Pirate Kingship.

Chapter 528: Free Masons, Loyal Hattings

Everything was peaceful in the royal capital, Kingston. Intelligence from the battlefield hundreds of kilometers away had not yet been delivered here.

Of course, even if the intelligence is delivered, it will have little to do with the vast majority of middle and lower class citizens.

Naturally, they should eat and drink, play music and dance.

Melrose Avenue, located in the core area near Ganquan Palace, where a "death stranding" incident occurred last year, is still as bustling as ever.

On the surface, churches, theaters, galleries and art centers are lined up on both sides of the street like an oil painting.

Secretly, there is never a shortage of customers in secret places that provide all kinds of exciting games for the upper class.

In another building not far from the last "Monster Party", a "Masquerade" was in full swing.

It wasn't like what was said in the legend, that he had no clothes on except a mask.

But the entertainment here is still very extravagant. Both male and female customers who come here to consume will dress up as famous male and female gods in stage plays.

The handsome and beautiful waiters and waitresses were dressed extremely coolly, providing the highest level of enjoyment to the great gods and fully satisfying their vanity of being superior.

Today's "Masquerade Ball" was booked at a high price and was exclusively for the enjoyment of a group of guests.

In the exquisitely decorated and magnificent "temple", more than a dozen "male gods" are each hugging one or two beautiful female servants or handsome male servants and acting unrestrained.

A group of people held wine glasses and toasted to the "God King" who was in the center like a group of stars surrounding the moon, with eight beauties serving him.

"Let us all raise a toast to Mr Hal Black.

It is because of your help and the Netherlands United Bank that our enclosure movement can proceed so smoothly.

You are also welcome to move your family to Kingston and explore the Hattings market.”

“Lord James is right.

Since the Silver Age in 1215, when the great nobles forced the "Landless King" to sign the Magna Carta, and twenty years later in 1235, when Parliament promulgated the "Merton Ordinance", enclosure has gained de facto legitimacy.

After hundreds of years of accumulation, we, the new land nobles who made our fortunes through enclosure and the wool industry, have become an important and powerful community of interests in Hattings.

Soon, we will occupy the Hastings Parliament with the support of Mr. Hal and the Netherlands Union Bank, and use our economic advantages to gain our political rights! "

"cheers!!!"

After a glass of mellow wine, the atmosphere became more heated.

The occasional sweet laughter of beauties made the land nobles here even more unrestrained.

None of them paid any attention to the battle situation in the Strait of Dover hundreds of kilometers away.

Obviously, they were very sure that no matter which party among the royal party and the earl's party won, no one would dare to harm their interests!

This shows their confidence in their own abilities.

The source of this confidence is what they call the "enclosure movement."

In the Kingdom of Hattings, except for those public lands, every piece of land had its own owner eight hundred years ago. It can be said that "there is no ownerless land."

What about the enclosure movement?

Before the Age of Discovery began, the industry in Hattings was mainly based on very backward agriculture, and it was a pipe dream to want to get rich from agriculture.

At that time, the textile industry was still an ordinary and inconspicuous industry in Hattings. Although the enclosure movement was legal, it did not form a scale due to the lack of economic motivation.

However, with the opening of the new route of the "First Gyre", the scale of international trade expanded dramatically.

Especially in the Flanders region in the southern Netherlands, which is only separated by the North Sea Bay, the wool textile industry suddenly flourished, and the neighboring Kingdom of Hastings was naturally driven to become its raw material supplier.

The rapid development of the wool textile industry has led to a sharp increase in demand for wool, and the price of wool in the market has also begun to soar.

Unconsciously, this industry replaced agriculture and became the mainstay of the national economy in Hastings.

Hattings is a traditional sheep-raising country and does not face any difficulties in transformation.

The motto of [Don't Starve Hunter] is: "Eat well! Dress warmly!" It also takes into account farming and animal husbandry from the very beginning.

As sheep farming became more and more profitable compared to agriculture, some nobles with a keen business sense began to invest decisively in sheep farming.

However, raising sheep requires large tracts of pasture, so the nobles drove away the farmers who had originally rented their land, and even demolished their houses, and then occupied the land that could be used to raise sheep.

