Friday, June 16, 1645.

Yorktown, which represents the traditional influence of the English royal family in the British Isles, finally flew the flag of the Parliamentary Army at the head of the city. Over the past year, Cromwell's New Model Army of England had crushed many of Charles I's counter-offensives, poor Charles I, with the support of Scotland, was still defeated at the Battle of Nasby, and the loyal and stubborn royal knights were defeated again and again in the face of the rifles and cannons of the line infantry of the New Model Army.

The fall of York City symbolized the crucial victory of the English Parliamentarian Army in the Civil War. The army cobbled together by the Scottish Presbyterian Church and the Council of Nobles in support of Charles I was almost completely wiped out under York, and now Charles I has fled like a lost dog to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Cromwell stood at the head of Yorktown, behind him a group of officers of the new Model Army, including Sir Fairfax, the nominal commander of the army, and Earl Thornwich, the commander of another parliamentary army, but Cromwell seemed to be blind at this time.

"London wants to send emissaries to Edinburgh, and King Charles must correct all his faults in order to achieve a final reconciliation, otherwise this war will be endless."

The Earl of Thornwich, Cromwell's old boss, was at this time calmly and cautiously expounding the opinion of the "majority" in the crowd, especially after the war had dragged on, and the National Assembly in London was already full of regret and regret.

During the three years of civil war, England was devastated, with a quarter of the towns and half of the countryside devastated by different ways. Cereal prices in London have climbed to their highest point in the last two decades, more than double that of the famine in Europe, which is now in the midst of famine.

Not only had the royalists been drained of their last silver coins by the war, but the parliamentary parties, which held an important source of national finances, were also teetering in hysteria. The economic boom of Elizabeth I and James I has been replaced by rubble, and England's economy has almost set back two decades.

Almost no one expected this outcome at the beginning of the war, in order to stop King Charles I's "own way" tax hikes and actions. The Parliamentary Party in England paid an unimaginably heavy price, killing 800 enemies and losing 1,000.

The opinion of the Earl of Thornwich was agreed by most of the middle-aged and elderly generals present - the king's mistake should be taken as a head, and everything should be discussed if he learned a lesson.

But no one would have imagined that there would be another way to resolve this battlefield than to negotiate with the king.

Expressions of astonishment and anger flickered across Cromwell's face, and after glancing at the northern horizon again, Cromwell let out a sneer.

"Gentlemen, if the King returns to London again, the trouble will never be resolved. People will still be insensitized by poverty and cowardice, and it will be a great shame that great England will not be able to escape after this war! Cromwell turned. Raising their voices, a group of young New Model Army officers at the back of the crowd all showed fanatical expressions, "Victory is already in sight, the fate of the country should be controlled by us, and it can no longer be handed over to the person who only thinks about exploiting the citizens with the status of the king all day long!" ”

"It was his inaction, lies, or laziness that caused Scotland and Ireland to break away from England, and in his hands England lost almost all its overseas possessions. Are we going to continue to entrust the future of all Britain to such a man who tramples on the laws and justice of the country and does whatever he wants? ”

"Gentlemen, although we still face many difficulties. But at this moment, we must unite and believe in our own abilities, and we have reason to fight to the end for the real future of this country! ”

Cromwell's speech stunned the conservative generals present, and he had to fight to the end with King Charles I of England. And those young new model army officers. There was a hysterical cheer.

The Stuart dynasty entered England as the Scottish royal family from the beginning, and the Scottish Presbyterian Church and the Noble Council recognized the Stuart royal family's status as the Scottish king as a legitimate means of resisting the encroachment of England, so there was a reason to continue to support Charles I; The Catholic League of Ireland and the Parliament of Nobles simply denied Charles I the right to the Irish throne. Refusing to accept the rule of a Protestant.

All of this was essentially a pretext for Scotland and Ireland to seek secession from the English co-rulership. The War of the Three Kingdoms and the English Civil War were thus entangled, and the center of this dead knot was entangled. It is the unbridled promises of Charles I to win this civil war.

"God, is Oliver crazy? Was he planning to use his army to expel a king once and for all? ”

At the front of the crowd, Sir Fairfax, the nominal commander of the New Model Army, looked in surprise at the juniors in front of him who were talking eloquently, and even more frightened by the unprovoked fanaticism of the tender-headed officers behind him.

"Marching on Scotland, the king must surrender!"

"That's right! Judgment, he should be judged by all the citizens of London! ”

The cries of a new model of yeoman farmers, Londoners, and low-class artisans echoed around Yorktown. They believed that only Cromwell's unwavering conviction and fearless independence were the ultimate way out for the country.

