Chapter 73

Is Spain strong?

powerful.

Is Spain invincible?

That's not the case.

The grassy ground after the rain exudes a fragrance of grass and trees. On the garden path, mushrooms quietly peek out from the damp soil, like round and cute little umbrellas.

The Queen of England was taking a stroll along a path, accompanied by her newly appointed secretary, Miss Emma Wilson, and they were discussing the topic of Spain.

The Wilson family, which has played a significant role in commerce for many years and continuously increased the Queen's treasury's revenue, has finally been rewarded with the title of Viscount, giving their descendants a place in the British court.

As for Emma Wilson, ever since she was sent to Ireland, she had been diligently balancing relations with various parties and constantly winning over the Irish nobles to restore Scotland. The Irish nobles' decisive surrender when Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Scottish Queen Elizabeth I led their troops to surrender, and their recognition of Mary as the rightful Queen of Ireland upon their coronation, were largely due to Emma's efforts.

With such an achievement in hand, Emma could rightfully play her role on the larger stage of the English court after her return.

For Mary, her return was just in time; the most important things were over. David Leejo, wavering between the Vatican and her, was hardly a good candidate for secretary.

Now that Emma is back, she can take over his job, and Mary can conveniently send him to another position to retire.

Upon hearing Her Majesty the Queen's decision, David Leejo visibly relaxed. He happily packed his bags and left the English court that very day. For him, the fact that the Queen of England didn't intend to settle scores and behead him was already the biggest surprise. Now, the fact that she was willing to give him another leisurely job to support his family was enough to make him extremely grateful.

“In fact, in my opinion, the biggest problem with Spain is that they are too rich, which has created huge hidden dangers for the country,” Mary said.

"Your Majesty, isn't it good to be rich?" Emma asked, puzzled.

“Having more money is certainly good, but if it flows into the market without proper processing, it will only bring disaster,” Mary said.

Every year, ships traveling to and from the New World brought thousands of kilograms of gold and hundreds of thousands of kilograms of silver to the Spanish royal family. With this astronomical sum of money, Spain could freely buy anything they wanted throughout Europe.

London wool, Dutch striped cloth, West Indies beaver pelts, Chinese silk and porcelain, Lithuanian grain, and Venetian mirrors... all these were on the Spanish buying list. They were generous spenders who only dealt with foreigners who brought the finest goods, and often a single order could keep merchants busy for years before they could deliver.

“Emma, ​​what consequences do you think this will have on Spain?” Mary asked.

Emma, ​​who came from a merchant family and had thus been exposed to many business tactics, thought for a while and said, "I guess the workshop owners in Spain must be having a hard time."

Mary gave her an approving look.

“You know that every country has its own specialties, like British wool, but have you ever heard of any local specialties in Spain? No, as far as I know, there is extreme contempt for local workers in Spain, and they all believe that those artisans are inherently inferior,” Mary said.

Under the influence of such mainstream thinking, Spain's local handicraft industry has long been hit hard. Among those craftsmen, those with skills have tried to find ways to change jobs and make a living in other ways, while those without skills can only continue to eke out a living.

Meanwhile, the Spanish nobles at the top never took this matter to heart. After all, they could buy whatever they wanted from all over Europe, and the quality was even better than that of the locals.

“That’s the first point. The second point is inflation,” Mary continued.

The influx of silver into the market inevitably led to rising prices. This was nothing to the royal family and nobles who made a fortune, but it was a devastating disaster for the lower classes who received fixed annuities and the farmers who had little income throughout the year.

They clearly didn't slack off at all, working diligently year after year. The country was supposedly very wealthy, but they were getting poorer and poorer, spending their annual income in less than three months.

Emma listened and suddenly gasped.

"Your Majesty, can't the King of Spain see the problem here? Won't he take measures to prevent the situation from worsening?" Emma couldn't help but ask.

“Philip II once said something that I particularly admire…” Mary pursed her lips, unsure whether to laugh or feel sorry for the lower classes of Spain, “…He said: I can’t tell what kind of financial books or accounting statements are good and what kind are bad. And I don’t intend to rack my brains trying to understand things that I don’t understand now and will never understand in the future.”

This is the attitude of the King of Spain towards financial management.

From the Queen of England's perspective, Mary truly appreciated this statement.

May God bless Philip II so that he may maintain this idea throughout his life.

Philip II was an excellent monarch, but his governing philosophy seemed to be stuck a century or two ago, valuing military force above all else, which was not suitable for the current era in which capitalism was beginning to emerge.

"Besides that, Spain has another problem: the war has drained their military budget too much, so they can only plunder Antwerp more harshly and, incidentally, engage in internal strife within Spain, indirectly weakening royal power to fill the financial hole. You know, in 1557, eight years ago, Philip II had already declared the country bankrupt once... Under such circumstances, if the right time and the right methods are used, England might not be unable to seize the Netherlands," Mary concluded.

"Your Majesty, I am filled with admiration for your wisdom," Emma concluded, crossing herself and feeling grateful to have such a monarch as her patron.

“That’s not entirely my idea…” Mary raised her hand to tuck a strand of lustrous black hair behind her ear and said with a smile, “…it’s mainly the idea of ​​Chancellor Gresham.”

By combining the decline of Spain in later history with the analysis of the answers to the questions, she meticulously dissected Spain's financial situation, which amazed Gresham, who exclaimed that Her Majesty the Queen possessed divine wisdom.

“I know that gentleman. A few years ago, he discovered the problem of Gresham’s Law in England, and then he reminted coins, which finally stabilized prices in England,” Emma replied.

Coming from a merchant family, she was very sensitive to this kind of information.

The Queen of England and Emma's conversation ended after they turned a corner on the garden path and saw a patch of low bushes.

A young man was sitting on a rock, flirting and joking with another maid. The maid, shyly avoiding the man's advances, had loosened her bodice, revealing a small, white breast, and smelled of red wine.

"Don't run away, my little darling, my dearest baby, I swear I'm telling the truth, God is my witness, I will marry you and make you a countess..."

Upon seeing Her Majesty the Queen arrive, the young man braced himself on the stone, stood up unsteadily, and removed his hat to Mary and bowed.

"Good day, Your Majesty Mary," he said with a grin, his cheeks flushed and his excitement bordering on abnormal.

Mary then realized that the young man was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, Elizabeth I's former lover, though whether he was real or not.

After Elizabeth's death, Mary did not exterminate those close to her, but those led by Robert Dudley voluntarily offered the Queen a large sum of money and numerous gifts, carefully pleading for Her Majesty's forgiveness.

After accepting this reassuring gift, Mary continued to grant them the same freedom to enter and leave the palace, just as she had with other nobles.

While everyone else was alright, Robert Dudley, whether out of despair or revealing his true nature, began indulging in eating, drinking, having fun, and chasing women every day, becoming utterly depraved.

“Good day, Earl of Leicester…” Mary greeted him, but couldn’t help but add a warning, “…This is a solemn and elegant court, not the streets of London. As an earl, you should maintain your proper manners.”

At the very least, one shouldn't be so dissolute in broad daylight.