My British Empire - Chapter 562

  Chapter 562 Abolition of Dominion

  The establishment of the Northern Special Council, most of the members are rich merchants and nobles from the northern provinces, and have little connection with the South.

   Speaking of this, I have to mention the difference between the north and the south of the Netherlands.

  The capitalist economy in the northern Netherlands developed earlier and grew faster.

  Manufacturing of woolen cloth, silk, linen, carpets, soap, glassware, leather, and metalwork rapidly developed. Bruges and Antwerp became important centers of trade, commerce and international credit.

  In the rural areas of Flanders and Brabant, farmers’ land was changed to short-term lease, and wealthy citizens and some tenant farmers bought noble land to operate farms, adopting feudal or semi-feudal methods of exploitation.

  The most developed provinces in the north of the Netherlands are Holland and Zeeland.

  In the south, due to the tortuous geographical environment and the influence of French feudal forces, including Catholicism, the aristocratic power flourished and feudal remnants were strong.

  Farms and manors are prevalent, and although the business atmosphere is still strong, compared with the north, it is not good.

  The feudal aristocracy still occupies a dominant position, instead of becoming a capitalist aristocracy like in the north, land becomes a sideline and a symbol of status, but business is really the main income of a family.

   After all, fighting against one’s own lord is already hard to bear, and now they are still planning to carry out capitalist reforms and change the feudal order. This violates their interests, and naturally some people are dissatisfied.

   “Recently, many nobles in the south have begun to contact the Spaniards. It seems that they are still in a compromise attitude towards resisting Spanish tyranny!”

  The chairman of the special council, Baron Graham, slowly sat on the chair. Because of his age, he was like a stone statue with a different majesty.

  Gray hair and beard represent his prestige in the nobles and the northern Netherlands, and his age represents his wisdom. Many councilors respect him very much.

  As soon as he spoke, the expressions of many congressmen suddenly changed, with various appearances. If they hadn’t already known the details of these people, John from England would have been confused.

  Monks, big entrepreneurs, bankers, nobles, these are the real controllers of the Netherlands.

   “Your Excellency, this is already on the surface, let’s talk about these, the Earl of Roermont from the south! Hmph—”

  At this moment, a nobleman stood up immediately, pointing at one of the bearded noblemen, with a little anger on his face, his eyes widened, and his attitude was very bad.

  As soon as these words came out, everyone turned their eyes to the nobleman from the Upper Gelderland region, waiting for his explanation.

   “This—” the Earl stood up in embarrassment. He already understood that the attitude of the south towards the uprising and Spain was completely clear to the north, and even had the evidence, otherwise he would not have questioned him so openly.

   “I don’t know the specific situation, but it is true that some provinces still choose Philip II. These situations exist!”

  The Earl looked around for a while, and then said a little courageously:

   “However, please rest assured, gentlemen, I will never betray the special council!”

   “Hehe!” The nobleman who got up just now sneered a few times after the earl sat down, nodded to the members sitting there, bowed slightly, and then gave the earl a white look, and said in a serious manner:

   “Gentlemen sitting here, please forgive me for being impolite in these next words, but I have to speak boldly about the important information about the existence or non-existence of the entire special council!”

   “Although the Diocese of Liege has a vague attitude, there is no doubt that they support Philip II of Spain!”

“The Counties of Flanders, the Duchy of Brabant, the Counties of Artois, the Counties of Hainault, the Counties of Namur, the Duchy of Luxembourg, and the Duchy of Finburg have basically begun to contact Philip II, and, A preliminary agreement has been reached!”

   Speaking of this, he couldn’t help but look around, and then shouted loudly:

   “There is no doubt that the southern region has betrayed the Netherlands, and has forgotten the pain that Philip II inflicted on the Netherlands!”

   “They have already negotiated with the tyrant of Madrid in an attempt to re-impose those terrible tyranny on us. As Dutch people, we absolutely do not agree!”

  Thinking of the unspeakable policies such as the Inquisition, as well as the economic policies such as defaulting on debts and restricting the price of wool that caused the entire Netherlands economy to regress, all the members sitting here felt pain in their eggs, and pain in their hearts.

  Life is at stake, property is lost in large quantities, and faith is suppressed.

  The three mountains were directly in front of everyone, and the huge pressure made it hard for all members to breathe.

  At this moment, although there was no sound in the meeting room, the silent air warmed up unconsciously.

  Silence is better than sound.

“Everyone, we can’t go on anymore, and we can’t let the tyrant who lives in Madrid come to the Netherlands again. So, the betrayal in the south, let him go! I just hope that the northern provinces can let the tyrant, leave here!”

  The speaker who stood up showed an imperceptible smile when he saw the silent congressmen.

   “Okay, Count Delft, the words are too much!”

   Baron Graham, as the speaker, immediately thumped the ground with his cane. After attracting everyone’s attention, he stopped Earl Delft from speaking.

   Afterwards, the earl who spoke sat down with an indescribable smile, as if he was full of information.

   “No, Your Excellency, Speaker, we really can’t afford the tyrant to rule the Netherlands again, at least in the Netherlands!”

  A baron stood up vigorously and said loudly.

   “Yes, a tyrant must not be allowed to come to Jersey!”

   “Friesian too!”

  …

  In an instant, the elderly speaker felt that in front of his eyes, he seemed to see that the provinces of the North Netherlands had already started to make noise, and a large number of businessmen and workers had rushed to the streets, preparing for another round of uprising.

“Alas—” Your Excellency the Speaker sighed a long time. The family has been loyal to the Habsburg royal family for a hundred years. Even if Charles V and Philip II did too much, the long-standing feudal order and rules still treat him had an impact.

  However, compared with benefits, loyalty is too worthless.

   “Then, since everyone believes that Philip II does not have the conditions to rule the Netherlands, let’s take advantage of this opportunity to abolish Philip II’s legal rule over the Netherlands!”

  Everyone thought that His Excellency the Speaker belonged to the pro-Western faction. Who would have thought that he would directly propose the abolition of the ruling power of Philip II as soon as he opened his mouth.

  In an instant, everyone was silent.

   After “Papapa—”, there was thunderous applause immediately.

  Then the ceremony of electing the governor begins.

  (end of this chapter)