Charles was then crowned in London as Charles II.

The royalists, who followed their mother and son into exile in the early years, were canonized two dukes and three marquis in one go.

George Munch, who was stationed in Scotland, although he had defected to Cromwell and sent a letter but did not leave halfway, he was once a royalist after all. Moreover, now with heavy troops, he has also earned the position of a marquis.

As for Thomas and John, these two young men from the London countryside were made viscounts directly across classes.

The title is not high, but it is not low, mainly because the class has been improved, and it can continue to rise at a young age.

What's more, they were also appointed to important positions.

Thomas traveled to Cromwell's hometown of Huntingdonshire with five hundred Arakanese soldiers to purge Cromwell of the remnants of his influence. A large tract of land there, which was given to Thomas as a fief, far exceeded the viscount treatment. Moreover, the five hundred Arakanese soldiers also all had knightly titles, and each of them was given a small piece of land.

John remained in London, where he guarded the court and secured a fief on the outskirts of London.

When Cromwell came to power, he not only killed the king, but also carried out the Great Purge. A bunch of traditional aristocrats were killed, some even their children and grandchildren were exterminated, and the land and property were divided among the revolutionaries. These lands can be recovered and given back to the heroes.

Historically, Charles was asked back to be king, and he didn't even dare to take back the royal land. Nowadays, many of the things that the revolutionary party eats have to spit out.

Of course, those places that are too far away from London and have no bitter masters, Charles still chooses to go with the flow. If they were all taken back, it would force the anti-squire class and bring unnecessary trouble to themselves.

The means are nothing more than grace and power, killing those who dance the most fiercely and have a bad reputation, and the rest of the Xiaoxiao are spared and appeased.

Everything seems to be settled, but Prince Charles ...... Well, it should be called King Charles II, but he was speechless for a long time in the face of a pile of accounts.

The old king, Charles I, was beheaded after the failure of the financial reform, which led to a great uprising. Cromwell's son, and the military junta before him, was also unable to establish his authority because of financial problems.

Even if Cromwell were alive, his reign was not expected to last long.

Last year, Britain had £1.9 million in revenue, £2.3 million in fiscal spending and £2.6 million in government debt. Among them, military spending is the lion's share, with the Army spending £1.1 million a year and the Navy spending £900,000 a year.

Army spending, mainly used to suppress the Irish uprising, which lasted more than a decade and halved the population of Ireland.

The navy spent mainly on wars with the Netherlands and Spain, and the arms race continued.

Charles II, who succeeded in regaining the throne, received a large sum of money from his family, but it was a drop in the bucket compared to the fiscal deficit. In particular, the 2.6 million pounds of public debt has to be paid with interest every year!

After many days of hard thinking, Charles II convened a parliament and directly announced his decision.

First, the Ministry of Administration, Taxation, Military Affairs, and Foreign Affairs were formed, the Bank of England was formed, and the Privy Council of the Crown was restored.

Second, there is a clear division of the functions of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, with officials in each ministry elected by the parliament and appointed with the consent of the king, who can appoint them directly.

Third, formalize consumption taxes, monthly taxes, and customs duties.

Excise taxes and monthly taxes were created by Cromwell and had to be collected by the bourgeoisie and the gentry. Now that Charles II has established it, it is tantamount to giving the House of Commons sufficient powers.

The monthly tax collected from peasants, also known as land tax, accounts for a quarter of the peasants' total income. Harvested too heavily, the peasants began to rebel, and Cromwell was forced to drop to one-eighth.

As for customs duties, they were previously contracted by the royal family to merchants. Facts have proved that it is better to raise civil servants to collect them, and even if civil servants are corrupt, the tariffs collected can be doubled.

Finalizing these, Charles II still sighed.

"I really envy the emperor of China." Charles II said.

John, who was in charge of guarding the court, knew what the king was thinking and said, "Education must be established so that there will be enough officials." ”

Charles II said: "But I don't have the money to build a school." ”

Don't look at Charles II's good work, but Britain does not have a mature civil service. Taxes were previously collected by the royal family and the aristocracy, but now only by the gentry and the bourgeoisie, and in the long run the House of Commons had enough power to overthrow the king.

Historically, Charles II wanted to reform in his later years, and the convening of parliament could only be held in Oxford, and he directly sent troops to Oxford. Because the parliamentarians in London are too strong, he is afraid that he will be killed by the parliamentarians directly in the middle of the parliament.

Thinking about it, Charles II said: "No matter how poor you are, you have to build a school, first build a royal school in England." Theology is not taught, only Latin, English reading and writing, and accounting. Recruited from the children of the common people in and out of London, they were exempted from tuition fees, and upon graduation they were placed as port tax collectors. ”

This king is really pitiful, and he directly sends officials, but he only dares to start with the customs duties, and does not dare to move other taxes, otherwise he is fighting with the House of Commons for power.

Of course, Charles II also had long-term plans. When that group of port tax collectors grows up, they can be thrown into several major departments to mix sand.

Having been in China for several years, Charles II did not go on a tour, he also learned Chinese methods.

Immediately, Charles II issued public bonds, secured by customs duties, and obtained 300,000 pounds from Dutch merchants. As soon as the money arrived, he began to dismantle the army, disbanded all the Irish garrisons, paid back a severance pay, and reduced taxes for the Irish nobility and commoners.

