"Dear little Tia, I think you should be honest with your friends. Joseph means no harm, doesn't he? The Lord tells us to be honest." Unexpectedly, Frank Agot stood on Kiragi Toki's side.
"Uncle Frank!" Claudia was very angry. It was incredible that his uncle actually favored that mysterious oriental man.
The three of them were in a stalemate for a moment, and Claudia had to compromise: "Okay! We are Protestants! Calvinist Protestants!"
"Oh! Is that Calvinism! John Calvin! He is a great man, what he did in Geneva is remembered by people, and the electors of North Germany are fighting for it!" Calvin's name is really great.
How could he not know about the famous Pope of Geneva?
Calvinism inherited the human rights ideas of the Renaissance and was a leader of the religious reform after Martin Luther. He advocated private property, profit from business, and lending money and interest as sacred duties ordered by God, and opposed the intervention of the Holy See in the secular world.
power, and advocates that local governments have the real power of local churches, which is the so-called religious freedom.
"But they failed! They were completely defeated by the great emperor Karl V of the Holy Roman Empire! He was the supreme monarch of the Netherlands, a noble Catholic." Mentioning Karl V and the Holy Roman Empire, Claudia's
There was a bit of sarcasm in his tone.
"They will not fail easily! This is not a simple territorial dispute between nobles. The German electors will not compromise with that Karl V! They will come back! Please believe me! Claudia!
" Kira Yoshi could only follow his feelings. He only vaguely remembered that they won in the end, and only then did the Holy Roman Empire split.
"Actually, they have already started!" Frank said suddenly: "In order to punish the rebellion of the Malkaldon Alliance, Karl V issued a bloody edict. What he did has aroused widespread disgust among all nobles who sympathized with the Protestant religion. Not long ago,
I just heard new news in Macau. In the Second Schmalkalden War that just broke out, the electors defeated Charles V and the Protestants achieved a great victory."
The bloody edict was a horrific religious massacre. The main content of this edict was to prohibit the spread of Calvinism and other Protestant religions, prohibit the destruction of Catholic icons, and prohibit discussion and debate on the Bible. Violators would be punished by beheading, being buried alive, or
They were burned at the stake and their property was confiscated. Some Protestant sympathizers were also persecuted.
Kira Yoshitoshi couldn't remember the content of the bloody edict, so he completely fooled her into guessing. It seemed that he was lucky enough to guess right, so he said again: "Look, Claudius
Ya! As I said, the electors of North Germany will not surrender, so what about the Netherlands? The bloody edict targets all countries under the Holy Roman Empire, including the Spanish colony of the Netherlands. What should you do?
How to fight against the tyranny of the Holy Roman Empire?”
"No! I don't know! Don't talk to me about this!" Claudia covered her ears and shook her head.
"Sorry, Joseph! Claudia is from England. Her background is a bit complicated. She was hostile and persecuted by Princess Mary. She was the only one to escape and come to the Netherlands, so I hope you can understand!" Frank used his hands together and expressed awkwardly.
In my own opinion, it seems that he cares about Claudia very much.
"But I would rather nothing happened. There would be no distinction between Protestantism and Catholicism. I hate it all! Hate it!" Claudia suddenly stood up, walked to the window, opened it, and let the cold sea breeze blow into the room.
There were a few tears in the corners of the eyes of the little blond loli.
After a brief silence, Frank Agote said with a slightly serious voice: "These are God's arrangements. As long as they have faith and are tolerant towards others, Jesus will always guide them. We are all the lambs of God."
"But you have no way to retreat, right? The Spanish have monopolized maritime trade in the Atlantic Ocean, and you have no share in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. In the Netherlands, including the Agote Chamber of Commerce, they are all being brutally exploited by the Holy Roman Empire.
, there is also terrible religious persecution, Protestants are all heretics, and they will be burned at the stake if they are discovered, can you back off?"
"No! I don't think we can! So Joseph, can you tell me what you can do?" Frank took out an exquisite pipe, took out a few pieces of tobacco, stuffed it into the pipe, and lit it with a flint, and suddenly there was a sense of familiarity.
The smell wafts over.
Asked again about the scent of tobacco, and seeing this familiar scene again, Kira Yoshi was a little dazed, and the feeling of a world away followed, but this time he was prepared, and after a while he calmed down and said with a smile
: "A pipe? Well, it's a new thing, something from the New World. It seems like Frank is a man who loves life."
"Joseph is such a knowledgeable man. Pipe smoking is still a new thing that is not accepted in the Netherlands, but Joseph knows it. I want to know what else you don't know? For example, Scotch whiskey?" when talking about wine.
, Old Frank’s eyes changed. Just like men always love to talk about women, alcoholics love to talk about wine.
"Sorry, I don't know much about alcohol, and I'm not an adult yet. I think there is nothing more helpless than discussing drinking with minors." Kira Yoshi shrugged helplessly.
