"Dear little Tia, I think it's important to be honest with friends, Joseph has no ill intentions, doesn't he? The Lord tells us to be honest. Surprisingly, Frank Argot was on Kira's side.

"Uncle Frank!" Claudia was furious that his uncle had favored the mysterious Oriental, which was incredible.

The three of them were at a stalemate for a moment, and Claudia had to compromise: "Okay! We are Protestants! Calvinist Protestants! ”

"Oh! Calvinism: yes! John Calvin! He was a great man, and what he did in Geneva is remembered, and the Electors of North Germany are fighting for it! "Calvin's great name is really thunderous, the famous Pope of Geneva, how could he not know.

Calvinism inherited the Renaissance's idea of human rights, and was a leader of the Reformation after Martin Luther, who advocated private property, business profits, and money lending for interest were all under God's sacred duty, opposed the Holy See's intervention in secular power, and advocated that local governments should hold the real power of the local church, which is the so-called religious freedom.

But they failed! Utterly defeated by the great Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Karl V! He was the supreme monarch of the Netherlands, a noble Catholic. At the mention of Karl V and the Holy Roman Empire, Claudia's tone was tinged with sarcasm.

"They don't fail easily! This is not a simple territorial struggle between the nobles, and the German electors will not compromise with that Karl V! They'll make a comeback! Trust me! Claudia! Kira Yoshitoki could only follow his feelings, and he only vaguely remembered that in the end they were victorious, and only then did they have the division of the Holy Roman Empire.

"Actually, they've already started!" Frank said suddenly: "Karl V issued a bloody edict to punish the rebellion of the Marcaldon League, and what he did has aroused the general revulsion of all the nobles sympathetic to Protestantism, and I heard the news not long ago in Macau that the Electors defeated Karl V in the Second Schmalkalden War, which had just broken out, and the Protestants won a great victory. ”

The bloody edict was a terrible religious massacre, the main content of which was to prohibit the spread of Calvinism and other Protestants, to prohibit the destruction of Catholic icons, to prohibit the discussion and debate of the Bible, and to beheading, bury alive or burn at the stake, confiscate property, and persecute some Protestant sympathizers.

Kira Yoshitoki couldn't remember the contents of the bloody edict, and he even tried to fool her, and it seemed that his luck was really guessed by him, so he said, "Look, Claudia! As I said, the electors of North Germany would not give in, so what about the Netherlands? The bloody edict was directed against all the countries under the Holy Roman Empire, including the Spanish colony of the Netherlands, how do you fight against the tyranny of the Holy Roman Empire? ”

"Nope! I do not know! Don't talk to me about that! Claudia covered her ears and shook her head.

"Sorry, Joseph! Claudia is from England, her background is somewhat complicated, she was hostile and persecuted by Princess Mary, and she was the only one who escaped and came to the Netherlands, so I hope you can understand! Frank put his hands together and awkwardly expressed his thoughts, as if he cared about Claudia.

"But I'd rather nothing happened, no Protestant or Catholic, I hate all this! Hate! Claudia suddenly stood up, walked to the window and pushed it open, letting the cold sea breeze blow into the room, taking away the little tears from the corners of the blonde Lori's eyes.

After a short silence, Frank Argot said with a little seriousness: "These are God's arrangements, as long as they have faith and tolerance towards people, Jesus will always guide them, we are all the lambs of God." ”

"But you have no way back, do you? The Spaniards have a monopoly on maritime trade in the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean do not have your share, in the Netherlands, including the Argotic Chamber of Commerce, they are all suffering from the cruel exploitation of the Holy Roman Empire, and there is terrible religious persecution, and the Protestants are heretics and will be burned at the stake if they are discovered, can you retreat? ”

"Nope! I think we can't! So Joseph, can you tell me what you can do? Frank took out a delicate pipe, took out a few pieces of tobacco and stuffed it into the pipe, and lit it with a flint, and suddenly a familiar smell wafted over him.

Asked about the aroma of tobacco again, and seeing this familiar scene again, Ji Liangyi was a little stunned, and the feeling of being in a different world followed, but this time he was prepared, and he calmed down a little and smiled: "Pipe? Well, it's a novelty, something from the New World, and it looks like Frank is a man who loves life. ”

"Joseph was such a learned man, the pipe was still a new thing that was not accepted in the Netherlands, but Joseph knew it, and I wonder what else you don't know? Like Scotch whisky? When he talked about wine, old Frank's eyes changed differently, just as men always like to talk about women, and drunkards love to talk about good wine.

