My British Empire - Chapter 561

  Chapter 561 Contradiction

“As a well-known family in the Netherlands, the Orange family is well-known throughout the Netherlands, and the former Prince of Orange, as the governor of the three provinces of Jersey, the Netherlands, and Utrecht, has connections all over the Netherlands. The current Louis .Orange still has strong competitiveness for His Majesty.”

  Thomas Mane, the Minister of Finance, analyzed the candidates for the governor of the Netherlands word by word for His Majesty the King and the ministers. Among them, Prince Louis Orange of Orange was the most threatening.

  Edward had no choice but to remain silent when he heard the words. Although he had been continuously transfusing blood for the Dutch and believed in Protestantism, he was quite prestigious among the nobles of the Netherlands.

  But the most powerful economies in the north are the provinces of Holland and Zeeland, both of which have a great influence on the current joint autonomous province, and the Orange family has a huge influence.

  But a strong local competitor still makes him, a foreign king, less hopeful.

   Fortunately, I let William Orange die unexpectedly before, otherwise this position is really hard to hope for.

  The northern provinces and some cities in the south formed the “Utrecht League” as an alliance against Spanish rule.

  The position of governor of this alliance has been contested by many people, nobles and civilians, and there are many discussions, which makes the newly independent provinces of the North Netherlands faintly show signs of division.

   At this time, Brussels’ sudden independence immediately washed away the restless North Netherlands region, and the festive atmosphere was particularly strong.

  A country cannot be without a king for a day, and a region cannot be without a leader for a day.

  After Edward decided to put it on hold, other Dutch nobles also chose to put it on hold, and we will talk about it later.

  Although the position of the governor is difficult to deliver, the necessary leadership is still necessary. A snake without a head cannot do it.

  So, in the end, in desperation, the nobles in the northern provinces began to establish special councils to carry out temporary leadership work.

  In today’s society, the leader of a country is equated with the country where it is located, but it was different in the 16th century. Dozens of countries may have the same monarch.

   Therefore, the independence of the Netherlands at this moment is equivalent to breaking away from the control of Spain, but it does not want to break away from the control of Philip II.

   That is to say, the Netherlands is independent from Spain, but it still belongs to the rule of the Habsburg family in name, and Philip II still belongs to the real king of the Netherlands.

  Finally, if Edward becomes the governor, it is equivalent to becoming a vassal of Philip II, or in other words, becoming his subject.

  Although, in the eyes of people in the sixteenth century, this is a very rare and common thing.

  For example, for a long time, the King of England, as the Duke of Normandy, was a vassal of the King of France.

   And if it is said that after Edward becomes the governor, he will be a vassal of Philip II, that is really impossible.

  As for the position of governor, it cannot fall into the hands of the new Prince of Orange. How could it be possible to let the former prince die after finally killing the former prince? If you are on it, it will be difficult to get off.

  So, Edward was very entangled.

  As a result, the parliament came out and temporarily replaced the functions of the governor.

   In this way, the struggle for power came to an end.

  However, the forces of all parties are absolutely impossible to give up. This kind of power struggle will be carried out more rapidly when the special parliament opens next month.

  Parliament is the best tool to balance the major provinces and nobles.

  The so-called democracy in history is actually the democracy of the aristocratic republic, which has nothing to do with ordinary people.

   Of course, it is also a sharp weapon to check and balance the monarch’s rights.

  Of course, the reason why the special parliament was established was mainly because the nobles did not want to share their rights with the commoners and did not want to hold a three-level meeting.

  So, the nobles chose to put aside the governor and choose to govern jointly.

  And a country cannot live without a king. A country without a king is unimaginable in this era, just as we cannot imagine a slave society in modern times. It can only be expressed in books, not experienced.

  Thus, the time for the governor’s selection was set to March 21st, which was also the day when the special council actually opened its court session.

   During this period of time, a retaliatory activity broke out, just in the Southern Netherlands.

  After the news that residents rebelled in Brussels and snakes massacred the defenders, the Spanish troops stationed in the Southern Netherland suddenly felt indignant, excited, frightened, hideous, and so on.

  Ampwert, as a well-known economic center, the prosperity here has always been talked about by the Dutch and outsiders, and praise has always been something it often encounters.

   On this day, in retaliation for the signing of the Ghent Agreement, and also to avenge and deter the occurrence of the Brussels rebel incident, Spanish soldiers rushed into Antwerp, killing and looting wildly, killing seven to eight thousand men, women, children and children.

  In just three days, this affluent city was desolate and turned into ruins.

  Such actions did not deter the resisting Dutch people in the slightest. Instead, they prompted riots in several cities in the southern Netherlands region to almost all resistance.

   Anger swept across the Netherlands. Sixteen of the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands declared independence and rebelled against Spanish rule.

   And reaffirmed the “Ghent Agreement”, proposed to withdraw the Spanish army, abolished all the governor’s decrees, reaffirmed the original rights of the cities, but still recognized the monarchy of Philip II,

  The northern provinces basically operate in the textile and shipping industries, with a developed economy and relatively prevalent capitalism.

  Due to revolutionary factors and the prevalence of Calvinism, the nobles in the northern Netherlands, relying on the overall situation, repeated England’s set of confiscating church assets and depriving priests of their property for devouring.

   That is to say, the Catholic Church in the northern Netherlands, which had just fallen into decline, was immediately and neatly dealt with, and all classes were given a full meal.

   Moreover, the special council also reiterated that the dominance of Catholicism should be abolished, and Calvinism can only prevail if it is officially recognized.

  At this time, a large number of rebels who rose up suddenly cooled down in the south, coming and going in a hurry.

   Why?

   “The northern provinces actually obeyed Calvinism and confiscated church property recklessly. The nature is too bad!”

   “Besides, they have also formulated tax standards. How much tax should be kept is the right of our nobles. When will it be others’ turn to intervene!”

   “The land will always be ours, don’t try to take it away!”

   Knowing that the northern provinces have begun to formulate things that damage the old rights of the nobles, the nobles in the south immediately talked about it.

   This kind of behavior has been condemned one after another.

  (end of this chapter)