Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1859 Turning Face and Turning Book

In June 1682, the Kingdom of France had slowly recovered a bit of its former prosperity.In Paris, the heart of the country, King Louis XIV of France has just finished an extravagant court banquet.As the Chinese East Coast Republic was stationed in Paris, Lin Dingzhi was also invited. He brought his wife to the banquet and talked with many of Louis' favorites, including Colbert and Loire.

"Your Majesty still misses Molière very much, even though he has passed away for nine years." During the nap time after the banquet, a short middle-aged man sat across from Lin Dingzhi and commented.

Lin Dingzhi knew that this man, La Bruyère, was 37 years old this year, the son of a small civil servant in Paris, and his family had some money, so he sent him to study law, and at the same time donated money to a small official.Originally, the fate of La Bruyère was the same as the fate of thousands of bureaucrats in Paris. Every day, they intrigue with each other and compete with each other to flatter their superiors in order to get a promotion in an official position.However, he had a better chance. Because of his ability in both civil and military skills, he was favored by Prince Kong Dai and became his grandson's tutor, and he began to make a fortune.

Later, because of Prince Condé, La Bruyère was valued by some other great nobles and got the opportunity to enter and leave the court. People with feet are discriminated against.Moreover, he is not good at building relationships, and he is not very good at flattering others. Although he has some talents, he always speaks sarcasticly. Naturally, not many people are willing to give him good looks after a long time, and more gossip will replace him.

These cold receptions made it even more resentful, and began to criticize things he could not understand with more sharp and ironic language.For example, Lin Dingzhi heard that he was planning to write a book describing all kinds of people in the upper class of Paris, and used the "royal zoo" to describe these nobles and officials, which is quite interesting.

Today at the Palace of Versailles is Molière's classic play "The Miser". This comedy about the miser Apagon is absolutely amazing. Saying "Let me give you a good time", such ironic scenes were vividly portrayed by Molière, and were unanimously welcomed by all walks of life. It was performed 4 times in the first 47 years after it came out, which is second only to "The Hypocrite". The second-highest repertoire.

King Louis XIV of France undoubtedly admired Molière very much.When "The Ridiculous Lady" was born, Louis XIV called Molière's performance team into the palace to perform three times, and rewarded thousands of livres; During the performance, Louis XIV watched it 9 times in a row; when he performed "Versailles Improvisation" in 1663, Louis XIV greatly appreciated it, and he did not hesitate to reprimand those incompetent but very good at the royal troupe, and then he invited Maury He had dinner with Amon and rewarded him with a relatively generous annuity, which greatly reduced the criticism of Molière from the outside world for his sharp satire on the world. Di (the daughter of the mistress who lived with Molière for 20 years, and this woman had been in contact with many people including Molière at the same time, it is hard to say whose daughter Amenti is...) and then reached the peak, with As for the Bishop of Paris, he refused Molière to the church on the grounds that he did not say his dying prayers. In the end, Louis XIV issued a secret order to the bishop, forcing the bishop to yield, agreeing that Molière was buried quietly in the Montmartre Cathedral at dusk and sunset. In the corner of St. Joseph's Cemetery by the road".

"Monsieur Molière is the most gifted playwright and actor since Mr. Scaramuccia, who ended the era of comedy in Italy, ushered in a new era of drama in France, and swept the courts of all countries to promote the king's reputation. He has played an indelible role in the glory of France and France. There is no doubt that he can afford the rewards and praises from the king." Lin Dingzhi's words are actually not false.In fact, Molière and his good friend Corneille, French intellectuals, like Prince Condé and Viscount Turenne, fought for France on another battlefield. They strongly export French culture, and this kind of soft power must not be underestimated. They secretly do not know how many hidden benefits they have obtained for France.

Lin Dingzhi's words are not false.In fact, the Kingdom of France is indeed a prominent place in the whole of Europe - well, at least Central and Western Europe, and it is the birthplace of popular culture.For example, many years ago, when the Austrian court still ate food with their hands, the French court passed the knife and fork to the past. Later, the books, costumes, and dramas popular in the upper class of Paris will soon be spread to other countries. The aristocracy of the country, and aroused frenzied imitation.

