Harry Potter’s Morning Light

   Chapter 2273 The Winter Banquet of the Sea God (fifteen)

It was the winter of 1671 when   William III inspected the defenses of the Dutch Republic, while the Anglo-French allied forces launched their offensive in June 1672.

   Luckily it wasn't winter, and if Amsterdam had frozen like it did in 1792, the French army would have been able to cross the river on the ice.

   There are many things that "historians" like her don't think, the winter in the Netherlands is not only cold, but also very wet, it seems that it rains half of the year. But the rain is not very heavy, you can't tell whether it is rain or sweat when exercising outdoors. This dampness made the land soft and muddy, and the carriages adapted to French soil could easily get bogged down in the mud.

The floods generated by the digging of the seawall receded in July, and the French army was able to continue to advance. As the distance from the French mainland became farther and farther, the supply line was also stretched, so in November of the same year, William III led his army to attack Maas. Tricht.

  The city was on the river Maas, near Germany, when Wilhelm III had formed an alliance with Spain and Brandenburg. Although the French recaptured Maastricht the following year, the tide of the war changed again. Admiral Ruteuil defeated the British and French fleets, forcing the British to end their intervention through the Treaty of Westminster, and then France is also slowly pulling out of Dutch territory, with the exception of Maastricht.

   Napoleon's carriage is not very conspicuous on the outside, but it is very comfortable inside, and there is a sofa that can be used as a bed, and he can sleep in it.

There are many locked drawers in the carriage for reports, emergency documents, a light on the ceiling of the back seat that can be used to illuminate the whole car, and a schedule in the front that lists what he must do. The place name passed by, Brussels was crossed out and replaced by Maastricht.

  Lille was also crossed out and replaced by Liege and Namur. Comparing the map next to them, they almost walked around the Ardennes along the Maas River.

The Ardennes Forest is a strategic highland with complex terrain, but the armored divisions composed of tanks under the command of Rommel are unimpeded. The experience of past wars has been destroyed by technological progress, even Namur, the most indestructible in Europe The fortress was also conquered in the First World War.

  On the driver's seat, only Rustam controlled the six horses, and the carriage was surrounded by a large group of horse-riding adjutants, praetorians, and light cavalry. The hoofs of many people and horses trampled the already muddy road more like a muddy pond, and the heat exhaled by the horses quickly disappeared in the hazy fog and rain.

   Such poor visibility, even in the daytime, the headlights need to be lit. A common carriage light is a candle in a glass container with a lit spring under the candle that supports the lit candle so that the flame burns smoothly. There is a specular reflection behind the candle, which spreads the light around the carriage, reminding oncoming vehicles, pedestrians, and equestrians to avoid. However, when the wick is burning, the clean glass is easily blackened by smoke, and the lights on the road do not always play a positive role, and many horses are frightened by the ghostly moving lights of the headlights.

   However, the carriage lights of the patrol team have been improved, and gas lights are used. Although the French did not let the Soho steam engine installation engineer who liked to study gas lamps to come to France, there was a whole day of lectures in the theater, showing that the Germans who invented their own inventions got a chance, plus Fresnel's new lighthouse light. , Bonaparte's chariot lights like two full moons.

The carriages of the fellows were much darker in comparison, and looked very insignificant, especially the carriages of the old nobles. They still used candles, and they were somewhat neglected to clean, and the lampshade was a bit dirty, reminiscent of their poor income. , maybe they didn't have the money to pay the coachman and the maintenance of the wagon, plus the road was bumpy and the wheels were turning making a noise that worried it would fall apart at any moment.

In order to be able to work and handle government affairs in the carriage, he needs a stable desktop. A shock absorber is installed at the bottom of his carriage. It was not Edgeworth who helped him change it, but a device he designed to reduce friction while traveling. , not as comfortable as her carriage.