The phenomenon of "converting agriculture to animal husbandry" by converting arable land into pasture can be seen everywhere.

In addition, although all land has long been owned by an owner, public lands such as forests, grasslands, swamps and wastelands have no fixed owners.

Some nobles used their power to first expand their sheep flocks here and forcibly occupy these public lands that originally belonged to the country, which were state-owned resources that theoretically belonged to the king and the country, and then eroded the farmers' land bit by bit.

The pastoral estates owned by these nobles who became ranchers became increasingly larger.

For a time, grasslands divided into patches by wooden fences, hedges, ditches and walls could be seen everywhere in Hattings.

As for those farmers who were driven out of their homes, they became homeless wanderers and had no choice but to go to the city to become extremely cheap laborers. Their situation was very miserable.

Someone commented:

"Sheep used to be very docile and had few desires, but now they have become greedy and ferocious, even wanting to eat people. They want to flatten our fields, homes, and cities."

Therefore, the enclosure movement is also called: "sheep eating people"!
During this protracted movement, a huge new class of land aristocracy was born. Their titles may not be high overall, but the land they controlled was not small, and the total amount exceeded 20% of the land in Hastings.

You know, it is impossible for them to spend energy to occupy barren land that cannot be used to build pastures. All of them are good places with abundant water and grass, so this 20% is already a very shocking number.

It was useless for successive royal families to oppose because it took away a considerable portion of their power and was supported by the parliament representing the interests of the nobility, big businessmen and the bourgeoisie!

So this movement was even called "parliamentary enclosure".

From the perspective of means of production, this is an organized and disguised way for interest groups to hollow out national assets.

Nowhere else in the world before had they dealt so mercilessly with traditional agricultural relations and farmers.

At least in the era of small farmers, there were still quite a number of traditional feudal lords who cared about their reputation, paid attention to their table manners, and were responsible for their subjects.

But they are different, they just want money.

"Hahaha, I'd like to toast to you all as well. Thank you for your support to our Black family and all the Remit immigrants."

Mr. Hal from the Netherlands, who was also a Remit [banker], was very satisfied with the ambitions of the land nobles in front of him.

More satisfied with the political ecology and power distribution system of the Kingdom of Hastings.

Under the influence of alcohol, he told them his ambitions:
"Hattings's Magna Carta is the weakest iron law of kingship in the whole Old World.

Although the country is not weak, the decline of royal power has lasted for hundreds of years, and the royal family has been making concessions to traditional aristocrats and emerging commercial aristocrats.

The real core power lies not in the king but in the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

No matter which one of the Kingmaker Warwick and Edward IV comes to power, as long as we have complete control over both houses of Parliament, we will be the uncrowned king of Hastings."

His eyes swept across everyone's faces:

"It even further expanded the restrictions on the king's power in the Magna Carta, abolished the 'absolute monarchy', established a new 'parliamentary monarchy', and completely deprived the monarch of his [royal title].

At that time, a prime minister was elected as the new head of state, and the title of king was changed to the title of prime minister.

From now on, the supreme power is no longer just passed down by blood. You! Me! Him! Everyone has the opportunity to sit on that throne and wield the authority of the fifth level at will.

Gentlemen, dear friends, Hastings has unique political conditions. The power of gold and power here will be unparalleled. It is a treasure land for us to display our strength.

Coming here is like coming home for us, and we never plan to leave again."

Om-!
There weren't many people at the party, but in an instant it seemed like thousands of people were partying.

Everyone looked at Hal Black as if they were looking at a "godfather" who showed them a bright road.

The latter also smiled and encouraged:
"We, the Free Masons, are different from the 'Golden Restoration Party' in the southern continent. Our goals are greater.

The purpose of the association is to establish a ruling power that transcends the country, nation and bloodline with multinational capitalists as the core, and become a true world aristocracy!
As long as you behave well, we will provide membership quotas as appropriate, and everyone can be a 'Remit' with 2800 slaves in the future."