This kind of imitation, on the one hand, brought great economic news to the Kingdom of France - gorgeous costumes inlaid with gems, high-end ball supplies, mellow wine, beautiful carvings, magnificent paintings, gilded wood, printed leather, beautiful Printed matter, colored pottery, and other luxury goods for personal enjoyment accompanied the cultural output of France, and were exported in large quantities to courts, nobles, and even wealthy merchants in various European countries, bringing back a large amount of precious metals to the Kingdom of France.

On the other hand, this cultural magnificence also greatly improved the image of the Kingdom of France, making the French court faintly superior to other countries. All kinds of talents were attracted by the splendor and magnificence of Paris, and they came to Louis XIV in droves. Effectiveness, which undoubtedly increases the strength of France.In addition, when other countries compete with France, their spirits will naturally be shorter, making them not as confident as the French, which is undoubtedly very disadvantageous.

All in all, the benefits of France's strong cultural output to the entire country are self-evident, especially when the country still has a relatively vast territory, a population of more than 2000 million, and a brave and combative army. It's no wonder that other countries have to unite to deal with this freak of France. It is impossible not to unite. Unless the French kill themselves, no one has a chance!

In this era, perhaps the rulers of other countries may not be able to see the truth in it, or even if they are aware of it, it is only a vague concept without systematic cognition, but on the east coast where the mystery has been systematically studied In front of people, everything seems so natural.Lin Dingzhi, as a middle and senior diplomatic official of the country, has also studied this kind of course, and naturally has a clear and profound understanding of the cultural success of the French.

It's a pity that the people on the east coast don't belong to the same cultural circle as them. The difference is too great, and the geographical distance is too far away. Therefore, the popular clothes and brocade robes, exquisite food, printed products, songs and dramas, sports and other things popular in the east coast Some ways of life are difficult to spread to Europe, or even if they are spread, their influence is greatly reduced due to various factors, and the effect is not good.

In the impression of Europeans, the current East Coast is just a few stereotyped impressions such as "comfort and affluence", "advanced technology", "capable army", and "pagan belief". of.But this is much better than a few decades ago. You must know that at the beginning, Europeans believed that the Tatars landed on the prairie on the east bank and established a country. There is the title of "Port of Tartar" in the people, and now this name has almost disappeared, and Europeans have a more positive impression of the people on the east coast, which shows the rapid growth of the strength and influence of the East Coast Republic in the past few decades.

La Bruyère was not very clear about the truths in this, but he was very talented and had a vague understanding of each of them after long-term observation, so he smiled and said nothing, and then he seemed to suddenly think of it. Similarly, he asked: "I heard that His Majesty has decided to expand the import quota and types of goods from your country? Ambassador Lin, I have to say that you have caught up with a good time and decisively seized the opportunity. The French market, It’s not much smaller than the Dutch market, and you’ve been away from this market for too long, and you’ll discover the wonderful things about it in the future.”

"Thank you for your good words." Lin Dingzhi picked up the wine glass in his hand, clinked glasses with La Bruyère, and said: "Deepening economic and trade ties is in the common interests of our two countries. There is no denying that All gentlemen understand this truth, and everyone has made the right choice."

Perhaps, as an old saying goes, it is really faster to turn faces between countries than to turn books, and the speed of reconciliation after the turn is equally astonishing!Once upon a time, the relationship between the East Coast and the United Provinces was very good, and the bilateral trade was huge. At one time, several stable cooperative relations were formed. During the three Anglo-Dutch wars, the East Coast people decisively sent transport fleets to the Netherlands. A large amount of supplies made the British gnash their teeth with hatred.As for the East Coast and the French, they have always been relatively indifferent. Even during the inheritance transfer war, the East Coast Fleet humiliatingly blocked the French Western Fleet that had not yet "developed" in the port of Dunkirk, and then bombarded many of its coastal areas. The town made Louis XIV furious, ordered the five-year plan to complete 65 heavy warships ahead of schedule, and added a new round of naval investment.It can be said that the relationship between France and East Asia was relatively bad at that time, which is obvious to all.

