Chapter 74
After leaving the Marquess of Moretti out of the public eye for a full two weeks, the Queen of England finally summoned him again.
Having already devised a way to appease Pius V without causing him to turn hostile, the Queen of England said, "Mr. Ambassador, as you know, England is currently facing difficulties both domestically and internationally. Across Europe, France is watching me with indifference, Spain is eyeing me covetously, and apart from Rome, I have no solid and reliable allies to help me. Within the country, those ministers who truly hold power in England, such as the Secretary of State Cecil or the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gresham, have all long ago abandoned their Catholic faith and embraced Protestantism, leaving me helpless."
“Every time I put forward a bill to suppress Protestantism and Glory Catholicism in Parliament at Westminster Palace… those people would stand up and obstruct it in every way possible, making it impossible for my orders to be carried out.”
"What a disgrace this is for a king."
She did face considerable obstruction from Protestants during her time in power, so it's only fair that they take the blame now.
“My God, how dare these heretics, as subjects, obstruct a king’s right to govern? This is beyond mere insubordination; it is a harbinger of rebellion!” Marquis Moreta, following the Queen’s words, said indignantly, “…My esteemed Queen Mary, please display the same courage you showed when you suppressed the Scottish noble rebellion. Use the ferocity of a lion and the cunning of a fox to show them that you are a wise queen, not one of those delicate noble ladies kept in castles, oblivious to the world!”
"I had the same thought, but the situation in England forces me to abandon this idea... I cannot allow England to continue to be in turmoil, as it would cause too much harm to my people," the Queen of England said with a slight frown.
"Your Majesty," Marquis Moreta said immediately, "there is a saying that goes, 'Nip weeds in the bud.' In my opinion, the reason why England has been in turmoil for the past few decades is precisely because of the rebellion of the Protestants that began with Henry VIII. As long as you quickly destroy them at the source, you can regain a stable country."
"..." Marquis Moreta was clearly not easily fooled, forcing the Queen of England to pause subtly before continuing calmly, "...I don't think so, Mr. Ambassador. One should treat one's subjects with both fiery cruelty and gentle spring-like tenderness. Mary I, like me, was a devout defender of Catholicism, but under the oppression of those cruel methods, although the arrogance of Protestants was outwardly suppressed, as soon as she went to heaven, the Protestants came back with great force."
Marquis Moreta, already sensing the perfunctory tone, frowned unhappily.
Ah, these incredibly cunning kings! God gave them the right to rule the world, yet they never think of giving back, only concerned with maintaining their own wealth and glory.
The young and beautiful queen before us, before she had obtained the English throne, was so devout and fanatical, as if she were willing to be a piece of firewood and throw herself into the flames to illuminate the statue of the Virgin Mary. But once she obtained the throne, she began to make excuses for suppressing Protestants.
But given his secular status, he was not qualified to vehemently question a king's faith...
Well, no matter what, she's a Catholic, which is better than Elizabeth I, the Protestant illegitimate daughter, occupying the English throne.
After a flurry of thoughts, Marquis Moreta respectfully asked, "Then, Your Majesty, what is your opinion?"
"Suppressing the Church of England is not something that can be done overnight. I will dedicate my life to this task. I will not be too extreme in the methods I use. For now, I should send Catholic priests to preach to those Protestants who are only temporarily misled, so that they can return to the right path. As for the Protestant bishops, I will try my best to supervise their behavior and gradually change their liturgical style so that they can hang the image of the Virgin Mary in the church again." The Queen of England slowly revealed her thoughts.
Good heavens, this is the reward for the Vatican's all-out support of this Queen... Marquis Moreta suppressed his anger and respectfully bid farewell to the Queen of England.
“Wait a moment, Marquis Morita, I have something important to remind you of,” said the Queen of England.
“Please speak, Your Majesty,” Marquis Moreta said patiently.
Ignoring the ambassador's obvious displeasure, the Queen of England revealed the true purpose of today's conversation, her hands clasped in front of her, naturally revealing a hint of worry.
"Do you know... that the Protestant forces in the Netherlands, with the help of the German states, are secretly plotting against Spanish rule?" Mary asked.
