I Am Louis XIV

Amsterdam, what a beautiful place, it is so young, compared with other cities, it can only be traced back to the thirteenth century at the earliest; The largest city in the entire lowlands, it has the busiest port of this era, hundreds of shipyards, and the world's first stock exchange, where money flows freely day and night like the tide in the hands of tens of thousands of merchants ; What is especially worth mentioning is that this golden city has no king, no ruler, and no one who dares to threaten the existence of the Dutch. They indulge in the embrace of capital all day long, thinking that Money can buy everything, everything, including the ambitions of kings.

It is understandable for them to think this way. After all, half of the merchant ships swimming on the sea at that time belonged to the Netherlands. Both the Duke and the Duke need to borrow from them, as long as they want, they can fill the empty treasury of the kings and emperors of the entire European country at any time... This makes all the Dutch proud. The easier it is to become a delicious meal in the mouth of a lion.

They didn't realize that, except for William III, perhaps because he was excluded from the power center by the parliament for a long time, or he always looked at the Netherlands as a monarch rather than a businessman. He knew very well that the Netherlands The navy piled up with silver may be said to be unscrupulous on the sea, but on land, the army that was originally only 20,000 and was still being weakened was just a fragile paper wall in front of France. In fact, while he was raising money to recruit the army, he was also trying his best to deal with the envoys of various countries-this is no different from what the Dutch Prime Minister is doing now. They are all trying to stir up other countries' fear of France, and then contain France. Although the Netherlands will suffer heavy losses in the conquest of the Netherlands, at least it can get a chance to breathe.

It's just that Charles II's perfidious (as it should be for a monarch) behavior, pushed by Louis, left William III to condescend to be a distinguished guest at the Tower of London throughout the tense moment, no one knows Where he went, maybe someone knows, but the ridiculous thing is that the contacts between William III and Charles II will also make him untrustworthy in the hearts of the Dutch. When Quan Chuchu was transferred from the hands of the deceased mother to the parliament, the British people around him were all driven away (even though he tried hard and begged). It can be seen from the above-so even if they knew it vaguely, they dared not To question Charles II and the British, we can only inquire secretly.

But the time left for them is running out.

As the French army approached, the atmosphere in Amsterdam became more and more sinister. The city has no roads, only rivers and bridges. People are connected by fast boats. The boats in Amsterdam are the same as the gondolas in Venice. Different, simple and gloomy, those who stepped down from these ships were not only well-dressed Puritans, but also luxurious and graceful ladies, scholars with white temples, and young men with muskets. The cloak, leaving the house or entering the house, it's just that they used to talk about business, but now they talk about gossip.

Gossip has never been restrained in this city, and parliamentarians also use this despicable but effective means to attack their political opponents-of course, for a free city, a free country should be like this, just as people Like the ancient Greek philosophers who admired, people, in the face of disaster, do not want to solve this disaster, but can't wait to find a scapegoat—usually their enemy, let the suffering people brew malice The most ridiculous thing is that the people are usually appeased by this method, as if the scapegoat is torn apart, and the disaster will suddenly miraculously disappear one morning.

Whether they have been consciously developed this way of thinking is unknown, but it is indeed a very useful weapon. John de Witt, Mr. Prime Minister and his brother have used this weapon and used it Killing countless political opponents, even including the descendants and heirs of William Orange, the founder of the Dutch Republic, they should have thought that one day, this double-edged sword would also fall on their heads.

While the Prime Minister was still busy with those diplomatic means that could be put in the open, and those ulterior conspiracies, the Duke of La Rochefoucauld, who was once a Frondeman and extremely skilled in incitement and demagoguery, had completed He put on a whole show—like Mrs. Van Schulmann, who first acted calmly in front of the Dutch, and waited until they were worried about the final payment, or they really developed some friendship with him. , but when persuading him to leave Amsterdam as soon as possible, he always showed a nonchalant demeanor. When people's curiosity was about to overflow, he said nonchalantly after being drunk that the Prime Minister of the Netherlands has already Made a deal with their Majesty.

Then, perhaps only a day or two later, before the Dutchman's wrath could reach him, he suddenly assumed a gesture of panic and exasperation, packed his bags hastily and was about to leave, which of course caused some confusion. Noticing people's attention, they managed to steal the duke's letter box from his room, and in the box, they found the letter written by the Duchess of Longueville to the Duke of La Rochefoucauld as expected-for the lovebirds. Even the Dutch are familiar with the affair. After all, Madame Longueville’s first son is likely to belong to the Duke of La Rochefoucauld. At the time, the undisputed heir of the Duke not only did not inherit his father’s title and property, but instead The matter of becoming a priest under the name of Abe de Orleans was a sensation-under the restrictions of the law of primogeniture, in the past only the youngest son or the second son who was not favored would do this, the eldest son of the Duchess To actually do this makes people regret and sigh, and they can't help guessing that maybe the eldest son also has affirmation of his own life experience, and he can't bear the torture of his own virtue and conscience, so he did this.

