I Am Louis XIV

Without guilds and chambers of commerce, those who once held great power were like tigers that had their claws removed, and no longer had the energy to do whatever they wanted.

The French guilds and chambers of commerce were gradually replaced by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry set up by the king. This was because the French guilds were not yet capable of controlling politics, but the two "guilds" in the Netherlands were different. Most of their chambers of commerce and guild leaders are city councilors and provincial councilors, who then become members of parliament. Officials and councilors from the prime minister down, even if they are not businessmen, are their spokespersons. Their influence is intertwined with the national destiny of the Netherlands. , just like the parasitic vines climbing up the big trees. Unfortunately, while absorbing the sunshine from high places, they strangled their roots without hesitation - until the big tree in the Netherlands collapsed, they regretted it.

Therefore, De Boer looks down on Schön, and Schön also looks down on De Boer.

De Boer despised Schon because the businessmen represented by Schon were unscrupulous and profit-seeking. Schon looked down upon De Boer because from the beginning of the founding of the Netherlands, businessmen were the real masters of the country, such as Leut Generals like this, or rebels like De Boer, are weapons or tools in their hands. You may find a tool handy enough, but will you worship or cherish it because of this? of course not.

But because of the French, they may still be temporarily united.

Schon sighed in his heart, but as a businessman, he has always been able to hide his true thoughts well. He did not look at DeBoer and walked towards today's protagonist, Viscount Turenne, with a smile.

As the owner of a shoemaking workshop, Schon was not qualified to be close to the Governor, but the people surrounding Viscount Turenne were probably those who once had a place in Amsterdam's city hall, and they had venom brewing in their hearts. She didn't reveal anything, and spoke sweet words without any rejection. If she had been anyone with a slightly more frivolous temperament, she would have been flattered by them and lost control of herself, and she would not know what ridiculous things she would say or do.

But who is Viscount Turenne? His journey has not been smooth. As the weak second son, he was sent to serve in the army under his uncle when he came of age. The title and territory of the Duke of Sedan have nothing to do with him. Fortunately, his uncle, Prince Maurice, loves and protects him. With careful teaching and diligent teaching, he was able to gain the favor of the great Confucius.

In the second Fronde movement, he unexpectedly sided with the Grand Condé. Before the Battle of the Old City, he also believed that if the Grand Condé became the king of France, it would be more difficult than if the Grand Condé would not be able to rule until 1989. The boy king was fine - of course, he quickly changed his mind, but the mere fact that he had ever gone to war with the king allowed the king to imprison, exile or even execute him.

Louis XIV did not do that, but instead reused him, and he instead fought for the king to this day.

During this process, the attitude of people in the French court towards him caused several waves, if not three changes in one day. Today, Viscount Turenne has heard countless flatteries and received countless looks. He will no longer be swayed by anything or his attitude. After calmly listening to the praises for him, he nodded to the crowd in front of him. .

"My dear gentlemen and ladies," he said, "what did you think of today's meal?"

"great!"

“Impeccable!”

"And what about today's drinks?"

“Extremely luscious!”

"Where's the music?"

"Like the holy voice of heaven!" This sentence does not go against your heart, because Louis XIV asked his children to establish three art academies like temples, those with talent but not talent, those that are popular and those that are not popular, Young and old artists are coming to Paris, the "Second Renaissance Center", like rivers rushing to the sea. Here they communicate with each other, discuss and perform. No matter how elegant they are on the surface, they are like bloodthirsty fighters on the inside. So violent - the person who can stand out in such a terrifying Shura field is certainly not an ordinary person.

Even if the musicians sent to Viscount Turenne are not the best, they are the second best. Even if some people don't like the governor, they have to admit that he has brought many beautiful movements to the Netherlands.

"But it's not the best." Viscount Turenne is not the kind of person who is good at speeches and incitement. He raised his glass to everyone, drank the red wine in it, and turned to look at The big curtain behind the band: "Everyone, I have a grand show to dedicate to you."

People subconsciously looked there, but nothing could be seen behind the big curtain, and what could be behind it? There are many people here who have been to the City Hall, or even stayed here for a long time, and know that there should be black iron square glass windows.

The palace is located on a dam, like all Baroque buildings of this period. This building was only completed in 1955. The rooms in the building are separated by a corridor and face each other. There are hundreds of windows on the wall. From the central hall, people can see not only the vast Dam Square, but also the busy port and the vast sea.

Viscount Turenne pointed them to the side facing the sea, that is, the North Sea.

The tightly covered curtains were slowly opened by servants, and the first thing that caught people's eyes was the dark sky, with scattered glimmers of light. The ships in the port were like continuous hills, with only a gentle slope exposed, and their masts. Like a jagged miscellaneous tree. Looking further into the distance, there is an ocean of soft light, which seems to be within reach yet far away in the horizon.

After a moment of trance, Schon broke away from this beautiful scenery. He remembered that the glass here was not that big and not so transparent, as if it did not exist, but then he remembered that the hall had been opened not long ago. It has been renovated, and the glass industry is also one of the most valuable industries of the French king. He lamented the wealth of Louis XIV - this palace was not destined to be the king's permanent residence, but he was still willing to use it so extravagantly. Glass. On the other hand, there was also strong jealousy and dissatisfaction.

Since you are already so rich, why do you care about everything with us?

While kings and lords elsewhere in Europe were still cooperating with merchants to coerce and exploit the common people, Louis XIV took a different approach and started his rule by restricting merchants and treating the common people well. Logically speaking, this behavior should trigger The anger of the profiteers made him end up like Charles I. Helpless, Louis XIV was a knight king. He went to the battlefield, had countless loyal soldiers and generals, and was deeply loved by the people. In front of such honors and achievements, any conspiracy is like dew under the sun, shattered before it is formed. .

