it."
said the Duke of Buckingham softly.
The king looked at the whole long corridor, and the carved stone pillars stood up beautifully and slenderly, straight up. There was no warmth in the king's eyes.
He never jokes.
Once seated on the table of power, all are hunters. If you want to treat other people as prey, you must prepare yourself to become the prey one day.
Never forget one thing—
All here are jackals, here are all lambs.
The author has something to say: The update time is 9 o'clock every night, and the next time the total number of nutrient solutions is added is 35,000. The following words contain a little discussion of the royal forest, which can be shielded.
[1] As early as the 13th century, it was very common for nobles to read and write, and other classes also began to learn to read. However, writing was a troublesome thing for many nobles at that time, and it was not worthy of their own status, so they would hire special writers.
[2] Historically, in 1040, Saviour's Abbey and St. Augustine's Abbey were already in frequent disputes over the right to levy a 1/3 penny tax in Sandwich.
[3] The meaning of the navy here is not equal to the navy in the modern sense, but refers to the navy in the Middle Ages. Taking the English navy as the prototype, at that time England did not have a formal naval management agency and no professional naval soldiers. The Port City Alliance provided important maritime military services for the royal family.
A little introduction to the medieval royal forest.
With current thinking, it may be difficult to understand why there were various conflicts around the royal forest at that time. In medieval times, however, the royal forest was one of the king's financial prerogatives.
According to the forest law at that time, people were not allowed to hunt, herd, and cultivate wasteland in the royal forest area without authorization. Those who break the law will be severely punished.
“…The direct purpose of the royal forest area is to protect the king’s hunting sites and prey, so it can provide the royal family with a variety of game food. Through the sale of timber, hunting rights, grazing rights, land reclamation rights, etc., the royal forest area can also bring stability The income of the kings in the early medieval period accounted for a certain weight. Henry II and King John received more than 2,000 pounds and 3,000 pounds respectively from the royal forest area each year." - "Financial Privileges of Medieval British Kings" Shi Cheng
As mentioned earlier, earls rarely earn more than £5,000 a year. This is not a small sum. But on top of that, the king could make substantial judicial profits by punishing forest law violators.
In Mr. Guo Feng's "From Protection to Management: A Study on the Income of Royal Forests in England in the Middle Ages", he introduced the various incomes of the royal forests at that time in detail: "...The royal forests in medieval England accounted for 1/3 of the land of England in its heyday. As the private property of the royal family, it has always been strictly protected by the forest law. In the 12th century, the strict implementation of the forest law brought many benefits to the royal family, and the royal forest played an important role in the royal family's income. From the end of the 13th century to the early 14th century , As forests become more and more the center of agricultural and industrial activities, the enforcement of forest laws has shifted from maintaining royal privileges to increasing the king’s income, and the royal forests have shifted from protection to management…”
“…According to the provisions of the medieval forest law, the royal family enjoys various privileges in the royal forest, such as hunting rights, land lease rights, forest logging rights, and necessary taxes. The exemption of these privileges, the charter, can bring the royal family. Lots of financial gain…”
From the position of a latecomer, some things may seem inexplicable, but as long as you walk into it and listen to it, you will find that things must have their reasons. History follows its own veins.
Here are some references for reference:
[1] Liu Qianqian. An Analysis of Freedom Issues in England's Forest Charter in 1217 [J]. Theoretical Circle, 2018(04): 62-70.
[2] Guo Feng. The Royal Forest in Medieval England [N]. Guangming Daily, 2012-12-05(011).
[3] Guo Feng. From Private Law to Public Law: The Changes of Forest Law in England in the Middle Ages [J]. Journal of Capital Normal University (Social Science Edition), 2012(04): 29-35.
[4] Guo Feng. Overview of the Middle Ages England Forest Court [J]. Journal of Shanxi Normal University (Social Science Edition), 2010, 37(02): 82-84+89.
[5] Guo Feng. From Conservation to Management: A Study on the Royal Forest Income in Medieval England [J]. Productivity Research, 2010(03): 134-135+142.
[6] Chen Rihua. "Game and Plants"—The Problem of the Royal Forest in England in the Middle Ages [J]. Journal of Capital Normal University (Social Science Edition), 2008(05):48-53.
[7] Shi Cheng. Financial Privileges of British Kings in the Middle Ages [J]. Problems in History Teaching, 2006(02):4-11.