Prior to today's conversation with the Duke of Richmond, Isabel Walton had been exercising some of the powers of oversight. For example, he oversees the policing of the entire county and the ducal castle. The Duke of Richmond now gave her almost the political, economic, military, administrative and judicial powers of the entire Crown Domain.

Of course, the executive and judicial powers had been stripped away by Henry VIII and placed in the hands of the county magistrates. Even so, the magistrate of the county was given the position of his father, Sir Augustine, under her great support. Therefore, she can still influence and control the executive and judicial powers of the county magistrate.

Among the remaining powers, economic and military privileges are particularly noteworthy. On the military side, as long as the private army built up did not give Henry VIII the suspicion of treason, there would not be much of a problem. Economically, she was well placed to take full advantage of Richmondshire's special status in the northern region, the Crown Domain, for royal enclosures.

As an important manifestation of the strong expansion of the power of the royal monarch of England, the royal enclosure will definitely receive strong support from Henry VIII and the royal family. In order to obtain higher profits in the royal domain, Isabel can also use military means to quickly establish hunting grounds and large-scale farms and pastures.

However, the seizure of all wasteland and public land that can be enclosed will infringe on the interests of tenant farmers and cause some poor people to lose their traditional public rights. The consequences of this will inevitably lead to enclosure contradictions, aggravate the poverty of some people at the bottom of society, and even cause enclosure riots. As with the "Parade of Grace" rebellion, which had just been quelled, most of the people who joined the rebels demanded an end to the enclosure.

However, in order to make the royal family and herself richer, she infringes on and robs the interests of the poor, which is the last thing Isabel wants to see. Moreover, this is completely different from the nature of her organization of the "Black Friars" private armed gang to carry out looting. Even if the royal family is willing to take on the "killer" of the interests of the poor, she is very disgusted to do so. Unless the land enclosure was carried out in accordance with the land system of the United States, there would probably be no enclosure riots or rebellions.

Another way to oversee the economy of the crown was to continue the Reformation policies of Henry VIII. The remaining monasteries in the county were dissolved, the remaining church property was sold, and the burial grounds of the nobles and wealthy were openly excavated and the burial goods such as gold, silver, and jewelry were looted.

Isabel felt that she was not good at regulating the economy. When the Duke of Richmond had finished speaking, she pondered for a long time before saying, "Henry, I can supervise it on my behalf, but my performance in this area of the economy may displease you." ”

The Duke of Richmond smiled and said, "Isabelle, what you have to do is to supervise my retainers, and you only have to approve or reject the ideas and measures they have proposed." If these people don't accept your suggestion, you can send someone to report to me and ask for my opinion, right? ”

"If you say that, I can rest assured that I will supervise it on my behalf. Now that you mentioned the retainers, I have something to say. Isabel finished and glanced at Eugene in the corner.

"Eugene, you go and wait outside the door, you can't let anyone in." Henry commanded the valet in understanding. When Eugene left, he smiled at Isabel again: "Okay, now let's talk." ”

"When I learned of the end of peace talks between you and the Duke of Norfolk with the rebels, I released William Frederick from prison. Father Thomas, who took people to join the rebellion, I also had people bring them back and keep them in the church. ”

"Before you came, the retainers told me about these matters. As you can see, William was in the parlor before. ”

"What I want to say is that if there is a rebellion next year, my advice is to keep your retainers, servants, and guards in check."

The Duke nodded thoughtfully, and his tone suddenly became unusually tough and cold: "Your suggestion is very good. Isabel, if you feel it necessary, to keep my retainers and everyone in the castle under control. If anyone is found talking about the pilgrimage or slandering the king as a heretic, a schissie, or a tyrant by speech, writing, or deed, he is to be arrested immediately and sent to the Magistrate's Court for the Magistrate's Court. ”

In Isabelle Walton's view, the Duke of Richmond's approach is somewhat similar to the "Prism Project" that the NSA began to implement since 07. However, later generations used top-secret electronic surveillance and monitoring methods, and at this time they used human methods.

Then the Duke added: "My retainers, servants, and guards are involved in the rebellion, and Your Majesty will certainly suspect me of treason. Even if they don't send me to the gallows for my death, they will keep me in Windsor Castle for a long time. ”

Puzzled, Isabel asked, "Why Windsor Castle, not the Tower of London?" ”

"The Tower of London was used to hold people like ministers and bishops. You are well aware of my relationship with Your Majesty, so you can only keep me in Windsor Castle Prison, which is dedicated to the royal family. ”

"Henry, there's one more question. When you go back to London this time, what do the Seymour family think of you and Lord Surrey? Isabel stood up and walked over to the wooden frame to watch the female Greyback Falcon, speaking calmly.

The Duke of Richmond also walked over with a wine glass, gently touched the feathers on the back of the gray-backed falcon, and said with a smile: "Although Queen Seymour seems to be shy and not good at talking to people, she still has a few words of praise for the performance of Lord Surrey and me in the two rebellions. Although I don't know if the new queen thinks so in her heart. ”

After a pause, the Duke quietly spat out a sentence: "Your Majesty, when talking to me, mentioned some matters related to Lord Surrey. ”

Isabel looked carefully into the eyes of the grayback falcon and said calmly, "I guess someone from the Seymour family must have said something in front of His Majesty." ”

"Isabel, you've guessed it again. If I play some money games with you, I will definitely lose to you. ”

"Not necessarily, I've never played a game of gambling for money."

The Duke did not reply but said, "Your Majesty did not say who accused Lord Surrey, but only asked me if he was still a proponent of Catholicism." I told Your Majesty that this is absolutely impossible. Had Lord Surrey embraced the Catholic faith, the peace talks at Lincoln Cathedral would not have been successful. ”

Isabel nodded, and whispered, "Henry, you have to tell Lord Surrey at once that from now on you must always show a strong commitment to Protestantism. If possible, make sure that His Majesty the King sees this. ”

The Duke of Richmond stared at her: "Why is that?" ”

Sensing danger approaching the Earl of Surrey, Isabel said calmly: "Even if some bastard surnamed Seymour wanted to accuse him, at least there would be plenty of testimony that Lord Surrey would not embrace the Catholic faith. ”