After disarmament, hundreds of thousands of pounds a year can be saved in military spending, and Ireland, which is riddled with holes, does not want to rebel.

However, naval spending cannot be reduced, and it must be increased, and a second Anglo-Dutch war may break out at any time.

What to do?

Seek a marriage with a choice of French, Spanish and Portuguese princesses. Because of these three countries, the princess has the most dowry money, and you can take the opportunity to make a fortune!

The only princess of Portugal, already married to the Emperor of China.

French princesses, there are no old enough.

Charles II was very distressed by this, and the royal marriage was a big deal. England was fighting with Spain for the Mediterranean, and Portugal had bad relations with Spain, so it was impossible for him to marry a Spanish princess.

I can't even find a marriage partner!

After much thought, Charles II decided to wronged himself and married Louis XIV's niece to count the ball, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Nemur in France, whose mother was the illegitimate granddaughter of Louis XIV's grandfather.

When the English envoys arrived in Paris, Louis XIV was fascinated by Chinese art.

The French legation brought back a large number of literary and artistic works from China, which Louis XIV admired for several months.

"Is China's glazed pagoda really that high?" Louis XIV asked repeatedly.

Colbert said, "It's that high. ”

Louis XIV asked, "How did the Chinese architects build it three hundred years ago?" ”

Colbell shook his head: "I don't know, I only know that it took 100,000 craftsmen and 20 years to complete." Your Majesty, we can build a shorter one, there is no need to build it according to the dimensions of China. ”

Louis XIV was silent.

Although he is not yet in power, he is already planning to build the Palace of Versailles, and said that there must be Chinese-style architecture in it.

It was another palace banquet, and there were not only knives and forks on the table, but also many chopsticks.

Louis XIV told the nobles: "This is a chef from China, who had been cooking for the Emperor of China, and whom I had spent a great deal of money to invite to Paris. Let's give him a warm welcome! ”

"Bang bang bang!"

The aristocrats applauded en masse.

Qian Yigui grinned, but he was full of contempt in his heart.

In fact, he is just a chef apprentice in Fan Lou, and his father is seriously ill at home, and he has younger brothers and sisters to support, so life is extremely difficult. The French envoys hired cooks everywhere, but no one wanted to go to sea, so Qian Yigui agreed for the sake of his family, and took 80 taels of silver for the settlement fee.

When he came to Paris, there were not enough cooking materials, not even a wok, and he had to make everything slowly. Moreover, there were some things that were not to Louis XIV's liking, and the dishes had to be readjusted.

By the way, Qian Yigui also accepted more than a dozen French apprentices.

He was now a French court cook, was given the title of Baron, and married the daughter of a musketeer (who was also a nobleman).

The traditional French hors d'oeuvres are served first, followed by a Chinese dish, all served on a blue and white porcelain plate.

Louis XIV raised his chopsticks: "This dish is called scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and I heard that it is the favorite delicacy of the Chinese emperor." Everybody, let's go. ”

Louis XIV had been practicing chopsticks for a long time, holding chopsticks in his right hand and a spoon in his left hand, eating scrambled eggs with tomatoes with great intoxication.

Those French aristocrats also picked up the spoons one after another and praised them one by one.

The maid brought bowls of rice, which were imported goods, extremely expensive and scarce.

Louis XIV said proudly: "Stir the scrambled eggs with tomatoes and rice, and the juice will be mixed into the rice, and the deliciousness will be multiplied." ”

The aristocrats followed suit, and they all praised it for its deliciousness, and some drank it with wine.

Charles II didn't have a Chinese chef on his side, but he could cook himself. When he was in exile in Europe, he even learned carpentry work, and he also learned a lot of skills when he went to China.

The next day, British envoys arrived.

Queen Anne refused to marry for the simple reason that she hated Charles II's mother, and that she had a very bad relationship with this sister-in-law.

Prime Minister Mazarin saw what he said and immediately found a justifiable excuse for the queen: "We are allies with the Netherlands, and England is enemies with the Netherlands, and we cannot marry the enemies of our allies." ”

Louis XIV did not think so, and said to his mother: "The sister of Charles II, married to the crown prince of China. If my niece marries Charles II, I will be the same generation as the Emperor of China, and I will be a relative of the Emperor of China. ”

The Queen Mother and the Prime Minister were instantly speechless.

Louis XIV continued: "England and Spain are enemies, and France and Spain are enemies. The marriage of France and England could suppress Spain. As for the Netherlands, what is the use of this ally? The Dutch East India Company, which had almost gone bankrupt a few years earlier, was no threat to the Dutch Army. We should make an alliance with England, Portugal, and join forces against Spain. England and Portugal, both of whom had married their princesses to China, were joining forces against Spain and the Netherlands, and France should actively join this alliance. ”

"No," said Queen Anne, "a French princess can marry whomever she wants, but she can't marry Charles II!" ”

This queen was angry with her sister-in-law when she was young, and she can remember her grudges for a lifetime.

Louis XIV said: "Mother, my niece is married to Charles II, what will he call you in the future?" ”

Queen Anne was instantly happy, the marriage was completed, and her sister-in-law (the mother of Charles II) would be her junior from now on.

Although Europe doesn't talk much about seniority, it still makes her very happy.

Through marriage, the alliance of China, Britain, France, and Portugal began to take shape, and their current enemies were the Netherlands and Spain.

Of course, sooner or later, there will be a day when the face will be turned around.

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