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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 the tax. Even if the civil servants are corrupt, the tariffs collected can be doubled.

After finalizing these, Charles II still sighed.

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

John, who was in charge of the court, knew what the king was thinking, and said: "Education must be established in order to have enough officials."

Charles II said: "But I have no money to build a school."

Don't look at Charles II doing a good job, but Britain does not have a mature civil service system.Tax collection used to rely on the royal family and nobles, but now it can only rely on the squires and the bourgeoisie. In the long run, the power of the House of Commons is enough to overthrow the king.

Historically, when Charles II wanted to reform in his later years, he could only hold parliament in Oxford, and sent troops directly to Oxford Township.Because the MPs in London were too powerful, he was afraid that he would be directly killed by the MPs in the middle of the session.

After thinking about it, Charles II said: "No matter how poor you are, you must build a school. First, build a Royal School in England. It does not teach theology, but only Latin, English, reading and writing, and accounting. Recruit students from the common people in London and the suburbs. , exempt their tuition fees, and arrange for them to work as port tax officers after graduation.”

This king is really pitiful. He directly dispatched officials, but he only dared to start with tariffs and did not dare to touch other taxes. Otherwise, he would be fighting for power with the House of Commons.

Of course, Charles II also had long-term plans.When those port tax collectors grow up, they can be thrown into several major departments and mixed with sand.

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

Immediately, Charles II issued public bonds, used tariffs as collateral, and found a Dutch businessman to get 30 pounds.As soon as the money was obtained, the army began to be abolished, all the Irish garrisons were disbanded, the military pay was paid back to a severance pay, and tax cuts were given to Irish nobles and civilians.

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

However, the navy's military expenditure cannot be reduced, and it must be increased. The second Anglo-Dutch war may break out at any time.

How to do?

Seeking a marriage, choose from French, Spanish and Portuguese princesses.Because in these three countries, the dowry money for marrying a princess is the most, so you can take the opportunity to make a fortune!

The only princess of Portugal, who has married the emperor of China.

French princesses are not old enough either.

Charles II was very distressed by this, and the royal marriage is a big event.Britain is competing with Spain for the Mediterranean, and Portugal has a bad relationship with Spain. In this case, it is impossible for him to marry the Spanish princess.

It's so frustrating that I can't even find a marriage partner!

After much deliberation, Charles II decided to wrong himself and marry Louis XIV's niece over for calculation - the eldest daughter of the Duke of Nemours in France, whose mother was the illegitimate granddaughter of Louis XIV's grandfather.

When the British envoys came to Paris, Louis XIV was fascinated by Chinese art.

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

"Is the glazed pagoda in China really that tall?" Louis XIV asked repeatedly.

"It's that tall," Colbert said.

Louis XIV asked again: "How did Chinese architects build it 300 years ago?"

Colbert shook his head: "I don't know, I only know that it took 10 craftsmen and 20 years to complete the construction. Your Majesty, we can build a shorter one, and there is no need to build it according to the size of China."

Louis XIV was silent.

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

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

Louis XIV introduced to the nobles: "This is a chef from China. He used to cook food for the Chinese emperor. I spent a lot of money to invite him to Paris. Let us warmly welcome his arrival!"

"Clap clap clap!"

The nobles applauded collectively.

Qian Yigui grinned, but he was filled with contempt in his heart.

In fact, he was just an apprentice chef in Fanlou. His father was seriously ill, and he had younger siblings to support, so his life was extremely difficult.French envoys hired chefs everywhere, but no one was willing to go to sea. For the sake of his family, Qian Yigui bit the bullet and agreed, taking a full settling allowance of 80 taels of silver.

When he came to Paris, there was not enough raw materials for cooking, not even a frying pan, so he had to get everything slowly.Moreover, some things were not to Louis XIV's liking, and the taste of the dishes had to be readjusted.

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

He is now a French court cook, a baronet, married to a musketeer's daughter (the court musketeer is also a nobleman).

The traditional French appetizers were served first, followed by a Chinese dish, all served on blue and white porcelain plates.

Louis XIV raised his chopsticks: "This dish is called tomato scrambled eggs. It is said that it is the favorite delicacy of the Chinese emperor. Everyone, let's start."

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

Those French nobles also picked up spoons one after another, full of praise.

The maid brought another bowl of rice, which was an imported product, extremely expensive and scarce in quantity.

Louis XIV proudly said: "Stir tomato scrambled eggs with rice, and the juice will be incorporated into the rice, and the degree of deliciousness will be multiplied."

The aristocrats followed suit, and all praised the food as delicious, and some even drank it with wine.

There is no Chinese chef on Charles II's side, but he can cook himself.When this guy was in exile in Europe, he even learned carpentry, and he also learned a lot when he went to China.

The next day, the British envoy arrived.

