The Rise of the European Emperor

On the island of Ireland, after several months of hard work, the Earl of Edward has successfully taken control of the King's Direct Territory, the Earl of Kildare and the McMurrow Dynasty of Leinster.

As for the portion of the land allotted to the McCarthy dynasty, Earl Edward gave it to Morris, Earl of Desmond for his support. After all, Earl Edward's ultimate goal was England, not Ireland.

Now, the territories owned by the Earl of Edward are mainly the Pale, the Earl of Kildare, the land of the MacMurrow Dynasty of Leinster, and the city of Cork.

In the spring, Earl Edward presided over the Irish serfs and carried out a large-scale spring ploughing to obtain enough food in the autumn. After all, relying on the outside world to provide food is really unreliable.

On the island of Ireland, the British Crown Territory, and the Earl of Kildare, are peat-rich areas on the island of Ireland. The land here is also the most fertile. In addition, it is in the "shadow area" of precipitation in the eastern part of the island of Ireland, where there is not as much rain as the western coast, which is very suitable for the development of agriculture.

Although no fertilizer is used, the peat land is a fertile soil rich in rot and impurities, and the agricultural output has always been relatively high. Otherwise, the British would not have chosen this piece of land on the east side of the island of Ireland as the direct territory of the British king.

Earl Edward attaches great importance to the spring ploughing of the territories directly under the British King and the Earl of Kildare. As long as there is a bumper harvest of food here, he can gradually get rid of his dependence on foreign countries.

There are more than 80,000 British semi-fine wool sheep, and Earl Edward is a little reluctant to sell 10,000 to the Beihai Chamber of Commerce. However, he also knows that his strength is not enough to compete with the British, and he needs everyone's support. Moreover, the North Sea Chamber of Commerce is also very interesting, and also sent 2,800 experienced German mercenaries to help guard Dublin.

More importantly, these 2,800 German mercenaries, without political demands, will not force Earl Edward to do things he doesn't want to do. For example, those French people were like forcing Count Edward to storm the fortress of Calais in England. In that case, it would be very difficult for Earl Edward to succeed at all, and it would not be of any benefit.

With these 2800 German mercenaries, Earl Edward can use them to compete with the French and avoid being too controlled by the French.

Moreover, the Beihai Chamber of Commerce not only sent 2,800 German mercenaries, but also a large amount of food to supply the needs of the army. After all, once the British come over, the defense of Dublin will definitely be long-term. At that time, enough food is needed. Therefore, it is absolutely very important that the North Sea Chamber of Commerce sends a large amount of rye.

In addition to these, the Beihai Chamber of Commerce also transported four large iron gates through large ships to guard against possible bombardment by the British army. Although the British artillery equipment rate is not high, the blacksmiths in Essex are trying to use wrought iron to cast guns. However, the leader of them, Old John, has been hired away by Marin. Then, if you want to cast an excellent iron cannon, the Hongyi Cannon, it is estimated that it will be delayed for a while.

Although it is said that the United Kingdom also has some bronze guns, but they are all small-caliber guns, which are not suitable for smashing city gates. This is mainly because the UK is not deficient in iron, but very deficient in copper. The price of copper is so expensive, and the possibility of equipping a large number of artillery is naturally low.

When the sun was shining in the spring, Henry VII suddenly remembered his own territory under the direct control of the British king on the island of Ireland. That kind of dark land (peated land) seems to be very fertile, and the grain yield is quite high.

So, on a whim, Henry VII decided to send Stephenson, his Minister of Agriculture, to take a boat to the direct territory of the British king in the eastern part of the island of Ireland.

Check spring ploughing.

Stephenson naturally took the lead and set off with three ships...

Unexpectedly, when they sailed to the waters near Ireland, Stephenson's fleet was besieged by dozens of French warships...

Fortunately, Stephenson had been in the Navy before, and seeing that the situation was not right, he decisively asked two escort ships to stop the French ship. And he himself escaped on the main ship.

In this way, Henry VII received bad news that the waters east of the island of Ireland were blocked by the French fleet. So he invited ministers to discuss countermeasures.

"Your Majesty, according to Lord Stephenson, the French have dozens of warships. We in England have more than a hundred warships. Then why don't we concentrate all the warships and destroy the French fleet in one fell swoop? ?" said Navy Secretary Johnson confidently.

Britain was not yet a maritime power at this age. To be able to make up more than a hundred warships is already the limit. Moreover, there are no artillery on the ship, and the ancient tactic of jumping off the boat and ganging against the slash is popular.

Of course, France is not a maritime power, and even has more maritime power than Britain. After all, France has always been a country that values ​​the continent and despises the sea. Therefore, when the navies of the two countries are bad, the British still have enough confidence.

At the same time, the British fleet is not all directly under the British king. More than half of them were ships and sailors dispatched by the King of England from the "Five-Port Alliance".

The so-called "five port alliance" is an alliance formed by the five English Channel port cities of Dover, Hastings, New Romney, Hayes and Sandwich to protect the navigation safety of the English Channel. This alliance enjoys various privileges bestowed by the British royal family. However, when the King needed them, they also needed to dispatch ships and sailors to help the King fight. Even in this era, the main force of the British fleet came from the "Five-Port Alliance".

Henry VII listened to Johnson's advice, mobilized hundreds of 200-ton warships from the Five-Port Alliance and other places, and took the initiative to attack the French fleet that blocked the coast of Ireland.

The French fleet saw that the situation was not good, but instead of fighting recklessly with the British fleet, it turned around and ran away. But before escaping, the French fleet commander put down a small boat and let the sailors on the boat go ashore to warn Count Edward.

After all, the French fleet helped block off the coast of Ireland, not to fight against the British fleet, but to help block the news.

Today, the British have even dispatched the main force of the fleet. That shows that the British have found something wrong. At this time, blocking the news also loses its meaning. Therefore, the French fleet evacuated directly from the coast of Ireland and returned to France. Only one dinghy was left to inform the Earl of Edward and the Scottish fleet blocking the northern half of the eastern coast of the island of Ireland.

After driving away the French fleet, the British fleet dispatched men to land on the coast of the McMurrow dynasty in the Kingdom of Leinster, and captured a small local officer for information. As a result, the local petty officer told the British fleet that the Earl of Edward had occupied the McMurrow dynasty and Dublin to the north a few months ago. Moreover, the other party seems to have 8,000 troops (when Earl Edward occupied the McMurrow Dynasty, he did bring 8,000 people)...

Robin, commander of the British fleet, felt the seriousness of the situation, and immediately withdrew to England, and reported the news to Henry VII.

When I heard that Edward of the York family was not only still alive, but also occupied a large territory on the island of Ireland with an army of 8,000 and took control of Dublin, Henry VII's lungs exploded:

"Idiots, they are all a bunch of idiots! Did Earl Kildare grow up eating Xiang? It's fine if you can't beat the other party, and you can't even get the news! What's the matter, it's been a few months, that bastard Edward is sure Already established on the island of Ireland!"

"Come on, come on! I'm going to convene a royal meeting! Hurry up and invite all the ministers! Hurry up..." Henry VII shouted hysterically, his voice full of anger...8)