The Rise of the European Emperor

The Edinburgh Guard is the core force of the Scottish royal family. They are responsible for guarding Edinburgh City and Edinburgh Palace. They are the most trusted armed forces of the Scottish king.

There were 3,000 troops in this force, but when James IV went south to England, he took away a thousand cavalry, leaving only 2,000 infantrymen to continue to guard the palace and the whole city of Edinburgh. In addition, James IV also mobilized 3,000 second-line troops from all over the city to help defend the city. The command of the second-line troops is in the hands of the Prime Minister. As for the 2,000 Praetorian Guards, they were originally under the command of James IV, but after James IV was captured the year before, the Praetorian Guard is now under the control of Queen Margaret.

It should be pointed out that the 2,000 janitors guard the most central palace and important places in Edinburgh. And the 3,000 infantrymen transferred from various places served as auxiliary soldiers to guard the periphery of Edinburgh City. As far as the influence on the Scottish court is concerned, it is obvious that the old guards are bigger and more powerful.

If Queen Margaret is willing to support John Stewart and marry him, then John Stewart will immediately get quite strong support. After all, the total number of the entire Scottish army is only around seven or eight thousand. Moreover, most of them are second-line troops. Only the 2,000 Praetorian Guards controlled by the Queen are the real core of Scotland.

In addition, Queen Margaret came to discuss with Prime Minister Alex, which is equivalent to fighting for the management right in Alex's hands and the three thousand city defense troops in his hands. As long as he has the dual support of Queen Margaret and Prime Minister Alex, John Stewart will surely be able to secure the throne.

Prime Minister Alex also agreed with Queen Margaret's plan. Indeed, now James IV has just died. If the English knew about it, they would definitely take the opportunity to seize Scotland. At that time, the existence of the Kingdom of Scotland will be a question. Therefore, the most important thing at the moment is indeed to elect a new king as soon as possible, not to trace the cause of James IV's death.

...

Of course, Queen Margaret gave this advice not out of concern for the Kingdom of Scotland, but purely for herself.

Why? Because Queen Margaret, as a former Princess of England, had no support from her family after her family was killed by Edward. Moreover, he did not give birth to a son and a half daughter for James IV. With James IV dead, Queen Margaret's situation became extremely embarrassing.

It stands to reason that she is a young queen who can remarry. The problem is that her family is dead now, and now England no longer recognizes her status as an English princess. As a result, Queen Margaret lost the support of her family. If you want to remarry, not necessarily someone is willing to take over. Of course, it's not that you can't get married at all, but that you can't find someone with a suitable identity to take over.

After all, she is no longer a legitimate Princess of England. Marrying her is not only without any benefit, but also offends the current King Edward, which is very uneconomical. Even if she goes to France and can be treated as a guest by France, which is hostile to England, she will never help her find a suitable receiver. At most, offer her as a mascot. Also, the French would use her as an excuse to attack England. However, with the poor level of the French navy, it is basically impossible to capture England. Therefore, her practical value is not great. Anyway, by then she will become dispensable.

In order to avoid becoming a dispensable marginal person, Queen Margaret decided to take the initiative to break the game. She thought over and over again and thought that John Stewart was in a dangerous period of embarrassment right now. If he hadn't been a suspect in the murder of James IV, John Stewart might have easily become king of Scotland, and then married a princess of equal status, not a former princess like her.

But when John Stewart was incarcerated as a suspected king murderer, everything changed. Today's John Stewart is in a desperate period of isolation and helplessness. If he is willing to support him, then the other party will not refuse to marry him.

And once John Stewart married himself, then he would still be the queen of the noble Scottish kingdom, instead of becoming a dispensable marginal person...

Therefore, Queen Margaret made up her mind that whether or not John Stewart was really the murderer of James IV, she would marry him and help him stabilize the situation and control the overall situation. In this way, she can also safely be her queen.

Because, James IV is dead, and she has no children left. So, at this time, it doesn't make sense to avenge James IV. And if she can take advantage of this opportunity and continue to become the Queen of Scotland, it will be the best result for her. You must know that not everyone has the opportunity to sit in the position of a queen. Just like Marin's younger sister Anne, when they had the chance to become the Queen of Poland, the old Hoffmans were almost crazy and almost leaked Marin's agricultural secrets.

...

As the daughter of the more resourceful Henry VII, Queen Margaret's political wisdom is not low. She knew that in the current situation, it was meaningless to investigate who was the murderer. What if the real murderer was found and avenged for James IV? As a queen who has no children, she still has to stand aside, and her future future is uncertain.

But if he took this opportunity to put the imprisoned John Stewart on the throne and help him stabilize the situation, the other party would definitely be willing to take over and marry him. Because, now John Stewart has no other choice...

...

With the support of Prime Minister Alex, Queen Margaret went to prison alone to meet John Stewart.

John Stewart was not the murderer, so naturally he refused to admit his guilt. For Queen Margaret, John Stewart is also not very interested. After all, the other party is a widow, who knows if it has the property of Kefu. The most important thing is that Queen Margaret has no support from the Kingdom of England at this time, she is just a bereaved dog and cannot bring him any help...

Of course, that's a long-term consideration. Queen Margaret told him in a very calm tone that you have not yet cleared the suspicion of murdering the king, you may die at any time, don't think about those distant things...

Then, John Stewart finally came to his senses. Yes, he is still a prisoner, and he can't guarantee his life or death. How can he be qualified to dislike Queen Margaret?

When Queen Margaret told him that she was in control of the 2,000 most elite guards in Scotland and could help him stabilize the situation, John Stewart finally agreed to marry Queen Margaret after weighing the pros and cons.

...

After the negotiation, Prime Minister Alex came to ask Queen Margaret how to help John Stewart clear his name? After all, as a suspect of monarchy, it is not suitable for inheriting the throne.

"It's so simple, you declare to the outside world that the English killed His Majesty."

"However, I have not found conclusive evidence that the Englishman assassinated His Majesty..."

"Does the evidence matter?" Queen Margaret asked rhetorically.

"Isn't it important?"

"Is it important?"

After speaking, without waiting for Prime Minister Alex to answer, Queen Margaret floated away, leaving Prime Minister Alex stunned.

Prime Minister Alex is a bit pedantic and honest, but he's not stupid either. Soon, he understood what Queen Margaret meant, no matter what the truth of the matter was, it was right to insist that it was the English who did it. In this way, it can also help John Stewart to clear his name. At the same time, it can also arouse the feelings of common hatred among the people and help resist the invasion of the English...

"The queen really has a good plan..." After speaking, Prime Minister Alex was busy fabricating the "evidence" of the English assassination of James IV...