Chapter 580: Extra Story: Elizabeth
Since the war with Spain in the last century, the United Kingdom began to share maritime hegemony with Spain, and then participated in the interests of Northern Europe and Germany.
But in 1580, the Portuguese royal family died out, and Spain brazenly sent troops in, uniting the gradually decadent Portuguese navy, and began to crush the United Kingdom of Britain.
More importantly, the royal family of Lovalu in France became extinct, and Henry III of Navarre succeeded to the throne as the royal family of Bourbon.
Henry III promulgated the amnesty, Protestants and Catholics shook hands to make peace, and the whole of France was tired of war and began a real unification.
France, which lost most of the ports along the Atlantic Ocean, is naturally dissatisfied with England, but the gap in national strength prevents France from acting rashly.
His Majesty Edward of the United Kingdom cannot prevent the succession of the Bourbon royal family, because it is in line with the inheritance law. Henry III is the closest blood, and the United Kingdom cannot dare to stop it.
In this way, France and Spain have a common language and a common enemy-the United Kingdom of Britain.
Repressed by France and Spain on the European continent, and suppressed by the Spanish-Portuguese coalition forces at sea, the life of the United Kingdom has not been easy these years.
However, fortunately, the incorporation of the Netherlands is like a powerful water pump, continuously producing blood and replenishing the constantly depleted empire.
The most important thing is that the blood from North America allowed the United Kingdom to not be defeated when it faced a huge opponent, but persisted.
Persistence pays off.
In the past few decades, Europe has been shrouded in the shadow of the two kings, shivering, even the French king is no exception.
The first place is naturally His Majesty Edward of the United Kingdom of Britain.
He ruled nearly half a million square kilometers of land, governed eight regions, eight million people, commanded an army of 50,000, and a navy of 30,000. He was the only king in Europe second to Spain.
Especially with the ownership of the Netherlands, the influence of the Kingdom of Britain throughout Europe has soared.
In addition, the United Kingdom belongs to a Protestant country and its strong strength makes it the leader of a Protestant country and the most powerful guarantee against Catholic countries.
Of course, they also found an Abyssinian crown, which is nominally higher than the nations.
Although Abyssinia is an African country, it is also a Christian family, and there are many white people.
And the second belongs to the huge Spanish-Portuguese United Kingdom. They have a population of 10 million and colonies of millions of square kilometers. The navy and army have always been the number one in Europe.
If His Majesty Edward is only scary, then His Majesty Philip II is scary.
With the merger of Portugal, Philip II\'s authority also reached its peak, becoming the world\'s first empire on which the sun never sets.
Although Philip II knocked out a tooth in the United Kingdom, he was resurrected with full blood, stronger than Charles V, and ruled the entire Europa.
The Pope of Rome is like a doll in his hands. In the Catholic world, Spain already belongs to the leader.
The struggle between Edward VI and Philip II was also known as the Great Emperor\'s War in history. The small-scale battles over the past few decades have profoundly affected the development of Europe.
However, this cold war-like scene did not last long. With the arrival of Philip II in 1598, the huge Spanish kingdom also withered.
Edward is no longer facing the difficult and domineering Philip II, but his nephew, the son of Princess Mary, Charles VI.
The newly succeeded monarch soon faced his problem—the national treasury was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Subsequently, under the joint efforts of the native Portuguese forces and the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Portugal became independent from Spain.
In return, Edward\'s second son, Queen Mary\'s youngest son, Albert Tudor, became the new kingdom of Portugal at the age of thirty.
In order to allow his son to rule Portugal better, and in the face of possible reprisals from Spain, Edward, in the name of hiring, gave 10,000 elite Royal Army troops to his son at a friendship price of 10,000 pounds per year for five years, which is equivalent to giving it to his son for nothing. , let him consolidate his rule.
Subsequently, His Majesty Edward reached a consensus with the Kingdom of France, and the two sides lifted the state of war and restored peace.
Later, the United Kingdom reached a peace agreement with the Hungarian and Austrian royal families. The two sides traded with each other and coexisted peacefully. This royal family, which also belonged to the Habsburg family, was pulled off the Spanish chariot.