That night, a group of low-ranking officers of the New Model Army led the soldiers to cordon off the homes of the conservative generals of the Parliamentary Party, detained all the senior generals, including the Earl of Sandwich, declared special martial law control, and elected Cromwell as the Supreme Commander of the New Model Army until Cromwell won the final victory.

How the aristocratic officers cursed and spat on themselves in private, Cromwell no longer cared. Victory was in sight, and even though military aid from abroad was almost cut off at this moment, he believed that Charles I and Scotland had lost the ability to continue fighting him, and that his ideals would be fulfilled as the English Civil War was coming to an end.

……

A few time zones away, it's still a sunny afternoon in North American Manchester City. In an upscale villa community adjacent to the forest park side of Manchester City's northern district, a bright black horse-drawn carriage slowly pulls into the gate of a luxury estate.

One of the attendants walked up to the carriage, opened the door very carefully, lowered the pedals, and respectfully extended his hand into the carriage. At the same time, in front of the main building of the manor, another noble lady was looking at the direction of the carriage with a smile on her face, and behind her stood several middle-aged people dressed in European costumes.

One man and one woman. Two children dressed in the uniforms of an Ivy League elementary school stepped out of the car, and one of the blonde girls had a green and shy blush on her pink and delicate face.

"Your Excellency the Baron, Your Highness the Princess, please be careful of the road." The gray-haired old European butler cautiously beckoned his subordinates to take the carriage away, and followed behind the two little ancestors with great humility.

"Is the exam going well today, kids?"

Dai Qingqing walked quickly to the two children, squatted down and kissed each other, with a kind smile on her face.

"Elizabeth definitely failed her Chinese exam! Stupid! ”

Dai Xinzhi looked innocent and old-fashioned, and glanced at the English princess beside him when he was young and old, and made a nasal voice of disdain.

Elizabeth. Maria. Stuart, 9 years old. The fifth child of King Charles I of England. Elizabeth is a few months younger than Dai Qingqing's eldest son Dai Xinzhi, who should have died shortly after birth in history, but in this time and space, she was lucky to grow up.

In exchange, Elizabeth was sent to Dai Qingqing's family by Charles I, and after notarization by the English royal court, Elizabeth is now an Irish nobleman, Baron Frank Kenmare. Hinter. Wittelsbach. Dai (Dai Xinzhi)'s legal fiancée. The official engagement ceremony of the two will take place after they turn 16, 7 years from now.

Once the two are officially engaged, a royal legal document signed by Charles I will officially take effect. At that time, Xinzhi will become the Duke of Kerry in Ireland, and the entire county of Kerry in Munster will be the nominal dukedom of Dai Xinzhi.

"But I really don't know what is written on the scroll......" The princess of England, who had only settled in Huamei for less than a year, seemed to be bullied at this time, and her big eyes were full of tears. He also muttered a few words of English softly.

"That will take time, dear Elizabeth, don't be in a hurry." Dai Qingqing gently touched the blonde hair of her future daughter-in-law, and put the children's hands into the hands of the head maid. "Take the kids to rest, Yona."

Looking at the children's distant backs, the smile on Dai Qingqing's face gradually faded.

"Lordess. His Majesty the King is in dire need of your protection now! An envoy of the royal family of England muttered behind him with a sad face, as if the fate of the whole of England was now pressed on the woman in front of him.

"Parliament's stance of neutrality will not waver, but if you want the Irish Parliament and the Catholic Union to re-identify with your king, it will cost you much."

A sneer appeared at the corner of Dai Qingqing's mouth, and she turned around and walked towards the door with an elegant posture, and several envoys of the English royal family looked at each other.

"Madam, there is a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs forwarding to you." As soon as he entered the study, a long-awaited attendant handed a telegram in both hands.

After opening it and just glancing at it, Dai Qingqing sat on the sofa with a smile on her face, and shook the telegram gently in her hand: "Gentlemen, His Majesty King Frederick of Emden has already replied, and he still does not agree with the rebellious act of the English Parliament against a legitimate king. He was willing to make a commitment to the safety of the English royal family, but ......"

A "but" made the hearts of the originally hopeful royal envoys of England fall again, and the palms of several people were sweaty.

"Idealism aside, King Charles should have given Emden and Ireland a written diplomatic invitation, not a private promise, otherwise it would have been a dishonorable invasion. What do you think, gentlemen? ”

"In addition, I personally suggest that King Charles should consider more long-term security issues, such as transferring His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales (Charles II, eldest son of Charles I) to Killarney or the Isles of Scilly."

Dai Qingqing's gaze casually swept over the map of Europe on the distant wall, and finally stopped somewhere in England, the sarcastic smile on his face never abated.

There was silence again, and the envoy of the English royal family knew that this was the greatest security promise Baroness Killarney could make to the English royal family. Now that Ireland has openly distanced itself from England, and Charles I's prestige in Scotland and Ireland has fallen into a deep trough, it is theoretically necessary to consider the security of several heirs to the throne if the royalists want to make a comeback, in addition to protecting Charles I himself.

