Tricky writing technique

This opening paragraph in a short story about the English civil war which I’m writing identifies the main character, the location, the period in which the story is set and even identifies the conflict in the story.

It’s economical – it doesn’t waste any words, and it’s productive – it makes each word count, but even so, I’m not sure if it will work.
Here’s the opening paragraph: ‘Calithorpe Munden reined in his horse and, in this county of Norfolk, England, and in this Year of Our Lord 1640, asked the question that he had asked of himself so many times: “Would you really take up arms against the King?”
“The King hath an army, and I hath but a sword. Can a sword rid England of this tyrant? Can a sword giveth liberty to all men, whether they be of royal blood or not? Can a sword giveth them the liberty to speak freely and without fear, in a parliament that is a true likeness of what the Ancients called democracy?”‘
The problem is the phrase ‘in this,’ which is used to identify the location and is also used to identify the period.
It ensures that the reader is aware of the location and period, but it might be an over-aggressive way of making him aware of it, it’s almost as if I am saying to him: “this is what I’m talking about – got it?” in order to make him aware of it.
An American version of this technique might be something like this: ‘Calithorpe Munden reined in his horse and, in this state of California and in this 51st year of American independence, asked himself’ (etc. etc.)
A Canadian version might be ‘Calithorpe Munden reined in his dog team and, in this Canadian Yukon and in these early optimistic weeks of the Klondike gold rush, asked himself’ (etc. etc.)
It’s possible that the reader will feel that it’s a little aggressive, but will overlook it.
Most readers realise that at some point the writer will have to establish the location and period of the story (if no period is mentioned, they will probably correctly assume that it is set in the present day.)
They might feel that it’s preferable to establish the location and period quickly, to get it over with, even if it does seem a little aggressive.
Alternatively, they might feel that other writers manage to establish location and period pretty discreetly, they filter it into the story in a way that is so subtle and non-aggressive that they are hardly aware that the writer is doing it.
They might feel that this ‘aggressive technique’ that I have used as an experiment is ‘cheating’, that the writer doesn’t know how to filter location and period into a story in a subtle, non-aggressive way.