BXBX NOVEL Chapter 117: The Earls of Warwick
As the new mayor of London, William Selsey has been cautious in his words and deeds since he became the mayor, for fear of causing any trouble!
Especially above his head, not only were various nobles baring their fangs at him, but also the ministers of the Privy Council were staring at him.
After all, London, as the best-developed and wealthiest city in England, shouldn't get too many benefits.
Moreover, some Privy Council ministers and aristocrats were not elected, but he, who was born as a small commoner, became the mayor of London, especially the stain that he had followed Duke Edward.
Although Edward pardoned his uncle, the stains on his body could not be washed away. People would only envy him for having a nephew who was a king, and despise the mistakes he had made.
It was already April at this time, and the weather in England was still getting warmer, but the temperature was still only a dozen degrees, and people were still wearing sheepskin coats.
Mayor William has already adapted to the weather, but sitting in the conference room, he felt the temperature in the room rise sharply, and he seemed to be holding his breath.
Today is the first meeting held by the London City Government. Besides him, there are nine other ministers of various government departments.
As the mayor, he convened and presided over this meeting according to his rights, and the main content of this meeting was health issues.
Yes, that's right, Edward could no longer stand the squalor of London, which, as the capital of a country, became a rat's nest.
Plague is also known as the Black Death. It first hit England in 1348 and continued intermittently for more than 300 years. During these 300 years, England lost nearly 1/3 of its population due to the plague.
It is well known that rats are bred in a dirty environment, and London has suffered a lot because of environmental problems.
Historically, when the plague arrived in 1665, more than 60,000 to 70,000 people died in the London area alone.
In just three months from June to August 1665, the population of London decreased by one-tenth. By August 1665, there were 2,000 deaths per week, and as many as 8,000 in September.
The plague spread from London, the British royal family escaped from London, and the rich people in the city also fled with their families in a hurry. Cambridge residents loaded their luggage in carriages and evacuated to the countryside.
In the city of London, more than 10,000 houses were abandoned, some of which had their doors and windows nailed to death with pine boards, and the houses with patients were marked with crosses with red chalk.
That's why Edward asked William to clean up the sanitation situation in London after he took office. After all, the plague was terrible, and he didn't want to travel through it again.
In history, the demise of the Ming Dynasty has nothing to do with the plague. The plague at the end of the Ming Dynasty was a great plague, "the children in the neighborhood were never seen, there were coffins, and there were no coffins, and there were more than 200,000 people in the nine gates."
Beijing between August and December 1643, it is conservatively estimated that the number of deaths in the city was as high as one-fifth of the city. So when Li Zicheng attacked Beijing, the capital of the Ming Empire, in April of the following year, what he faced was a dead city where "people and ghosts are mixed together, and people dare not walk at sunset".
Under the personal orders of his immediate superior, His Majesty the King, for his own position, and especially to make a good impression in front of the King, he will complete the task ordered by His Majesty the King today.
However, the new director of the City Management Office, the Earl of Southampton—Thomas Leo Shesley, this old fox actually asked him to suspend execution.
When the Earl of Southampton was nursing at home, he suddenly received a letter from London.
The content in it made it difficult for the lost earl to calm down. As a veteran in the political arena, he had waited too long for the news of this c returning to London.
So, even if he was the director of a small city management office, he worked hard to go to London to send loyalty to Edward.
In fact, Edward has considered the position of Director of the City Management Office for a long time.
City management, especially the sanitation area, is very complicated, and an old and cunning guy with rich political experience must be in charge.
The Earl of Southampton fell into Edward's vision.
The old man joined Edward early in the morning. Edward originally wanted to use this guy's power in the navy. Who knows, Baron Thomas suddenly appeared and tried to use the navy to seize power.
This made Edward plan to use the army to seize power in vain, and the Earl of Southampton was naturally left idle.
"My Mr. Mayor, you must know that there are a lot of people who violate the building regulations. Among them, there are several members of the city council who have illegally built their houses!"
"Besides, how do you know if there are shares of those nobles and the Minister of the Privy Council in the shop you want to demolish?"
After taking a sip of tea, Earl Thomas said unhurriedly, completely ignoring the angry appearance of our Mayor William.