As a result, most of the Spanish hegemony dissipated.
One of the conditions for the restoration of Portugal is to cede some colonies in South America and strongholds in Africa, and the loss exceeds one-third of the original colonies.
But for Fuguo, everything is worth it.
"Father, father, something is wrong!" After getting old, Edward fell in love with fishing, especially after most of the state affairs were handed over to the Prince of Wales, he seemed more leisurely.
I saw a middle-aged man in expensive clothes, his temples were already light gray, and he ran over panting, but he still didn\'t dare to approach Edward, so he could only speak with a heavy breath from one meter away. :"Father-"
"What do you think of you? You are also the heir apparent of the kingdom. Why are you in such a panic? Where is the etiquette of the royal family?"
Edward could not help reprimanding his son Charlie when he saw that he was in a panic and sweating profusely.
"Say, what\'s the matter?"
"Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt Elizabeth is dying!" Although Charlie is now forty-eight years old, he is still cautious when facing his sixty-nine-year-old father. After being reprimanded, he immediately calmed down.
"What? Say it again!" Edward\'s eyes widened, he shook off the fishing rod in his hand, and asked loudly.
"Yes, Father, Aunt Elizabeth suddenly fainted just now, and the doctor said after examination, Auntie is running out of time!"
Charlie watched his father\'s face turn white, his heart beat faster, and he said more carefully.
Edward was too lazy to care so much, his head was buzzing, he pushed his son away, and ran quickly.
Elizabeth is only four years older than herself, and she is only seventy-three this year. How could she be leaving? This is impossible, absolutely impossible!
Along the way, Edward recalls everything he had with Elizabeth, from her riding a horse with her young self in her arms; ;I even cried to myself that my father didn\'t love her, favored me and even lost my temper and twisted my arm...
These memories flooded into his mind together, and his eyes turned red unconsciously.
Soon, he came to Elizabeth\'s room.
I saw Elizabeth, who was full of white hair, lying weakly on the bed, tilting her head, looking at him with a smirk.
Edward quickly sat on the bed, held her old skin\'s hand, looked at her cloudy eyes, and forced a smile.
"Edward, did you come here by running? You are weak and cannot run around like this!"
Elizabeth tried to caress Edward\'s face with her hands, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn\'t lift it up.
Edward felt a pain in his heart when he heard this, and quickly covered his face with her hands, sobbing unconsciously.
Elizabeth smiled unconsciously as she felt Edward\'s withered skin.
"Edward, you don\'t know, you were born weak and sickly, I just thought! This little guy probably won\'t live long!"
"Who knew, the older you get, the better your body will become. I was very happy at the time, and of course, it is now!"
"Elizabeth, promise me not to leave, okay?" Edward held her hand tightly, looked into Elizabeth\'s blue and cloudy eyes, and said seriously.
"No, Edward, father is gone, Mary is gone, and I am going now. This is God\'s will, and no one can violate it!"
Elizabeth shook her head, showing a nice smile.
"I used to worry that you were weak and walked ahead of me. Who knew, I actually walked ahead of you. Unfortunately, in the days to come, I can no longer be with you, dear brother!"
"No, Elizabeth, you\'re sure to come down, aren\'t you, doctor?"
The royal physicians on the side faltered and hawed one by one to the king\'s questioning, lowered their heads, and their faces were full of shame.
"Don\'t blame them, Edward!" Elizabeth shook her head, her pale lips parted, and said, "This is God\'s will, how can we disobey it?"
"Go down!"
"Yes, Your Royal Highness!"
After the imperial doctors withdrew, Elizabeth looked straight at her younger brother with a look of love and compassion on her face, "After I leave, don\'t be self-willed anymore, you are no longer a child!"
"Yes!" With tears in the corners of his eyes, Edward agreed with sobs.
"Pick me up, Edward, and take me to ride a horse!" Elizabeth struggled and said to her younger brother.
“I have loved riding a horse since I was a child, let me feel it again before I die!”
"En!" Edward held back his grief, picked up the light Elizabeth, and walked out of the room slowly.
