I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 137 After the dock is the ship

The Duke of Lorraine would later find out that he had more fun in the former residence of Richelieu, and later the king's palace, than the sultan. What he felt when he entered the hall, the heating of the floor was not his illusion. But when the king renovated Richelieu's house, he laid copper pipes under the marble or wood floor in advance. The hot water flowing in the copper pipes came from the boilers that were tumbling day and night in the huge and tidy kitchen. The boilers were connected to each other. With the water pipe, steam pours into the airtight furnace body, and the boiling water pressure is sent to the important part of the mansion - if people are here in a few hundred years, they will shout "steam engine!" But this is not a steam engine, at most only It can be said that it is the prototype of the steam engine, and it is not invented by anyone, because if it is said that steam is converted into power, Hero of Alexandria, a boring scholar, invented it in the first century AD. At that time he just used steam to spin a hollow ball with no practical effect, just for fun.

  The steam machine here also appeared because the academicians of the French Academy of Sciences presented it to flatter the young king, but the king just stared at it for a while and began to ask whether it was possible to apply it to a more practical place.

The geothermal heating in Richelieu's house is just a new attempt, but the bathroom and personal hygiene facilities, that is, toilets, ceramic washbasins and bathtubs are all equipped. Unfortunately, at this time, the king could not use white porcelain for the time being. To make these utensils, only painted pottery and brass can be used instead, but these are enough for the Duke of Lorraine. After he enjoyed himself comfortably in the bathroom, he was greeted by a different, delicate and diverse variety from other places. Delicious food - it was the first time he saw meals that looked like pictures. They were served on expensive white china plates, and each plate was only one or two bites. Craving for one dish, he thought he would feel hungry, in fact, after serving twelve dishes in a row, he found it difficult to stand up.

He returned to the bedroom. The sheets and blankets were thick and soft velvet. Lying in it was like lying in a warm cloud. Only then did the Duke of Lorraine discover that there was a flat copper kettle hidden inside, which was wrapped in fur. , constantly exuding heat without scalding people, and with the burning fireplace in the room, it was the first time that Mr. Duke felt hot in winter. He slept comfortably until the next morning. After waking up, he cleaned his bed—a new fad he learned about when he came to Paris, but after the oral cleaning he did feel refreshed and eager for the next breakfast.

The breakfasts of the nobles in Paris are also different from those in other provinces. They are placed on a large silver plate that can only be carried by both hands. There are juices in glassware and white bread, French fries, scrambled eggs and cold cuts in white porcelain plates. It is not the most honorable thing to say, but the Duke of Lorraine only tasted it, and was attracted by its wonderful taste, just like dinner. Especially when he ate fries and ketchup for the first time, maybe people could not resist the combination of ketchup and french fries at any time. In the end, he even had no idea and ordered the kitchen to make a big plate for him at noon. Of course his demands can be met.

After the meal, the Duke of Lorraine was escorted to the bathroom again. After coming out, the hairdresser and the tailor were greeted by the side. They were all servants of the king's royal family. They came to serve the Duke of Lorraine entirely at the king's instructing. The Duke of Lorraine also showed unusual solemnity, including respect for the king's close ministers, and a vague reverence for the new fashion in Paris - while people in the provinces were still growing their hair in a mess, people in Paris had begun to perm their hair. Formed into neat and gorgeous little rolls, both men and women, their clothes are solemn and elegant, complicated and exquisite, but they have extremely subtle requirements in terms of color. The tailor even took out a color card and respectfully requested. When the Duke of Lorraine chose his "personal color", the Duke even felt a little ashamed for a while, because he didn't know what a contrasting color was and what a similar color was, although the colors were not as dazzling as later generations (there is no chemical artificial dyes), but enough to shock the Duke of Lorraine.

This color card gathers all the dyes currently on the market, except for royal blue - the Duke of Lorraine chose the so-called "personal color" with great difficulty. It is said that this will be the special "color" he always needs to maintain in the future. This is true for clothing and accessories, but the tailor inadvertently revealed a secret, that is, a prince like Prince Kongdai can get the gift of the king and use the royal blue as a personal color. This secret has caused Lorraine. The Duke's envy and hatred, he tentatively asked how he should get such an honor, but the tailor kept his mouth tightly shut.

  The Duke of Lorraine is a moment of heaven and a moment of unease in hell. It is not the king's consideration. The construction of the dock in Dunkirk is progressing smoothly, then the next step is the construction of ships.

To say that the kings of France did not pay attention to the navy would be nonsense, but the investment of the navy is undoubtedly several times larger than that of the army. No matter what kind of warships, the price is high, and the most advanced construction of ships at that time. The technology was in the hands of Britain and the Netherlands, and they also ruled the Atlantic Ocean. There were still about fifty warships in France in the time of François I, and only twenty in the period of Richelieu. Richelieu managed to buy forty Calais ships from Spain (the ones mentioned above), but only thirty were ready for battle, one of which was armed with seventy guns and was taken by the French. It was a long time, but after visiting Louis, he knew that not only had these ships been in disrepair for a long time, but they had also fallen far behind the existing warships. Such rounded, slow-moving warships would be destroyed in less than an hour when they reached the sea. British or Dutch warships sunk.

   And the king did not have naval officers and men, shipbuilding factories and shipbuilding facilities, in fact, even if he had Dunkirk, he could only park fifteen or six ships in the new dock.