In recent years, as one of the most important destination ports for returning ocean-going fleets, the Netherlands has seen rapid development in commerce, handicrafts and finance.

It attracted a large number of Rimet bankers who started out as usurers.

The elite among them had long regarded the Netherlands as one of their bases and had completely taken control of the region. The United Bank of the Netherlands, the Restoration Party, and the Free Masons were all products of the group.

These Remites were not only actively engaged in financial and commercial activities, but also promoted the rise of manufacturing industries such as the wool textile industry.

Naturally, they also established a close community of interests with the land nobles of Hastings who served as suppliers of raw materials.

Moreover, the "Golden Power Restoration Party" on the southern continent is under siege.

Knowing that all eggs should not be put in one basket, the Remit people have begun to select a new "host".

The "Free Masons" learned the lesson of the former and did not advocate the priority of nation-building. Instead, they wielded the "golden power" in their hands to implement economic colonization of various countries.

The plan started from the Kingdom of Hastings, which is considered the second most powerful maritime power.

In addition, in order to successfully obtain the war loan from the great banker Remeter, Edward IV not only recognized the country established by the Financial Restoration Party in the southern continent.

An agreement has also been signed to allow an unlimited number of Remites to settle and do business in the Kingdom of Hatings, but they are restricted from engaging in politics or joining the military (Chapter 511).

"You came here to seek death, and it would be rude of us Remit people if we don't take over your place.

The Free Masons will also enter the stage of history from here. "

The [Devil Lord] and [Death Pianist] Lorena obviously does not understand as well as the Remit people that Hastings has its own national conditions.

The will of the people is the foundation of the iron law of the kingship. It is far more reliable and feasible to start a deep reform from the bottom up to represent a new interest group than to replace the upper class with the devil. If they follow their established plan step by step, it is really feasible to overthrow all the kings of this era.

Ding!
Everyone, with red faces and excited expressions, toasted again and devoured the delicious food on the table.

There were many precious ingredients that were thrown on the ground without any mercy.

Then the waiter secretly picked it up and stuffed it into his arms, causing them to laugh.

[Banker] Hal Black took out a handful of silver coins from his pocket and stuffed them into the chest of the maid beside him, laughing:
“The enclosure movement not only gave us land, wool, wealth, and status, but also almost monopolized the grain market in the entire country.

Although the conversion of a large amount of arable land to animal husbandry has increased the country's fiscal revenue, because it no longer produces food, it can only rely on our grain traders to import, which is equivalent to handing its lifeline into our hands.

With us pushing it behind the scenes, how could the royal power not be defeated?

Since the enclosure movement reached its peak this year, coupled with the influence of war, the price of food in Hattings has also been rising steadily.

Now a standard piece of ford bread is sold for five copper fords outside, but I believe that one day the price will rise to fifty or even five hundred fords!
By then, the people's dry tea fire will be ignited at any time, and it will burn whoever we let it burn!
I heard that the King Maker has a [Louisette Guillotine] in his hands. Maybe one day it will come in handy soon, hahahaha."

There is no basic red line for arable land in Hattings. It is a small piece of land, and if you raise sheep on it, you cannot use it for farming, so naturally there is no way to guarantee grain output.

Now it is basically a situation where the poor eat potatoes and the rich eat imported food, and more homeless people don’t even have potatoes to eat.

In fact, there were already refugees all over the country, but they were suppressed by the shadow of the war for the throne.

Anyway, there has never been a large-scale peasant uprising in the Dragon King's Court, and no one has ever taken them seriously.

Because they have no knowledge, no weapons, no organization, and no extraordinary abilities.

In addition, since my vassals' vassals are not my vassals, many people don't even know who their king is, and have no intention of attacking the capital to change the world.

Their biggest demand is to ask the lord to collect less taxes so that they can survive.

If the Remit people saw their fellow devils who were also trying to overthrow Hastings, they would probably laugh at them:
"Tsk, tsk, that's it?
You kill people mainly for soul currency and for food, but we don’t. Who dares to be more cruel than me?
The international financiers of the Free Masons are the future masters of the world, and even the devil has to step aside for us!"