"What?!"
Marquis Moreta looked shocked, then angrily clenched the crucifix in his hand, so tightly that Mary could see his white fingers.
It is important to know that the entire Spanish population is extremely devout to Catholicism. The Inquisition, which they established, has been upholding justice for many years and has been carrying out extremely severe repression against Protestants. It is the most important defender of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Netherlands, as a ruling enclave, was so close to the Huguenots of France and the Protestants of Germany, yet the Protestants never made a significant impact for so many years, all thanks to the help of the Spanish.
"Yes, that's right... Mr. Ambassador, although I have too many unpleasant things to do with Spain right now and would be happy to see Spain suffer, as a Catholic, I certainly cannot allow such a thing to happen!" The Queen of England said solemnly, her tone extremely upright.
"I will return to Rome immediately to report to His Holiness the Pope. We must not allow their schemes to succeed and once again undermine God's authority!" Marquis Moreta said swiftly, and at the same time, a hint of warmth finally appeared in his eyes as he looked at the Queen of England.
Regardless, he was still a Catholic.
...
Having shifted the blame eastward, Queen Elizabeth II of England, after seeing off the Roman ambassador, went to a cannon manufacturing factory in the suburbs of London.
It is said that, under Her Majesty's guidance, the artisans finally achieved remarkable results in improving the artillery.
Mary is going to check on the results now.
...
To talk about reforming artillery, we have to start with the British iron forging methods.
Because Scotland is small and lacks resources, even if many things were made, they would only benefit others. Mary had many ideas, but she didn't dare to put them into practice. In the end, most of what she made in Edinburgh were delicate little things like paint, condensed milk, and lipstick.
Even if a mercury mirror made a lot of money, in essence it was just a luxury item for royal and noblewomen to play with, and it did not affect people's livelihood.
Only the salt-making technique was somewhat useful, but Elizabeth stole the technology, and it had already spread throughout England.
But now that we own the entire British Isles, things are different.
Part of the reason is that we no longer have to worry about our achievements being stolen by others, and another part is that we have more opportunities to make our mark, such as the reform of iron casting technology.
God knows how shocked she was when she discovered that blacksmithing techniques in Britain, and even throughout Europe, were still limited to casting pig iron.
It wasn't that pig iron was bad. Compared to the bronze cannons that were popular in Italy at the time, the British iron cannons had many advantages. They were cheap and sturdy. Not to mention the leather cannons that were popular in the Netherlands, which were made by building a pipe with a thin layer of sheet metal and then wrapping several layers of leather around the pipe to make the barrel...
However, this method relies too heavily on the skill of the craftsmen. Whether a cannon is good or bad after it is made depends entirely on the craftsman's experience.
Under the craftsman's direction, molten iron was poured into the mold, and the cannons produced were either good or bad, with no room for change.
When the Queen of England first visited the cannon manufacturing factory, the craftsmen proudly introduced that Britain's iron casting technology was among the best in Europe, and that they were among the most advanced craftsmen in the entire continent. They said that small countries like Sweden and the Netherlands could only sell large quantities of iron ore to Britain cheaply, and then Britain would cast it into cannons and sell it back to those countries at high prices, making a fortune.
After listening, Mary didn't say anything, but after offering a few words of encouragement, she quickly taught them the steelmaking process, showing them how to decarburize pig iron and obtain large quantities of high-quality wrought iron or steel.
Once production increases, in addition to its military applications, Mary can also provide iron farm tools to British farmers in the future.
In addition to reforming iron casting technology, the Queen of England also put forward many other ideas on the production of cannons, which she then put into practice by craftsmen.
For example, loading metal fragments into bullets to create projectiles; manufacturing gunpowder into cartridge-type launchers to improve accuracy; and standardizing the caliber and component sizes of artillery to achieve standardization and assembly line production for all factory workers...
However, the most important change to the artillery was that Mary changed the straight rifling of the cannon to helical rifling and added a recoil mechanism to reduce the impact of the strong recoil when the soldiers fired.
