I Am Louis XIV

Everyone in Versailles was happy, except the Dutch.

These once generals, once officials, once the heart and mind of Holland, but in the last analysis were still merchants, who once thought that their present difficulties could be solved by usual means, and they established a government in exile in New Amsterdam- —Although it was New York as early as 67, the Duke of York in England returned to London, and he was given a son and an heir, Charles II, who was put under house arrest in the Tower of London. He had no time to take care of the thousands of miles away while hastening to Paris, then Versailles, in the hope of being pardoned by Louis XIV.

They even discussed carefully, how much more can they pay—territory? There is no doubt that the Dutch can cede part of their land to France. Wars and marriages between countries often lead to changes in border lines, and France should be no exception, as long as this majesty is willing to return the province of North Holland where Amsterdam is located, the heart of the Netherlands Utrecht, they are willing to give up South Holland, Zeeland, or Gelderland... In short, they agree that as long as the 10,000 merchant ships in the Netherlands are still cruising the sea, they can even give up a little bit. If they want to buy the Netherlands back, or take the opportunity to provoke other countries to wage war against France, they can be a fisherman.

——Ships, although the Duke of La Rochefoucauld took hundreds of large ships from the Netherlands, does such an ambitious king think that there are too many ships? Absolutely not, they can sell the French ships at an extremely low price, and then let them continue the previous war with the British-after the Hundred Years' War, these enemies should also rekindle the war, and for the Netherlands Said that no matter which of them loses or who wins, of course, it is best for both of them to lose, which is a good thing for them.

--money? Although Amsterdam’s assets and parliamentarians were blocked before they left the North Sea, the East and West India Company is still there, their trade routes, their colonies, and their slave trade are bringing in wealth every day. The ability to pay Louis XIV more than 3 million to 5 million livres in compensation, and even to exempt the king from borrowing interest-don't forget that during the conquest of Flanders and the Netherlands, Louis XIV, They all borrowed from Dutch bankers. Although the loan has been repaid, seeing the great generosity of His Majesty the King, the days when he will borrow from them again are numbered.

—Or to station troops in Holland? Taxing Dutch merchants? Or ask the Dutch people to convert to Catholicism? It's all right, although it must be very difficult, but the Dutch government-in-exile in New Amsterdam has given these envoys the greatest authority, as long as they can return to the Netherlands...

The envoys of Holland bribed the envoy of Switzerland with a thousand louis in gold to say only one word, because they were not entitled to see Louis XIV in Versailles, no, anywhere, and they were almost like It is a group of flies locked in a glass box, buzzing and bumping around in order to complete their mission, but everywhere they go is a transparent and solid wall, even the most greedy cardinal pulls Nor did M. Rivière allow them to enter his hall.

But the result of a thousand louis in gold, ah, they would rather that such a thing had never happened-they did not bribe the stupid envoy, and he did not mention Holland to Louis XIV-in their most embarrassing assumptions In the middle, the French king might scold the Swiss envoys and reject the Dutch request again, but Louis XIV's answer far exceeded their imagination.

Holland is over.

When they heard this sentence, they even replied earlier than the Swiss envoys, because although they could not bribe the royal family members, ministers and generals, some servants with little knowledge were still willing to exchange a sentence or two for jingling Of Louis d'Or—even the most cunning, shrewd, and eloquent of them all was now utterly stifled by fear.

"Is there no hope?" asked a messenger.

"Yes," said another envoy, "and it's right in front of you, gentlemen, and now in Versailles, the envoys of the whole of Europe are here—no matter what they wanted to do before, or what Louis XIV wanted to do, we can try to win it." They come to our side, or rather, as long as they are on the opposite side of France, we can win!"

"The problem is, we don't have much leverage anymore." The emissary before thought it over and shook his head gently.

"We also have Suriname and the Antilles (South America), Batavia, Sumatra, the Spice Islands, Malacca and Ceylon, we also have some strongholds in the Far East, the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, the North America's Hudson Valley, and New Amsterdam..."

"That is our last territory," said the third emissary. "Our merchant ships and escorts need them."

"Without Holland, they are just trees without roots." The second emissary who spoke said: "If they can be exchanged for Holland, even if it is only a part, it is enough. As long as there is Holland, we can find new colonies, everyone. , America is big, and Africa is also big."

"We will be caught and hanged by the angry people," the leading emissary did not approve of the young man's radical speech: "We have all seen what happened to Brother Witte, the parliament and the government did not give us such power, if we act without authorization , they will throw them out as scapegoats, even if we get back to Holland."

Everyone else was nodding their heads in agreement. The young emissary looked around, but he didn't get a single supporter. He slumped back on his chair. Now he finally understood what his father said before he left. His father He didn't think they could get any results this time. He said that since the death of Prime Minister Witte, the Netherlands lost its mind and heart. Later, General Luyter also died, and the backbone of the Netherlands was also broken. The rest is just waiting It's just good meat for tigers and wolves to bite.

At that time the young man neither agreed nor believed, but now, he had to admit that his father had sharper eyes than he did.

"You can rest in the hotel for a few days," said the leading emissary. "Drink some champagne and find a girl. Don't worry too much. This is not a situation we can reverse."

The young messenger opened his eyes wide: "You want to imprison me?"

"Don't say that," said the leading emissary, "I just think we should be more cautious."