Schon didn't expect their conspiracy to affect His Majesty's rule. He only hoped that the Sun King could give a little thought before making a decision... He meant just a little bit, just think about it on the side of the businessman. .

That's what he thought. As for the poor people they pushed out, he didn't care at all, no, it should be said, he didn't consider it at all.

The night view outside is beautiful, but no matter how beautiful it is, it cannot be turned into a real performance... People are whispering, they dare not question Viscount Turenne, they can only think of all kinds of words of praise - —They could describe Vicomte Turenne, a thin old man, as a majestic god like Poseidon, and of course they could write a sonnet about the scene they were used to.

Schon took out a small book from his pocket, which contained poems he bought from a scholar. Well, it was not very good, but it definitely fit his identity. He was also the target of flattery by others, and he also knew that sometimes he He doesn't care what others say, he just likes others to grovel in front of him. He coughed softly twice, straightened his coat, raised his head and looked out the window, preparing to present a small poem praising Amsterdam to Viscount Turenne - that is, praising the rule of the French king and the governance of Viscount Turenne. Next, Amsterdam becomes more prosperous and beautiful...

Then he froze.

Black has always been the best background color for many scenes. Its deep nature can easily highlight even the smallest bright colors. Therefore, Schon saw the gold and red bursting out on the distant sea - the colors of fire and explosion. . Although there is moonlight, starlight, and faint lights dotted by ships and docks - they cannot affect or obscure it in the slightest. It is also possible that it is because they are not fleeting, but are constantly expanding and blooming, one after another.

People like Schon accounted for the majority. Viscount Turenne's sharp gaze swept across the entire hall like a hawk. Some people became nervous or angry. What surprised him was that De Boer was among them. It seems that idealists sometimes compromise with reality.

"What is that?" After a long time, someone asked in a trembling voice.

Viscount Turenne asked his servants to further open all the long windows - this was only available after renovations. As a result, not only was there light, but even the faint roar like thunder could be heard. The night was completely silent. Even if people want to deceive themselves, they cannot deny that such frequent and irregular loud noises cannot be a gift from God.

"It's just a small battle." Viscount Turenne walked to the window calmly, breathing in the smell of the sea breeze with enjoyment, as if he could smell the familiar smell of sulfur and blood, "by the loser and the conspirator. , and a fleet organized by stupid innocent children..." He smiled, "Although I don't know if I should say this, after all, they don't even have an iron-clad ship, and they are all defeated generals in the past, but I think there were quite a few people here who thought they could win after that infamous sneak attack."

Looking out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone trying to speak impulsively, but was caught by the people around him.

"Whether this is the case, you should understand in your heart, I will not go into details," Viscount Turenne said: "Please just quietly watch this grand performance here, I think it will not delay you too long !”

After saying that, he sat down in front of the window, watched the battle in the distance, and slowly sipped the sweet Lysalus red wine. The output of the ancient Lysalus wine was not high this year, but the king specially sent him a dozen. Viscount Turenne cherished it very much and was only willing to take it out to enjoy when he was happiest.

He was undoubtedly very happy tonight. Even if someone wanted to leave, or even had conflicts with attendants and soldiers, he would just look at them with a smile. There were not many such people - although after the curtain was opened, the mood in the scene changed. There are really not a few people who are pale, livid or crimson - they have long been planning to sell Amsterdam to Britain or France's enemies for various reasons. Viscount Turenne held a banquet, which played into the hands of these guys.

It can be said that they can't wait to contact the British-Danish coalition and the Dutch government-in-exile. Their fleet will be introduced into the Amsterdam port late at night, and then the number will show an absolute advantage - for the French army in the Netherlands - Soldiers would storm the city and drive the French out.

Even if someone suggested that this might be the plan of Viscount Turenne, they could not care less. Seeing that Louis XIV and the Italians had reached an agreement with the new Sultan of Ottoman Turkey, the French fleet would withdraw from the Mediterranean and return to The Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, if they delay and hesitate any longer, they will miss the opportunity.

Well, to take a step back, even if we take advantage of the good opportunity that Viscount Turenne is old and young generals such as Jean Bart and Joseph who emerged in the Battle of Double Bay are still with Louis XIV, the internal and external echoes will still be They failed to capture Amsterdam in one fell swoop. It still belonged to the French, and they could do no harm. They might also let the French king know that the Netherlands was not his France. As long as they wanted to cause chaos, this city on the sea would never be at peace. .

With such illusions, people who regretted the money they had invested in vain and thought about how to flatter the French and avoid this crisis, just like this, under the pressure of Viscount Turenne, they stood abruptly. After half a night (only ladies were allowed to rest in one room), until it was getting dark, the noise from outside was finally heard.

They felt relaxed at first, and some of them even couldn't hold on anymore and fell down on the carpet. Then they were confused and panicked again, because the person who walked in was none other than the young man they often saw beside Viscount Turenne. Man, Chaud Louis Hector de Villars.

When they saw him, the conspirators knew that they had failed. The British's desperate struggle, the Danes' last stand, and the Dutch government-in-exile's luck had all come to nothing. They barely endured without showing any strange expressions until this man The young general took out a letter and claimed that it contained the names of all the "spies" who had dealings with the British, and read them out one after another.

Every time a name was read, one person was arrested and then...immediately sent to the Dam Square and hung on the gallows that was erected at an unknown time.

Schön was also one of them. He shouted in horror, "This is false, this is a frame-up!"

"I don't think so," Villar paused momentarily and said with a smile, "This list was personally read and approved by the venerable Duke of York."

He turned the letter around so that everyone could see the signature.