During this journey, Elizabeth looked at Edward affectionately, reluctant to blink her eyes, for fear that she could not help but fall asleep.
"Here we are, Elizabeth!" The guard walked out quickly leading a white horse.
"This is Arthur\'s descendant, I don\'t know how many generations it is! Hehe~" Pointing at the white horse in front of him, Edward said with a smile.
As soon as Arthur was mentioned, the two unconsciously recalled the scene of the galloping horse, and the two unconsciously smiled aftertaste.
"It\'s been more than thirty years since Uncle Smith passed away!" Gently helping Elizabeth onto the saddle, Edward also got on the horse with the help of the guards, and the two rode together.
"Yes, before you know it, decades have passed! At that time, you often came out to play in the name of Uncle Smith!"
"Hehe! Don\'t laugh at me, Edward!" Leaning on her brother, sniffing him and asking, Elizabeth felt so comfortable for a while, she really wanted to fall asleep!
"I remember that of course the ceremonial mother is very strict, you often curse her in front of me..."
"kindness-"
"Father didn\'t treat you well at the time, and you often played secretly and were often scolded. If I hadn\'t blocked you, you don\'t know how much you would have suffered..."
"kindness-"
Just like that, leaning on Edward\'s chest, squinting, looking at his old but still sharp-edged face, Elizabeth suddenly felt that her life was also perfect.
Although she was never married, she was exiled and imprisoned when she was young, and witnessed her mother being killed, but when she became an adult, or after the younger brother in front of her was born, her life changed for the better. She was no longer Ms. Elizabeth, but joined the royal family and became Elizabeth. Princess.
So, from the time she was arranged next to her newborn brother, looking into his eyes, Elizabeth knew that he was her lucky star.
Being by Edward\'s side for a lifetime may be the luckiest thing for me!
The eyes gradually blurred, and she vaguely saw in the sky, her sister Mary, father Henry VIII, and mother were all waving to her, and the beautiful angel also extended an invitation gesture to herself.
"Goodbye, Edward, it is my greatest happiness to know you and be with you for the rest of my life!" Looking longingly and greedily at Edward again, Elizabeth stretched out her right hand to the angel.
"Remember, you were riding a horse and ran to me suddenly, messing around, saying that the rabbit I shot was yours. At that time, you were so angry, your lips were raised, and you even used your sister\'s identity to press me..."
Suddenly, Edward felt his head leaning on his chest tilted suddenly, and the heat in his chest was no longer there.
"Elizabeth—" Edward could no longer restrain the sadness in his heart, and cried out.
...
"Report the funeral for the princess according to the Catholic ritual!" Edward ordered with a blank expression.
Elizabeth has always believed in Catholicism, which was her comfort when she was lonely in her childhood, although in front of the people of the country, she pretended to believe in Protestantism.
Since she is dead, let\'s preside over it according to the Catholic ceremony!
"But, Your Majesty, there are no Catholic priests in China!"
"Then you go to grab it for me, go to those Catholic countries to grab it, otherwise I want you, the future prince, what\'s the use of it! Ah~"
Over the past few decades, under the continuous reform and efforts of the Anglican Church, Catholicism in the United Kingdom no longer exists.
His eyes widened, and Edward stared blankly at his son, the prince of the kingdom, the Prince of Wales, with extraordinarily sharp eyes.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Feeling the power of this long-term **** of the world, the Prince of Wales felt that his father was really angry, and his position might be lost.
"Hmph—" Seeing his son\'s appearance, Edward could not help but snort coldly.
Just now, he did have the idea of abolishing his moderate son\'s inheritance rights, but it only lingered in his mind for a few seconds before disappearing.
Charlie has been the crown prince for decades, no matter how poor his ability is, he is unanimously recognized as the crown prince of the United Kingdom. Although he can be abolished, it is too harmful to the United Kingdom.
No wonder the most powerful emperors in history were dissatisfied with their princes. The gap between the prince\'s ability and the ideal level of the prince is too high. If there is a gap, the position of the prince will naturally be unstable.
ps: New book: Stuart\'s Empire, a historical novel dressed in fantasy, I hope everyone will support it.
(end of this chapter)