But now?In the United Provinces, after Prince William of Orange came to power, due to various reasons, the relationship between the East Bank and the United Provinces plummeted. The Dutch kept tearing up the agreement and handed over the order to the British. They sent troops to attack the Dutch South African colony, which further pushed the relationship between the two countries into the abyss.Later, although the relationship between the two countries has been restored with the resurgence of the republican forces, and the trade volume has improved a lot from the previous state of falling to the bottom, it has not returned to the previous level after all.Correspondingly, the relationship between the two countries has not returned to the previous level, and maybe it will never be, as long as the Prince of Orange is on stage for a day!

After finding it difficult to improve relations with the United Provinces, the people on the east coast decisively adjusted their diplomatic strategy and began to make amends, trying to reconcile with France.And because of the French's isolation in European diplomacy (there are enemies or potential enemies around, who makes you want to invade other people's land...), they hit it off with improving relations with the East Bank. The two countries quickly negotiated in Paris, and then A package agreement was reached, which made The Hague very uneasy, and even the republican MPs who had good relations with the people on the east coast sent private letters to inquire. It can be seen that the rapid change in the relationship between East and France has made many people extremely do not adapt.

After the east bank improved relations with France, because both countries have a common ally, the Ottoman Empire, the bilateral relationship has become more consolidated.After the east coast exported a large number of machinery and equipment for the production of military equipment to the port of La Rochelle in France at the beginning of this year, the French reciprocated and opened up more commercial markets. Anyway, they asked who bought it or not, and the one who suffered was Germany. And craftsmen in Italy, who really cares?

"There are too many idiots in the nobles now, but they finally got it right once." La Bruyère's words were as sharp as ever, and he continued to comment: "Actually, until yesterday, someone proposed to dissolve the Ottoman Empire." What about the actual alliance relationship, do you think it’s stupid? The Austrians are our common enemy with the Turks, and we should fight together, but it’s ridiculous that some people use religious reasons as an excuse to turn against them.”

"Your words are not pious at all, Mr. La Bruyère, this may cause you some trouble, just like Mr. Molière." Lin Dingzhi said.

"Is there no priest who is willing to come to make a confession for him before he dies like him? Haha, I am not worried about this. My uncle works in the church, and I have no troubles at all." La Bruyere haha With a smile, he said in a joking tone: "It is not shameful to cooperate with pagan countries. In fact, the Ottoman Empire has helped us attract a lot of Austria's main forces over the years, making them unable to fight us with all their strength. They can only rely on those A mess of German princes, this is naturally repeated battles and defeats. And we, to be honest, have also helped the Ottoman Empire attract a lot of firepower, at least in the past few years, because of our continuous war with the Kingdom of Austria, they have attracted a lot of them This has greatly helped the troubled Ottoman Empire (at that time it was in trouble with Poland and Russia at the same time). Now I heard that they had a stalemate with the Austrians because of Hungary. It is estimated that they will send The envoys came to discuss with us, and continue to help contain the main force of Austria? Anyway, those troops are still stationed outside our borders, and the attraction is also very simple, but I don’t know how far they can go. But to be honest, I am not very Be optimistic, because the combat effectiveness of the Austrian army is not weak at all. Although it is not as good as our French army, it must not be underestimated. Even if it is a partial division, I am afraid that the chaotic army of the Ottoman Empire may not be able to do it unless Their military strength has an absolute advantage."

What La Bruyère said made Lin Ding feel deeply concerned.In his opinion, the Ottoman army has indeed greatly affected its combat effectiveness because of its complex sources, bloated organization, different beliefs, backward tactics, and poor equipment. Although they have just won a victory in Hungary, it was based on the Austrian army. On the basis of retreating step by step and shrinking troops.God knows what will happen if they don't accept it, but this is beyond the control of the people on the east coast. I hope they will be lucky.

(End of this chapter)