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

Prime Minister Mazarin observed the situation and immediately found a legitimate excuse for the queen: "We are allies with the Netherlands, while Britain and the Netherlands are enemies. We cannot marry the enemy of our allies."

Louis XIV didn't think so. He said to his mother: "The younger sister of Charles II married the crown prince of China. If my niece marries Charles II, I will be equal to the emperor of China, and I will be the same as the emperor of China." They are relatives."

The queen mother and the prime minister were speechless for a moment.

Louis XIV continued: "Britain and Spain are enemies, and France and Spain are also enemies. The marriage of France and Britain can suppress Spain. As for the Netherlands, what is the use of this ally? The Dutch East India Company almost went bankrupt a few years ago. The army is also not a threat. We should form an alliance with Britain and Portugal to deal with Spain. Britain and Portugal have married their princesses to China. They are joining forces to fight against Spain and the Netherlands. France should also actively join this alliance.”

"No," said Queen Anne, "a French princess can marry anyone, but not 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 married Charles II, what will he call you in the future?"

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

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

Through the marriage, the four-nation alliance of China, Britain, France and Portugal has taken shape. Their current enemies are the Netherlands and Spain.

Of course, sooner or later there will be a day of turning around.

Chapter 938 [Change in Britain and France]

Historically, the title of the Royal Navy was bestowed by Charles II.

So why no Royal Army?

Because Charles II compromised with the parliament, the royal family gave up the military power of the rest of the army except the king's guard.

In this time and space, Britain has the Royal Army!

After a little rectification of financial problems, Charles II began to reorganize the army.

The Army was renamed the Royal Army and organized into the Arakanese, English, Scottish and Irish regiments.Most of the New Model Army formed by Cromwell was disbanded, except for the Coldstream Guards to defend London.The size of the army is 5000 people.

The navy was renamed the Royal Navy, and the generals of the fleet returned home one after another, kneeling before the king and swearing allegiance.The king's younger brother, James, was recalled to England, made a duke, and served as the supreme commander of the Royal Navy.

At this point, Charles II took control of the army.

Legislative power still belongs to Parliament, but in the hands of the House of Lords, and the House of Lords is traditionally aristocratic.The squires and the bourgeoisie in the House of Commons can only discuss the amendment of local regulations. Their greatest power is to control the tax system (except customs duties).

Charles II seems to have centralized power, but he has not completely centralized power. Taxation has always been stuck by the House of Commons.

Previously, Duke James had been serving as a soldier in France. Now he returned to England as the commander-in-chief of the navy, and immediately began to investigate the naval problems.

James discovered that of the 90-pound naval budget last year, 30 pounds were missing, and no one knew where it was spent.Corruption in the navy is serious, ships are dilapidated and in disrepair, soldiers are owed half a year in pay, and morale is extremely low.

How to do?

Then find a Dutch businessman to issue a bond loan!

The Dutch stock market crashed a few years ago. Although it has barely recovered, investors have long lost confidence in the stock market.Due to the impact of China, the Dutch East India Company can only barely keep its capital (the dividends of the major shareholders are still being paid).The Dutch West India Company has been losing money for more than 20 years.

Dutch businessmen don’t have good investment goals. Charles II is now issuing bonds and loans. This is a high-quality customer!

Charles II sent people to the Netherlands to issue bonds, and within two months, Dutch merchants subscribed for 50 pounds.Then, several major royal shipyards in the UK were operating at full capacity, some were used to repair old warships, and some were used to build new warships.

The navy is rectifying, and the royal school has not yet opened, but Charles II can't wait.

Although the king regained the right to tax duties, the tax officials are all members of the House of Commons, and corruption is extremely serious.He immediately issued an order to let the charity secondary schools across the country, each school send one of its best graduates to London.

The universities in Britain at this time were all church schools.

The rest are charity schools. Charity primary schools do not teach Latin, and they work for school managers after graduation.The Charity Middle School has to teach Latin, and the nobles are cultivating ruling power for themselves, and the school directors are mainly traditional nobles, which have nothing to do with the emerging classes in the House of Commons.

Two months later, more than 20 graduates of Charity Middle School gathered at Hampton Court Palace by the Thames.

These graduates are very excited. They are all the children of the common people, and the best come from the aristocrats.Now that he is personally summoned by the king, he must have a bright future in the future.

Charles II and the middle school graduates sat around a long table.

Dishes were constantly being served, which they had never seen before, and the tableware included spoons, knives and forks, and unknown small wooden sticks.

I saw Charles II picking up chopsticks and saying to the graduates: "The tableware in Britain is too simple. France uses knives and forks, but England only has spoons. I went to far away China, and the Chinese emperor ate with chopsticks and spoons. Now, I will teach you dining etiquette. Use a spoon to drink soup, use a fork if you can use a fork for small pieces of food. If you can’t use a fork, you can use chopsticks to hold it. For large pieces of meat, use a fork to hold down, and then use a knife to cut open."