—————

It's just that for these Dutch people, no matter whether they are cautious or radical, they can't have any impact on the current situation. Although it is said that they will celebrate fifteen days, in fact, on the third day, there are envoys who can't hold back Come to test—ask the Duke of Orleans, the Prince of Condé, the Duchess of Montpensier, in short, anyone who can hear the movements and thoughts of Louis XIV—they can't wait to get the incomparable fruit from France. A piece of the fruit of victory was cut off.

Of course, Louis XIV can be said to be like a gamble, putting the fate of the entire country on the balance, throwing the last chip, and it is impossible to seek a profit of three to five million livres, which is not even enough for him. The military expenditures in the past three years are mainly due to the acquisition of Flanders and the Netherlands. In addition to a large piece of fertile territory, there are ports brought by the long coastline, routes and vast territorial waters—although it is not yet complete at this time. The unified concept of maritime sovereignty, some people say, should be the horizon as far as the eye can see; in 1952, the jurist Rosenius argued in the book "Law of the Sea" that the width of the country's sea area should be two days' voyage Later, the Dutch jurist Binkshoek proposed that the width of a country’s territorial sea should be based on the longest range of cannons, that is, “where the power of weapons ends, that is where power on land ends”—this is the All these statements are not rigorous enough, not to mention the range as a standard, the speed of different ships is different; and it is impossible to use the limit of eyesight as a standard, because everyone's eyesight is also different, as for the range of a cannon as a standard, While it was a perfect fit for some, it turned out not to be feasible.

The Anglo-Dutch battle occurred three times in a row, and it has an inseparable relationship with maritime sovereignty-the North Sea and Malacca are almost inseparable knots between the British and the Dutch, which is why Charles II is willing to fight with Louis XIV. Because of the alliance, although it is unlikely to get North Holland and South Holland, Charles II believes that even if Zeeland can be obtained, it can also open England's predicament in the North Sea. Although the victory of Louis XIV also means that France Between England and England, in addition to the English Channel and the Strait of Calais (Dover), there is another North Sea, but Charles II also has William III here.

Among the numerous envoys, one person attracted the most attention. This person was the envoy of England, Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon. He was very loyal to Charles II. Charles II was still the Duke of Cornwall and was in exile. After the restoration, Charles II also generously gave corresponding rewards. Not only did his younger brother, the Duke of York, marry Hyde's daughter, but he also promoted him as his Lord of the Navy. Questioned and persecuted by King II, Hyde was forced to step down from this position, which was handed over to the Duke of York, but the Duke of York made many mistakes—he first hated Hyde who could not bring him more benefits He believed in the sweet words of Charles II and married the daughter of a Catholic, which made those Protestant MPs who supported him begin to waver; The method allowed the queen to give birth to her own heir, and the Duke of York finally lost his last arm. As soon as he returned to London, he was taken away from the military power in his hand.

Edward Hyde was re-promoted to his original position. It is really ironic to say that he handed over this position to his son-in-law with such satisfaction several years ago. What he got in return was that his daughter was in the neglect and dissatisfaction of her husband. Died, the Duke of York probably didn't expect that his dream would come to nothing in the end. He was not imprisoned in the Tower of London, and he didn't die because of an accident, just because Charles II's son was still a baby.

And Edward Hyde, who was regarded as a useless old waste by the Duke of York, not only once again became the Minister of the Navy, but was also appointed as an envoy by Charles II to undertake the most important mission in the past thirty years. Versailles - Although the Duke of York was the head of the embassy, ​​he had no real power.

Hyde is accompanied by a young man who always wears a mask. He is always taciturn and unhappy, but Hyde has always respected him very much. Edward Hyde is so serious and rigid, they can only guess that this may be an illegitimate son of Charles II—since Charles II does have many illegitimate children, and he is already forty-two years old, and he has a son who is about 20 years old No surprise either.

Edward Hyde revealed the mystery today - this person is none other than William III of the Orange family.

William III sometimes wondered how he was still alive and endured such humiliation and torture. Yes, he still had a glimmer of hope, in the Tower of London, or on a ship heading to France, or in the Paris, at Versailles, he waited, waiting for his loyal subjects to take him from the hands of the enemy, and he would take them, to the Cape of Good Hope, to New Amsterdam, to the Spice Islands, to wherever the Dutch Where they stand, he will lead them to fight to the last moment, just like his father, his grandfather.

But he couldn't wait, he seemed to be forgotten.

The young future monarch raised his head. Regarding the Netherlands, to be precise, the meeting that completely dismembered the country was held in the Jupiter Hall by the king. It is certainly fitting that such a meeting be held in the hall of the Father, where the greedy gods gather to pass their final judgment upon ignorant mortals.

Although this hall is mainly made of milky white stone, a lot of lapis lazuli powder is used in the paintings on the ceiling and walls - the boundless sky, the robes of the gods, the deep sea - all of them are like this. A rich and elegant color, LeBlanc used gold thread to outline the orbits of the stars, cochineal to adorn the cheeks and lips of the gods, and pearl powder to show their flawless skin. Peter and Juno are only in the distance, standing among the gods, the sun god with a harp in his arms and a bow and arrow on his back is the focus of people's attention.

If people look down, they will find that at the bottom of the picture is the canopy of His Majesty the King. Under the canopy is the royal blue velvet curtain embroidered with golden lilies. In front of the curtain is the throne that belongs only to Louis XIV.

The king was also in his thirties, but in the eyes of William III, he was even younger than himself in the mirror, or this was the difference between a winner and a loser.