"My client, Mr. Hampton of Buckinghamshire, was resistant to illegal taxes, so his actions were not only innocent, but glorious. In the past, when the king was in danger, the former kings first demanded subsidies and then approved by the parliament. The king directly asked the subjects to pay taxes and declared to the subjects that this was his power, which was an extremely rare act. We have reason to suspect that the king did not agree with the parliament, and violated the property of the subjects. If His Majesty the King could not obtain the consent of the parliament, my client suggested that His Majesty the King should cancel the ship tax as soon as possible to ensure the majesty of the king's power."

Defense attorney St. John summarized after a debate with the judge.

After his words fell, the jury rang out in the court and the whispers of the jury.

Many squire and nobles who had similar views to Hampton were moved by St. John's argument. They did not object to Charles I's enjoyment of royal power, but they had to exercise the royal power through parliament.

"It's a wonderful rebuttal. I don't know how His Majesty the King and the judges will fight back. If they cannot find a reasonable reason, then Hampton will win, which seems to be a good thing for us." After Cromwell and other squire nobles patiently listened to the debate between the defense lawyer and the judge representing Charles I. It was obvious that St. John had the upper hand. The tradition of parliament made it difficult for Charles I to cross this gully and decide the tax law freely.

"Please keep quiet, calm!" The judge knocked on the case table and stopped the noise in the court in time.

Twelve judges announced a temporary recession so that they could make a final judgment.

Almost everyone is anxiously waiting for the court's judgment.

Finally, a judge was elected as representative by the remaining eleven judges, and the final resolution of the court was announced to everyone.

"The law of Britain has two legal axioms. First, 'the whole country is trusted in the king's personality'; second, 'the king cannot do anything wrong'. According to the two axioms, the sovereignty of the state can only be trusted in the king, not the parliament. Only the king himself can decide on war and peace talks, convene and dissolve the parliament. The public interests of the whole country are placed in the position and public role of the king. Therefore, in a state of emergency, the king has pure rights to require the subjects to provide supplies to resist foreign enemies, while the subjects have only pure responsibility to obey the king. Ship tax is the supply provided by the king in order to resist foreign enemies. This special period seems too long because of the complex overseas situation, so that there is a tendency to become normal. However, once the special period is lifted, the ship tax will naturally be lifted and should not be regarded as a regular tax that needs to be approved by the parliament."

"According to the above statement, after careful consideration, seven of our twelve judges fully supported the king's privilege of taxation during a special period. Therefore, Mr. Hampton lost the case, and the ship tax should continue to be collected. Mr. Hampton should pay the tax and the corresponding fine in a timely manner."

After the final trial of the twelve judges, many people below were in an uproar.

Under the semi-overwhelming debate of defense lawyers, seven judges fully supported King Charles. Although some other judges raised doubts, they seemed useless under the premise that the minority obeyed the majority.

The squire and nobles who were attending the auditor were disappointed when they heard the result.

Hampton's tax resistance and finding a distinguished lawyer to defend himself ended in failure.

St. John, who had originally expected to change the judgment with his own strength, looked angry and almost pointed at the nose of the judge who announced the judgment: "Without the approval of the parliament, even the king could not change the ancient laws, or create new laws, nor could he give any legal effect!"

"St. John, enough, the result of the verdict cannot be changed, but I believe that His Majesty the King will continue to collect ship taxes again, which may cause civil unrest." Hampton stopped St. John's impulse to attack the judge.

Although he lost the case, Charles I did not dare to punish him too much, in case that other gentry and nobles were in danger. Paying a ship tax of 20 shillings and fines was not even expensive for him to hire a defense lawyer.

Charles I still had a tight face. Although the court finally announced his victory, he did not have the joy of victory.

Long before the trial, he summoned twelve judges and pressed them to stand on his side. At that time, some of the twelve judges questioned him. After the trial, the jury and the auditors' support for Hampton made Charles I feel the betrayal of everyone.

If even the people who collect ship taxes are so fiercely, then he will implement a more complicated "national protection tax", so why don't the subjects go to heaven?

Ship tax was planned to raise 800,000 pounds to build more than ten battleships for the Royal Navy in order to revive the Royal Navy. The "National Protection Tax" being planned was to establish a standing army of tens of thousands of people to strengthen his rule and compete for the European continent.

"Why did the parliament have the right to legislative power in the past, but now it is still up to the rules? If a parliament is held, even if they are willing to legislate and impose ship taxes, they will take this opportunity to deprive the royal power." Charles I knew that he would never be able to reopen the parliament unless he had to. Even Chu Yun, who was thousands of miles away, reminded him to be careful of the parliament.

Although he won the case, Charles I, who was worried, returned to his palace. Twelve judges also left.

"The future of judges lies in the hands of the king, and even many judges' positions are appointed by the king. In order to protect their positions, they must have made private compromises with the king, and everyone was tacitly aware of it." Cromwell whispered to Monk when he left the court.

"I didn't expect that His Majesty the King had aroused many dissatisfactions, but no matter what he did, he was still the King. Mr. Cromwell, where do you go next?" Monk asked.

"I'd better fight with the royal family to keep the swamp lakes as planned. When this matter is over, I will return to Erie Town." Cromwell said, "We will see you again if you are destined."

On the other side, Hampton, a tax-resistant squire, became a big shot because of this incident. From time to time, squire, nobles, factory owners and him went down privately.

"This happened when we came here to build a factory. I hope the turmoil here will not easily affect our trade privileges." After listening to the Hampton tax resistance incident, as outsiders, they saw something and had to reassess the impact of this incident on them.
Chapter completed!