Although the Duchess of Longueville once made mistakes in the Fronde movement, she should really be grateful that she has a brave and good brother, a tolerant and kind king. She returned to the court very early, although it is not known whether she still Maintained the previous relationship with the Duke of La Rochefoucauld, but it is also a matter of a lady who, when she finds her lover and the father of the eldest son in danger, will not hesitate to urge him to return to Paris as soon as possible. Reasonable thing. To the anger of the Dutch, in this letter, the Duchess of Longueville not only confirmed that the King of France had indeed made a deal with the Dutch Prime Minister Johan de Witt, but also pointed out that the Dutch Prime Minister not only betrayed his people, but also Betrayed by the French king, he accepted a Habsburg bribe to sell the Netherlands to Brandenburg.

Here I have to admire the skill of the Duke of La Rochefoucauld. He knows very well that people never look down on things that are easily obtained, but they have no doubts about what they try to achieve, and as a French People, he bluntly pointed out that the Prime Minister of the Netherlands had a deal with Brandenburg, which may make people suspect that he is sowing discord. Leaving (or escaping), proved from another aspect that the Prime Minister of the Netherlands sold Amsterdam to the enemy of France... That's why he lost his original calmness and peace of mind - when handing over the ship, he even more It's just sighing, hesitant to speak, acting like I know a lot of things, but I can't say anything, just out of affection for my friends, I hope you can understand what I mean, and so on.

In a letter to Mrs. van Schulmans, he was even more blunt, urging her to return to her natal family in Cologne as soon as possible—to take with her everything she thought of value, he said without hesitation, Here is about to become the battlefield of Habsburg and Bourbon.

In addition to these, the Duke of La Rochefoucauld did not forget his servants in Amsterdam. Among them were many eyeliners and some ordinary people. He gave them generous severance pay, and his servants even "unintentionally" The Dutch Prime Minister who has been complaining for a while about his infidelity...

These rumors are like ink dripping into the water, and spread quickly among all walks of life. Are Mr. Prime Minister and his younger brother, who is also a member of Parliament and Chancellor of the Exchequer, aware of this? Yes, they are aware of it, but they only feel that this is just another attack from their political opponents. While sending their subordinates to argue or fight back in the newspapers, they are still busy bargaining with various envoys—this is difficult, France King Louis XIV was not unprepared. How could it take 120,000 people to destroy the Dutch army of only 20,000 on land? These are the preparations Louis XIV made against another alliance, like the bared fangs of a lion, be it Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick the Grand Duke of Brandenburg, or the King of Spain Carlos II will not send troops just because of a few pleas from the Netherlands, even the Danish-Norwegian King Christian V who is also facing threats. Even if the old king is about to die, he gritted his teeth , to tear a good piece of meat from Holland.

Until the people of Amsterdam rushed into the city hall and the prime minister's room, the prime minister and his brother still couldn't react-how comfortable they were when they were picking a scapegoat before, and how stunned they are now-they lived in Having been in the high position for too long, they have long forgotten that they are also mortal. They can choose a person as a sacrifice at will, and even use it as a means to get rid of their political opponents. Of course, others can too.

They couldn’t even refute the charges before them—the treasury in Amsterdam was almost dry, because Mr. Prime Minister not only allocated a large sum of money to those dark wizards, but also the money used to bribe important figures from various countries Extracted from it——John De Witte did not use his own family's money either out of selfishness or fear of the name of a dictator, but the worst thing was that his younger brother, Mr. Wetter Jr. , actually took the opportunity to make a fortune and made a considerable amount of national disaster wealth, all of which were exposed by the handlers.

Mr. Prime Minister looked at the angry and ferocious faces, and found that he could not utter a word. At this time, it was useless even if he admitted that he had colluded with wizards. Wizards would not leave him a note, and France King Louis XIV of China is still sitting in his royal tent, and his frequent exchanges with his envoys, in the era when there are no audio recordings or video recordings, who can prove that he is saving the Netherlands, not selling it out? Moreover, he does have some private and secret transactions with these people. He may need to consider his own family, especially after this battle in the Netherlands, there will inevitably be a period of decline. To ensure that his current position remains firm, He can be forgiven for making some small concessions.

But no one will listen to his explanation now. If it was a month ago, it might have been possible, but during the time when the rumors were fermenting, Louis did nothing. After the Duke of La Rochefoucauld brought back the ship Afterwards, he immediately issued an imperial decree, no longer allowing French merchants to do business with the Netherlands, or to have any financial exchanges. The biggest source of profits for the Dutch merchants was immediately cut off. Craftsmen or clerks were dismissed indiscriminately, and countless people lost their original, if not rich, income at once. The stocks on the stock exchange fell like a flood. Almost every day, people Suicide because the property in his hands suddenly became worthless.

Just sixty-three years ago, the tulip bubble that ended in 37 years did not even affect all classes in the Netherlands so thoroughly. At that time, at least there was government and order, and for the Dutch people today, if they If they can calm down, then they should know that no matter how bad the Dutch Prime Minister is doing, the rumors are somewhat true, and they should try their best to maintain the authority of the government, even if they wait until the disaster has passed before liquidating. Caught in a kind of frenzy due to fear and anxiety, the MPs who could have stopped them indulged and even contributed to the flames because of their own plans - Witte has been in the Prime Minister and the Great Speaker for too long, they all said so ; there may be one or two sane people among them, but they are like broken branches and leaves caught in the flood, and it is good enough to keep themselves from being smashed, let alone do something for others.