Chapter 86
After a long period of silence, the hostility between Britain and France began to resurface.
There is a saying, "befriend distant states and attack nearby ones," which refers to the diplomatic relations between countries. Two countries with adjacent territories are destined to be enemies, and sooner or later a war will break out over resources, population, wealth, and so on.
Now, the Netherlands could very well become the spark that ignites such a war.
While France could maintain a "deep relationship and close ties" with the impoverished Mary, Queen of Scots, Catherine the Queen Mother could not stand idly by and watch England continue to grow, becoming a powerful threat to France.
...
Inside the Louvre, Queen Catherine the Great was sitting with her son, Charles IX, discussing state affairs.
“I have already sent a delegation to negotiate with the British. If the negotiations are successful enough, England will have Amsterdam in the north and France will have Antwerp in the south. This would be the best outcome,” Queen Mother Catherine said dignifiedly.
Charles IX, standing to the side, scoffed and crossed his legs, saying, "This is simply a pipe dream. The Netherlands was fought and fought tooth and nail by the British and Spanish armies. How could we possibly hand over half of it to us just because of a few words from an envoy? In my opinion, we should go and negotiate with Mary, do more business with the Netherlands, and make money through state monopolies. That would be much safer."
Queen Catherine's brow twitched at the name, a surge of disgust rising within her. She spoke with increasing emphasis, "Don't call her Mary so affectionately! She is neither your sister-in-law nor your wife. You must understand, she is the monarch of a country that is hostile to us!"
“Mother, you are too petty. You can’t let go of the old grudges and insist on being hostile to England. Otherwise, we could join forces with England to fight against Spain and share the gold in the New World… Besides, the national treasury doesn’t have the money to continue the war right now,” Charles IX said, crossing his legs.
Queen Catherine glared at her son, who had grown into a young man but remained naive and childish, and wished she could slap him awake from his dazed state.
“Oh God, you fool! France’s advantage lies on land, not at sea… If we can’t negotiate with England, then we’ll go to war! If the treasury is empty, we’ll cause trouble for the Church and the nobles. In short, we must not let England continue to occupy the Netherlands!” said Queen Mother Catherine.
Since the deployment of troops to the Dutch border, French treasury spending has increased dramatically in recent months. The food, lodging and accommodation of tens of thousands of soldiers have become a major problem, and every day of delay is burning money.
This is without war. If a war were to break out with the British army, the costs of gunpowder, artillery, and the customization of various weapons, as well as the compensation for wounded and injured soldiers, would multiply the expenditure several times over.
Unfortunately, the French treasury is short of money.
This is a common problem for European countries in this day and age: Spain is short of money, England was short of money a few years ago, Scotland is short of money, and France is also short of money.
Although France boasts a population of tens of millions and earns millions of livres annually through poll taxes, it has been heavily indebted since the reign of King Henry II due to wars with Italy. The national treasury is now in debt for ten million livres, and after deducting normal expenses, there is very little money left to repay the debt.
Last year, in order to marry the King of France to Archduchess Elizabeth of the Holy Roman Empire, the French court once again held an extremely lavish wedding in accordance with tradition, costing hundreds of thousands of livres, which made the country's financial situation even worse.
What pleased Queen Mother Catherine was that, unlike her previous daughter-in-law, the new Queen Elizabeth of France, despite being of noble birth and beautiful appearance, with a mother who was a Spanish princess and a true "blue-blooded" princess, did not act like the Queen of Scotland before her, putting on airs of royalty and looking down on her, a queen mother from a merchant family.
Queen Elizabeth's personality is quite the opposite of that of the former Queen of France and now Queen of England. She is gentle and compliant to the point of almost having no temper. Whether she is dealing with her husband, the King, or with the powerful Queen Mother Catherine, she is always warm and respectful and never expresses any dissatisfaction.
Just one year after getting married, she became pregnant, much to everyone's surprise.
Queen Mother Catherine prayed to God daily that it was a boy.
The Valois royal family has been dwindling in male offspring for the past few years, with no new boys being born. This has led to Henry IV of Navarre, a distant relative of the royal family, eyeing the throne with predatory intent, hoping that one day the royal bloodline will be completely extinguished so that he can rightfully inherit the throne.
In order to guard against and win over this Huguenot leader and contender for the throne, and to quell the religious strife within France as much as possible, she arranged for Henry IV and his mother, Joanna III, to come to Paris to marry her beautiful youngest daughter, Marie Curie, who was as beautiful as an angel. The wedding was scheduled for this year.
Thinking of this, Queen Mother Catherine couldn't help but sigh at the vicissitudes of life.
Her husband, the late King Henry II, probably never dreamed that when he brought the six-year-old Queen of Scots back to the French court, he had expected her to become a dagger aimed at the English throne. Now, more than twenty years later, that dagger has been pointed at France instead!
“I have already said that I do not agree to war with Britain!” said Charles IX.
“I have made my decision, Charles. This concerns the future of France, and you cannot afford to throw a tantrum!” said Queen Mother Catherine.
“I’m not throwing a tantrum at you; I’m discussing important national affairs with you!” Charles IX said.
Queen Catherine waved her hand impatiently, not wanting to explain further to her son who hadn't improved in ten years, and said, "Your decision doesn't count. It's wrong. Get out. Spend your time with Elizabeth when you have time, and don't spend all your time fooling around with that Mary Toussaint..."
"Whose decision doesn't count? I am the King! The future of France should be decided by the King, not by a Queen Mother whose regency is illegitimate..." Charles IX stopped crossing his legs, jumped up from his chair, and anxiously questioned his mother, "...It was one thing when I was a child, but how long do you intend to remain regent before you return the power to me? I respect you as my mother, but do you truly consider me your son, or just a puppet in your hands!"
"Because you are too naive, Charles. You simply cannot control those cunning and shrewd nobles, not to mention those kings and popes abroad who are more cunning than foxes!" Queen Catherine the Queen Mother said angrily.
“What good do you think your rule will be? For years, France has been in endless conflict with the Huguenots, with small-scale massacres and riots everywhere!” Charles IX shouted.
"Get out!"
The young French king angrily smashed a beautiful vase on the table, and with a loud crash, stomped heavily out of the small living room.
After a while, someone secretly came to report that the king had gone hunting with Admiral Collini.
Upon hearing the servant's words, Queen Mother Catherine's chest heaved several times with anger before she coldly said, "Let him be."
Such arguments are nothing new for the Louvre.
As the young king grew older, conflicts between him and the powerful Queen Mother increased, leading the king to do many things that Queen Mother Catherine did not want to do.
For example, elevating the status of the Huguenots in the French court.
...
When news of France's desire to negotiate reached Britain, Mary agreed.
Given Britain's current national strength and economic situation, it is not afraid of fighting a war, but fighting against France, whose army is excellent, is still an uncertain outcome.
Walsingham accepted the task of negotiating and then cautiously consulted the Queen of England.
“Your Majesty, where is our bottom line in negotiations?” Walsingham asked.
He always had a gut feeling that the current Queen of England loathed him.
But who would believe him if he said that? Even if he told his wife, she would just laugh it off as nonsense from his dream.
“We cannot give up the Netherlands to France, not even an acre. If they insist on dividing Antwerp, then tell the French that I want the French Channel and Normandy,” Mary said.
Exchanging one piece of land for another is fair.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
