1606 Winter

Richard, my son and the Prince of wales, proposed a ‘Code of Richard’, the new Code of Laws on Criminal Law that he and his fellow scholars in the Royal Society of London made. It was to replace many different bodies of law - the Roman Law, Church Law and the Common Law - which are used in different parts of Great Britain into a single legal code.

Of course, both houses of the 1st Parliament of the United Kingdom – the Parliament of Great Britain(*The 2nd Parliament is in Madrid) - strongly opposed. First, the House of Lords opposed because merging the Church Law with the Secular Law threatens the rights of the Church and consolidating the Common Law into one means reducing the privilege of the feudal lords. In short, the Code of Richard was a threat to the high-rank priests and feudal lords that make up the House of Lords.

Second, the House of Commons wasn’t that happy with the Code of Richard, neither. Because it meant consolidating the Criminal Law into one and let all criminal trials ruled by judges, resulting in both the increase of political powers of judges and the fall of the political status of Congress.

In the end, both the House of Lords and the House of Commons objected to the Code of Richard, which threatens their share of the pie. And Richard came face to face with them by discussion.

“I do respect your humble intention your highness, however, all regions have had their Common Law for centuries and the Roman Law has been applied to all parts of Europe for the millennium. I’m afraid that the new law you’ve proposed might cause chaos to all parts of the nation. Please, reconsider, your highness.”

“I and my fellow scholars have fully contemplated on that matter, and have respected the current Roman Law and the Common Law as much as possible. Also, this new Code of Law on Criminal Law was made to straighten out several laws that have been contradictory to one another, not to make any new law.”

“I’m sorry your highness, but the Church Law was made by his holiness, the Pope himself to decide what’s right or wrong in the Church’s domain, which is not a secular area. So, I’m afraid that applying secular law in the Church’s domain might be a blasphemy to the Holy Father and Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary, your highness.”

"I beg your pardon, but isn’t the Church supposed to be a gathering place for the believers, not the Holy Father himself? And since the Constitution also restricts my father - his majesty - I can’t see why the Church has to be excused from the Code of Richard. If you’re dead and in heaven, then you should follow the law of Heaven, which is made by the Holy Father. However, since you’re alive now and living in the United Kingdom, shouldn’t you follow the laws of the United Kingdom? As they always say, in Rome, do as the Romans do!“

“Your highness, are you trying to follow the steps of the Julian the Apostate!”

“What did you say?!”

“Order! Did you forget that I – Edward VII, king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Iberia – am present?”

“I...I’m sorry, your majesty. I apologize for becoming too inflamed.”

“S, sorry for disturbing you, father...I mean, your majesty.”

“It’s okay. Now, calmly continue your discussion.”

‘Six points out of ten, my boy.’

I didn’t get in their way but intervened when the discussion became too heated and calmed both sides from time to time.

‘Well, his rhetoric isn’t so bad, but the problem is...he talks with congressmen like he discusses with fellow scholars.‘

In a nutshell, he is trying to convince the Parliament with logic. Congress is not a place where you point out an elephant in the room, but a place where you do give-and-take with your opponents.

If you’re doing a discussion with scholars, they’ll calmly listen to your opinion, and either accept your argument or counterattacks at your logic’s dilemma. But, when you’re talking with congressmen, they’ll just reply ‘So what?’ That’s not a correct way to persuade politicians – congress, to be more exact.

So, for entire winter, even though Richard tried to persuade the Parliament logically, the congressmen all hailed ‘Nay’ In the end, since they couldn’t beat his argument logically, they would say ‘Yes, you’re right, your highness.‘ in the front, but when they vote, they would all abstain, like they’ve plotted in advance – which they were.

Nevertheless, Richard would just try to logically persuade them, but they just abstained again and again. So, it became a nerve war, and since Richard was a single person, while congressmen were hundreds, it was he who got weary first.

“These congressmen are just fat cats, who’re only plotting to bring home more bacon, not concerning the people of the United Kingdom in the slightest.”

And that’s what Richard said to me privately at my room. I barely held the urge to reply him

‘Now you realized that, you fool? At least for a decade, you’ve watched me doing log-rolling with them but you’ve thought naively till now?’

But, come to think of it, since both me and congressmen held superficial causes during the debate at the parliament, it might have been difficult for a naive scholar like him to find out their true intentions - until now. So, I’ve softly asked him

“Yes, they’re pigs, who’re only interested in their share of the pie. Then, what should you do?”

“Shouldn’t I beat them and make them remind for whom they’re in the congress?”

“Wrong. You call yourself a scholar when you use the whip as a method of persuasion? Give those pigs feedstuff!”

The next day, after I’ve scolded Richard, I presented 3 bills of my own to Congress. The first was military system reform – making armed reserve and training the adult male citizens of Great Britain regularly with military officers for an emergency. And second was national insurance, third was the independence of the Department of Justice.

And all of them were hard, which were faced with Parliament’s strong objection.

First was the military system reform bill.

“Mandating military drills to workers who’re busy with their work? This is absurd, your majesty! Then, on that day, the workers would be penniless and their employers couldn’t run the business!”

“They would be provided with a pension, which will be funded by the indirect tax, so there’s no need to worry about.”

“Your majesty, I’m afraid that might give more burden to the people.”

“Haven’t you guys see the newspaper lately? The people are terrified by the threat of France! You call yourselves noble when you don’t perform ‘Noblesse Oblige’ to secure your peasants? What would Holy Father and Jesus Christ think of you!”

“I beg your pardon, your majesty. But isn’t Great Britain an island? Why do we need so many armies, we just need a strong navy to protect the Dover Strait, your majesty!”