However, they did not notice that on the second floor of this fake "temple", there were two genuine fourth-order mythical creatures silently watching them.

Especially since there was a real [devil] inside, who heard their conversation clearly.

"Five copper fulls for a standard full loaf? This body of mine seems to have recalled some unpleasant memories."

When his collaborator, The King Maker, was defeated, Leonardo, the Painter of Hell, had already escaped with the help of Byron.

He has not been exposed to the eyes of the devil lord yet, so he can continue to be a double agent.

Byron temporarily conscripted them and assigned them to the succubus Therese, asking them to cooperate with each other to prevent the financiers behind the two parties from absconding with the money like the Lancaster Party did in the past.

But I discovered this scene unexpectedly.

[Painter of Hell] Before being possessed, Leonardo was just a failed student of the Vienna Academy of Arts. He had no talent or ability, and naturally lived a life of poverty.

He was very sensitive to the prices of basic food, and couldn't help but frowning deeply when he heard that a piece of bread cost five copper francs.

It is simply because copper coins themselves have value. No matter how severe the food shortage or inflation is, it is impossible for the value of copper coins to grow to the level of 5,000, 50,000, or 500,000.

But I also instinctively knew that a mere fivefold increase in food prices would be enough to cause big problems.

These people were like planting a bomb in the heart of the kingdom.

[Painter of Hell] turned his head and glanced at the incarnation of the succubus Therese beside him, who was also the host of this "Masquerade".

"Ms. Therese, do we need to take them down and make them spit out everything they ate?"

Since the succubus arrived in Hastings last year, she has established a new "Sisterhood of Pleasure Feast" among the noble ladies and socialites.

He secretly used his followers to control a large number of similar entertainment venues.

This incarnation who manages the masquerade is a gorgeous beauty with snow-white skin, just like the succubus herself.

She was almost naked, except for a black leather jacket where she had key parts on.

There was a pink succubus mark branded on her fair belly, she was holding a long black whip in her hand, and she was wearing open-toed leather boots with her toes painted in a bright, male-attracting color.

A powdery, sweet mist was exhaled with every breath, and the charm of the whole body seemed to condense into substance.

She had already learned the outcome of the war from her original body, which also meant that her "usurpation of power" ritual was a smooth victory.

Previously in the Sun Empire, she had no idea how many Sons of the Sun had been absorbed by the [Blood Cup]. Coupled with this ritual of Hastings, she could sense that her promotion was only a matter of time.

Next, she just needs to continue to help Byron gather the royal power that was once scattered. The faster she gathers it, the shorter the time it will take for her to be promoted.

Hearing the words of the [Painter of Hell], the succubus whose interests were closely tied to Byron's, raised a charming and captivating smile at the corner of her lips:

"These are the landed gentry that both the Royalist Party and the Earl's Party need to win over. In the words of Your Majesty, they are the owners of most of the means of production in the kingdom.

Whoever wins will have to rule the kingdom together with them.

It is certainly easy to kill a few people, but can you make this entire class hand over their land?

In addition, Edward IV allowed the Remites to immigrate on a large scale. The immigrants were not only people, but also assets transferred in. What a great opportunity!

If we kill the person now, how can we lure other fat pigs in to be killed?

All we have to do is make sure these financiers don't run away.

Even if they flee for fear of crime, there are already thousands of pirate ships lying in ambush around Hastings in Anchor Bay and Black Sail Harbor. Our mission is to tip them off and seize all their movable and immovable property.

[King of the Wild Hunt] Your Majesty is a professional in connecting the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain and not letting go of a single copper coin."

Traditional land aristocrats are completely different from business aristocrats. Their wealth comes from land, and their favorite thing to do is hoard.

The war was won, but the family's wealth accumulated over hundreds of years: gold, silver, spices, antiques, and other movable properties were all taken away and fled from Hattings. This was something Byron could never allow.

At this time, some die-hard members of the Royal Party and the Earl's Party in other places who had received the news in advance had indeed begun to flee one after another, but most of them were stopped by the pirates.

Just as the group of land nobles below had eaten and drunk their fill, they pulled the handsome men and beautiful women around them and touched them, preparing to do some after-dinner entertainment.