These graduates learn very seriously, and learn knives and forks very quickly, but chopsticks are a little troublesome.

Also, there are only three prongs at this time.

After learning table manners, Charles II said: "Let's introduce ourselves and get to know each other, starting from my left hand."

A teenager stood up: "My name is John Joseph, from Meadows Middle School, nice to meet you all."

"Very good," Charles II led the applause, "welcome, John!"

Hearing everyone's applause, the young man was very excited. He had never received such a courtesy. He thought that Charles II was the wisest king.

Graduates reported their names one after another, and finally one stood up and said, "My name is Isaac Newton, from Grantham Secondary School."

The aristocrats run charitable schools and like to use the royal sign. The full name of the school Newton attended is "Grantham King's School", which is often translated as "Jinges Royal High School". In fact, it has nothing to do with the king and the royal family.

Newton lost his father when he was young, and his mother remarried to a country pastor. He lived with his grandmother when he was young, and threatened to burn his mother and stepfather together with the house.

Before graduating from middle school, his mother was widowed again, so she called him back to farm.

The principal liked Newton, and personally advised Newton to complete his studies, and gave Newton's mother some financial assistance.When Newton was studying, he stayed at the pharmacist's house and fell in love with the pharmacist's daughter.

After graduating from middle school, he planned to study at Cambridge University, and the headmaster even wrote him a letter of introduction.Unexpectedly, the king made an order, and the headmaster felt that he had a bright future, so he sent Newton to London instead of going to the poor Cambridge University.

Charles II said to the teenagers: "You are all the best graduates of secondary schools in various places. I hope you will be loyal to the royal family and make contributions to the country. Of course, I will also reuse you and canonize you as nobles in the future. You , are you willing to be loyal to me?"

Including Newton, the teenagers left the table one after another, knelt down in front of Charles II and swore allegiance.

"Very good," Charles II was very satisfied with this, and immediately said, "In order to avoid the dissatisfaction of the House of Commons, I cannot directly give you high-level official positions, nor can I make you all official. Half of you will go to the major ports, As an ordinary tax collector, you can be promoted in two or three years at most. The remaining half will be my court servants, and I will appoint different official positions as appropriate in the future according to your performance."

"Swear allegiance to His Majesty to the death!" the boys shouted.

When Charles II was in China, he repeatedly studied the original "Datong Collection", and was also proficient in "historical masterpieces" such as "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin".

At this time, it is equivalent to Zhu Houzhao accepting the "adopted son", or the emperor personally presided over the palace examination, bypassing the old and new nobles, and cultivating his own core strength.

Newton was assigned to a port as a tax collector, and he was the lowest-level errand runner.As for whether to continue to do research in the future, it depends on him, this is not a nerd.

Historically, he was transferred to the Royal Mint. Not only did he take over a mess, but his position was also thankless.In the end, he was just like Sherlock Holmes, destroying the largest counterfeit money gang in Britain, and was promoted to the director of the Royal Mint for his meritorious service.

After lunch and taking a break, Charles II smiled and said, "Come on, I'll teach you how to ride a horse."

After all, the happy king is the happy king, and when it's time to have fun, we still have to have fun.By the way, get closer to the personal relationship with these teenagers.

It was the first time for Newton to ride a horse. Under the guidance of the royal guards, he could trot in half an hour.He pulled the reins and galloped freely, looked at Charles II in front of him, and secretly vowed to share his majesty's worries.

Far away in Paris, Chancellor Mazarin fell ill and Chancellor Nicolas Fouquet came to power.

Louis XIV, who seemed inconspicuous, quietly wooed the court guards during Mazarin's serious illness, and asked his adviser Colbert to secretly investigate Fouquet.

Mazarin felt a little bad, he was afraid of being liquidated after his death.During a meeting, Mazarin took Louis XIV's hand and acted like a loyal minister: "Your Majesty, after I die, you must be in charge of the government, don't appoint a prime minister, and firmly hold power in your hands. "

Louis XIV said: "I will appoint a prime minister, please recommend a candidate."

Mazarin shook his head: "There is no candidate, and the power of France will be concentrated in His Majesty."

In March, Mazarin died of illness.

Louis XIV immediately reorganized the Musketeers and took control of other palace guards.After a court meeting, Fouquet, the powerful chancellor of the exchequer, was caught by musketeers and imprisoned on charges of embezzling huge sums of public funds.

Colbert, who led the mission to China, served as the new Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Then, Louis XIV left the Minister of War in the palace for a night of secret talks, and completely controlled the national army.

A few days later, Louis XIV found Queen Mother Anne: "Mother, you are a devout believer, please go to the monastery to serve God."