“What did you say? Why you fool! Isn’t the Netherlands our territory? Did you forget that I – Edward Philip Albert Charles von Tudor Habsburg – is the king of Great Britain, Netherlands, and Iberia? The Dutch have stood on our side and fought for this kingdom during the last war – War of Iberian Succession. And now you say we should desert them? How can this idiot be a congressman that represents our people? Guards? Drag him out of this building, now!”

“I...I’m sorry, your majesty! P...please have mercy!!!”

Yes, it only took 3 days to pass the first bill. It was all thanks to the newspapers I’ve made in advance and the public opinion created by the media, reminding of the responsibility as a noble and a fool who was just like my ex-wife Anna – who was narrow-sighted, thinking only of a region that he was born, not this entire kingdom.

Then the second one, the establishment of national insurance.

“Your majesty, why are you trying to waste precious taxes on hoodlums? It’s all their fault of not trying hard enough that they’ve become poor!”

“It’s better than not supporting them and make them become bandits and burglars. Also, how can all the poor people be on the streets for not trying hard enough? Some may have done their best, but luck didn’t come. I wish to give them one more chance.”

“However, your majesty, then the rich might be dissatisfied.”

“Then, think of it as a precautionary measure to prevent the poor from revolting. The Roman Empire held circus regularly and distributed bread to the poor for free to prevent their revolt. I’m trying to do it with supplies, not by bread and circus.”

Yeah, since the Parliament represent the rich and the noble, I should persuade them from their point of view. Not like the noble saint, saying ‘All is for the people!’, which would cause the congress’s objection, like ‘Then isn’t the rich the people of this country, your majesty?‘

“U...understood, your majesty. But, adopting employment insurance and worker’s compensation insurance might be a too big burden for the employers.”

“...Okay, then. Then we should only apply national pension and national health insurance this time. And it will be run by the National Pension Service, and its' HQ will be established in the City of London.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

Are you seeing this, Bismark, Obama? Hahaha!

Finally, the independence of the Department of Justice. Unlike the other bills, it had no room for compromise, since the independence of the Department of Justice was both a threat to the power of the crown and the reducing the power of the parliament. So, I gave up on this one.

“I’ll let the Department of Justice become an independent body, and the Secretary of Justice will be appointed by the cabinet. Also, I’ll prohibit you, congressmen, from being investigated in custody during your term in congress. Also, I’ll get the parliament’s permission first when I appoint the President of the Supreme Court and the Head of the Constitutional Court.”

“Yeah! Long live the king!”

“All hail Edward VII the benevolent!”

“Long live, your majesty!”

So, with only the crown’s power reduced, congress cheered at my decision. And both the parliament and I was happy. The congress was satisfied with keeping their power in the independence of the Department of Justice bill, although they had to give up on the military reform bill. And I was pleased since I passed all of my 3 bills – although, excluding the first one, the other 2 became different than the original one.

1607 Spring

“...and, with an overwhelming majority, I hereby announce that the Code of Richard has been passed.”

‘Clap’ ‘Clap’ ‘Clap’

And finally, the congress passed the Code of Richard, which they’ve fervently abstained till now. Why? Because previously, the Code of Richard was a threat to the congress, but with the independence of the Department of Justice, and it’s power in the parliament’s hands, it became a good tool to check and balance the Crown.

Of course, Richard wasn’t happy with this situation.

“So, you say I should feed milk and comb the fur of those fat cats if I inherit your crown, father?”

That’s what Richard grumbled, frowning, in my room after the Code of Richard has passed.

“That’s what the king should do, my son.”

Yes, that’s what all I can say to him now. If he can’t learn this, with all this show-and-tell he doesn’t deserve to be a king. It’s all up to him if he learns something and becomes more mature or he just tries to be a saint as he has done till now.

1607 Summer

I returned to Madrid – the 2nd capital of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Iberia – and passed all those 3 bills that I’ve passed at the 1st capital – London in 1606 winter.

Unlike the 1st parliament in London, the congressmen of the 2nd congress in Madrid – the senators and the representatives alike - were still in debt, so they had no choice but to accept it all with an overwhelming majority.

And I held the urge to order all the feudal lords in Portugal and Castille to disband their private army, which I thought was a bit too rush.

Meanwhile, a German noble called Ludwig became a new Duke of Lorraine, after the assassination of Margaret, the late Duchess of Lorraine. But he had one problem – he was a Calvinist. So, France raised an objection, and Calvinist from all over Germany(Holy Roman Empire) gathered and swore to fight against the French Army, which led to a War of the Lorraine Succession.

“Oh, isn’t this good news! It’s a good chance to weaken France!”

So, I’ve returned to London for a moment, and submit an intervention bill on the War of the Lorraine Succession. And the Congress was optimistic towards this, which led to a swift pass in the House of Commons. But unfortunately, this bill didn’t pass the House of Lords.

In just 4 weeks, Elizabeth led 6,000 army made up of citizens of Paris and crushed 28,000 foes – which was made up of an army of Lorraine and alliance of German Protestants – by dividing them into 5 factions, crushing the factions one by one. And the Lioness swiftly entered the empty Lorraine castle and captured the stunned Ludwig as a prisoner. With Ludwig’s surrender, the Dukedom of Lorraine was inherited to a far relative of the previous Duke – father of the late Margaret - ‘s – who was, of course, French and Catholic.

The Dukedom of Lorraine was annexed by France. And the French feudal lords, who slowly tried to get away from Lioness’s hand and tried to became partners with the United Kingdom, all gasped at Elizabeth’s swift victory and had no choice but to swear allegiance to her.

“...Elizabeth, the regent Queen of France, isn’t called the ‘Lioness’ for nothing.”

“...”

After hearing this news, I had no choice but to murmur and the Parliament agreed to my words with silence.