Bang!
The palace door was pushed open from the outside, and the personal servant of [Banker] Hal Black rushed in, tumbling and crawling, and said in panic:
"Sir, the outcome has been decided in the Strait of Dover!"

The banker frowned and scolded:
"The winner is decided, why are you panicking? Did Edward IV, whom I funded, win, or did the kingmaker whom I funded win?"

The Remites have financed nearly every war in the Old World in modern times.

This time is the same. This [banker] and the United Bank of the Netherlands behind him have funded both the Royalist Party and the Count's Party. No matter who comes to power, they must get a return on their investment!
Let him continue to use agents to expand his wool business and even occupy more land.

By learning to hedge risks, they will never lose money as a good investing banker.

And with the banker's professional ability [Investment Contract] as proof, no one can cheat.

This is the confidence that allows them to live a life of luxury and debauchery even if others fight to the death.

But the servant shook his head desperately:

"Sir, it's neither of them. The winner is the sudden appearance of the Wild Hunt Byron Lancaster!

The intelligence said that he had become the new fifth-rank [King], and the intelligence personnel had personally seen the long stairway to the sky and the terrifying mythical form.

I'm afraid, I'm afraid, his life... is longer than the life of this country!"

The servant repeated the information as quickly as possible.

A group of land nobles who had just been imagining a bright future of "parliamentary monarchy" suddenly felt a dizziness before their eyes.

Some people couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat when they recalled their drunken remarks about sending the king to the guillotine.

Even though they didn't know much about black magic, they at least knew that God meant - immortality!
Death from falling into the water, chronic lead poisoning, aphrodisiacs, bloodletting, or misdiagnosis by a quack doctor are of no use to him.

If you make an enemy of this non-human, you must be mentally prepared that he will still be able to tap dance on your grandchildren's grandchildren's grave after they die of old age.

Just when a group of people were looking dejected, [Banker] Hal Black laughed three times:
“Hahaha, there is no outstanding talent in this world that we at Remit have not invested in!

My younger brother Steele Black is a shareholder of Sea Hunter Western Express (Chapter 353), and the Bantaan region he manages has a special grant to support Sea Hunter.

Since [Sea Hunter] and [Wild Hunt] are the same person, we are still the sponsors of the new king!
What are you all standing there for? Keep playing the music, keep dancing!
Come with me to the port tomorrow morning to welcome the new king and let him see the simple folk customs exemplified by the kingdom’s gentry.”

But in his high spirits, he forgot a piece of history.

“Two hundred years ago, in the Silver Age of 1272, Edward I was on the throne.

With his bravery, he was awarded a series of very positive titles and royal titles such as "Hammer of Hastings" and "Conqueror of the Isles".

But few people know that he was actually the instigator and executor of the earliest and most comprehensive expulsion of Rimet's creditors in Hastings and even the East Coast.

He once ordered 17511 Remites to leave Hattings before November 11 of that year, otherwise they would all be sentenced to death.

In the following two hundred years, the kings of various countries who borrowed high-interest loans from the Remitians and could not repay them, and finally had to reluctantly kill their creditors, were just his followers and imitators.

"A Family History of Lancaster" Note: It was indeed painful. The Remit people lost a life, but we lost our reputation which was as valuable as gold. It was very painful for us. "

So "Knife! Knife!" is actually a traditional skill of the Lancaster family, and it does not pose any psychological burden to Byron.

After all, these are our ancestral rules!
"I have decided that the Kingdom of Hettings will rule the world with 'filial piety'. I simply cannot make a decision that goes against my ancestors!"

The next morning, when Byron and his large fleet were gradually approaching the royal capital.

The Kingston Journal, which had prepared two editions of newspapers to publish the Kingmaker and Edward IV's victory, was still caught off guard and had to rush to print an "extra edition" specifically for announcing major events:
“Welcome His Majesty to his faithful Kingston!

The people of Kingston, who have suffered so much under the rule of the tyrannical White Rose family, will always be loyal to the great Red Rose! "

(End of this chapter)