These theories, derived from Galileo's parabolic trajectory and Newton's theory of air resistance, greatly enhanced the firing range and accuracy of artillery when put into practice, astonishing all soldiers of that era.
...
When the Queen of England's four-horse carriage arrived at the factory, the craftsmen and Albert, Earl of Hertford, were already waiting at the door.
For the past few months, he has been in charge of keeping these latest military weapons secret.
Inside the cool, dry, and enormous castle, the faint scent of gunpowder and sulfur permeated the air, posing a very unpleasant odor. Dangerous flammable and explosive materials were scattered everywhere, along with warning signs. Workers dressed in linen clothes bustled about, and occasionally a few curious onlookers would glance up, only to quickly return to work under the foreman's reprimands.
Working here, they were paid extremely high wages, almost comparable to country gentlemen who owned a small plot of land, but at the same time they lost their freedom. They could not eat or live outside the factory and the nearby woodland. If anyone tried to sneak away, they would be killed by soldiers without cause.
Mary had made up her mind that it would take at least three to five years before these workers could have some freedom, but they would have to sign a confidentiality agreement and would never be allowed to leave Britain for the rest of their lives.
Upon seeing the Queen of England come to inspect, the craftsmen were very enthusiastic, and they introduced the latest progress to the Queen in a well-organized manner, showing her the large quantities of smokeless gunpowder and percussion flintlock muskets produced by the workers.
"Your Majesty, I can assure you that with such advanced weaponry, the English army will be invincible throughout Europe." Finally, an old craftsman who had worked for Henry VIII said with tears in his eyes.
Mary offered a few words of gentle encouragement, then said, "We still shouldn't be careless. Spain's desire to annex England has never been concealed. In order to defend our country, our future opponent will definitely be the Spanish Armada. With such a powerful enemy, we must be cautious in every aspect and never let our technology be stolen."
“Of course, Your Majesty, I will certainly not let you down,” the old craftsman said immediately.
"I believe in you, Mr. Tyre. It is because of loyal and courageous English citizens like you that our country has been able to grow stronger day by day..." the Queen of England said. "...In addition, the storage of smokeless gunpowder must be handled with utmost care. If it explodes, it will certainly cause the deaths and injuries of the workers. Ice should not be used sparingly. If necessary, even if it means reducing the expenses of the entire Whitehall Palace and all the nobles, I will never allow an accident to happen here."
Three centuries ago, after Marco Polo brought the technique of making ice from saltpeter to Europe, although it did not spread on a large scale, ice was no longer something that needed to be broken off from the Thames in winter and preserved.
Using ice during the sweltering summer was a privilege reserved for royalty and nobility.
In order to preserve smokeless gunpowder, Mary ruthlessly seized other saltpeter mines in England, making the summer less comfortable for nobles everywhere.
The nobles all assumed that the new Queen of England was extremely sensitive to heat, saying that there were more than a dozen bowls of ice in her bedroom, which would be removed and replaced with new ones as soon as they melted slightly. Only Mary herself knew that she hadn't even had a single iced drink that summer.
The old craftsman was deeply grateful for such a promise, bowing repeatedly to the Queen and praying for her safety.
...
After the craftsmen left to continue their work, the Queen of England asked, "Albert, why haven't you said a word all day?"
Albert laughed, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
"To be honest, even just watching from the sidelines, I felt my heart pounding, as if ten thousand eagles were about to take flight, soaring into the vast sky and overlooking the entire European continent... Your Majesty, you are creating a brand new era," Albert said softly.
As he said this, the blond youth pointed to the finished product display on the table.
There were smokeless gunpowder, percussion flintlock muskets, miniature models of new artillery, and rolls of reports on increased production from the crucible steel process.
Just watching from the sidelines, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest.
Mary glanced at the products on the table and couldn't help but laugh.
For once, she understood Albert's feelings at that moment, because she was also filled with the same joy and excitement.
Nobody knows the meaning of these things.
These products, which should have appeared in the 17th, 18th, or even 19th centuries, were brought to the English court, which is still in the twilight of the Middle Ages, thanks to her efforts.
She rewrote the original history.
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