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Chapter 1478 Execution of the Earl of Stratford
"Now we in the House of Commons indict for accumulated treason the Earl of Stratford, Privy Councilor to the King, who raised troops in Ireland and resumed war with the Scots, and whose past conduct, speech, and manifest intentions have all shown that he wanted To betray our England. Our proposal in the House of Commons is to punish him with death."

Pym, the leader of the British House of Commons, sued the arrested king's favorite Earl Stratford in court.

The motion to impeach the Earl of Stratford was proposed by Pym, put on file by the House of Commons, and accepted by the House of Lords.

Even though the king did not recognize the legitimacy of this self-established parliament, Britain had a system for electing members, and a parliament was established and functioning well.

The Earl of Stratford was on the defendant's seat, and when he heard that the parliament was planning to execute him, he couldn't help standing up and looking around at his former colleagues.

Most of the members who now form the parliament are the same group of members when the parliament was disbanded ten years ago.

The Earl of Stratford said in a dry voice: "Gentlemen of Parliament... There has never been a charge of 'cumulative treason' in the legal history of England. Just imagine, if your enemy came forward to testify, if the enemy did not Instead, the law defines your words, intentions and circumstances as treason based on the consequences of the matter and the crimes weaving together. in danger."

"Consider, gentlemen, what are the consequences of the dangerous practice of executing a man on the basis of an unprecedented crime? If there is no law, then there should be no crime. If you want to convict me , please gather sufficient evidence and invoke the appropriate law."

Lord Stratford's rebuttal silenced the House of Commons.

Eighty senators and aristocrats acted as judges. They looked at each other, and one of the senators and nobles said: "The Earl of Stratford's rebuttal is valid. Unless the House of Commons can cite appropriate places and collect enough evidence, the prosecution is invalid."

There was no way to accuse him of treason, and for a while, the MPs, including Pym, couldn't think of what crime to execute the Earl of Stratford.

On this occasion, tens of thousands of London citizens surrounded the Parliament for two consecutive days, shouted loudly outside, expressing their support for the Parliament, and strongly executed the Earl of Stratford!
There was a lot of noise, and the Chinese merchants in the teahouses, porcelain shops, and silk shops in the city all learned that King Charles' number one favorite was on trial.

It's just that the trial has reached a deadlock, and the House of Commons desperately needs a just cause to execute the Earl of Stratford, to break the morale of the king's army, and to break with the king.

When almost all the members of the House of Commons were grimacing, an experienced MP proposed that the House of Commons should replace the accumulated treason charges with the Disenfranchisement Act.

"The Earl of Stratford served as the Governor of Ireland for five years. He used force to collect taxes and taxes in the local area. He was tyrannical and brutal. He was called the 'Black Tom Tyrant' by the locals. Now there are immigrants from Ireland on the jury. Lord Raffo's arrogance. Under the Disfranchisement Act, if a person exhibits an overbearing intent, Parliament can by resolution convict the accused." A member of the council again sued Stella in a third-day indictment Earl Fowler.

The Earl of Stratford turned pale slightly, and he could not refute the accusation of the House of Commons again with the previous reasons.

Then comes the fateful vote, which will require the House of Commons and the House of Lords to decide whether he is guilty by a majority rule.

The House of Commons was most resentful of the Earl of Stratford, and passed the case by an overwhelming majority of 201 votes to 52 votes.

However, the aristocratic members of the House of Lords questioned: "We have reason to suspect that your House of Commons has abused its legislative power and failed to act in accordance with the law. You are more like trying to find charges for the execution of the Earl of Stratford..."

At this time, the lawyer who had been in the Hampton tax resistance incident not long ago stood up and said to the nobles in the House of Lords: "Judges in the House of Lords, the only starting point of the Parliament is the interests of the people, as all Englishmen from the king to the beggar Parliament is free from existing laws, but has the power to make new laws as circumstances require. It is never cruel or unreasonable to smash the heads of foxes and wolves, for they are beasts of prey."

The aristocratic members of the House of Lords looked at me and I looked at you, and they didn't know what to do for a while.

From the heart, the members of the House of Lords are biased towards the king and are unwilling to vote to pass the proposal to execute the Earl of Stratford.But now the citizens of London outside the parliament are furious. If the House of Lords does not give the people the result they expect as soon as possible, it is estimated that the citizens who surrounded the parliament will not let them go.

In the end, 35 members of the entangled House of Lords abstained from voting, 26 votes in favor and 19 votes against. The proposal to execute the Earl of Stratford was passed!

The Earl of Stratford tried to make a final struggle: "It's not fair to me! I cleared Ireland of pirates, developed trade and industry, organized churches, and implemented financial reforms. All I did was to faithfully carry out the king's orders , you should consider my situation at that time!"

However, Earl Stratford's struggle was useless, and the people in the parliament didn't care about his contribution at all. Whether it was to strengthen the determination of the parliamentary army to defeat the king's army, or to calm the anger of the citizens of London, someone needed to take the blame.

A person knocked on the door of the office of the intelligence office of the Zhongxia Merchant Guild in London.

"What has become of the final judgment of the Earl of Stratford in Parliament?"

"They have passed the proposal to execute the Earl of Stratford. Even if we want to rescue the Earl of Stratford, it will be very difficult. The prison is guarded by the militiamen of the city of London. If we use force to rescue the Earl of Stratford, It will be resented by all Londoners when it comes to light. He has fallen victim to the conflict between the King and Parliament."

"It's better to give up on him, not to offend a group of people because of one person."

The intelligence agency from the East originally wanted to rescue Earl Stratford so that both the king and Earl Stratford owed him favors, but they saw that the citizens of London City treated Earl Stratford as a punching bag, so they could only Choose to give up on him.

(End of this chapter)