My British Empire

  Chapter 503 The best of both worlds

   While they were talking, His Excellency the Earl walked in with an England coach and a tall, thin middle-aged man, and the room fell silent for a while.

   "Everyone!" His Excellency said solemnly, "First of all, let us solemnly welcome the arrival of the respected Mr. John!"

   "Papapa~" The nobles stood up one after another, applauding enthusiastically, with excited expressions.

   "Here, I would like to thank everyone for their warm welcome. I am very excited, but I still want to say, gentlemen, you have done a good job today!"

  Mr. John, as always, spoke good words, as if pouring honey into them, which made all the officers and nobles sitting here happy.

  Everyone was very happy when their achievements were affirmed by others, especially when they were praised by a person who had a high prestige in the entire Netherlands and was loved by everyone, which made them very excited.

   "It is because of the hard work of brave and fearless people like you that today's great situation is possible. All Dutch people should thank you!"

  Mr. John is still holding them.

   "Sir, can I ask you something!"

   While everyone was intoxicated and flattering, a nobleman suddenly stood up, saluted, and asked softly.

  Suddenly, the scene was silent, everyone raised their heads, looked at the noble who asked the question, and Mr. John who was smiling, and fell silent.

  Seeing this, Mr. John realized that this is not a problem of one person, but a problem of everyone.

  He turned slightly in his heart, stretched out his right hand to make a gesture of invitation, and said with a smile:

   "Of course, sir, please ask!"

   "Sir, it is recently rumored that your country and Spain have abolished the alliance treaty. Is this true? And will your country's support for us change?"

  The tone of the aristocrat who asked the question was quite humble and gentle. Mr. John leaned on a cane, rolled his eyes, and replied softly:

   "Although you asked two questions, I will answer your question anyway!"

  As soon as this remark was made, everyone laughed out loud.

   "First of all, the United Kingdom has confirmed that it has terminated the alliance with the Kingdom of Spain. This is absolutely certain!"

   "As for the support of the Netherlands, I am here today to tell you the news!"

  As soon as this remark was made, everyone showed surprised expressions and leaned their bodies, very concerned about this.

  The Englishman, code-named Mr. John, was very satisfied with everyone's caring appearance. He beat the ground with his crutch reluctantly and made a "bang~", and then said solemnly:

   "We, the United Kingdom, uphold the heart of justice and will always support the action of the Dutch against the Spanish tyrant!"

"From now on, the strength of support will be doubled compared to the past, and armor, bows and arrows, as well as horses, arrows, crossbows, will also be supplied in large quantities, and I will also provide artillery in varying quantities, Come and work hard for the people of the Netherlands against tyranny!"

  The more Mr. John said, the more happy people felt in their hearts, and the expressions on their faces became more exaggerated.

  Bows and crossbows, armor, and even artillery, these are all heavy equipment. In the Netherlands, where the country was established by commerce, where there are resources to do this, the war has made their desire infinitely magnified.

   "Thank you very much, and the great Edward, the kindness of the English and the Netherlands, we will never forget!"

  The Earl was the first to react, and said excitedly, and then began a series of thank you words, which John himself was already tired of hearing.

   "Everything is for justice!" Mr. John said out of place.

   "However, respected Mr. John, can His Majesty Edward support some food? Recently, there has been a food shortage in the Netherlands! Blame the **** Spaniards!"

   While thanking you, the Earl did not forget to offer some suggestions quietly, with a very concerned expression on his face.

   "Of course!" Mr. John agreed without hesitation.

  He has also heard about the recent food shortage in the Netherlands.

  Due to the continuous expansion of the rebel forces, the entire rural area of ​​the Netherlands was almost occupied by the rebel army, while the Spanish army could only shrink in the city, making it difficult to move.

In this way, the Duke of Alpha really didn't mind, directly destroyed a lot of villages and land, robbed a lot of food in advance, and prepared to starve to death these "mobs". Anyway, the countryside no longer belongs to Spain, let the rebels occupy it !

   All, regardless of the situation of the rebel army at this time is very good, driving the Spaniards from the countryside into the city, the overthrow of the Netherlands is just around the corner.

  There is no food, and there is a food shortage. This trick of drawing salary from the bottom of the pot is extremely vicious.

   If one is not good, the entire Dutch revolution's good situation fell short.

   "Thank you very much, thank you very much! Don't worry, we will buy it at the market price, and we will definitely not let you suffer!" Your Excellency the earl could hardly restrain the excitement in his heart.

   And Mr. John said a series of polite words, and for a while, the host and guest enjoyed themselves.

  Mr. John sent a large amount of supplies and brought them good news after he traveled through most of the Netherlands.

   Turning back to England, Mr. John has also become the most popular person in London.

  Going to the Netherlands, armor, muskets, bows and arrows, horses and other supplies are all sold to the Netherlands at a price higher than the market price, allowing the merchants to make a lot of money.

   And behind these businessmen, there are figures of nobles. Mr. John should be welcomed.

  Since the large-scale development of Ireland, the production of grain has increased significantly, and the price of grain in England has also fallen accordingly, and the interests of grain merchants have also suffered losses.

  The opening of the grain market in the Netherlands this time has cheered grain merchants throughout the United Kingdom.

  The kingdom's economy, which was originally shrinking because of the Spanish market, began to soar again.

   But at this moment, His Majesty Edward was not so busy. He began to decide to carry out a thorough tax reform for the entire United Kingdom.

  Although governments at all levels in the United Kingdom have established a tax system, there is still a huge obstacle to the development of business—monopoly rights.

  As the name suggests, the king will own the right to sell a certain commodity and hand it over to someone to manage it.

  For example, making soap alum is a very profitable industry, and the king charges some monopoly fees to give it to a certain merchant to operate.

   To put it bluntly, grant monopoly power to others.

  The royal family has hundreds of monopoly rights, thus earning a lot of money.

  The existence of these monopoly rights makes the development of commerce seem to be in iron chains, with great resistance.

  If Edward carries out the monopoly reform, it is equivalent to digging meat from the royal family to fill the government and the entire United Kingdom.

  But if there is no reform, it will slow down the commercial development of the Kingdom.

   You have to think of a way to get the best of both worlds.

   Edward thought to himself.

  (end of this chapter)