My British Empire

  Chapter 479 The Curse of the Duke of York

  Since the end of 1555, Sir William Selsey has served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (and also serves as the President of the Privy Council of England and the Speaker of the House of Lords) for one term.

  After December of this year, in 1564, he began the fourth year of his second term.

  At this time, he was only forty-four years old, and he was in the prime of life, but the top of his head had become the Mediterranean Sea, and he had deep bags under his eyes. He looked like an old man in his fifties or sixties.

  In the Palace of Westminster, in the prime minister's office, there were a few well-dressed middle-aged men sitting there. They just sat there, but they looked extremely powerful. The secretary who was delivering tea held his breath.

   "Your Excellency, the new year's expenditure budget is too heavy for us in Wales? After all, we only have more than 200,000 people!"

  The elderly Faris Alexander, as the ruler of Wales, heard the United Kingdom's budget for the new year, and couldn't help being the first to speak.

   "Fifty thousand pounds is still too high. We, Wales, are the least populated area in the kingdom. Please don't bully us!"

   Watching the Welsh ruler blow his beard and stare, he was very dissatisfied with the new kingdom's budget proposal. As the prime minister of the kingdom, William Selsey suddenly smiled and said:

   "Your Excellency, you can't hide the situation in Wales from me. £50,000 is already the lowest result, otherwise it would be unfair to other regions!"

  Who doesn’t know that Wales, taking advantage of its proximity to Ireland, took advantage of the wave of Irish land development, and the ports in various places developed vigorously, and the annual tax revenue increased several layers. In 1563, the tax revenue had reached 80,000 pounds.

   "We in Wales have finally become rich for a while, how can the coalition government wantonly exploit?"

  Master Faris was still full of displeasure. Obviously, he was deprived of more than half of his annual income, and he was extremely upset.

   "The coalition government has no choice. After all, the situation in France is unstable and money is being spent like water. His Majesty the King asked everyone to accommodate temporarily! After a few years, the original rules will be restored!"

  As soon as he heard the word king, Faris felt better. After all, the majesty of His Majesty the King is still quite heavy.

  The Earl of Argyle of Scotland and the Governor of Ireland looked at each other helplessly and could only choose to submit.

  His Majesty the King is behind the support, and the strong position of the coalition government is fully revealed, but this kind of good life can only be maintained during this period of time.

  The lack of finances made the coalition government extremely distressed, and had to seek help from His Majesty the King.

   "Next, we will discuss the salary of county officials. As we all know, prices have risen in the past few years. The standards set a few years ago are no longer suitable for the current situation. What do you think?"

  As the Minister of Finance and the third prime minister of the kingdom, Sir Anthony stood up, bowed to the ministers in front of him, and then began to preside over the next topic.

  Everyone also politely returned a salute to the future Prime Minister, smiling to show their respect.

  Regarding the sensitive issue of salary, you ministers are very cautious. After all, it concerns tens of thousands of officials in the whole kingdom. If one is not good, it will offend a large number of people and cause trouble for your future governance.

  Besides, the level of consumption is different in different places, as well as the taxation and finance in different places. Naturally, officials at the same level have uneven salaries.

  So, outside the office door, the secretary was making tea when there was a sudden noise in his ear, which almost knocked the tea in his hand down.

  He paused for a moment, and then calmly continued to make tea. This is a precious tea bestowed by His Majesty the King, and the annual output is only a few pounds.

   What's more, at this time of year, the office repeats itself, and it has long been used to it.

  ...

  December in London, the sun rarely showed a trace, the mild and warm sunshine eliminated a trace of past humidity and haze.

   Today, the young His Majesty the King did not go to accompany his little lovers, but accompanied his queen, and talked with her affectionately.

The young queen was wearing a loose white long dress with a purple sable velvet on her shoulders. She was nestling in the arms of His Majesty the King, resting her chubby face on his shoulders, with a look of happiness on her face smiling.

  His Majesty Edward, while stroking her swollen belly again, put his lips to her ear, speaking love words.

  The window was half-closed, and the sunlight sneaked in, shining on the happy couple, bringing warmth to them.

On the side, little Prince Charlie, who was building a small palace with building blocks, carefully placed the last block on the top, with his fleshy little arms trembling, his eyes staring at the boss, slowly carrying out the final finished.

   With the success of building blocks, the little guy kept grinning at the corners of his mouth. Obviously, this made him very proud.

  After placing the last block, the little guy turned around immediately, with a smile on his face like a flower, and ran towards his parents.

   "Father, mother, look, I have already built this building block!"

  The little guy couldn't control the tenderness of his parents. He took small steps and ran towards the king and queen, and kept shouting, as if they were afraid that they would not understand.

  Hearing the call of his eldest son, Edward raised his head impatiently, ready to reprimand, but seeing his big expectant eyes, the reprimand immediately turned into encouragement:

   "Well done, Charlie, you really didn't disappoint me!" As he said, His Majesty Edward patted his son on the shoulder, and his eyes matched with encouragement.

  When the little guy heard his father's words, he immediately laughed even happier, and his eyes turned into crescent moons.

   "Oh! My little Charlie, you are wonderful!"

   But His Royal Highness was not satisfied, he turned his head and looked at his mother beside him.

  Queen Mary, who was nestled in the king's arms, immediately hugged her son in her arms, kissed him **** the cheek, and said tenderly and excitedly.

   This satisfied His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the United Kingdom so much that his whole face turned into a flower.

   "Little Charlie, would you rather have a younger brother or a younger sister?" Edward asked softly, stroking his son's long light brown hair.

   "Eh!" The little guy imitated his father, held his forehead, pretended to think about it, and then said decisively:

   "Brother, I hope to have a younger brother!"

  He opened his bright eyes, looked at his mother's bulging belly, and said loudly:

   "With a younger brother, I can be a knight, he is a servant, and then we will fight together! Hehe—"

  Speaking at the end, the little guy broke away from Mary's embrace, picked up a wooden sword from the ground, waved it around a few times, raised his chin, and said arrogantly.

   Seeing this, His Majesty the King and the Queen looked at each other and smiled, and the room was filled with a warm atmosphere.

  Looking at Mary's belly, if it was a son, His Majesty the King suddenly felt sympathetic to his second child.

  The eldest is the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cornwall, and the second is the Duke of York.

   This comes from the curse of the Duke of York circulating on the Internet.

  Since 1461, the great-grandson of the first Duke of York inherited the throne and became Edward IV, none of the 10 Dukes of York in history could be hereditary—they either inherited the throne or died without heirs.

  For example, the princess of the 21st century, her second son, Andrew, Duke of York, has only two daughters and no male heir, so the title will be withdrawn.

  The Duke of York will become extinct again.

  (end of this chapter)