Chapter 24
Building a sewer system and, incidentally, a public toilet requires hiring architects from France, or even further afield, Italy, who are well-versed in geometry; it's not something that just any ordinary craftsman can do.
Apart from the Roman era's tradition of building sewers, modern European cities allow filth to accumulate unchecked, with at most a few small drainage ditches dug. London and Paris are no exception. The Thames River outside London has almost stopped flowing because of this, while the filth that has accumulated outside the walls of Paris is almost as high as the walls themselves.
Mary raised the matter in the Scottish Parliament, and the nobles, who had become quite accustomed to the Queen's sudden ideas over the past six months, agreed without objection, simply regarding it as a woman's innate love of cleanliness.
Although building a sewer system is a huge project, it's not their money anyway, so they don't need to meddle. They quickly sent people to France to recruit architects.
However, this round trip takes time, and since it's currently the busy harvest season, construction may not start until next spring.
Mary was somewhat disappointed, but she also knew that reforms couldn't be rushed; they had to be done step by step to see results.
...
As winter approached that year, Mary had the palace steward pack her belongings, intending to avoid the large group of idlers at Holyrood Palace and move to Edinburgh with only a few close confidants for a while.
The servants were all very puzzled by Her Majesty's action.
Edinburgh Castle looks like a magnificent building, full of royal majesty, but in reality, it is far less comfortable than Holyrood Palace. This castle, built for military purposes, is cool and damp inside, with small windows that lead to poor ventilation. In winter, no matter how much firewood is lit in the fireplace, you can still feel the cold seeping through the stone walls.
Fleming, who was having a passionate affair with Secretary of State Maitland, was unwilling to be separated from his lover at this time and move into the cold castle. Ignoring the objections of the other three Marys, he went to persuade the Queen not to stay in Edinburgh in the winter, as it would be easy to fall ill. He suggested that she move to the spring or summer next year for a short stay.
Mary did not heed Fleming's advice, but allowed her to remain at Holyrood Palace, where she could also listen to the gossip about the nobility circulating there.
“Of course you have to stay here. How could I bear to break up a couple who are deeply in love?” Mary teased with a smile.
Fleming blushed and said embarrassedly, "Oh, Your Majesty, what are you talking about? I just happen to share some common interests with Lord Maitland, so I said a few words about literature and art."
“Well, a shared interest… I truly hope that this ‘shared interest’ will be like a seed falling into the soil, eventually blossoming into vibrant flowers and sweet fruit. When that time comes, I will certainly not hesitate to bestow upon you the most precious jewels as your dowry,” Mary nodded and said.
Fleming's face turned even redder, but he pretended to be serious and said, "I don't understand what you mean. Lord Maitland and I are just ordinary friends."
“Hopefully, when I return from my short stay in Edinburgh, I’ll see people applying for a special marriage license,” Mary said.
“Not so fast,” Fleming said.
Mary feigned surprise and said, "What? Not so fast, dear Fleming? Didn't you say you and Maitland were just ordinary friends? The special marriage certificate I'm talking about is what Earl Alan recently said he wanted to marry Lord Ruseven."
This made even the other three Marys sitting next to him laugh. Fleming was both embarrassed and annoyed, and he couldn't help but cover his face, the blush spreading all the way to his ears.
Mary knew that living in Edinburgh was extremely inconvenient, but compared to Holyrood Palace, which was full of nobles and countless English spies, Edinburgh was a place that truly belonged to her alone, where everything she did was kept highly confidential.
To make money from salt, a large number of workers would need to be recruited. Recruiting a large number of workers would inevitably lead to the loss of salt-making technology. Elizabeth I's abilities should not be underestimated. As soon as she discovered any unusual situation in England, she would immediately send people to investigate, and follow the clues all the way to the Scottish coast.
Mary has now sent someone to manage the salt-making workshops by the sea and is taking great care to prevent the leakage of technology and information, but this is only a temporary delay and will be discovered sooner or later.
Therefore, in addition to salt production technology, we need to find another way to make money across Europe.
Mary already had some ideas about this.
For example, mercury mirrors are actually very simple to manufacture, Prussian blue and malachite green are easy to extract, and condensed milk is made from milk... These are all good things that can be made under the current conditions and can be sold at a high price.
Of course, these goods should no longer be sold in Britain, but should be shipped to Europe, especially Italy, which is prosperous in trade.
...
On the eve of her departure for Edinburgh, the palace was brightly lit, and servants were busy packing luggage in preparation for the Queen's trip.
Meanwhile, Mary locked herself in her study, holding a quill pen in the dim candlelight, scribbling and drawing on paper, recording chemical formulas that no one else in the era could understand. Little did she know that in another room of the palace, her secretary, Basil, was in a state of great panic, almost wanting to kneel down and kowtow to the visitor, begging him to spare her.
