While the councillors argue and argue and fail to reach any agreement on anything, I remain in my privy chamber and bide my time. They have little reason to question my actions over the past two years to make our realm safe. I have bolstered the strength and effectiveness of our armies and, in particular, brought our navy up to date. I scrapped all the ships that were defective, and there were many, repaired all of those that were worthy of it and built 16 new galleons. Our naval treasurer has adequate funds for the upkeep of all vessels, and we now have 21 good ships in the fleet. This ensures our safety, should any country be ill advised enough to invade us. And it should keep us secure for many years into the future.
I have also stabilised our coinage, which was in a sorry mess before