"Haha... you are such an interesting person, Joseph. I admire you very much. I didn't expect that the mysterious East can also meet an interesting person." Old Frank seemed to be in high spirits, smoking his pipe, and the white smoke followed.
Dissipated by the blowing sea breeze.
"I think we can become good friends and happy business partners." Kira Manshomaru opened the folding fan and waved it gently, as if to chase away the smoke and to cover up the flustered mood swings just now.
As soon as he mentioned business matters, Frank immediately became energetic, leaned forward a little, and asked eagerly: "Business partner? What business do you plan to do with us?"
Kira Mansomaru took a deep breath and said slowly: "I need a lot, such as muskets, artillery, sailing ships, and many emerging technologies, all of which I am interested in."
"Sorry, we can't do these things. It's a trade controlled by the Spanish. How about we exchange some things?" Frank seemed a little disappointed. He leaned back slightly and returned to his original posture of holding a pipe and smoking.
"The future situation of the Netherlands will only get worse. Karl V was a fanatical Catholic, and his son was also a fanatical Catholic. Do you know what kind of cruel fate the Netherlands will face in the future?
?The bloody edict will be strictly implemented by his descendants, even more cruelly. Countless people will die as a result, and the Netherlands will be destroyed under their brutal rule."
"Maybe you are right, but what does this have to do with our cooperation?" Frank looked unmoved and just changed his posture and continued to smoke.
Kira Yoshihide frowned slightly and said: "King Edward of England is a sick man and has been bedridden all year round. The power is in the hands of the Duke of Northumberland and Princess Mary. The Duke of Northumberland is the leader of the Protestants, and Mary
The princess is the leader of the Catholics, and both sides are trying their best to eliminate their opponents, but the Protestant side currently has the advantage... Oh, by the way! Should it be called the Church of England now?"
Old Frank sat up slightly and said in a slightly surprised tone: "I have to say, you are really a very smart gentleman. This kind of information can be found out by you thousands of miles away, which makes me doubt you.
How many secrets are there in your head?"
Kira Yoshitsune knew he had to convince the man in front of him, so he organized his words a little and continued: "The trade power of the Netherlands will be suppressed or even deprived by Spain, and the Agote Chamber of Commerce and your business allies will pay a heavy price.
Once your identity as a Protestant is exposed, you will face catastrophe, and all of this will happen, it will just happen sooner or later."
"I don't understand what you want to say? Are you trying to tell me about my future destiny? But Joseph, you are not a prophet and cannot foresee the future... Even if everything you say is true, what can we do?"
Frank's tone was a little unhappy. This was different from the negotiation he had imagined. He didn't understand what Joseph from the East was going to do. Could it be that he, a man who had been walking on the sea for many years, still didn't understand that no one could fight against Spain on this sea?
?
Kira Yoshitsune also realized that he had gone too far, and tried to calm down his emotions, saying in a gentle tone: "The Netherlands needs to establish its own legal armed forces and form a parliament belonging to the free people. You need weapons and equipment, and you need wise leadership.
All of this must be based on money, right? So you must seize every opportunity to earn enough wealth. Only in this way can you gain a firm foothold in the upcoming war. The British Protestants also need to be armed to defend their rights.
, none of this would be possible without money!”
"But what about the Spaniards? As you said, they are the overlords of the sea. No one can fight them on the sea. We, the Netherlands, are still vassals of Spain. We have no ability to defeat them." Frank seriously considered what he said.
If so, he finally shook his head.
"No! You have allies! The British, they will be your allies! That is Britain! Edward VI is still alive, even if the Habsburg family rules half of Europe, as long as Henry VIII's Protestant Reformation still exists
One day, all this will not end. Countless nobles, priests, and scholars are staunch supporters of Protestantism. As long as they unite, they can fight against the powerful enemy in front of them."
"Maybe you are right." Frank looked at him deeply, then leaned on the chair and smoked slowly.
Claudia suddenly turned around and asked with some confusion: "Joseph, how do you know all this? I don't believe you can know things thousands of miles away!"
Kira Yoshi smiled and said: "Dear Miss Claudia, do you believe that people have wisdom?"
"No! I don't think I will believe it." Claudia paused briefly and added: "At least I don't believe you have that kind of ability."
"Then from today on, please believe it! Because I am the type of person who has Su Hui." No matter from his expression or tone, it seemed that he was telling a joke. The little blond loli thought that Kiragi just didn't want to tell.
She told the truth and sat back on her chair, feeling a little dancey, staring at the bubbles in the wine glass in a daze.
——
ps: Sparkling wine, champagne! Very delicious drinks (heavy fog), don’t underestimate the Agot Chamber of Commerce! Because this will be a big trap! Come out with your tickets and collections for the champagne!
Thank you Kiso Yoshinaka1 for the reward, everyone’s support will always be remembered by Umei.