As the Queen of Scots' confidential secretary, he had followed her since his time in France. He was supposed to be loyal to his duty and keep all the state secrets that Her Majesty had ordered him to draft to himself, so that he would never utter a single word about them, even until his death.
However, when Elizabeth I sent people to present him with a large amount of money, he refused once or twice, but never had the willpower to refuse a third or fourth time.
Scotland is such a poor country.
This place has a mere few hundred thousand inhabitants, yet they are still fighting amongst themselves, and there is not a single day of peace! The houses in the city are dilapidated, and the farmers in the fields are suffering. All of this combined is no more than a county in England, let alone France. Even the most noble king is living hand to mouth and has to rely on foreign monarchs for aid every now and then to resist powerful enemies.
He is still young and promising; he shouldn't waste his entire life here.
If that's the case, why would he be so foolish as to be loyal to the monarch of such a country?
If he could keep up the news for a few years, he would have enough money to settle down in London or Paris, allowing him and his descendants to escape this impoverished country and have a better life.
Queen Elizabeth even promised him that if he performed a great service or delivered some earth-shattering news, he would be granted a pension sufficient for his retirement, to be received annually.
This doesn't really count as treason.
Throughout Holyrood Palace, countless people, both openly and secretly, were bribed by Elizabeth I. And what about the Scottish nobles and lords? Didn't they also succumb to Henry VIII's bribery, allowing Mary Queen of Scots to become engaged to Edward, the then-Prince Edward?
Since they've all done that, what does it matter if he mixes basil in there?
And so, the Queen’s secretary, Rolle, carefully relayed several messages to the British envoys, such as the conflict and death of the Protestant minister John Knox with the Queen, and the large amount of weapons and armor that the Duke of Guise had recently provided.
Tonight, when Basil was writing to the British envoy Randolph again, the Italian, who was then the captain of the Queen's Guard, kicked open the door, knocked him to the ground, and then took out the letter that Basil cherished and began to read it page by page.
This Italian man was so handsome that his golden hair made him look like an angel, and he was often talked about in private.
But to Secretary Basil at that moment, this angelic face was more terrifying than a devil from hell!
Those letters clearly recorded how he flattered Queen Elizabeth of England. If Her Majesty the Queen had seen just one of them, his life would have been over!
After reading it, Albert frowned and his face turned cold.
“I sensed something was wrong with you a while ago, which is why I came to check on you. I never imagined you would actually do something like this, betraying your own country and your monarch. It truly disgusts me,” Albert said.
Basil collapsed to the ground, speechless, feeling like a trapped beast waiting for the hunter to skin and dismember it.
“Although I would love to cut your head off, I have no right to do so. Now, come with me to Her Majesty the Queen and hear her judgment,” Albert said.
"Wait, wait..." Basil scrambled back, his voice hoarse as if it had been ground down by sand, each word squeezed out with desperate effort. "...Don't tell anyone. I can give you half the money, no, I can give you all the money. If you're willing, Queen Elizabeth will definitely be willing to spend a fortune to buy your loyalty. That's the kind of mistress who deserves to be loyal to you!"
As soon as Basil finished speaking, Albert gave him another hard punch without any hesitation, making the frail secretary, who was only good at language and grammar, scream in pain!
Albert shook his fist, still feeling a bit unsatisfied.
"The wealth I once possessed was more than ten times the gold coins piled up in your cabinet, but I didn't hesitate for a moment when I threw those gold coins into the sea. What are these compared to that?" the young blond man sneered.
...
Albert had two soldiers grab the secretary and drag him to see the Queen, where he explained the situation to Mary.
Mary remained calm, ignoring the secretary kneeling before her, sweating profusely. She sat down behind the desk and read through the letters as well.
Mary wasn't too surprised that Basil was a spy. It had happened before in her previous life, lasting for two or three years before being discovered. In this life, she was on guard and never let Basil have access to secrets. All that was passed on were things that were common knowledge within the palace.
She was simply envious of Elizabeth's wealth.
Compared to Elizabeth, who had the entire national treasury at her disposal and could use large sums of money to bribe various parties and support espionage operations, she had no way of finding out what was happening inside Whitehall Palace and could only rely on Foreign Secretary Melville to try his best to get some information.
I had originally planned to use this to my advantage later, to have the secretary pass on false information to Elizabeth, but now that I've been found out, so be it...
Basil had no idea what was going through the Queen’s mind despite her calm demeanor. Unable to bear the pressure, he burst into tears and began desperately begging the Queen to forgive him!
"I beg you, Your Majesty, for the sake of my loyalty to you since I was in France, please do not throw me into prison..." Basil said.
“In Scottish law, that’s treason,” Mary simply said.
Secretary Basil was sentenced to death by hanging by the Queen of Scots.
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