Isabel stood in front of the cavern and stared at its swarthy interior for a moment, then suddenly fell to her knees on one leg. Picking up twigs, stones, and grass roots outside the cave, and looking inside again, I heard the Duke of Richmond say beside me, "Isabel, are you looking for that Scottish beast?" ”

"Scottish Alien Beasts? Henry, this little beast is called the Fragrant Cat, and it is not a Scottish beast either. Isabel moved her gaze from side to side, trying to see the sloping passage in the cave.

"Fragrant cat... Not Scottish? Do you know what kind of beast this is? The Duke of Richmond was also on his knees on one leg, and his arms were resting on the propped leg and he was looking curiously at the mouth of the cave.

It took a long time for Isabel to spot a pair of shining, cat-like eyes in the depths of the dark cavern. Standing up, he looked at the Duke of Richmond beside him and said, "Let's go sit over there." ”

After the two of them had sat down on the grass seven or eight paces from the cave, Isabel told the Duke of Richmond a general account of the civet cat's habits. The Duke couldn't help but laugh when he heard this, and shook his head, "My God, what kind of beast is this?" It will live like a fox in a hole**. ”

Isabel lay down on the grass and looked up at the blue sky with one leg propped up, "Henry, I think, this is your idea, right?" He also asked Lord Latimer to make a special trip from Edinburgh to bring it back. ”

The Duke turned to look at the female counsellor lying on the grass, and after thinking about it, he also lay beside her, and when he also looked at the sky, he said, "At that time, His Majesty's army and the nobles' army had already robbed everything in the Palace of Holyroodhouse, so... I can only bring back this strange beast I don't know and give it to you. ”

"Henry, if you want to give me a gift, I'd rather have a sword or an arquebus."

When he heard the words of a sword or an arquebus, the Duke of Richmond became more excited. With his hands flat on his chest, he turned his head to look at her, "Did you know that Isabel, I led the royal fleet to capture two Scots' warships at sea before reaching the port town of Leith. ”

The word warship intrigued Isabelle, who sat up and looked at the Duke with a smile, "Henry, tell me about the Scotsman's warship." For example, what kind of warship, the size of the ship, and the weapons it carries. ”

In the Scottish War, which ended more than two months earlier, the royal fleet led by the Duke of Richmond was involved in a naval battle that was not small. During the naval battle, the Royal Fleet captured two Spanish Clark sail warships of the Scottish Royal Navy: the Unicorn and the Salamander. The two ships, with a displacement of only 300 tons, were a wedding gift from King Francis I of France to James V of Scotland in 1537.

James V was so pleased that he immediately made one of the sailing ships, the Salamander, his flagship. It was later refitted in 1538 and equipped with 1 new compass, 4 clocks, 140 yew bows, 22 crossbows, 70 spears, 11 pistols, and 14 bronze front-loading guns. In addition, it was staffed with a crew of 200 people, including 20 gunners.

The Salamander had only nearly half the displacement of the Mary Rose, half of the ship's weapons, and even half of the crew, so it was not surprising that James V's flagship was captured by Henry VIII's royal fleet. Of course, Henry VIII rewarded the Duke of Richmond with 6 pistols and 70 yew bows in order to reward his illegitimate son, the Duke of Richmond, who had won the first battle. In addition, some items of royal life looted from the palace of Holyroodhouse were also given to the illegitimate sons.

When the Duke of Richmond returned to Yorkshire with a large number of bounty items, there was a time conflict with the transport of Isabel's brother's body. So, he had to put some of his thoughts in his heart. It was at this time that Isabel talked to him about the Scotsman's warship, and when he was pleased, he spoke his mind.

"Isabel, if you like pistols, I can give you two." The Duke of Richmond was very excited and busy after telling a lot of things about the Scottish sailing warships.

"Pistol...? What kind of pistol? Isabel's expression was calm, apparent. However, her heart once again stirred, "There are already pistols in this era?" It can't be, right? Isn't there only an ancient firearm called an arquebus, which can be called a musket? ”

The Duke of Richmond recalled, and hurriedly recounted to her: "I remember that Sir Thomas, the chief of His Majesty's arsenal, told me that it was a pistol called a reed wheel gun. ”

"Reed wheel gun? Tell me, what kind of pistol is this? Isabel immediately took a great interest in his words. However, she did not notice who Sir Thomas, the chief of the arsenal, was talking about.

In fact, this Sir Thomas is another uncle of Prince Edward, Sir Thomas Seymour. During the reign of Edward VI, he was made Baron Seymour I of Hudley and held the positions of Lord of the Navy and Privy Counsellor. At the same time, Sir is also the man that Her Majesty Queen Catherine really loves at this moment. After the death of Henry VIII in January 1547, Sir and Queen Catherine secretly married in late May of that year, and then resorted to various intrigues to seize the supreme power in England.

"Well, the Scottish reed wheel gun was probably made by a French watchmaker and gunsmith. Because it requires very fine craftsmanship to make, the price is much more expensive than arquebuses. Most of the time, it was given as a gift to a king or nobleman. The Duke of Richmond recounted more seriously.

"Noble pistol?! The workmanship is fine, and the gun body will also be carved with some exquisite and ornate patterns or inlaid with gold, silver and ivory to match the user's identity. This kind of expensive pistol can only be used for collection. Isabel shook her head thoughtfully, losing most of her curiosity about the reed wheel gun, most likely invented by Leonardo da Vinci in the 1490s.

However, on the surface, he still looked at each other with a smile, "Henry, this is a gift from His Majesty the King, I am just the daughter of a minor nobleman, I am afraid I can't accept it easily." ”

"Isabel, in the past, when I gave you gifts, you would have been happy to accept them, why this time...?"

"I think the reed wheel gun is an aristocratic pistol, and it can only be used for collection, not for practical use."

The Duke of Richmond thought that she would alienate herself because of marriage, but she didn't expect the other party to think so. Staring at each other, he suddenly laughed, "Isabel, you can see it as my wedding gift to you." ”

Please remember that the first domain name of this book is .. Three-Zhangmen mobile version reading website:m.