"I'm sorry, I don't know much about alcohol, and I'm not an adult, so I don't think there's anything more frustrating than discussing alcohol with a minor." Kira shrugged helplessly.

"Huh...... What an interesting person, Joseph, I admire you very much, I didn't expect the mysterious East to meet an interesting person. Old Frank seemed to be in high spirits, smoking his pipe, and the white smoke dissipated with the blowing sea breeze.

"I think we can be good friends and happy business partners." Kira Manmatsu Maru opened the folding fan and waved it gently, as if he was waving away the smoke, and as if he was hiding the mood swings that were a little flustered just now.

As soon as he talked about business, Frank immediately came to his senses, leaned forward a little, and asked eagerly, "Business partner?" What business are you going to do with us? ”

Kira Manmatsu Maru took a deep breath and said slowly, "I need a lot, such as muskets, artillery, sailboats, and many emerging technologies, all of which I am interested in. ”

"I'm sorry, we can't do these things, it's a trade controlled by the Spaniards, why don't we change something?" Frank seemed a little disappointed, leaned back slightly, and returned to his original position of smoking with his pipe.

"The future of the Netherlands is only going to get worse and worse, Karl V is a fanatical Catholic, his son is also a fanatical Catholic, do you know what kind of cruel fate the Netherlands will face in the future? The bloody edict would be strictly enforced by his descendants, and would be even more brutal, and countless people would die as a result, and the Netherlands would be destroyed under their tyrannical rule. ”

"Maybe you're right, but what does that have to do with our cooperation?" Frank didn't seem moved, just changed his posture and continued to smoke.

Kira Yishi frowned slightly and said: "King Edward of England is a sick man, bedridden all the year round, and 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 Princess Mary is the leader of the Catholics, both sides are trying their best to eliminate their opponents, but the Protestant side has the advantage at present...... Oh yes! It should be called Anglican now, right? ”

Old Frank sat up slightly and said in a slightly surprised tone: "I have to say that you are really a very wise gentleman, and this kind of news can be found by you thousands of miles away, so I can't help but wonder how many secrets you have in your head?" ”

Kira Yoshitoki knew that he had to convince the person in front of him, and after a little organization, he continued: "The trade power of the Netherlands will be suppressed or even stripped away by Spain, the Argotic Chamber of Commerce and your business allies will pay a heavy price, and once your Protestant identity is exposed, you will face the catastrophe, all this will happen, but sooner or later." ”

"I don't understand what you're trying to say? Are you going to tell me your future fate? 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 unpleasant, which was different from the negotiation he had envisaged, he did not understand what this Joseph of the East was going to do, did he, who had walked on the sea for many years, not understand that no one could fight against Spain on this sea?

Kira Yoshitoki also realized that he was a little excessive, and tried to calm his emotions, and said in a gentle tone: "The Netherlands need to build up their own legal armed forces, form a council belonging to the free people, you need weapons and equipment, you need wise leadership, and all this must be based on money, isn't it?" So you must take every opportunity to earn enough wealth to gain a foothold in the coming war, and the Protestants in England also need to be armed to defend their rights, which cannot be done without money! ”

"But what about the Spaniards? As you say, they are the overlords of the sea, and there is no one to fight them at sea, and we the Dutch are still Spanish vassals, and we are not capable of defeating him. Frank thought hard about what he had said, and finally shook his head.

"Nope! You have allies! The British, they will be your allies! That's the UK! Edward VI was still alive, even if the Habsburgs ruled half of Europe, but as long as Henry VIII's Protestant Reformation existed, all this would not end, and countless nobles, priests, and scholars were staunch supporters of Protestantism, and as long as they united they could fight against the powerful enemy in front of them. ”

"Maybe you're right." Frank gave him a deep look, then leaned back in his 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 know anything thousands of miles away! ”

Kira Yoshitoki smiled and said, "Dear Miss Claudia, do you believe that people have wisdom? ”

"Nope! I don't think I'll believe it. Claudia paused for a moment and added, "At least I don't believe you have that ability." ”

"Then from today onwards, please believe it! Because I'm the kind of person who has Su Hui. Both his expression and tone looked like he was telling a joke, and the blonde little Lori thought that Kira just didn't want to tell her the truth, so she sat back in her chair and stared at the bubbles in the wine glass in a daze.

――

PS: Sparkling wine, champagne! Very good drink (foggy), don't underestimate this Agotic Chamber of Commerce! Because it's going to be a big hole! For the sake of champagne, let's take out the tickets and collections!

Thanks to Kiso Yoshinaka 1 for the reward, everyone's support Ume has always remembered.

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