   Edgeworth proposed a new technology for carriages carried on rails. The wheels should be enlarged and the main body of the carriage should be lowered so that it would not overturn. Others felt that the chassis was too low, that the wagon could easily scrape the ground, that it could not adapt to multiple terrains, that the wagon was not easy to drive, and that the road would be very bumpy.

   There are already railway tracks, how can there be such a problem as bumps? British engineers generally believe that the most important thing is to prevent the wheels from derailing. For this reason, the wheels are specially designed to tightly clamp the rails. Of course, such special wheels are not suitable for all-terrain use.

  In the 20th century, people have never seen train wheels installed on cars. In short, this group of people stunned the Belgian farmers on the roadside.

  The tulip "Augustus Forever" that Adrian had given Georgiana the night before was now placed in a glass vase in his carriage. This flower has a beautiful red and white pattern, but has no fragrance.

   It is also possible that he has it, but it is covered by the smell of cologne on him.

   She reached out and pulled the flower over, trying to smell if there was really no fragrance inside, but he stopped her.

   "Just take a look."

   So she put her hand back and wrapped it in a blanket.

"Tulip bulbs look like onions," she said in a husky voice. "There was a sailor who had been adrift at sea for three years, and he came to Amsterdam and saw an 'onion' on the warehouse counter, just as he was eating herring. There was a lack of seasoning, so I took the onion, but the bulb was actually the bulb of 'Augustus Forever', worth 3,000 guilders, and the merchant sent his servants to go crazy and couldn't find it, only to find out later It was eaten by the sailor, and there were still two mouthfuls left, guess what happened next?"

   He did not answer.

"He could have picked up the sailor and thrown him in jail, but the businessman came to his senses, and I guess a lot of people who heard the story did, and overnight the tulip bubble burst. It was like magic failed, all People are eager to sell the bulbs in their hands, but no one buys them. The Dutch call this sale windhandel, which means 'deal in the wind', fragile like a piece of paper fluttering in the wind, so many clergy preach, It was useless to warn the world, but a sailor succeeded."

   "What do you want to do?" he said impatiently.

   "I want to exchange a Claude Lorraine painting with Turner." She grabbed his arm and said coquettishly, "Okay~"

   He soon had a smile.

   "You agreed?" she said happily.

   He stopped laughing again somehow.

"You know who carved the sculpture of Calypso you chose." He fiddled with her fingers and said comfortably, "I can be as angry with you as you are at me, but I choose to forgive you, and Chia Ra is not like you, she has a fiancé and a good reputation."

   "Oh, I have no reputation?" she said angrily.

   "What kind of reputation do you think we have now?" He reached out to open the curtain, but she quickly stopped him.

   She found that he was not suitable for working in a carriage, because he was prone to act impulsive, and the carriage was still going on at the moment. If there was no accident, he could reach Mechelen in the afternoon. After all, the straight-line distance between Antwerp and Mechelen is only more than 20 kilometers.

   "Why don't you let me go to your carriage?" he asked suspiciously.

   "My car is full of unmarried girls." She also said angrily, "What do you think I want to do? You also think I'm a spy?"

   He was actually thinking about this possibility.

   "Bastard!" She scolded, and started looking for clothes to wear.

   "If I hadn't dreamed." He whispered "How did you come?"

   "Who do you think I am? An angel of descent?" she said incredulously.

   He laughed bitterly.

   "You are not real." He covered his face and said, "You are an illusion."

   She felt sorry for him, and she felt sorry for herself, because he had been dead for two hundred years.

   This is an impossible encounter, stop dreaming.

   "I want to get the mango," she said, "although its bark is not so pleasant."

   "I'm not going to stop for this." He dropped his hand. "You too, imagine it's here."

   She ignored him, took a tulip, and transformed it into a pocket flamingo with Transfiguration.

   "One more time," he said suddenly.

   She just picked the flowers and wanted to change the original "trick", but found that he was not referring to the flamingo.

   "People will call you a fool." She pushed him away.

   He laughed.

   "Let them talk," he said triumphantly, pulling the blanket off her.

   (end of this chapter)