"So when will the reinforcements be available?" A younger representative of the royal family finally couldn't stand this kind of rhetoric, and shouted directly.

"Funding, or funding, of course, there's time." Dai Qingqing gracefully took the wine from the waiter's hand and said nonchalantly. "The Irish Noble Council has reached an agreement with the Home Rule Council of County Cork to form an army this year, but even with my full support, it will take time to procure enough military supplies, but who can guarantee that hundreds of thousands of pounds will be spent on military expenses in a month? I can only get money from Banco Nacional Ultramarino unless someone can guarantee it, but obviously this guarantor cannot be me. And so far, the English royal family has very little loan credit left, and there are still $2 million in arrears......"

After glancing at each other, an elderly representative of the English royal family slowly pulled out a document from his arms. I saw that a few lines were written on it in floral script, and the content was that King Charles of England was willing to use the following royal territories as a guarantee to obtain financial assistance from either party, and the guarantee place and the aid party were left blank. Then there was the notarial coat of arms of the royal court, as well as the signature of Charles I himself, which was considered legal once signed by the assisting party.

The typical style of Charles I who rushed to the hospital during the Civil War, but the pattern was the most prevalent of this era.

"Are there any overseas colonies of the English Crown? If you mean New Providence, I'm sorry. It was too small, all kinds of criminals were rampant, it was desolate, and it was not even legal. Therefore, it is not eligible for full sponsorship. Dai Qingqing decisively waved her hand and refused.

New Providence, the capital of the Bahamas in the Caribbean Sea, is a scenic island with an area of more than 200 square kilometers. The waters of the Bahamas have long been an area infested with European pirates, and England's colonization of New Providence was spearheaded by a group of English pirates. Today, it was still one of the English pirates, only because it was far from the cruising area of the Caribbean Fleet and did not threaten the main trade routes of the Caribbean. Therefore, it has long been let go by the Chinese and American Navy, which is short of troops.

Interestingly, New Providence was recognized as an overseas colony of the Crown of England decades in advance, and it can be regarded as a light stained with gorgeous butterfly wings, and it has never officially appeared in legal documents. At least in the mid-to-early 17th century, the indulgent English pirates used this name to wrap up their own misdeeds at sea, but they put a lot of pressure on Spain's Caribbean colonies, and Spain's Caribbean fleet was constantly exhausted.

"What do you mean?" As if he felt that the other party did not directly deny the meaning of this guarantee document, the English envoy quickly lowered his voice.

"Plus the Surat and Madras trading posts in India!" Dai Qingqing unceremoniously pointed to the world map in the distance, and the smile on his face seeped into a trace of stern sù that could not be refused.

Surat and Madras were the Indian trading bases opened by the English East India Company in the early 17th century, because of their unique position, laid a good foundation for the company's initial development, such as the lucrative Indian saltpeter trade is the most representative.

In order to fully break the Indian market without directly bearing any costs, then legally taking over two ready-made and mature trading bases from the English is the best way for the Chinese side to choose behind the scenes.

"But that's the property of the East India Company, and it's not owned by the Crown." A representative of the English royal family grew his mouth in surprise, unable to imagine that the lady in front of him would be so greedy as to reach out to India. Because the English royal family no longer has any ability to repay its debts, the so-called mortgage guarantee is actually no different from a sale.

"Is there a difference? This was the future of England as a whole, and had the merchant directors forgotten from whom they had obtained the East India trade concessions? And, even if they are used as collateral, it is not enough, right? ”

The continuous rhetorical questions made the representatives of the English royal family present speechless, the situation has deteriorated to this point, even Princess Elizabeth has been sold to Ireland, what else can not be abandoned?

Under the notarization of a Chinese lawyer, the mortgage agreement, which could only be regarded as unofficial in private, was officially signed, and the English royal family was still assisted by Baroness Killarney of Ireland, and the island of New Providence, and the trading posts of Surat and Madras in India were all used as collateral for the loan.

Under the terms of the loan agreement, the Irish Killarney Rose Chamber of Commerce would support the Irish Parliament and the Catholic Union in forming an intervention army, and enter Scotland "ready" to preserve the last of the family fortunes for Charles I. Part of the funds was to be distributed to Frederick V of Emden to cover the costs of Frederick's military intervention in the English Civil War.

All in all, it was an armed march of the English royal family with overseas property as a guarantee, the Irish Chamber of Commerce pooled funds, and Ireland and Emden were dispatched, and on the surface, there was no conflict with the official position of Huamei.

But the representative of the English royal family did not know that the owner behind the Rose Chamber of Commerce was still the Chinese and American Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (To be continued......)