This may be the reason why the British parliaments do not value Dunkirk too much. Maybe they feel that Dunkirk is important, but they can take it back at any time. Now the main enemy of Britain is the Netherlands - the reason why they impeached the Secretary of the Navy Hyde, just because Hyde was a confidant of Charles II - Louis was grateful for this contempt, and hoped that this contempt would last for a while, and to say why, he did not have the right to speak at sea - just at Lo The king had come to Calais while the Duke of Lin was living his joyous days, where, with the help of witches, he witnessed the second war between England and Holland on the sea.

The first Anglo-Dutch War happened a few years ago, when Charles II was in exile, and England was still ruled by Cromwell, the protector, who represented the interests of merchants and bankers , of course, will not show mercy to the Dutch who intend to seize the right to trade at sea. In the continuous situation and no one is willing to bow their heads and admit defeat, the smoke of gunpowder permeated the sea for two whole years. Britain finally gained control of the English Channel, while the Netherlands They also won the naval battles of Elba and Livorno, which restricted the British's trade in the Mediterranean, but at that time the Netherlands could not finally fight a protracted war with a behemoth like Britain, so in 1954, they The Treaty of Westminster was signed, in which the Netherlands reluctantly admitted defeat and agreed to the maritime regulations promulgated by Britain.

The most crucial one of the British maritime regulations is that all goods imported from the United Kingdom must be transported to the United Kingdom by ships from the United Kingdom or the country of origin. It is a country whose main income is trade intermediaries. Such regulations undoubtedly directly hit its interests and authority in shipping. There is no doubt that the Netherlands has not stopped vigorous development of the navy in the past two years. Although the navy was not involved in the civil war for several years, it was also affected - mainly because Cromwell had to suppress the royalists at home, expeditions to Ireland and Scotland, and alliance with France to fight against Spain. Before his death, Britain was already burdened with a debt of two million pounds, which, combined with the greed of political and military officials, added another million pounds in the short and chaotic time before Charles II's accession. , In order to repay the debt, even the Navy's military spending has been cut, only two-thirds of the budget, although compared to other armies, their treatment can be said to be very good, but as Louis saw, the Navy It is the most greedy and hungry of all the gold swallowing beasts. Once the military budget is insufficient, the disadvantages will be exposed immediately.

With the help of the raven's eyes, the British warships they saw at sea were obviously more old and clumsy than the Dutch warships, the crew was obviously insufficient, and the courage to fight was as meager as the morning fog - the Netherlands was dispatched in this battle. Fifty warships, all of which are sail battleships, have a wooden hull structure, and are wrapped with copper plates under the waterline. They are driven by wind and have a displacement of about one thousand tons. The number is also far more than that of the United Kingdom. Although the British Galen ship is equipped with three muzzles, the flames ejected from the muzzle are obviously not as many as the Dutch warships, and the Dutch warships have been relying on the With outstanding speed, he seized a favorable position, opened the line of battle, and pointed the side of the ship to the British fleet that was still facing the enemy at the bow. Constantly ignited on the dark black hull, like a small cluster of flowers that bloomed in an instant, the blue water reflected this gorgeous scene, black smoke and white steam continued to rise, and the mast was broken. , the sails went down, and they saw a burning British warship teetering toward the Dutch fleet, apparently wanting to perish together, but the Dutch were not stupid or blind, and their gunfire was concentrated here. The ship soon caught fire, and the sailors on the ship jumped into the sea to survive. Their bright uniforms stood out on the sea, like small berries that fell on the grass, and their ship became the most beautiful flower. The dazzling, also the largest flower of fire, it burned with a decisive attitude, turning into a big torch, and finally with a violent explosion, it broke into two pieces, and the broken part was submerged by the sea water, and immediately became Burnt black, the flames struggled up the bow and stern pointing to the sky, but in the end they were completely annihilated in the slowly turning vortex.

Even looking down from the sky and watching from the crystal ball, Louis couldn't help holding Mary's hand tightly, and Mary was the same. After some setbacks, the little witch became more rational. , she read some books and knew what these warships and wars meant to Louis, and she... she meant, was she able to give Louis some help.

"It's hard." Louis replied, not intending to attack Marie, it's really unlikely, except for some assistance that may be given when building the dock, the inner world can't have a direct impact on the outer world for the time being. And even in the inner world, there are still national boundaries. France has French wizards, Italy has Italian wizards, and Britain has British wizards. It’s just a coincidence. In the inner world of Italy, but for the French wizards, Louis did not value them, but had an established idea, that is, since they lived on the land of France, they were destined to be his courtiers, and to the Mancini family. In the inner world where he is located, he is the invader, but in the inner world of France, he is the ruler for granted. When there is a suitable opportunity, he will try to take it back into his own hands.

  Marie showed a disappointed look, but Louis won't pay too much attention to the inner world for the time being until he has firmly established his **** of the outer world, unless the Mancini family in the inner world can come up with a large amount of real money.

As I said before, even if the army is a gold swallower, the navy is the largest one. The manufacturing cost of warships varies, but take the "Ocean Sovereign" that Charles I once wanted to build as an example, this ship is almost It can be said that the trumpet of his death was sounded - because it was precisely because of the desire to build this huge war propaganda tool that Charles I issued a writ after the dissolution of parliament to receive in kind or cash as "the special payment for the ship," within six years. There, 800,000 pounds were looted, and the construction cost of the Ocean Monarch alone was 70,000 pounds.

Its construction cost is about the sum of ten warships equipped with forty guns. That is to say, a warship costs at least 7,000 pounds, and it is about the same price when converted into gold Louis. Now both the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have 300 pounds. With more than one warship, how much does Louis need to pay to make up for this shortfall?

   (end of this chapter)