chapter 32 - the lord duke in the house of commons

The Duke of Somerset followed Richard Strahl to the Hall of Commons in the Palace of Westminster, which, unlike the House of Lords, was full of monotony and green, with rows of chairs arranged in a disorderly fashion, and people of all colors sitting on them, and people whispering, and the whole hall appearing crowded. His Excellency the Duke could not help but frown at the sight of it, recalling the House of Lords!

 And the House of Lords not only has a hall for holding parliamentary celebrations, the corridors of the Royal Palace used for grand occasions, but also the room where the King wears formal dress to attend the pomp and ceremony, as well as the waiting room where members of Parliament exchange views and make some of the decisions are beautifully decorated and chic. It fully reflects the elegance and nobility of the aristocracy.

 It has been widely believed that the word "ons" in the English word "hoeoons" in the House of Commons comes from the English word "oners" (解庶民), reflecting the fact that members of the House of Commons are all of common origin, so as to distinguish it from the House of Lords (hoeoflords),which is ruled by the aristocracy. However, there is no historical support for this interpretation; in fact, the word "ons" is derived from the Norman French word unes, meaning the community that the members represent, with a geographical connotation.

 The Duke of Somerset was led by Squire Richard to the speaking position, and then saw a scepter placed in the hall. It was the tradition of the House, both in the House of Lords and in the House of Commons, to have a scepter at the meeting, which was to show the importance of the king's power, and to warn the members of Parliament in the deliberations not to do anything out of the ordinary.

 "Councilmen and gentlemen, quiet down!" Richard Strahl stood on the speaker's platform and stomped his cane, making a thumping sound, and instantly the entire hall quieted down, with hundreds of councilors looking at the two men located on the speaker's platform in unison.

 "Today, His Grace, the Duke of Somerset, comes to the House of Commons to speak to us about his motion!" Richard spoke in a raspy voice, which seemed extraordinarily imposing in the wide chamber.

 "Snap! Pop! Pop! ..." There was a thunderous applause from underneath, not knowing whether it was in welcome to the Lord Duke or in response to Mr. Richard's statement.

 With that, Squire Richard left the lectern with an inflexible stride, leaving the Lord Duke alone on the stage.

 Edward Seymour looked down at the hundreds of people on the stage, among them the earthy Yormanon, the mercantile and shrewd merchants, the roughly clad and mended craftsmen, the gentlemen of the place, and the rude knights.

 In fact, the Lord Duke did not want to communicate with these lowly plebeians, but only from the time of Henry VII passed down the tradition that the legislative power must be exercised through the Parliament in order to truly establish the legal provisions that prevailed in the country.

 "Honorable Gentlemen of Parliament ......" The Lord Duke patiently spoke to the members of the House of Commons with a slight modification of the House of Lords speech.

 After the speech, there was the usual burst of applause. After a while, the Lord Duke heard a boisterous discussion open up below, like a food market.

 "Plebeians are plebeians, without a trace of the proper quality and bearing of nobles, what a shame to be in their company!" Lord Edward Seymour couldn't help but despise the many councilors on the stage in his heart, but the smile on his face stayed on, looking as elegant and calm as ever.

 When the speech was finished, the Lord Duke turned and left the House of Commons chamber for the House of Lords, which by this time had almost reached its result.

 Sure enough, just as His Excellency the Duke arrived at the House of Lords on the front foot, the Speaker of the House of Lords, Baron Blythe Adam, followed on the back foot, taking out a document and placing it in his hand.

 "Your Honorable Duke! The results of our Lords' deliberations have come out!" His Excellency the Baron had a serious face, especially with a pair of black-framed glasses, adding a bit more majesty.

 "Oh! Is that so? I wonder what the result is?" The Duke of Somerset had a tense look on his face, appearing to be very concerned about the outcome.

 In fact, the results of the discussion of the nobles in the House of Lords Edward Seymour already had a guess in his mind.

 It was important to know that the sixteen most powerful nobles and clergymen in the whole of England had already agreed, and that they held within them not only the leading secular nobles other than the king, but also a few of the highest bishop-lords of the whole Church of England. Therefore, the Lord Duke thought that there was no suspense in the matter and that it would definitely pass.

 As it happened, Baron Brad Adam did not disappoint him, and showed him the unanimous result of the discussions between the peers of the House of Lords and the senior clergy.

 "After a passionate discussion amongst the gentlemen parliamentarians, we have unanimously passed your reform bill, Your Excellency the Duke, with one hundred and eighty-nine votes in favor, thirty-five against, and seven abstentions! You may now enact it into effect!" His Excellency the Baron read the document aloud in a serious manner, without a single pause or delay, and his relatively old voice was simply pleasing to Edward Seymour's ears!

 Even though he already had an answer in his heart, a wave of excitement surged out from within the Duke-sama, and a gentlemanly smile slowly appeared on his face.

 "Tough luck, Baron Adam!" "You're welcome, we're doing it for England too!"

 "Yes! We're all about England!" The Lord Duke and Baron Adam smiled heartily, and the atmosphere seemed so congenial.

 The two of them walked happily towards the room inside the House of Lords, the place where the nobles and the king rested, pretending to look very luxurious and extravagant.

 In Tudor times, the House of Lords was significantly stronger than the House of Commons.

 In the later years of Henry VIII, of the House's proposals, the House of Lords moved one bill, while the House of Commons moved only one, crushing the Commons in numbers.

 And since most of the members of the House of Lords are local upstarts, for example, if the Bishop of Buckinghamshire is a member of the House of Lords, then he has a great deal of influence over the lower clergymen who are in the county of Buckinghamshire, and the Earl of Manchester, who is located in Manchester, is able to influence the decisions of the Knights and Gentlemen of Manchester.

 And the House of Commons at the time was made up largely of these people. What? What about the bourgeoisie? They had virtually no voice in the House of Commons at the time, even the blacksmiths who worked the iron had more of a voice than they did.

 So, in Tudor times, whenever the House of Lords moved to pass a proposal, nine times out of ten the House of Commons would also pass it.

 Lord Duke of Somerset and Baron Adam were leisurely enjoying tea from the Far East Empire, talking about life, ideals and whatnot from time to time! And our His Majesty Edward VI is also drinking tea and discussing ideals.

 But instead of a baron with elegant nobility, the one with him was just a rude knight with a muscular body and a bearded face!

 Of course, there's Princess Elizabeth to sort out before then!