"You have to understand, this is not a small matter, if one is not handled well, we will suffer a lot!"
Seeing the Earl of Southampton put on a look of experience, Mayor William felt that there was no fire in his heart.
Suppressing the urge to lose your temper, and gritted his teeth, William said with a very calm expression:
"His Majesty the King has already issued an imperial decree, requesting the nobles and ministers to cooperate with the city government in this action!"
"Besides, the Police Department is always on standby. There is no difficulty in this operation!"
"I don't believe anyone dares to stop our actions!"
The Minister of the Privy Council and the Chief of the Police Department, the Earl of Boswell also said in cooperation.
"Yes, that's right, I don't believe anyone dares to stop His Majesty's order!"
"At that time, our police department will let them know what the responsibility of the police is!"
Earl Boswell immediately turned to His Majesty the King after Duke Edward lost power.
Edward felt that there was no one available, so he was allowed to make up for it and concurrently served as the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department.
"My Earl, you have only been away from London for a few years, why are you getting less and less courageous!"
"Mr. Mayor, don't disappoint His Majesty's expectations, work hard, I believe in you, you will succeed!"
Earl Boswell looked down upon this political loser, and if His Majesty the King hadn't tolerated him, he would have been able to drive him away by himself.
Casually expressed his support for Mayor William, and did not forget to laugh at the Earl of Southampton.
"Okay, Mr. Mayor, I will cooperate with you, but if there is a problem in the future, don't come to me!"
Throwing down these words, the Earl of Southampton glared at Earl Boswell, and left the conference room angrily.
Earl Boswell didn't even look at him, he slowly picked up the tea in his hand, and took a sip with a look of endless aftertaste.
The other directors didn't say much. After all, these two people are the ones with the highest titles and the most weight.
"Okay, now, Mr. Wardflow, your port terminal should also be cleaned up. After you go back, you have to give me a plan, a management plan for the port and the port!"
"Also, Mr. Howard, your finance department is now preparing a budget, and we will use a sum of money to re-plan the city..."
Just as our Mayor William was making a bold move to start his own transformation of London, our former Privy Councilor, His Excellency John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, was enjoying lunch at his home.
Eating the cheese in front of him, the Earl of Warwick was in a calm mood at this time, without the slightest surprise.
Even at this time his eldest son was reading a letter written to him by his friend Bishop Thomas himself.
"My dear Mr. Earl, I am deeply sorry for what happened to you!"
"It's all those dirty and hateful businessmen who maliciously falsely accused you, which led to these misunderstandings."
"I have personally explained this matter to His Majesty the King, and His Majesty is deeply sorry for this misunderstanding!"
"Your Majesty said that he already knew about the grievances you have received, and he personally promised me that he would no longer issue a warrant to you!"
"Also, stopped the Dark Blade and the Star Chamber Court from hunting you and the whole family."
"You are safe now, my friend, and God bless you.
Your old friend Thomas Cranmer! "
When the eldest son Thomas received the letter, he was as happy as eating honey, and couldn't wait to read the letter from London to the whole family.
"Father, mother, we are safe now and can go back to London!"
Thomas is in his twenties. After reading this letter, he suddenly couldn't help crying. He couldn't wipe away his tears, just like a child.
Not only did he cry, everyone sitting at the table eating, except the Earl of Warwick, wept into tears.
God knows how they came here these days. They sailed to Northumberland by boat in the dark with fear and fear. After that, the family stayed on the ship in the port of Northumberland, not daring to go out.
And they dare not sleep deeply at night, because they are always worried that His Majesty the King will come to capture them alive at night and send them to the guillotine.
The Earl of Warwick has been planning, when to escape to Edinburgh, the place of the Scots.
Of course, this is just the worst method in the earl's mind, and he won't use it until the last moment.
And his target will only be the French, and he won't pay attention to the group of barbarians in Scotland. Besides, staying in Scotland is not safe.
"Father, can we go back to London?" After crying for a while, the eldest son asked the Earl of Warwick with expectant eyes.
"Hehe! Don't be delusional, there is no hint of letting me go back to London in this letter!"
"Let's go back to our hometown! I haven't been back for a long time, I'll take you to see our real home!"
The Earl of Warwick sneered, breaking the expectation of the whole family.
(end of this chapter)